The Labour Party in Scotland votes Yes, No and Maybe!
“Labour in Scotland has passed a resolution against renewing the Trident weapons of mass destruction, Labour in Scotland is now officially against renewing Trident but its leader is in favour. Meanwhile UK Labour is officially in favour of renewing Trident but its leader is against. It’s perfectly straightforward, and another step backward in Labour’s attempts to make sense to the electorate of Scotland. Labour’s now got all the nuclear bases covered, yes, no and maybe. The party is as all over the place as a hedgehog that’s been playing on the M8, only with rather less integrity. Still, at least their heart is in the right place, splattered on the asphalt and being ground into the dirt.” https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com
I thought that Andrew Little was giving a speech to the Scottish Labour Party later this week.
I sounds as if he has already done so and that they listened to him. With his “on the one hand this, and on the other hand that” they could hardly help ending up totally confused.
Is he still opposed to a CGT while the party is in favour? Is he opposed to raising the age for Super, while the party is in favour? Is he in favour of a knighthood for Richie, while the party is opposed to knighthoods?
If the SLP listened to him it is hardly surprising they are confused is it?
Just caught the RNZ interview with Andrew Little about giving a knighthood to Ritchie MCCaw. What is the man thinking?
Why would the captain of our greatest national team give fealty to another nation by accepting a knighthood?
These feudal honours were always favours for political support for kings against potential usurpers. It is a corrupt system always has been, always will be.
To dress it up as “service to the nation” or “outstanding leadership”, or as Little tries to justify it “its what we do now, so we should do it”, is delusion at best or just plain selling out to a despicable system.
I hope Ritchie shows that he has greater integrity than that, and will decline as he did before.
I suggest you listen to the interview before you go on to demonstrate more ignorance about what he said. What part of ‘recognition’ is hard to understand?
Looking at my herald this morning pg3 and I see that parata is proposing stricter measures for schools such as closure where outcomes are consistently poor. Scary stuff when no account seems to be made for things such as transience and poverty. I predict that as with the us this will be an attack on the poor with school closures and charter schools to profit national’s rich mates. Oh yes and of course a dumbed down curriculum as schools teach to the test to save their skins. The story of Michelle Rhee in New York makes sobering reading http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113096/how-michelle-rhee-misled-education-reform
I think parata is of the same ilk – self promoting with a nasty dislike of teachers. Out schools are in deep trouble. I hope we have the guts to do what they did in new york and kick out the politician responsible,
Idiot territory really – what are the kids and parents going to do – waste a lot of money travelling to the next school- overcrowd that school results reduce – original school sold off to developers – oh there’s a motive
However we are fast approaching a point where we should pool our taxes locally, stuff paying it to this mob and we get better paid people and better outcomes
Parata and co want a few think big mega schools like factories churning out products… put in excessively paid sycophant principals, sorry..Chief executives .. big classes-saves money- more efficient -forget all this rubbish about schools being focal points for communities.
Yes we don’t want to encourage Internet Entrepreneurs in NZ. If only Dotcom had just bought up our real estate and paid zero taxes like all the other corps – he would be sitting beside John Key with a smile on his face instead of being persecuted for having smarter technology platforms than Hollywood.
This time he will be taking $$$ off individual investors by crowd funding. Rest assured it will be as successful as the other ideas and yet again the $$$ will end up in his back pocket.
Oh, hey CV, sorry to butt in but are you going to around for a bit? I need to ask you a question about a topic we briefly touched on months and months ago – raising the issue of the abolishment of GST at your local LEC meeting.
Thanks CV. This might be a bit of a drag because GST is a totally off the radar topic and there are so many other pressing topics that overwhelm such a yawn inducing one, such as GST.
So, I think I recall you mentioning quite some time ago that you were going to raise the idea at a LEC meeting of abolishing GST and introducing a FTT in it’s place. If you got enough support at a vote that you would take it further and introduce it as a remit (remit?) at the next Labour Party annual conference.
I am unsure of several of those statements so please correct me.
As a new Labour member who knows very little of the structure of the Party, I am really wanting to know how ideas from ordinary members get to make it into the light of day and to the attention of party officials.
I also want to see GST abolished for many reasons, which I’ve covered before.
Part two of my question is how successful were you in raising the GST abolishment issue and will it go further?
I won’t be able to attend the conference in Palmerston North coming up soon. It would have been good to see how the Party functions at a structural level.
