The Herald has been doing some investigative digging, & they came up with this “The text to McCaw had previously been revealed by the Herald but the Prime Minister’s reaching out to both McCaw and Carter shows his incredible range of contacts.” Fawn & yawn. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11615542
Sadly the Herald is Nationals alter ego, the print version of Kiwiblog.
Nats wanted to change the flag, the Herald wanted it on the Harbour Bridge and campaigned for change. Nats want to soften drug laws despite their so-called toughness against any such outrage as recently as 2014, the Herald campaign on it, etc, etc.
They even quote the Taxpayer Union like its some kind of genuine objective organisation, rather than the reality of it being another of Nationals front companies.
Anyway the good it did Key and what does it say about those who went into bat for him. And how many “sports greats” told him to fuck off?
The herald is nothing more than a national party newsletter masked as a news service acting as a conduit for dirty politics and the spin and bs that spews from govt ministers mouths.
Glaxo Marvelously Upends TPP And TTIP With Change In IP Policies For Poor Countries
Glaxo has just announced that it is to take the only and sole economically sensible approach to its intellectual property rights. The joy of this is that it runs entirely counter to the way that international trade agreements are set and settled these days. The policy change entirely blows a great, gaping, hole in the intellectual provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Indeed, it undermines the very TRIPs process (The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) which is the biggest thing wrong with current trade negotiations and treaties. If only more companies had the courage to do this.
Essentially, they’ve realised that poor people and poor countries don’t have any money. So, why try to charge poor people and poor countries money they don’t have for the drugs they won’t buy because they can’t afford them?
The news itself:
Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline has said it wants to make it easier for manufacturers in the world’s poorest countries to copy its medicines.
The British company said it would not file patents in these countries.
Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said he wanted to take a “graduated” approach to the company’s “intellectual property” based on the wealth of nations around the globe.
And in more detail:
GlaxoSmithKline PLC said it would stop seeking patents for its drugs in low-income countries, a move the drugmaker said could help the world’s poorest people access copycat versions of its medicines at affordable prices.
The U.K.-based company said it would take this approach in low-income and least-developed countries, a group totaling around 85 nations. In so-called lower-middle-income countries, a group of 51 nations that includes Vietnam, Cameroon and Sri Lanka, it said it would file patents but aim to grant licenses to generic manufacturers to supply low-cost versions of its drugs in those markets in return for a small royalty.
It would be great if the forward-thinking action of GlaxoSmithKline to provide a principled and effective proposal to alleviate the huge problems of inequality and health access could spread to more corporations. Win-win solutions are possible if the public good is allowed to be part of the equation.
Ratifying the TPP which entrenches the flawed IP system makes even less sense when the GlaxoSmithKline proposal is considered.
“Obama’s ‘lame duck’ period best chance for US to ratify trade deal – John Key”
“If it’s going to happen the consensus view is it will happen in the ‘lame duck period’, that period where the US president-elect is in place, so from November through the Christmas period,” he said after talks including with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and US Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew.
“House Conservatives Are Trying To Kill The Lame-Duck Session”
Conservative members say they are trying to stop Congress from doing anything after the November election because Congress does some of its most slapdash lawmaking once the public has voted. The group of lawmakers, anchored by the House Freedom Caucus, doesn’t want to take any chances that the Senate confirms a Supreme Court nominee or that Congress rams through the expansive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal or a big budget agreement that raises spending.
Unbelievable, this is a quote from President Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichmann:
The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. … We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.
It’s possible Ehrlichman wasn’t being honest, given that he reportedly felt bitter and betrayed by Nixon after he spent time in prison over the Watergate scandal
Ok, I probably don’t know the key players in this well enough, Baum, the writer who released this new quote or the ins and outs of Nixon’s government.
It is expected though that the children of Ehrlichmann would deny this horrible quote. If the quote is real and he really was bitter about Nixon, it seems strange to me that he would implicate himself so much by using the word “we”.
Thanks for that maui. Fascinating to hear opinions uncluttered by spindoctors. David Cunliffe was fluent and informed. Dita sharp and concise and Chris indepth as usual. Rachel Stewart for my first time and down to earth is she. Glad I watched it.
Once again maui , thanks for the link. I think Andrew Little is a good man, someone we need in Government, But David Cunliffe would make a great Prime Minister in this current type of Politics.
I’m finding it increasingly hard to understand their attitude, but without trying too cop more flack, their are a number still there that should stand aside or do what the other wreckers did and start their own party. eg: act, disunited etc.
Those people aren’t going to stand aside because outside of Parliament they have no other career or job to go back to.
And without the Labour brand name that they have hijacked for their own purposes, few voters would be in the least bit interested in their pale neoliberal politics.
While I’ve slipped out too do some work alwyn, you have fill a vacuum, have you citations, links or are you prepared to confess to a lie and face the consequences.
I am lead to believe you are retired, that brain of yours lets you down. 👿
David Cunliffe is the best thing Labour has to lead the party and the country towards a progressive future. The lite blue ABC neo libs still infecting the party, are still pulling the strings. They know a much wiser and forceful Cunliffe would have a big cull of the deadwood pulling Labour down, this time if he got the leadership back and the thought scares the bejeezus out of them!
Ugh. I can hear it already…”Nobody forced them to take that loan….”
Won’t be long before it happens here.
Senior citizens who failed to pay off their student loans are having their Social Security seized. One of these is an 80 year old who due to dementia can no longer read. She took out her loan in the 1980s.
The length of time between school finishing and retirement means that older people are really dealing with life with the equivalent of an intermediate school level compared to today’s knowledge. We are supposed to be perfectly informed in an individualistic neo liberal-run society. Every over 50year old should be given free tertiary education to ensure understanding. But that wouldn’t suit gummint, they don’t want understanding from the citizens.
