Anti-nationalism has gone too far, selling out NZ just for the beating the chest moment. Oh, look how powerful we are, we can sell assets, hand profit streams to foreigners, stuff up and still make a living (please ignore the stats on growing poverty, skilled exodus, aging, jail pop., etc).
It must be so wonderful be a right winger knowing that they are stronger because NZ is weaker.
Just thinking logically here, if you buy this asset you expect a return so as to recoup your investment. Over time you end up owning it outright and taking a return. So if the asset was used for colllateral to a loan for Chch, and the profits used to pay off the loan by the people of Christchurch, they could have the money plus retain ownership. Why sell?
“When a child is afraid in her own home, have you ever wanted to help?
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Being a Guardian Angel means giving $30 or more each month to help families like Sophie’s through the services of Presbyterian Support Family Works. It is just a dollar a day.
For over 120 years Presbyterian Support has been caring for New Zealanders in need. We keep a low profile, so most people do not realise we are the largest provider of social services outside government.
Family Works is our way of helping families with children under 17, through services like counselling, social work, parenting support and family violence programmes.
We help children and families under enormous pressure. You can help them too by filling in the form right now and becoming a Guardian Angel today.
What’s more, all your Guardian Angel gifts will go to help children and families in your part of the country, through the Family Works staff in your region.
This appeal is urgent, because many families are forced to wait for the help they desperately need today.”
I’ve heard of leaving things to the private sector because they’re supposedly more efficient but this is beyond the pale Paula ‘hate the benes’ Bennett. Presbyterian Support has to come to the rescue of children in this country which should be CYFS’s job under your leadership – wow, sponsor to protect a child for just $1 per day – as per CV: hand me a Tui.
If CYFS and WINZ are in such bad shape before the Budget I can’t wait to view the results of NACT’s surgical ward rounds on the 19th.
Nice one Paula, make beneficiaries crawl by reducing access to much needed food grants and now leave children to the mercy of violence in the home because a non-state organisation feels it cannot ignore the yawning chasm in provision of services to counselling, social work, parenting support and family violence programmes.
Hang your head in shame you gutless, attention-seeking worm.
All the cutesy, apron-clad visits to food kitchens to do the crocodile teary Kodak moments cannot disguise that you’re completely useless at your job, couldn’t give a toss about anyone because people’s personal details can be splashed across the papers if the mood takes you and are a complete sell-out so that you get a nice pat on the head from your dear leader Key – fuck, what do you get if you roll over and let him scratch your stomach?
You hear of how a scientist, mathematician, musician, comes from a family of, even extended family of like minded individuals. That the family acts as a sponge for information that then discharges into the next generation. And what of that information, why are the facts, reasoning about those facts, the experiences of others who have learnt those facts so useful to society? Yet so hard to maintain, so hard to recreate from nothing. Why are Maori so left out of the way a Pakeha world works? Are the traditions in some successful Pakeha families hard to grow in Maori families and extended families? How is information maintained? By society rewarding their use, by society valuing the virtue of deep knowledge. Is there a linkage then between Maori poverty and skilled citizen flight to other world economies? That something in the kiwi shouting culture hates a smart arse? Is just jealous of learning, fearful even, of other families having wealth besides monetary considerations? That surface poverty, not keeping up with the neighbours outward display of conformity isn’t just loathing rich pricks, but also smart ones too? Do kiwis just love to knock? Is that why our economy sucks, and sucking more every month? Five cars torched, a scene more of LA, why? Were the cars targeted because they are too noisy? My street could do with a visit. Or is it 100% pure random nastiness. Maybe a gang moving in, dragging the neighbourhood down to buy up homes on the cheap. Gangs who put the homes in their girlfriends name and then hand them a noisy car to insure the street becomes a nightmare for any old people living there. Do we have laws against age discrimination? Why are our cars now so much a part of our kiwi culture? Sorry, woken again by the death cries of a car culture passing peak oil. Why are we kiwis so mindless? Is that what we are rewarded for because we don’t reward real intellect? Not that I would know anything about that, word bro.
“New ACT leader Don Brash has rejected claims by Hone Harawira that he is a racist, and has in turn attacked Mr Harawira for seeking preference for Maori based on race.
“I find that grossly offensive. I think being called racist is almost the worst kind of insult,” Dr Brash said. “To me a racist is someone who wants to discriminate against particular people. Well, my concern is that the Maori Party actually wants to create a privileged group of New Zealanders. ”
– um, Don, you just attacked Harawira’s former party and your current governing partner.
No Bored. He is not. He’s a sharp crafty dangerous man. We should not be conned into thinking he ‘s just an old buffoon . This revival of the far Right may and could mean disaster for the working people of Aotearoa . And the underpriviledged will disappear into the forgotten and don’t care poor.
In which he says that FPP isn’t the go because it doesn’t feel quite right in his view that a party could get 21 % of the vote and only get 2 seats. He doesn’t like mmp though, for reasons unexplained.
He likes the Supplementary system because it lets small parties have some token representation, and more importantly, lists allow the great and good like himself to enter parliament without having to bother with demeaning things like candidate selection panels. For reals. That’s what he reckons.
This is a man who seems to accept that we should look like a democracy, but that democracy itself is a bit of a hindrance.
Looking at that description of supplementary member, I think I prefer MMP.
But I also wouldn’t be wholly opposed to SM if it retained the current 70/50 split we have with MMP. 90/30 just puts way too much power in the FPP system for electorates. Unless that two was also changed to STV voting, to greatly increase the chances of minor parties winning electorate seats.
The electorate seats should be STV voting no matter what system you use. I still prefer MMP, SM looks like an attempt by the right to gerrymander the voting in their favour.
Maybe they need to make retirement compulsory at 70. And anyone in power is tested every year from 65 for senility or dementia.
Even the Americans with all their paranoia and insanity don’t let anyone hold the ultimate reins for more than 2 terms. And then their power is very limited.
