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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Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
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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.