And the chirpy PR spreaders in the 1980s and 1990s saying that in this modern fast changing world we might have four careers in our lifetime, and those who were able to adapt would be all right. Oh yeah? The jobs have diminished, extra training has to be paid for, and gummint help is thin and when you grasp it, it breaks and you fall between the cracks. Don’t believe any of them who talk positively about the future, they are either liars, or self-deceivers, neither of whom are authentic people fit to advise anybody.
That’s because anarco-capitalists are essentially stupid weka.
They have given up critical thinking, and have rejected even their god father, Adam Smith. I think it has dawned on some of them, Adam Smith was very critical of parasitic capitalism, the only type they seem to understand.
Actually in discussions with most of them you get the impression they have never read any of the classical economic theorists, or at the very least, never finished any of the works.
They rely on bullying, diversion and a unnerving belief they are right – to push an agenda of stupid.
As you don’t espouse economic purity, I never assumed you had.
That said, I also thought you had a reasonable grasp of economics, and when you don’t know something you ask. Which is always, always a sign of an open mind.
Oh dear. You really are starting at a very low level aren’t you?
Why don’t you tell me what, if anything, about Economics you do think you understand and I’ll give you a short reading list.
I knew you were struggling but I didn’t realise that you were quite so deficient in your understanding of the field.
Well adam we will just have to try and bring our skills doing the best with what we have and know, and be like these clever musicians chugging along and try to have a laugh and keep our spirits up while we work.
Thanx ianmac. Yes very good isn’t it and they are enjoying themselves too. I think it is essential when times are grim to take a moment for pure enjoyment or humour.
On Germany’s establishment left: They sold themselves to Mephisto, and then at some point even he didn’t care for them.
On current politics more generally: Politics attracts the least well-meaning and least talented people because the political sphere has been devalued.
On the need for basic incomes: But we, the Left, must not be fearful. I gave a talk some time ago in the United States and said: yes, surfers in California must be fed by the rest of us. We may not like that, we may feel they are bums, but they deserve a basic income too.
That’s not the wider world – that’s the financialised world. Where central banks are a tool of the financial elite used to bail out big banks, inflate the asset portfolio value of capitalists, and give free money to billionaire speculators.
As for everyone else suffering from austerity imposed from above – they can eat cake.
Capitalism is always parasitic. That’s the big lesson that we should be learning from 5000 years of recorded history. It should be no surprise that the two main religions that came out of the birth place of Western Civilisation have bans on usury.
Inequality in New Zealand will get worse if the government follows United States policies, film maker Michael Moore says.
In his latest documentary Where to Invade Next, Moore compares social welfare and justice policies in Europe with the United States.
He told Saturday Morning that New Zealand should learn from mistakes in the US.
“Your government over the past decade or two has often tried to emulate the American way with neo-liberal policies that are not in the best interests of the people of New Zealand and you need to take a look at what those policies have done in the US.
“I would not try to emulate us in this way because you will have more income inequality – you already do, but it can be worse and you want to stop that.
“You want to preserve the good things you’ve had over the years, the belief system that you have, the values what you have and not allow conservative politicians to manipulate people into believing it we would be so much better if we did things the way the Americans did it.”
Moore visited Finland, Italy, France, and Portugal to look at those countries’ ways of dealing with social and economic problems experienced in the United States.
He said Americans were oblivious to what life was like elsewhere.
“They don’t know what it would be like if we paid just a little bit more in taxes, how many more services we would have, how much easier it would be to go to university, how there would be day care, how if they got pregnant you actually get to take a few weeks off – how about a few months – Americans don’t know you get these things in these other countries and so it’s been a very big eye opener for people in this country.”
His first film in six years, Where To Invade Next, will screen at the New Zealand Film Festival Autumn Events programme in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, during April and May.
Interesting discussion over on Public Address where Rob Salmond takes Hooton to task over his NBR column on UBR, and Hooton responds point by point.
Hooton points out the little know fact that Lockwood Smith spent 7 years working on a policy vaguely like UBI, but didn’t publish because it was feared that it would be thought to be National Policy, and it wasn’t. Irony?
“Lockwood, “Not many would know that I put 7 years’ work into a project to redevelop New Zealand’s income tax, benefit, and tax credit systems. The work started on trying to find a way round the massive churning involved in employers deducting PAYE, only for the Government to pay it all back to some employees in family tax credits. My research unravelling that interface soon got into the challenging area of effective marginal tax rates. At the time, a single parent with three dependent children seeking to work their way off the domestic purposes benefit and trying to get from $10,000 of earned income a year to $25,000 would have had to work an extra 20 hours a week at, say, $15 an hour. The problem was the effective tax on that extra $15,000 of earned income was about $13,300, meaning that even though the parent was paid $15 an hour, their take-home pay would have been little over $1.50 an hour….”
Salmond nailed it. I saw a bit of Hooton’s spin, but basically they need to get over themselves. They’re naysaying because it’s an opportunity to bash Labour and because a UBI would help poor people and they can’t tolerate the idea. Fuck em, we should just carry on with the discussion and name the lies and the liars as they appear.
Prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault keeps name suppression
A prominent New Zealander facing indecent assault charges will keep the name suppression protecting his identity until the end of his trial.
The trial is due to begin on Monday. The man has denied the charges against him.
There are heavy suppression orders over the case, meaning the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
The man is facing 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.’
As a moderator I’m going to ask everyone to consider very carefully whether their contribution on this topic is useful, or even necessary.
I do not want The Standard to hash over this for the prurient joy of it.
There is reason to consider discussion around wider concerns of name suppression, but for the time being I would advise all regular commenters to have a long hard think before adding more to this.
Prime Minister John Key denies he misled the public, he told The Nation last week that there was nothing in his past statements on the matter to correct. He claims the point is not where the women leave from its whether they are from New Zealand.
Where they left from is the most important point. While nothing can be claimed for certain – because all the facts have not been made available – the balance of probability is they were radicalised in Australia. If that was the case then it is an Aussie problem. We don’t even know if they were ‘radicalised’ but left for a different purpose.