And if you want to see what grumpy old men can do look at the OLD Russia!!
I have wondered too just how much longer the Maori can kow-tow to Brash and his mates Co/Viper . The adulation expressed by Turia towards Brash makes me cringe.She has completely forgot that Key was involved with Brash regarding Kiwi/Iwi . If the Maori party does not withdraw their support now that Brash is back it only shows their double standards, and that the baubles of office are much more important that justice for Maori.
We now have 3 supposedly rising politicians, that have publicly stated something about peak oil
John Banks – reading ‘The Oil Crash and You’ on his talk back show in 2002 (ish) http://oilcrash.com/articles/running.htm
Don Brash “But the real issue last week was about bio-diesel and the world running out of fossil fuels. That was the point of the photo op, and I went there to make that point, it is the world walking the plank frankly, not Don Brash…” http://oilcrash.com/articles/natnl_01.htm
And Hone calling for a cross party group to discuss peak oil and climate change. http://thestandard.org.nz/the-knife-edge/
Oh and all the above are thanks my fucking efforts … again I told you and them so )
And just to spice up our borring lives
Unit 3 Explosion May Have Been Prompt Criticality in Fuel Pool
With any luck Key will be flying through all this stuff, I just hope he stops off in Hawaii on his way home … breath deep John [I won’t delete it, but that last comment is perilously close to Kiwiblog territory. Please don’t go there. — r0b]
How many teachers does a $500,000 by-election cost months out from an election? A casual 13 or so, better let Hone know…
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike as only being tangentially related to the topic.
You’re also banned for 2 weeks for starting a diversion troll off the topic in a post. ]
Don’t excuse it as an act of democracy, its political posturing. He could easily ascertain the mandate of his electorate with polling and constituent meetings that neednt cost nearly as much.
Don’t excuse it as an act of democracy, its political posturing.
Who are you to say, Jared? He’s operating within the rules of Parliament and following clear precedent. The only ones trying to beat it up as an issue are those who are doing their own political posturing eh.
NZ needs more of a number of skilled professions.
No question there.
But in perspective, a career in teaching starts with the 3 year Bachelors, and the year in a classroom before you can be qualified. So in reality, we are only seeing the outcome of policies surrounding improving the rates of teachers getting qualified from 3-5 years ago.
If you want to get really picky, then wasteful and pandering to your supporters isn’t purely a concept of the right, interest free student loans have cost the nation dearly, and if Labour had actually followed through with their universal student allowance we would have really been in trouble.
And if you want to get really really really picky, at the moment there is a sincere glut of recent teaching graduates who are finding it difficult to land jobs. There is a lack of experienced teachers, not beginning teachers.
The lack of teachers has been the 9 year boggie man, at least for the last 18 years, I distinctly remember Labour bitching about the lack of teachers after 9 years of National, then …. 9 years later National was bitching about the lack of teachers after Labour had been in.
But the people are so fucking stupid, they eat this shit … then the idiots go out and vote? go figure ???
It is Tweedledum and Tweedledummer, every politician since maybe MJS (?) have been selfish self serving lairs. They haven’t got a decent bone in their collective bodies.
Lets see just one of the slack sos stand up and tell the truth about Kiwi Saver.
Come on Ben you’re lurking around this blog
And Jarad is right, lets see if 4 years after the last election there is a rush of new teachers, thanks to National’s teacher drive to fell last elections ‘bitches’
I mean, they have made the profession so appealing.
And now the TV is dribbling the Benlarden BS again.
Is their no end to humans stupidity or gullibility? ….. no, and that is what politicians live for.
May 2, 2011: Bad News for listeners to “The Panel”
Many people have been concerned about the increasing dominance of Jim Mora’s programme by ideologues from the hard right (Michelle Boag, John Barnett, John Bishop, David Farrar, Stephen Franks) or even worse, by the complacent, the dithery and the ill-informed (Peter Elliott, Gary McCormick, Neil Miller, Tim Watkin).
Today’s guests on The Panel are Dr. Michael Bassett and Law Society head Jonathan Krebs. Bassett, who is notorious for his indiscriminate hurling of invective, a couple of years ago on The Panel called Nicky Hager a holocaust-denier (Mora sat silently and did not even demur). Krebs became a laughing-stock when he went ballistic about the not guilty verdict for the Waihopai Three, nearly blowing a gasket on live radio.
So, all things considered, today’s Panel should be interesting and informed. Not.
Well, yes, but Hone has been somewhat upstaged by events in Pakistan. It’s carnival time in the Panel studio, with only Jonathan Krebs spoiling the mood a little by noting that this was an assassination, with no legal justification. Bassett’s response was a contemptuous guffaw.
Bassett then went on to ask why, if the U.S. is “intervening for humanitarian reasons” in Libya, it is not “doing something about Mugabe”. Mora, for his part, suggested they should “go into” Syria.
No one suggested the obvious: why don’t they “go into” the most brutal and flagrant human rights in the area: Israel?
It’s carnival time in the Panel studio, with only Jonathan Krebs spoiling the mood a little by noting that this was an assassination, with no legal justification. Bassett’s response was a contemptuous guffaw.
Bassett then went on to ask why, if the U.S. is “intervening for humanitarian reasons” in Libya, it is not “doing something about Mugabe”. Mora, for his part, suggested they should “go into” Syria.
No one suggested the obvious: why don’t they “go into” the most brutal and flagrant human rights in the area: Israel?
Quoto al 100% Morrissey! You are completely correct. On Campbell Live, the festival of rejoicing continues.. Is there no analysis to be had? Noooooooo… Let’s take it all at face value. Grr..
The programs panel and presenters then gushed platitudes about decrepit old Don Brash and generally put the boot into Phil in yet another attempt to discredit the Labour Party. The biased opinions and lack of firing neurons have ensured their ratings have fallen to an all time low of only 53,000 viewers. Clearly not enough to justify the continued funding of such a shit program.