The above comment did not post at first for some reason so I did it again as a reply a bit farther up. Please delete if this is annoying (it is a bit, to me).
Yanis Varoufakis follows suggesting that all of Greece’s debt is to German banks not to the state of Germany. It is the banks that have taken the risk, they need to accept the full effect of business practice and lose some money.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjrjO0d7fvI
Might be of interest to those who want to see a grassroots campaign here in NZ.
The volunteers spent an average of 10hrs a week, with just under 50% spent 1-5 hrs, 25% spent 5-10 and the remainder working between 11 and 100hrs a week. They performed a very broad range of tasks but were united in undertaking a core set of similar activities where in particular they discussed Independence. 99.5% of volunteers had conversations with family/friends and 98.3% had them with strangers, indeed in the virtual world where the corresponding figures are 85.1% and 81.87%. They showed their allegiances and normalized Yes with badges worn and window posters displayed. Very high percentages of volunteers demonstrated their support visually for the campaign. 96.7% said they displayed posters (90.1% doing this frequently or very frequently) and 95% wore Yes branded merchandise with 77.3% doing so frequently or very frequently. A quarter of them built things, designed things and put their creative energy into the campaign. It was these sorts of activities that suggest that the referendum campaigning was different to more traditional election campaigning, though they still canvassed (42.7%) and delivered leaflets (63.2%), frequently or very frequently. 27.8% felt confident enough to have spoken at a public meeting.
So why did they take part and do all this work? We asked this in two ways, in the first, they were asked to rate a series of potential motives and we found that they were motivated to take part for a number of positive, hopeful and negative reasons. The most common categories were A belief in independence for Scotland (mean = 4.79 out of 5 on a scale ranging from 1, Not at all important to 5, Very important) and a belief in Independence being a route to a more equal, socially just society (mean = 4.67) were very important reasons for them taking part. A belief in a greener country (3.94) still important but less so. Disillusionment with Westminster politics (4.59%) also acted as a powerful motivator.
In the second way this question was asked, respondents were free to write what they wanted. When categorized (each respondent could be motivated by more than one reason) 34.5% mentioned the importance of seizing the opportunity or avoiding the regret of not having got involved, 24.5% said they were took part because long term supporters suggesting many new converts got involved. The themes, oft repeated by the Yes campaign and in their marketing materials resonated with the volunteer, where 28% said they were motivated by being against the Westminster system and the UK, 19.6% by democracy, 12.4% by socially justice and 10% because of fairness (10%). The type of campaigning also had an effect with 11.8% being motivated to take part because of No campaigns negativity and media bias with 4.3% specifically mentioned BBC bias acted as their recruiting sergeant. A very similar 11.4% joined because of the inclusivity and exciting nature of the campaign. Whereas there are differences between when people joined a political party, between different ages and between those with and without a British identity, the variations whilst statistically significant in no instances are they dramatic, for example the mean score for women when asked to rate how important To be part of the democratic process was in becoming involved, the average score for women was 4.37% and 4.17% for men. Instances where any one group might score high and the other low, were not found- hence the earlier conclusion about the remarkable homogeneity or similarly of the Yes volunteers.
So in many ways we provide additional evidence to the understanding that many commentators and activists hold. Those who took part The Yes campaign was something that the organisers and the volunteers can (and were) be proud of. New people were brought to politics and democratic campaigning, it was exciting, it was social and it was positive and it will continue.
If you will allow us to finish by highlighting what we think are some of the most important findings: It was enjoyable, liberating and social experience and people tend to want to repeat such things or join in next time, if they missed out first time round. Also the bonds formed during such periods are likely to survive arguments about speed or change or priorities as long as the inclusivity, openness and respect remain. This remains an obligation on the Yes supporting political parties, whose loyalty must be independence, not power, as this is where the volunteers loyalties lie.
The volunteers see themselves as closest to the Greens in their left-right political leanings but were also close to the SNP and the SSP and that significant numbers of ex labour members took part. It strikes us that you don’t need a particularly large political umbrella to cover these groups and cover the majority of political beliefs feeling in Scotland. We see strong evidence in these results that the uniformity of beliefs about what Scotland can be, the shared experiences that brought people together and the passion of the cause built before and during the first referendum will provide an extremely strong foundation for indy ref 2. Was it the biggest campaign in Scotland’s history- we don’t know but the results of this survey strongly suggest that when the starting gun is sounded, the next grassroots campaign will contain a formidable range of experienced, knowledgeable passionate campaigners who know how to run local groups, know how to run local campaigns and know how to persuade friends, families and strangers alike. We were unable to discover if this is the case for No.
Chris Hipkins has become New Zealand’s 41st prime minister following Ardern’s unexpected resignation—perhaps the bold and unpredictable move Labour needed to improve its election chances. Just six days into his premiership and Labour had its first lead over National in thirteen weeks. National has had a largely uninterrupted run of ...
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The politics of Waitangi and the Treaty evident over the weekend have moved into a new space. The politics of Waitangi and the Treaty evident over the weekend have moved into a new space. There is a new wave of Maori activism, which sees the Treaty as a living ...
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by Don Franks While on holiday,I stayed a few days in Scotland with a friend who showed me one of the country’s great working-class achievements. It was a few miles out of central Edinburgh, a huge cantilever bridge across the river Forth. The Forth Bridge was the first major structure ...
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The Herald’s headline writers are at it again! A sensible and balanced piece by Liam Dann on the battle against inflation carries a headline that suggests that NZ is doing worse than the rest of the world. Check it out and see for yourself if I am right. Is this ...
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Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
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TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, reflecting the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “New Zealand has no closer partner than Australia. I was pleased to ...
New Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...
An historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...
The Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
The Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team. In this podcast Michelle and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe.Lukas Coch/AAP Australia’s cash rate has hit 3.35%, after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the ninth time in a row – and signalled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Della Bosca, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock While the days of overt climate denial are mostly over, there’s a distinct form of denial emerging in its stead. You may have experienced ...
A potential cyclone that could bring more severe wet weather to the upper North Island is now forecast to form a day earlier, Stuff reports. Due to ideal cyclone-formation conditions over the Coral Sea, a low south of the Solomon Islands has a high chance of turning into a cyclone ...
Author I.S. Belle reveals the top five influences on her debut LGBT horror/paranormal YA novel, Zombabe.Zombabe is a LGBT found family horror/paranormal YA about a group of friends putting down an ancient evil inextricably linked to their sleepy town of Bulldeen, Maine. Does all of that bring anything to ...
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese are holding a joint press conference in Canberra. Watch live here. ...
The New Zealand government is providing $1.5 million in humanitarian support to those affected by destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last night, foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. The contribution of $1m to Turkey and $500,000 to Syria will be made via the International Federation of Red Cross and ...
In a state-of-the-nation-style lunchtime speech in Auckland today, the leader of the Act Party has taken aim at both major party leaders. “Throughout this speech,” David Seymour told supporters at the Maritime Museum, “I will do my best to differentiate between the Chrisses, but it may not be easy.” Seymour ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has met with Australia’s Anthony Albanese in Canberra, exchanging a few brief words to gathered reporters before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Hipkins was driven into the courtyard of Parliament House, where he was greeted by Albanese in person. “Welcome prime minister,” said Albanese. A beaming ...
The acclaimed fashion designer has been crowned the ‘undisputed king of the frock’ – but with identical dresses widely available on fast fashion outlets, questions are being asked about his design practices.This story was first published on Stuff. He has been described as the “knight of New Zealand fashion”, his ...
In Canberra New Zealand’s media pack has arrived at Australia’s parliament ahead of this afternoon’s visit from prime minister Chris Hipkins. The PM will be met by his counterpart Anthony Albanese in the courtyard of parliament house, before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Following the 45 minute meeting, ...
Two new funding initiatives, totalling $22 million, have been approved by Cabinet today to help ensure the cultural sector has the “certainty and support to thrive”, announced Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. $10 million of Covid-19 recovery funding will support established arts, cultural and diversity festivals, while $12 ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayWAITANGI, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Thomas Cranmer: Waitangi Day and the quiet revolution Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waitangi in 2023: Plenty ...
ACT leader David Seymour has delivered a speech painting National and Labour as two sides of the same coin, and calling co-governance a "culture war". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Quigley, Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne Mustafa Karali / AP A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kalinda Griffiths, Scientia lecturer, UNSW Sydney Getty/Marianne Purdie Cancer figures provide stark evidence of the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The difference is confronting – and it’s increasing over ...
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have used a joint media conference to affirm the nations' relationship is that of "family". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Alcohol bans are being reimposed on Northern Territory Indigenous communities, as the federal and territory governments grapple with intractable problems in Alice Springs and elsewhere in the NT. The situation in Alice Springs and the ...
I was told to avoid gluten. I was told it was all in my head. When 10% of women experience endometriosis, why does it take so long for its classic symptoms to be recognised? It was 2011 when I had my first period. It felt like a very exciting moment ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has touched down in Australia’s capital – his first overseas visit since becoming prime minister just three weeks ago. After disembarking from the Airforce Boeing, Hipkins was greeted by his former caucus colleague and current high commissioner to Australia, Dame Annette King. The pair hugged on ...
The rise of TikTok-inspired ‘algospeak’ is making online communication even more of a nightmare, writes SYSCA‘s Lucy Blakiston.This is an excerpt from the Shit You Should Care About daily newsletter – sign up here.Content warning: sexual assault The other day I was chatting with a friend about algospeak – ...
School, finally, is back this week in the nation’s largest city to howls of relief from many parents and (one hopes) some students also. Yet the resumption of normal service shouldn’t obscure a curious inconsistency. The past few weeks have shown ...
MediaRoom column: On the eve of a Cabinet decision on the fate of the proposed public broadcasting merger, questions emerge over the engagement by the TVNZ chief executive of two former National government aides to change the narrative and push TVNZ's view on the Government's plan Within weeks of taking over ...
Olivia Sisson performs a good old-fashioned cost comparison – and it might change the way you buy your veges.The price of food in New Zealand is shocking. So, how to cope? The recommendations are starting to feel like the avo-toast-flat-white trope. Cut those items out and there it is, ...
An early morning fire at an egg-laying farm in Orini, Waikato yesterday has claimed the lives of at least 50,000 hens. The farm is operated by New Zealand’s largest egg producer Zeagold, the country’s biggest egg producer, whose eggs are sold under ...
The Natural and Built Environment Bill and Spatial Planning Bill will make resource management issues worse and should be withdrawn, Federated Farmers has told the Environment Select Committee. "Farmers agree the costly, slow and unpredictable processes ...
New police minister Stuart Nash has met with new health minister Ayesha Verrall to talk about the issue with the aim of preventing ram raids. Nash wants to speed up the scheduled reduction of dairies that can sell cigarettes. Nash made the comments at a police graduation ceremony in Porirua last ...
It’s Tuesday, February 7 and welcome to a special edition of The Spinoff’s live updates. Stewart Sowman-Lund will be on the ground in Canberra today as PM Chris Hipkins meets with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. What you need to know Chris Hipkins will meet Australian PM ...
Politicking by politicians was less overt but whether there was less politics probably depends on your definition of the word and what lay beneath the optics, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Why is it becoming harder to achieve debt-free status? Money Sweetspot is a new company that uses compassion and incentives to help people pay off their debts. Co-founder Sasha Lockley talks to Simon about using gamification to increase financial literacy, breaking the cycle of poverty, and how she intends to ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is heading to Australia today for his first face-to-face meeting with an international leader. He’ll be meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese during his single-day visit to Canberra. The Spinoff live updates will be on the ground in Australia as the meeting takes place and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney Pexels/Uriel Mont The question of whether and to what extent face masks work to prevent respiratory infections such as COVID and influenza ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Mackinnon, Professor and Director, Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices, Queensland University of Technology Superconducting cables transmit electicity without lossesShutterstock For most of us, transmitting power is an invisible part of modern life. You flick the switch and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Munro, Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Many students are returning to school this year face a renewed focus on grammar. Just before Christmas, the NSW curriculum was overhauled to include the “explicit teaching of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debra Dudek, Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University Universal Life is full of surprises – some pleasant and some painful – but there can be no surprises without expectations. We expect the sun to come up ...