Sean Plunket is another National Party champion who is showing his true colours on TV3. On Saturday, he grilled Phil Goff not about current policies, but about internal Labour Party machinations in 1996.
And I note that Plunket has failed to respond to the British activist George Galloway, who publicly called out Plunket on some ignorant things he said last year….
It’s still a big worry Morrissey . Even Labour Party followers are begining to believe it.
However this morning I attended meeting where the speaker was Rev Linsay Cumberpatch a well known human rights advocate . The Rev Cumberpatch was full of praise for Phil Goff .In fact he was at a loss to understand the negative comments regarding Phil Goff.
I must say I agree with this statement . I have observed Phil for sometime and have always been very impressed at his handling of policy .
Renting? Is your landlord gang connected? Provide gushing references, financial information, and let a landlord representative visit the property to check its in good order? So why aren’t you provided with the same curtsey? Who is your landlord, do they have gang connections, are rental properties more likely to be burgled? Which landlords have a track record for poorly secured premises? Why don’t landlords have to cover contents insurance and so give tenants some confidence that landlords are on the up and up? Where did you think gangs put their laundered drug profits?
I wouldn’t worry about it too much – ZeeBop has a bee in his bonnet at the moment about gangs for some reason…
I imagine that land-gang-lords would have the same desire as a normal landlord ie for tenants that were reliable in paying, not likely to cause damage and not likely to move out because they have been burgled.
Re-letting is expensive and finding good tenants hard – why rob your own place when you can rob the place next door and you don’t have to go though the hassle? Plus you will have to fix doors/ windows etc unless you want it looking like an obvious inside job…
A discreet diplomatic lunch, a free trip to Washington and assurance of “assistance” from the US Embassy in Wellington have been used to blunt the Green Party’s “radical positions on many issues”, a leaked American diplomatic cable reveals.
The Americans seduced Green co-leaders Metiria Turei and Russel Norman, the latter with a free trip to Washington, and managed, over a lunch, to get a commitment from list MP Kennedy Graham “to turn (to the embassy) for any assistance he may need in the future.”
The cables show the views & interpretations of the US diplomats who wrote the cables.
The 2006 murders of infant twins Chris and Cru Kahui drew a cable for McCormick, saying it “highlighted the growing problem of welfare dependency, drug and alcohol addiction and child neglect within the Maori community”.
He said the Kahui family had hid “behind a traditional Maori grieving custom” to stonewall police investigations.
McCormick noted Maori Party leader Pita Sharples expressed “open indignation at the actions of the Kahui family and his efforts to address social problems within Maori have broadened his political appeal.”
They seem pretty wide of the mark on some NZ issues, and who knows, The Greens, Graham etc, may just have taken the free lunch & visit, smiled politely and made fiendly noises, without really shifting their political views, or subsequently turning to the US Embassy for help..
Yeah I noticed Stuff’s “Green party” headline. While interesting, to my minf the real oil (about Pharmac & copyright treaties) was buried way down the article. MSM spin – blatant as ever.
In 2004, US Ambassador Charles Swindells said the embassy was “attempting to make inroads against a government mindset that is hostile to the drug industry” and tried to “educate New Zealanders on the benefits of gaining access to a wider range of effective pharmaceuticals.”
The embassy noted an unexpected side effect from Pharmac, which it said denied cutting-edge drugs to New Zealanders: “Ironically, New Zealand presents a small but optimal environment for clinical trials of pharmaceuticals because of its population’s lack of exposure to newer medicines”.
Because Pharmac so doesn’t review teh literature on the efficiency of new drugs in order to see if the price tag is actually worth it compared to older, already known to work + extent of side effect drugs. And neither does the drug industry engage in unethical marketing, nor fail to disclose fully the side effects of new drugs.
Because Pharmac so doesn’t review teh literature on the efficiency of new drugs in order to see if the price tag is actually worth it compared to older, already known to work + extent of side effect drugs
As much as I appreciate Pharmac’s ability to source drugs at good prices, I’m not so keen on their evaluation methods for the new drugs. The appear to do a cost-benefit analysis in terms of cost to the health system vs benefits to the health system, rather than including benefits to the patient’s quality of life e.g. in terms of the ability to hold down a job or perform other societal functions normally.
“Useful idiot” Kathryn Ryan is easy meat for Matthew Hooton
A few minutes ago I heard Matthew “Machiavelli” Hooton try it on with Nine to Noon host Kathryn Ryan—and he got away with it. He said that lawyer Annette Sykes, a Mana Party candidate, “celebrated the 9/11 attacks.” That’s a lie, and Hooton was obviously trying to see just how far he could push Ryan. Her befuddled silence must have heartened him enormously.
Clearly Hooton’s key strategy is the tried and true National Party one of just telling lies, and seeing how long they can get away with it.
Trying to implant the notion that the new Mana party is “extremist”, Hooton is evidently going to stop at nothing. As long as he can get away with bamboozling useful idiots like Kathryn Ryan, it is quite effective.
Depressed and disappointed, I sent Ms. Ryan the following e-mail…
Why did you not challenge Matthew Hooton’s wild allegation?
Dear Kathryn,
You sat silently as Matthew Hooton, a notorious liar, smeared Annette Sykes by saying that she “celebrated the 9/11 attacks.”
Did you not think of asking him to back up his outlandish allegation?
“Are you comfortable with someone like Annette Sykes being so involved, I mean remember what she said around the time of 9/11 where she laughed and effectively applauded and clapped when those planes went into the towers on 9/11? I mean are you comfortable being a party in parliament having someone like that there?”
“When I first saw the planes fly into the towers I jumped for joy, I was so happy that at long last capitalism was under attack. Until, it suddenly dawned on me, what about all those poor pizza delivery boys, those poor firemen, those poor policemen, those poor lift-operators, all those poor cleaners, all those other poor workers who are forced to work for and were trying to save those greedy and horrible capitalists!? My heart and head was so confused – happy that some capitalists had been killed and very, very sad for all those who had died while working for them.”
It sounds bogus to me, no matter what you think of her politics I don’t think she’s thick enough to say something like that on the public record.
Your “information” comes from the looniest reaches of the far right blogosphere. The words you quote were “transcribed by a member of that audience”—i.e. they were made up.
A report of the comments was tabled in Parliament by New Zealand First MP Ron Mark in 2002, and they have been referred to since in parliamentary debate and in the media. I can’t find any evidence of her ever having denied making the statements – which you think you would if you had been accused in parliament of jumping for joy over the murder of several thousand people.
No update yet from various right wing lunatics who claimed he was dead years ago.
When the Hollow men came out, Hooten was fairly clear that he didn’t approve of the deliberate race baiting approach chosen by National; even though he went along with it and kept quiet.
It is a very rare thing in life to get a second chance to do the right thing.
OBL is just a scapegoat, we all know 911 was an inside job. It’s been proven by sciencey. And if he’d been wearing a tin foil burqa like me, the CIA would never have found him.
You may think you’re being funny, VoR, but it’s true.. the official 9/11 story stinks on ice. Further, OBL has probably been dead since at least 2002, like it or not!
And deep in the darkest recesses of the Beehive National Party Staffers are busily making lists of bad news to be released publicly under the extraordinary cover that will be provided by news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.
Any thoughts for the approximately 1500 US troops and the countless civilian dead in Afghanistan to avenge the 3000 or so westerners killed on 11/9/2001.
So you believe in a state of “Hell” then joe.
Suggests you are a god fearing individual.
May come as a surprise to you but there are three groups of followers of this god.
Your type of language doesn’t bode well for the hopes of peace and reconciliation amongst the three.
Oh the wonderful, measured words of that very learned man that is Michael Bassett.
Former Labour MP for Te Atatu, and cabinet minister and now expert on things NZ.
Sadly now occupying time on Mora’s Afternoon on RNZ. He tries so hard to sound reasonable but then drops his guard and we get the bigot and the nasty little ACT apologist coming through.
Apparently Campbell Live has a ‘special’ report from Paul Henry at Times Square in New York. I have thought TV3 news was going down the tubes in spectacular fashion for awhile, particularly with that nasty toad Duncan Garner spinning for the Nat-Act twats, but Paul fricking Henry? This is the last goddamn straw. I am never watching TV3 news again.
Hmmm, wikileaks cables show just how much the US government, with scant regard for NZ sovereignty, was pushing the NZ government to adopt the internet/digital copyright laws, 3 strikes etc:
The cables are from 2005 & through to the NAct term in government.
And in 2005, there was a detailed break down of the costs of implementing the law, with the US offering a financial bribe for it to the NZ government Drew Wilson, in the above linked article pon the cables, says:
A diplomatic cable that was sent clear back in 2005 shows that the US was offering up money to put in new copyright laws. The cable was very detailed about the budget cost at the time…
Wilson ends the article by saying:
Overall, I think it is infuriating the way the US has conducted themselves on copyright on the international stage. In New Zealand, they are even pushing the country to implement laws even the US wouldn’t dare pass themselves because of it’s over-restrictiveness.
…
I’ll be blunt on this matter. If the US waltzes in to your country and demands the country implement a three strikes law, do yourselves a favour, grow a spine and tell the US to “[insert adjective here] off”.
On Capitol Hill they call them lobbyists, unelected pressure groups.
Not a lot different, it would seem, is about to be manifested in the Beehive.
Did the Prime Minister tell the gathered press today that he was expecting
a visit from Dr Brash to discuss how the ACT party is to be considered in
government? WTF? How far away is this from the Knights of the Round Table
having a regular formal audience?
In the Herald: “Kurariki was convicted of manslaughter in 2002 for his role as a lookout in the killing of pizza delivery man Michael Choy. Kurariki, who was 12 at the time, was released from jail in 2008.”
Well. Convicted of manslaughter as the lookout? But the Herald and other MSM have repeatedly named him as “NZ’s youngest killer.” And how well do we know the others who actually did the killing?
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Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the deal with China “complements, not replaces” the relationship with New Zealand after signing it yesterday. Brown said “The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030” provides a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
In its eagerness to appease supporters of Israel, the media is happy to ride roughshod over due process and basic rights. It’s damaging Australia’s (and New Zealand’s?) democracy.COMMENTARY:By Bernard Keane Two moments stand out so far from the Federal Court hearings relating to Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking by the ...
“The reality is we’re getting poorer. The government this year is leaning heavy on chasing economic growth, which is absolutely the right thing to do.” ...
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 The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Granta, $28) Han Kang’s astounding novel was based on an ...
This new docuseries about two single comedians looking for love is also a joyful celebration of female friendship. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. “How many people do you think are boning right now?” Kura Forrester asks Brynley Stent as the bright ...
Anti-nationalism has gone too far, selling out NZ just for the beating the chest moment. Oh, look how powerful we are, we can sell assets, hand profit streams to foreigners, stuff up and still make a living (please ignore the stats on growing poverty, skilled exodus, aging, jail pop., etc).
It must be so wonderful be a right winger knowing that they are stronger because NZ is weaker.
The bastards are at it again, any opportunity….asset sales.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4948667/Chch-door-open-for-asset-sales
Just thinking logically here, if you buy this asset you expect a return so as to recoup your investment. Over time you end up owning it outright and taking a return. So if the asset was used for colllateral to a loan for Chch, and the profits used to pay off the loan by the people of Christchurch, they could have the money plus retain ownership. Why sell?
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What’s more, all your Guardian Angel gifts will go to help children and families in your part of the country, through the Family Works staff in your region.