News stories have honed in on the fact Wayne Brown and his staff were left off a ‘vital’ email distribution list on the night of the Auckland floods. But internal emails from the mayor’s chief of staff show he was getting regular briefings from officials.Internal council emails obtained by ...
In a reality shaped by climate crisis, how do you think and feel about the changed present – and the changing future – without spiralling into despair?In the midst of a flood there’s not much time to think about the future. But when the water recedes, the reality of ...
06 Feb The news today of the death of 75,000 chickens at an egg farm in Waikato is yet another outrageous and avoidable tragedy. “The fact that so many hens died in this fire in the Waikato is a testament to the systemic neglect and disregard ...
Lawmakers are being urged to bridge the legal and scientific divide over braided rivers. David Williams reports What is a river? More particularly, what is a braided river? An expert group known as The Land The Law Forgot is urging politicians considering the Natural and Built Environment Bill – one ...
Someone left the Swift out in the rain - insurance agents are overloaded with calls about flood-damaged vehicles It’s been a big week for testing the submarining abilities of the family station wagon. Thousands of cars around the upper North Island have been written off following the devastating floods of ...
The first of the air force's new Poseidon aircraft has landed in New Zealand. But is this the sort of workhorse the military needs? Our old heroes of the Air Force, the P-3 Orions, have retired after 56 years of service - and the first of the flash new Poseidon ...
Chris Hipkins’ first overseas trip as Prime Minister comes on relatively friendly territory. But while there have been marked improvements in the trans-Tasman relationship since a change in Canberra, there is still plenty to discuss, as Sam Sachdeva writes In many ways, it is fitting Chris Hipkins should make Australia the ...
Fiordland National Park is the crowning jewel of our national parks and arguably our greatest tourist magnet. But conservationists warn that marine life has been put at risk because the park’s waters are unprotected. Heidi Bendikson’s investigation shows they are right. Tourists on the 'M.V Sinbad' clamber to the bow to ...
As Auckland copes with unprecedented flooding, Mairi Jay points to lessons from extreme weather events in British Columbia that could be vitally important for policy-makers and administrators here “Expect extreme weather events” the climate scientists tell us. But sometimes the extreme is beyond our imagining. On Thursday January 26, New Zealand’s Met Service predicted ...
UK and US deals for NZ novels Three of the best New Zealand novels of recent years are about to be published in the UK and the US. All three books – She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall, Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, and The New Animals ...
Confidence from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell kept markets buoyant. But mortgage payments and job losses could dampen consumer spending in NZ ...
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RNZ News New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has described today’s Waitangi Day dawn service as moving and says he welcomes the shift away from a focus on politics. Hundreds of people gathered before dawn to commemorate 183 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed. Hipkins said the national ...
By Hilaire Bule, RNZ Pacific Vanuatu correspondent in Port Vila Vanuatu’s prime minister has stressed any future employment within the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat must be from MSG member countries. Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau, who is also chair of the MSG Secretariat, made the statement following the recruitment of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Yamin Kogoya On Friday 10 February 2023, it will be one month since the Papua Governor Lukas Enembe was “kidnapped” at a local restaurant during his lunch hour by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and security forces. The crisis began in September 2022, when Governor Enembe was ...
By Kālino Lātū, editor of Kaniva News Dr Sitiveni Halapua, former deputy leader of Tonga’s Democratic Movement, has died aged 74. Born on February 13, 1949, he was a respected academic, a pioneer of Tonga’s democratic reforms and pioneer of a conflict resolution system based on traditional practices. Halapua earned ...
COMMENTARY:By Richard Naidu in Suva Five weeks on from Christmas Eve, I think most of us are still a bit stunned at what has happened in Fiji. A new government came to power in dramatic circumstances. It took not one but two Sodelpa management board meetings to change it, ...
By Red Tsounga Another house done, and onto the next . . . Volunteers working in Mount Roskill community over the past few days helping those suffering from Auckland’s flash flood devastation have done us proud. Tremendous work by everybody. Here are some random photos of our volunteer teams on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Mick Tsikas/AAP Senator Lidia Thorpe announced on Monday that she would be leaving the Greens. Thorpe had split with the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis B. Desmond, Lecturer, Cyberintelligence and Cybercrime Investigations, University of the Sunshine Coast The news of a so-called “Chinese spy balloon” being shot down over the US has reignited interest in how nation-states spy on one another. It’s not confirmed that the ...
Today, at a Waitangi ki Waititi concert hosted by Te Whānau o Waipareira at Hoani Waititi Marae, West Auckland; Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp was officially announced as Te Pāti Māori Candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau for the 2023 Election. Hailing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Daniel Pockett/AAP Victorian Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe has defected from the Greens to sit on the crossbench, declaring she wants to fully represent the “Blak Sovereign Movement” in parliament. The announcement by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Daniel Pockett/AAP Victorian Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe has defected from the Greens to sit on the crossbench, declaring she wants to fully represent the “Blak Sovereign Movement” in parliament. The announcement by ...
Sure, Scotty Morrison’s Māori At Work is a wonderful resource for Aotearoa’s collective te reo Māori journey. But is it judgemental enough for the modern office environment?First published September 12 2019 The growing strength of te reo is palpable across Aotearoa, with record numbers of people participating in Mahuru ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Mills, Professor and Dean La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University Shutterstock It can be tough to access front-line health care outside the cities and suburbs. For the seven million Australians living in rural communities there are significant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University Chad Fish/AP Was the balloon that suddenly appeared over the US last week undertaking surveillance? Or was it engaging in research, as China has claimed? While the answers to these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The generative AI industry will be worth about A$22 trillion by 2030, according to the CSIRO. These systems – of which ChatGPT is currently the best known – can write ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Doug Drury, Professor/Head of Aviation, CQUniversity Australia Shutterstock When booking a flight, do you ever think about which seat will protect you the most in an emergency? Probably not. Most people book seats for comfort, such as leg room, ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has described this morning's Waitangi dawn service as moving and says he welcomes the shift away from a focus on politics. ...
Screenwriter Dana Leaming’s debut comedy series Not Even is out now on Prime and Neon. This is the out the gate story of how it got there.Kia ora, Hi, What up? Up to? U up? …I’m Dana. I wrote and co-directed (with Ainsley Gardiner) the TV show Not Even ...
I saw Key’s grey chariot land at Rongo Tai yesterday – nice wheels – but where was our flag on its tail ?
When will it be possible to have a full accounting of due process and public moneys spent on the Dish Rag project ?
The Herald has been doing some investigative digging, & they came up with this “The text to McCaw had previously been revealed by the Herald but the Prime Minister’s reaching out to both McCaw and Carter shows his incredible range of contacts.” Fawn & yawn.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11615542
Sadly the Herald is Nationals alter ego, the print version of Kiwiblog.
Nats wanted to change the flag, the Herald wanted it on the Harbour Bridge and campaigned for change. Nats want to soften drug laws despite their so-called toughness against any such outrage as recently as 2014, the Herald campaign on it, etc, etc.
They even quote the Taxpayer Union like its some kind of genuine objective organisation, rather than the reality of it being another of Nationals front companies.
Anyway the good it did Key and what does it say about those who went into bat for him. And how many “sports greats” told him to fuck off?
+1
The herald is nothing more than a national party newsletter masked as a news service acting as a conduit for dirty politics and the spin and bs that spews from govt ministers mouths.
As John Campbell would say “Bloody Marvellous!”
Glaxo Marvelously Upends TPP And TTIP With Change In IP Policies For Poor Countries
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/04/01/glaxo-marvelously-upends-tpp-and-ttip-with-change-in-ip-policies-for-poor-countries/#739c41c91a71
Also on BBC
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35933692
It would be great if the forward-thinking action of GlaxoSmithKline to provide a principled and effective proposal to alleviate the huge problems of inequality and health access could spread to more corporations. Win-win solutions are possible if the public good is allowed to be part of the equation.
Ratifying the TPP which entrenches the flawed IP system makes even less sense when the GlaxoSmithKline proposal is considered.
Well done GSK.
How many of you know that this giant pharmaceutical company was started in Bunnythorpe in the Manawatu back in the 1850s (?) making animal remedies.
“Obama’s ‘lame duck’ period best chance for US to ratify trade deal – John Key”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/78447392/obamas-lame-duck-period-best-chance-for-us-to-ratify-trade-deal–john-key
But, but, what if this happens, John?
“House Conservatives Are Trying To Kill The Lame-Duck Session”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-conservatives-lame-duck_us_56fad472e4b0143a9b49802f
Yep, used to drive by that old Bunnythorpe site.
amongst other things fibreglass panels for kit-cars were made there, too.
Unbelievable, this is a quote from President Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichmann:
maui – interesting quote, but it is posthumous – and is denied by Ehrlichmann’s family and others
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/22/11278760/war-on-drugs-racism-nixon
Ok, I probably don’t know the key players in this well enough, Baum, the writer who released this new quote or the ins and outs of Nixon’s government.
It is expected though that the children of Ehrlichmann would deny this horrible quote. If the quote is real and he really was bitter about Nixon, it seems strange to me that he would implicate himself so much by using the word “we”.
A very sensible approach to recreational drugs in sports from across the ditch.
Wonderful response from AFL boss when asked about zero tolerance.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/01/afl-boss-gillon-mclachlan-dismisses-insane-zero-tolerance-drug-zealots
David Cunliffe, Dita de Boni, Chris Trotter and Rachel Stewart wrap the political week in 30 mins on Waatea 5th Estate.
Thanks for that maui. Fascinating to hear opinions uncluttered by spindoctors. David Cunliffe was fluent and informed. Dita sharp and concise and Chris indepth as usual. Rachel Stewart for my first time and down to earth is she. Glad I watched it.
Have a lot of respect for Rachel Stewart.
If you missed this ianmac
Thanks Adam. Will watch out for more.
Big tick from me too. Thoroughly enjoyed watching this.
Once again maui , thanks for the link. I think Andrew Little is a good man, someone we need in Government, But David Cunliffe would make a great Prime Minister in this current type of Politics.
Shame the majority of the Labour caucus thought they knew better than the membership and decided to screw him over in 2014.
I’m finding it increasingly hard to understand their attitude, but without trying too cop more flack, their are a number still there that should stand aside or do what the other wreckers did and start their own party. eg: act, disunited etc.
Those people aren’t going to stand aside because outside of Parliament they have no other career or job to go back to.
And without the Labour brand name that they have hijacked for their own purposes, few voters would be in the least bit interested in their pale neoliberal politics.
TRUE. That is the achilles heal of an awful lot of humans. consciously or not.
Maybe if we give them a decent UBI they’ll finally go.
Just what do you think Cunliffe could do if he got the push?
He has basically been awarded a DCM in every job he has had.
I’m talking about the useless careerists in the caucus mate. Cunliffe, he’ll just go back to corporate consulting or something.
While I’ve slipped out too do some work alwyn, you have fill a vacuum, have you citations, links or are you prepared to confess to a lie and face the consequences.
I am lead to believe you are retired, that brain of yours lets you down. 👿
Plus 70pc of the electorate
+1
@ left for dead (5.3) Absolutely correct.