This appeal is urgent, because many families are forced to wait for the help they desperately need today.”
I’ve heard of leaving things to the private sector because they’re supposedly more efficient but this is beyond the pale Paula ‘hate the benes’ Bennett. Presbyterian Support has to come to the rescue of children in this country which should be CYFS’s job under your leadership – wow, sponsor to protect a child for just $1 per day – as per CV: hand me a Tui.
If CYFS and WINZ are in such bad shape before the Budget I can’t wait to view the results of NACT’s surgical ward rounds on the 19th.
Nice one Paula, make beneficiaries crawl by reducing access to much needed food grants and now leave children to the mercy of violence in the home because a non-state organisation feels it cannot ignore the yawning chasm in provision of services to counselling, social work, parenting support and family violence programmes.
Hang your head in shame you gutless, attention-seeking worm.
All the cutesy, apron-clad visits to food kitchens to do the crocodile teary Kodak moments cannot disguise that you’re completely useless at your job, couldn’t give a toss about anyone because people’s personal details can be splashed across the papers if the mood takes you and are a complete sell-out so that you get a nice pat on the head from your dear leader Key – fuck, what do you get if you roll over and let him scratch your stomach?
http://www.angel.org.nz/
fuck, what do you get if you roll over and let him scratch your stomach?
Ask Jeanette Fitzsimons, she was Helen’s tickle me Elmo doll
Mission Australia
Arkansas Faith and Families Foundation
Big Society
And now with our very own Angel I can see where this is going…….
You hear of how a scientist, mathematician, musician, comes from a family of, even extended family of like minded individuals. That the family acts as a sponge for information that then discharges into the next generation. And what of that information, why are the facts, reasoning about those facts, the experiences of others who have learnt those facts so useful to society? Yet so hard to maintain, so hard to recreate from nothing. Why are Maori so left out of the way a Pakeha world works? Are the traditions in some successful Pakeha families hard to grow in Maori families and extended families? How is information maintained? By society rewarding their use, by society valuing the virtue of deep knowledge. Is there a linkage then between Maori poverty and skilled citizen flight to other world economies? That something in the kiwi shouting culture hates a smart arse? Is just jealous of learning, fearful even, of other families having wealth besides monetary considerations? That surface poverty, not keeping up with the neighbours outward display of conformity isn’t just loathing rich pricks, but also smart ones too? Do kiwis just love to knock? Is that why our economy sucks, and sucking more every month? Five cars torched, a scene more of LA, why? Were the cars targeted because they are too noisy? My street could do with a visit. Or is it 100% pure random nastiness. Maybe a gang moving in, dragging the neighbourhood down to buy up homes on the cheap. Gangs who put the homes in their girlfriends name and then hand them a noisy car to insure the street becomes a nightmare for any old people living there. Do we have laws against age discrimination? Why are our cars now so much a part of our kiwi culture? Sorry, woken again by the death cries of a car culture passing peak oil. Why are we kiwis so mindless? Is that what we are rewarded for because we don’t reward real intellect? Not that I would know anything about that, word bro.
Don Brash: confused old man
“New ACT leader Don Brash has rejected claims by Hone Harawira that he is a racist, and has in turn attacked Mr Harawira for seeking preference for Maori based on race.
“I find that grossly offensive. I think being called racist is almost the worst kind of insult,” Dr Brash said. “To me a racist is someone who wants to discriminate against particular people. Well, my concern is that the Maori Party actually wants to create a privileged group of New Zealanders. ”
– um, Don, you just attacked Harawira’s former party and your current governing partner.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4948683/Brash-labels-racist-claim-offensive
Not confused, just a fuckwit.
A rich, devious,fuckwit
No Bored. He is not. He’s a sharp crafty dangerous man. We should not be conned into thinking he ‘s just an old buffoon . This revival of the far Right may and could mean disaster for the working people of Aotearoa . And the underpriviledged will disappear into the forgotten and don’t care poor.
How is Don to know? They all look the same to him.
It’s true about the fuckwit thing.
Here it is again:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10722785
In which he says that FPP isn’t the go because it doesn’t feel quite right in his view that a party could get 21 % of the vote and only get 2 seats. He doesn’t like mmp though, for reasons unexplained.
He likes the Supplementary system because it lets small parties have some token representation, and more importantly, lists allow the great and good like himself to enter parliament without having to bother with demeaning things like candidate selection panels. For reals. That’s what he reckons.
This is a man who seems to accept that we should look like a democracy, but that democracy itself is a bit of a hindrance.
Fuckwit.
Looking at that description of supplementary member, I think I prefer MMP.
But I also wouldn’t be wholly opposed to SM if it retained the current 70/50 split we have with MMP. 90/30 just puts way too much power in the FPP system for electorates. Unless that two was also changed to STV voting, to greatly increase the chances of minor parties winning electorate seats.
The electorate seats should be STV voting no matter what system you use. I still prefer MMP, SM looks like an attempt by the right to gerrymander the voting in their favour.
Maybe they need to make retirement compulsory at 70. And anyone in power is tested every year from 65 for senility or dementia.
Even the Americans with all their paranoia and insanity don’t let anyone hold the ultimate reins for more than 2 terms. And then their power is very limited.
And if you want to see what grumpy old men can do look at the OLD Russia!!
Grumpy Fuckwit.
Bet the Maori Party is looking forwards to the next 3 years cosying up in bed with Brash.
What fucking sell outs.
I have wondered too just how much longer the Maori can kow-tow to Brash and his mates Co/Viper . The adulation expressed by Turia towards Brash makes me cringe.She has completely forgot that Key was involved with Brash regarding Kiwi/Iwi . If the Maori party does not withdraw their support now that Brash is back it only shows their double standards, and that the baubles of office are much more important that justice for Maori.
Whenever Brash opens his mouth it reminds me of that saying that when you find yourself in a hole you should stop digging.
Just keep him talking.
Don Brash… the Donad Trump of NZpolitics. ha ha ha ha a ha ha ha ha ha ha so funny both of them
We now have 3 supposedly rising politicians, that have publicly stated something about peak oil
John Banks – reading ‘The Oil Crash and You’ on his talk back show in 2002 (ish)
http://oilcrash.com/articles/running.htm
Don Brash “But the real issue last week was about bio-diesel and the world running out of fossil fuels. That was the point of the photo op, and I went there to make that point, it is the world walking the plank frankly, not Don Brash…”
http://oilcrash.com/articles/natnl_01.htm
And Hone calling for a cross party group to discuss peak oil and climate change.
http://thestandard.org.nz/the-knife-edge/
Oh and all the above are thanks my fucking efforts … again I told you and them so )
And just to spice up our borring lives
Unit 3 Explosion May Have Been Prompt Criticality in Fuel Pool
With any luck Key will be flying through all this stuff, I just hope he stops off in Hawaii on his way home … breath deep John
[I won’t delete it, but that last comment is perilously close to Kiwiblog territory. Please don’t go there. — r0b]
How many teachers does a $500,000 by-election cost months out from an election? A casual 13 or so, better let Hone know…
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike as only being tangentially related to the topic.
You’re also banned for 2 weeks for starting a diversion troll off the topic in a post. ]
That’s a one off charge, and worth more to democracy than, say, a bunch of BMW limos. Tax cuts for these 47 is 4.5 million every year…
Don’t excuse it as an act of democracy, its political posturing. He could easily ascertain the mandate of his electorate with polling and constituent meetings that neednt cost nearly as much.
Don’t excuse it as an act of democracy, its political posturing.
Who are you to say, Jared? He’s operating within the rules of Parliament and following clear precedent. The only ones trying to beat it up as an issue are those who are doing their own political posturing eh.
Considering how quick the left is to criticise subjectively “wasteful” political expenditure the irony is certainly not lost here.
So Jared do you agree that NZ needs more teachers?
Do you also agree that recent tax cuts for the wealthy has prevented expenditure on such worthwhile areas to occur?
NZ needs more of a number of skilled professions.
No question there.
But in perspective, a career in teaching starts with the 3 year Bachelors, and the year in a classroom before you can be qualified. So in reality, we are only seeing the outcome of policies surrounding improving the rates of teachers getting qualified from 3-5 years ago.
If you want to get really picky, then wasteful and pandering to your supporters isn’t purely a concept of the right, interest free student loans have cost the nation dearly, and if Labour had actually followed through with their universal student allowance we would have really been in trouble.
And if you want to get really really really picky, at the moment there is a sincere glut of recent teaching graduates who are finding it difficult to land jobs. There is a lack of experienced teachers, not beginning teachers.
The lack of teachers has been the 9 year boggie man, at least for the last 18 years, I distinctly remember Labour bitching about the lack of teachers after 9 years of National, then …. 9 years later National was bitching about the lack of teachers after Labour had been in.
But the people are so fucking stupid, they eat this shit … then the idiots go out and vote? go figure ???
It is Tweedledum and Tweedledummer, every politician since maybe MJS (?) have been selfish self serving lairs. They haven’t got a decent bone in their collective bodies.
Lets see just one of the slack sos stand up and tell the truth about Kiwi Saver.
Come on Ben you’re lurking around this blog
And Jarad is right, lets see if 4 years after the last election there is a rush of new teachers, thanks to National’s teacher drive to fell last elections ‘bitches’
I mean, they have made the profession so appealing.
And now the TV is dribbling the Benlarden BS again.
Is their no end to humans stupidity or gullibility? ….. no, and that is what politicians live for.
May 2, 2011: Bad News for listeners to “The Panel”
Many people have been concerned about the increasing dominance of Jim Mora’s programme by ideologues from the hard right (Michelle Boag, John Barnett, John Bishop, David Farrar, Stephen Franks) or even worse, by the complacent, the dithery and the ill-informed (Peter Elliott, Gary McCormick, Neil Miller, Tim Watkin).
Today’s guests on The Panel are Dr. Michael Bassett and Law Society head Jonathan Krebs. Bassett, who is notorious for his indiscriminate hurling of invective, a couple of years ago on The Panel called Nicky Hager a holocaust-denier (Mora sat silently and did not even demur). Krebs became a laughing-stock when he went ballistic about the not guilty verdict for the Waihopai Three, nearly blowing a gasket on live radio.
So, all things considered, today’s Panel should be interesting and informed. Not.
I haven’t been listening, but let me guess, ‘Hone is uppity’.
Amirite?
Well, yes, but Hone has been somewhat upstaged by events in Pakistan. It’s carnival time in the Panel studio, with only Jonathan Krebs spoiling the mood a little by noting that this was an assassination, with no legal justification. Bassett’s response was a contemptuous guffaw.
Bassett then went on to ask why, if the U.S. is “intervening for humanitarian reasons” in Libya, it is not “doing something about Mugabe”. Mora, for his part, suggested they should “go into” Syria.
No one suggested the obvious: why don’t they “go into” the most brutal and flagrant human rights in the area: Israel?
Quoto al 100% Morrissey! You are completely correct. On Campbell Live, the festival of rejoicing continues.. Is there no analysis to be had? Noooooooo… Let’s take it all at face value. Grr..
Asshole of the Week Award – Duncan Garner
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/asshole-of-week-award.html
The programs panel and presenters then gushed platitudes about decrepit old Don Brash and generally put the boot into Phil in yet another attempt to discredit the Labour Party. The biased opinions and lack of firing neurons have ensured their ratings have fallen to an all time low of only 53,000 viewers. Clearly not enough to justify the continued funding of such a shit program.
Sean Plunket is another National Party champion who is showing his true colours on TV3. On Saturday, he grilled Phil Goff not about current policies, but about internal Labour Party machinations in 1996.