David Cunliffe is the best thing Labour has to lead the party and the country towards a progressive future. The lite blue ABC neo libs still infecting the party, are still pulling the strings. They know a much wiser and forceful Cunliffe would have a big cull of the deadwood pulling Labour down, this time if he got the leadership back and the thought scares the bejeezus out of them!
Wake up Labour and look what’s there in Cunliffe!
Totally agree about David Cunliffe! It was a good show on The Daily Blog on Friday!
Hardly balanced, basically a bunch of champaign socialist having a collective…….
Did you mean “champion socialist’s Red, how thoughful. 😉
Edit: as an after thought, is that what you mean by Reddelusion.
RED
Labour are still a lightweight version of National with no direction.
Oh don’t give us faux angst Reddelusion, fair and balanced is a Fox news line…
Hope it’s ok I post here as I thought it might be of interest. Is held tomorrow at Victoria University @1pm and I would assume it’s free.
http://www.rentersunited.org.nz/agenda/
First speaker is Andrew Campbell (Greens) discussing political lobbying.
Ugh. I can hear it already…”Nobody forced them to take that loan….”
Won’t be long before it happens here.
Senior citizens who failed to pay off their student loans are having their Social Security seized. One of these is an 80 year old who due to dementia can no longer read. She took out her loan in the 1980s.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13326222/1/your-social-security-will-be-seized-if-you-owe-student-loans.html
Pretty ghastly for those in their 70s – 80s.
The length of time between school finishing and retirement means that older people are really dealing with life with the equivalent of an intermediate school level compared to today’s knowledge. We are supposed to be perfectly informed in an individualistic neo liberal-run society. Every over 50year old should be given free tertiary education to ensure understanding. But that wouldn’t suit gummint, they don’t want understanding from the citizens.
And the chirpy PR spreaders in the 1980s and 1990s saying that in this modern fast changing world we might have four careers in our lifetime, and those who were able to adapt would be all right. Oh yeah? The jobs have diminished, extra training has to be paid for, and gummint help is thin and when you grasp it, it breaks and you fall between the cracks. Don’t believe any of them who talk positively about the future, they are either liars, or self-deceivers, neither of whom are authentic people fit to advise anybody.
Some libertarian was trying to argue here the other day that benefits in NZ aren’t entitlements.
That’s because anarco-capitalists are essentially stupid weka.
They have given up critical thinking, and have rejected even their god father, Adam Smith. I think it has dawned on some of them, Adam Smith was very critical of parasitic capitalism, the only type they seem to understand.
Actually in discussions with most of them you get the impression they have never read any of the classical economic theorists, or at the very least, never finished any of the works.
They rely on bullying, diversion and a unnerving belief they are right – to push an agenda of stupid.
They are religious zealots.
I’d be inclined to say cultists – their metaphysics is mighty primitive.
Ok but you realise I’ve not read any classical economics either 🙂
As you don’t espouse economic purity, I never assumed you had.
That said, I also thought you had a reasonable grasp of economics, and when you don’t know something you ask. Which is always, always a sign of an open mind.
Cheers adam. Tbh I don’t know what that guy the other day was. Libertarian seemed the best easy label.
Ok but you realise I’ve not read any classical economics either 🙂
Neither has Adam.
So alwyn what is a market?
Oh dear. You really are starting at a very low level aren’t you?
Why don’t you tell me what, if anything, about Economics you do think you understand and I’ll give you a short reading list.
I knew you were struggling but I didn’t realise that you were quite so deficient in your understanding of the field.
I have. Smith, Ricardo and a few others would be disgusted by how capitalism has turned out. All of them would recognise the feudalism that it is.
The nutbars still don’t understand that Theory of Moral Sentiments was (and is) much more important to a prosperous society than Wealth of Nations.
Interesting that the US geological society now recognise Fracking as a basis of man made earthquakes.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/225753-united-states-geological-survey-confirms-it-fracking-causes-earthquake
A link to the research if you need it, it is a lot. Also a complex web site, be warned.
http://www.usgs.gov/
This end us leaving me with more questions than answers.
Was/is there not Fracking happening up and down this country?
What does that mean for our future, if Fracking earthquakes are going to keep happening?
What does it mean when we already prone to earthquakes?
And what would it mean for insurance claims and the EQC?
Would the companies who do/did this practice be liable?
What about ministers and local governments who still let this to happen?
Is anyone responsible for deaths and injuries when a man made earthquake occurs?
Well adam we will just have to try and bring our skills doing the best with what we have and know, and be like these clever musicians chugging along and try to have a laugh and keep our spirits up while we work.
Loved the music and that clever tractor keeping in time with the guitars.
Thanx ianmac. Yes very good isn’t it and they are enjoying themselves too. I think it is essential when times are grim to take a moment for pure enjoyment or humour.
Gas drilling can also cause earthquakes just like fracking. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/10/shell-exxon-gas-drilling-sets-off-earthquakes-wrecks-homes
A rather lengthy but interesting transcript of an interview with Yanis Varoufakis, by Jeremy Cliffe, for The Economist: http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2016/04/01/interview-with-the-economist-full-transcript/
A few gems from it:
On Germany’s establishment left: They sold themselves to Mephisto, and then at some point even he didn’t care for them.
On current politics more generally: Politics attracts the least well-meaning and least talented people because the political sphere has been devalued.
On the need for basic incomes: But we, the Left, must not be fearful. I gave a talk some time ago in the United States and said: yes, surfers in California must be fed by the rest of us. We may not like that, we may feel they are bums, but they deserve a basic income too.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/01/central-banks-unconventional-monetary-policy
meanwhile out in the wider world…..
That’s not the wider world – that’s the financialised world. Where central banks are a tool of the financial elite used to bail out big banks, inflate the asset portfolio value of capitalists, and give free money to billionaire speculators.
As for everyone else suffering from austerity imposed from above – they can eat cake.
Yep, still trying to make the present failed system work rather than accept the simple fact that it doesn’t and put in place another system.
You mean parasitic capitalism is a abject failure, and no one wants to talk about the fact capitalism has eaten itself.