And I note that Plunket has failed to respond to the British activist George Galloway, who publicly called out Plunket on some ignorant things he said last year….
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/george-galloway-invites-interview-by-sean-plunket-of-tv3s-the-nation-2/
It’s still a big worry Morrissey . Even Labour Party followers are begining to believe it.
However this morning I attended meeting where the speaker was Rev Linsay Cumberpatch a well known human rights advocate . The Rev Cumberpatch was full of praise for Phil Goff .In fact he was at a loss to understand the negative comments regarding Phil Goff.
I must say I agree with this statement . I have observed Phil for sometime and have always been very impressed at his handling of policy .
So Welcome to TV3, NZ’s Fox News/propaganda. Yay!
Note that in the photo of John Key meets Brent Impey, it is Impey who has the power handshake over Key’s. “You are in my control John.”
And don’t forget the $45 million this present government gave them Todd.
Renting? Is your landlord gang connected? Provide gushing references, financial information, and let a landlord representative visit the property to check its in good order? So why aren’t you provided with the same curtsey? Who is your landlord, do they have gang connections, are rental properties more likely to be burgled? Which landlords have a track record for poorly secured premises? Why don’t landlords have to cover contents insurance and so give tenants some confidence that landlords are on the up and up? Where did you think gangs put their laundered drug profits?
I never even considered that a landlord would specifically allow their tenants to be burgled.
I guess going through a rental agency would help to protect against this.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much – ZeeBop has a bee in his bonnet at the moment about gangs for some reason…
I imagine that land-gang-lords would have the same desire as a normal landlord ie for tenants that were reliable in paying, not likely to cause damage and not likely to move out because they have been burgled.
Re-letting is expensive and finding good tenants hard – why rob your own place when you can rob the place next door and you don’t have to go though the hassle? Plus you will have to fix doors/ windows etc unless you want it looking like an obvious inside job…
Likely? – no.
This says more about US attempts to interfer in NZZ democratic proceses than it does about the Greens, maori, Aucklanders & so-called “welfare dependency”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4949637/Green-Party-lunch-revealed-in-Wikileaks-cable
The cables show the views & interpretations of the US diplomats who wrote the cables.
They seem pretty wide of the mark on some NZ issues, and who knows, The Greens, Graham etc, may just have taken the free lunch & visit, smiled politely and made fiendly noises, without really shifting their political views, or subsequently turning to the US Embassy for help..
Yeah I noticed Stuff’s “Green party” headline. While interesting, to my minf the real oil (about Pharmac & copyright treaties) was buried way down the article. MSM spin – blatant as ever.
Because Pharmac so doesn’t review teh literature on the efficiency of new drugs in order to see if the price tag is actually worth it compared to older, already known to work + extent of side effect drugs. And neither does the drug industry engage in unethical marketing, nor fail to disclose fully the side effects of new drugs.
As much as I appreciate Pharmac’s ability to source drugs at good prices, I’m not so keen on their evaluation methods for the new drugs. The appear to do a cost-benefit analysis in terms of cost to the health system vs benefits to the health system, rather than including benefits to the patient’s quality of life e.g. in terms of the ability to hold down a job or perform other societal functions normally.
“Useful idiot” Kathryn Ryan is easy meat for Matthew Hooton
A few minutes ago I heard Matthew “Machiavelli” Hooton try it on with Nine to Noon host Kathryn Ryan—and he got away with it. He said that lawyer Annette Sykes, a Mana Party candidate, “celebrated the 9/11 attacks.” That’s a lie, and Hooton was obviously trying to see just how far he could push Ryan. Her befuddled silence must have heartened him enormously.
Clearly Hooton’s key strategy is the tried and true National Party one of just telling lies, and seeing how long they can get away with it.
Trying to implant the notion that the new Mana party is “extremist”, Hooton is evidently going to stop at nothing. As long as he can get away with bamboozling useful idiots like Kathryn Ryan, it is quite effective.
Depressed and disappointed, I sent Ms. Ryan the following e-mail…
Why did you not challenge Matthew Hooton’s wild allegation?
Dear Kathryn,
You sat silently as Matthew Hooton, a notorious liar, smeared Annette Sykes by saying that she “celebrated the 9/11 attacks.”
Did you not think of asking him to back up his outlandish allegation?
Yours in wonderment,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
Morrisey
Yu better take up this issue with Duncan Garner as well,
http://business.scoop.co.nz/2011/04/30/hone-harawira-on-the-nation/
“Are you comfortable with someone like Annette Sykes being so involved, I mean remember what she said around the time of 9/11 where she laughed and effectively applauded and clapped when those planes went into the towers on 9/11? I mean are you comfortable being a party in parliament having someone like that there?”
I don’t believe Annette Sykes either said or did any of those things. Garner was probably rehashing what he’d heard Hooton say.
What you believe is neither here nor there. surely, if she did either (or both) Hooten and Garner would have a record.
So where is it then?
The quote I’ve seen republished on blogs is…
“When I first saw the planes fly into the towers I jumped for joy, I was so happy that at long last capitalism was under attack. Until, it suddenly dawned on me, what about all those poor pizza delivery boys, those poor firemen, those poor policemen, those poor lift-operators, all those poor cleaners, all those other poor workers who are forced to work for and were trying to save those greedy and horrible capitalists!? My heart and head was so confused – happy that some capitalists had been killed and very, very sad for all those who had died while working for them.”
It sounds bogus to me, no matter what you think of her politics I don’t think she’s thick enough to say something like that on the public record.
Your “information” comes from the looniest reaches of the far right blogosphere. The words you quote were “transcribed by a member of that audience”—i.e. they were made up.
http://pc.blogspot.com/2005/12/keith-locke-exposed-again.html
I found it here
http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2005/05/31/united-in-terrorism/#comment-709
and here.
http://www.vdig.net/hansard/archive.jsp?y=2002&m=10&d=08&o=229&p=230
I’m sure we’ll get some clarification from Annette regarding what she actually said.
A report of the comments was tabled in Parliament by New Zealand First MP Ron Mark in 2002, and they have been referred to since in parliamentary debate and in the media. I can’t find any evidence of her ever having denied making the statements – which you think you would if you had been accused in parliament of jumping for joy over the murder of several thousand people.
I’ve heard all sorts of nasty things about you Matthew and I’ve never heard you deny them. Thus they must be true right?
Which reminds me. The rumour is you’re doing PR for Brash which surprised me because I didn’t think you were a race-baiter. Is that true?
No update yet from various right wing lunatics who claimed he was dead years ago.
When the Hollow men came out, Hooten was fairly clear that he didn’t approve of the deliberate race baiting approach chosen by National; even though he went along with it and kept quiet.
It is a very rare thing in life to get a second chance to do the right thing.
What? It’s “neither here nor there” whether or not I believe the word of a notorious liar?
I would have thought that establishing one recognizes the unreliability of the likes of Hooton and Garner was essential.
Would be hilarious if it is true. A party over before it starts.
The funniest thing will be to have Hooten hauled up on charges for this.
Wow. What charges would they be?
Seen this folks?
Penny Bright
http://waterpressure.wordpress.com
NO SELLOFF OF CHRISTCHURCH’S PUBLICLY-OWNED ASSETS!
[deleted]
[lprent: You’re cutting and pasting far too much – use quote and link. Next time I see it you’re going to get a months holiday. ]
Talking heads say OBL is dead, perhaps.
Be sure to pass on my condolensces to Annette Sykes
condolensces… condolences ya dopey fuck, … condolences….just be sure to pass them on
Kind of like Elvis?
On the 1st of May 1945 it was announced that H**ler was dead, theatre much.
OBL is just a scapegoat, we all know 911 was an inside job. It’s been proven by sciencey. And if he’d been wearing a tin foil burqa like me, the CIA would never have found him.
Careful you are inviting Eve to start frothing all over the interwebs.
Too late, HS, too late:
http://thestandard.org.nz/osama-bin-laden-dead/#comment-325957
Can I be the first to start the rumour that Osama surrendered, but was executed anyway to stop the truth coming out? Thanx.
You may think you’re being funny, VoR, but it’s true.. the official 9/11 story stinks on ice. Further, OBL has probably been dead since at least 2002, like it or not!
And deep in the darkest recesses of the Beehive National Party Staffers are busily making lists of bad news to be released publicly under the extraordinary cover that will be provided by news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.
Great day for the world, thoughts with his victims at this point.
Any thoughts for the approximately 1500 US troops and the countless civilian dead in Afghanistan to avenge the 3000 or so westerners killed on 11/9/2001.
yeh… ain’t it grand to see one of the world’s worst mass muderers brought down at last.
And a great day that Pakistan sides with the USA to bring bin Laden down. No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.
I hope he rots in Hell.
George Bush left office a long time ago.
No, Hone has it on good advice that Don Brash is the ultimate bogeyman.
So you believe in a state of “Hell” then joe.
Suggests you are a god fearing individual.
May come as a surprise to you but there are three groups of followers of this god.
Your type of language doesn’t bode well for the hopes of peace and reconciliation amongst the three.
whatever…
I’m still delighted that this mass murdering scumbag now exists only in the past tense.
OBL is nothing but a bedtime story used to scare children into behaving like good little serfs.
Disgraceful the sight of people in the US celebrating a death…bloodthirsty ghouls.
Bet they wont be celebrating so much when more blood is spilled in the name of his scary-ness.
Stupid witch hunt, Stupid war, Evil Government.
Oh the wonderful, measured words of that very learned man that is Michael Bassett.
Former Labour MP for Te Atatu, and cabinet minister and now expert on things NZ.
Sadly now occupying time on Mora’s Afternoon on RNZ. He tries so hard to sound reasonable but then drops his guard and we get the bigot and the nasty little ACT apologist coming through.
Apparently Campbell Live has a ‘special’ report from Paul Henry at Times Square in New York. I have thought TV3 news was going down the tubes in spectacular fashion for awhile, particularly with that nasty toad Duncan Garner spinning for the Nat-Act twats, but Paul fricking Henry? This is the last goddamn straw. I am never watching TV3 news again.
diddums
Hmmm, wikileaks cables show just how much the US government, with scant regard for NZ sovereignty, was pushing the NZ government to adopt the internet/digital copyright laws, 3 strikes etc:
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/93326/new-zealands-three-strikes-law-was-pushed-bought-and-paid-for-by-the-us-wikileaks/
The cables are from 2005 & through to the NAct term in government.
And in 2005, there was a detailed break down of the costs of implementing the law, with the US offering a financial bribe for it to the NZ government Drew Wilson, in the above linked article pon the cables, says:
Wilson ends the article by saying:
On Capitol Hill they call them lobbyists, unelected pressure groups.
Not a lot different, it would seem, is about to be manifested in the Beehive.
Did the Prime Minister tell the gathered press today that he was expecting
a visit from Dr Brash to discuss how the ACT party is to be considered in
government? WTF? How far away is this from the Knights of the Round Table
having a regular formal audience?
In the Herald: “Kurariki was convicted of manslaughter in 2002 for his role as a lookout in the killing of pizza delivery man Michael Choy. Kurariki, who was 12 at the time, was released from jail in 2008.”
Well. Convicted of manslaughter as the lookout? But the Herald and other MSM have repeatedly named him as “NZ’s youngest killer.” And how well do we know the others who actually did the killing?
Having insomnia and playing with an anagram generator – this is too precious not to share:
Paula Bennett’s anagram name is PETULANT BEAN!
And one more, I just can’t help myself:
Rodney Hide’s anagram name is OY! HINDERED