Where are the factories, fields and workers? Where is the great capitalist investments in anything real?
Capitalism is always parasitic. That’s the big lesson that we should be learning from 5000 years of recorded history. It should be no surprise that the two main religions that came out of the birth place of Western Civilisation have bans on usury.
Capitalism is inherently usurious.
Inequality in New Zealand will get worse if the government follows United States policies, film maker Michael Moore says.
In his latest documentary Where to Invade Next, Moore compares social welfare and justice policies in Europe with the United States.
He told Saturday Morning that New Zealand should learn from mistakes in the US.
“Your government over the past decade or two has often tried to emulate the American way with neo-liberal policies that are not in the best interests of the people of New Zealand and you need to take a look at what those policies have done in the US.
“I would not try to emulate us in this way because you will have more income inequality – you already do, but it can be worse and you want to stop that.
“You want to preserve the good things you’ve had over the years, the belief system that you have, the values what you have and not allow conservative politicians to manipulate people into believing it we would be so much better if we did things the way the Americans did it.”
Moore visited Finland, Italy, France, and Portugal to look at those countries’ ways of dealing with social and economic problems experienced in the United States.
He said Americans were oblivious to what life was like elsewhere.
“They don’t know what it would be like if we paid just a little bit more in taxes, how many more services we would have, how much easier it would be to go to university, how there would be day care, how if they got pregnant you actually get to take a few weeks off – how about a few months – Americans don’t know you get these things in these other countries and so it’s been a very big eye opener for people in this country.”
His first film in six years, Where To Invade Next, will screen at the New Zealand Film Festival Autumn Events programme in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, during April and May.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201795481
Thanks for the warning, will make sure to avoid
You’re good at avoid any meaningful debate reddelusion, so no real need to comment on your part.
Yes, you can’t let facts get in else you might have to change your beliefs.
Saint Helen, keeps fighting the good fight.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/helen-kelly-why-take-illegal-dose-marijuana-every-night
Interesting discussion over on Public Address where Rob Salmond takes Hooton to task over his NBR column on UBR, and Hooton responds point by point.
Hooton points out the little know fact that Lockwood Smith spent 7 years working on a policy vaguely like UBI, but didn’t publish because it was feared that it would be thought to be National Policy, and it wasn’t. Irony?
“Lockwood, “Not many would know that I put 7 years’ work into a project to redevelop New Zealand’s income tax, benefit, and tax credit systems. The work started on trying to find a way round the massive churning involved in employers deducting PAYE, only for the Government to pay it all back to some employees in family tax credits. My research unravelling that interface soon got into the challenging area of effective marginal tax rates. At the time, a single parent with three dependent children seeking to work their way off the domestic purposes benefit and trying to get from $10,000 of earned income a year to $25,000 would have had to work an extra 20 hours a week at, say, $15 an hour. The problem was the effective tax on that extra $15,000 of earned income was about $13,300, meaning that even though the parent was paid $15 an hour, their take-home pay would have been little over $1.50 an hour….”
“….to prepare a paper for it to publish. At the last minute it was pulled, for fear it might be seen as official National Party policy, and it was not. ”
About 3/4 way down:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/debates/debates/50HansD_20130213_00000032/valedictory-statements
And Public Address:
http://publicaddress.net/polity/eleventy-billion-dollars/
Salmond nailed it. I saw a bit of Hooton’s spin, but basically they need to get over themselves. They’re naysaying because it’s an opportunity to bash Labour and because a UBI would help poor people and they can’t tolerate the idea. Fuck em, we should just carry on with the discussion and name the lies and the liars as they appear.
Prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault keeps name suppression
A prominent New Zealander facing indecent assault charges will keep the name suppression protecting his identity until the end of his trial.
The trial is due to begin on Monday. The man has denied the charges against him.
There are heavy suppression orders over the case, meaning the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
The man is facing 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11615353
What’s a Representative charge?
When several instances of the same type of offence are alleged they can be replaced with a representative charge.
thanks.
Does anyone know how long the trial is expected to last?
does anyone know WHERE the trial is being held ?
Any bets the trial of the prominent NZer, and/or its appeals, will be dragged out until after the next election?
As a moderator I’m going to ask everyone to consider very carefully whether their contribution on this topic is useful, or even necessary.
I do not want The Standard to hash over this for the prurient joy of it.
There is reason to consider discussion around wider concerns of name suppression, but for the time being I would advise all regular commenters to have a long hard think before adding more to this.
Someone may have already supplied this link from today’s The Nation, but it’s one of the best local interviews I have seen in recent years:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/tvshows/thenation/turei-key-misled-public-over-jihadi-brides-2016040210#axzz44YMlTnJx
Meteria Turei plainly calls Key a liar.
Here’s a better link without the ad plus a good write up:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/greens-slam-pm-for-lying-about-jihadi-brides-2016040211#axzz44YMlTnJx
Where they left from is the most important point. While nothing can be claimed for certain – because all the facts have not been made available – the balance of probability is they were radicalised in Australia. If that was the case then it is an Aussie problem. We don’t even know if they were ‘radicalised’ but left for a different purpose.
Good on her. He is.
Any bets that the trial of the prominent NZer, or at least its appeals, will drag on, under suppression, until after the next election?
The above comment did not post at first for some reason so I did it again as a reply a bit farther up. Please delete if this is annoying (it is a bit, to me).
Brian Eno’s suggestion – Start cooking, recipe to follow.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXVoMMaa14I
Yanis Varoufakis follows suggesting that all of Greece’s debt is to German banks not to the state of Germany. It is the banks that have taken the risk, they need to accept the full effect of business practice and lose some money.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjrjO0d7fvI
water. who really needs it?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/77868433/Christchurchs-streams-are-dying-city-wide
Bella Caledonia has an article up about the Yes campaign that took place in 2014.
(Full Report here
Might be of interest to those who want to see a grassroots campaign here in NZ.