Typically, members at a branch have to formulate and word policy remits which are then considered and voted on at Regional Conference. If the policy remit passes at Regional Conference, it is then put forward to be considered at NZ Conference.
However, the overall process is extremely clunky and leads to mechanistic and narrow consideration of policy.
For instance, to solve the housing crisis in Auckland would require a comprehensive programme of policy measures – it is impossible for such a systematic programme to be developed and considered via this remit process.
Unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that the remit process is largely a diversionary waste of time. Even if NZ conference passes a remit there is no guarantee (or mechanism to guarantee) that caucus will act on it or act on it as intended.
In other words, caucus can and does go off and do its own thing all the time.
We can discuss the GST issue further – essentially I think our branch submited a remit which said that GST should be raised to 20%: but the first $100 of any item or service would be excluded from GST.
In this way, GST becomes a de facto luxury living tax, since the vast majority of items bought by the vast majority of people come under the $100 or $50 threshold.
Thanks for your response. The remit process was explained in a helpful way. Seeing as we are on a thread about Dot Com I will restart the GST discussion below as a separate post………….
A pre-hearing demonstration to voice our dissapointment that Craddocks are still considering building this factory farm both in Patumahoe or at all. If you have time you can then join us at 10am in the court room for the hearing directly after the demonstration. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. Bring your best placards to help get the message across. We want to be heard!
Does anyone know about this? Is this the case where the commissioners have approved a massive battery chicken farm about 30m away from residential housing citing no effects?
The local residents have done extremely well in bringing this to the community’s attention, and have been supported by animal welfare organisations and many in the immediate community. There has also been the expected backlash from the “farmers are the backbone of this country” crowd who don’t know details about the issue, but back “their” team.
Unfortunately, the animal welfare issue cannot be a reason for denying resource consent, but the failure of the applicants to credibly demonstrate the issue of mitigating air quality adverse effects has led to the initial application being turned down.
The appeal has redesigned the air stacks in increase the height (and dispersion), so that’ll be interesting.
The residents have had to fund their experts regarding air and water quality independently, and it will cost them in the region of $80 – $100K to see this through.
They have been subject to small degrees of harassment, outright lying about the resource consent conditions and no small amount of emotional stress. The arrogance of the Craddocks organisation – who were offered the opportunity to onsell when the public reaction became known – has been ongoing and revealing of how our current system rewards the morally poor.
Auckland Council however, has dipped a toe in the water, and have decided to make submissions to oppose the updated application in the hearing – which is some progress.
However, until Craddocks onsells the property or indicates that they will not develop in this particular way on this site, they are in the bullying position of resubmitting applications and forcing residents to continue this fight for a long time.
It is reported that Sonny will be given a replacement medal for the one he gave to the boy. Seems wrong somehow. He gives and the lad feels great. We feel great. Somehow diminishes the generosity to replace the medal.
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss how a service driven Chinese economy could spell bad news for Western economies but how a two-child policy could save the global property ponzi for another generation. In the second half, Max interviews Dan Collins of TheChinaMoneyReport.com about the latest news with the Chinese economy, its crackdown on corruption and its increasing role in the global economy.”
Questions: from a Labour, NZFirst and Green perspective ,what are the implications of more Chinese overpopulation and the Chinese ecological disaster for New Zealand?
…it seems to me that the NZ housing and property bubble is NOT going to burst as Bill English claims…eg.as Max and Tracy state “how a two-child policy could save the global property ponzi for another generation”
…hence no relief for young New Zealanders and future generations of New Zealanders wanting to buy their own home from scarce New Zealand housing stock ….which is being bought up by overseas investors and escalating house prices
…also the pressure on immigration to New Zealand will continue
….unless curbs are put on both overseas ownership of NZ property and immigration by the foreign wealthy fleeing their own environmental and overpopulation disasters
Ack!
Hundreds of Cantab dairy farmers caught out over breaking effluent discharge rules in the past year. Profits are the priority!
Do the individual or company owners have Chinese-sounding or Kiwi-sounding names??
From a Systems Analysis point of view. The current system is a very broken beast. For a system that should be for everyone, it works for less and less especially in so called first world countries and fails to deliver anywhere near the outcomes that it should, especially given our level of technological advancement in society.
To fix it?
Well, that’s the big question.
Consider this first and foremost. A man or woman cannot hope to fix the world unless his or her future has been secured.
(And yes the Irony is that the world must first be fixed in order to secure anyone’s future).
But that is also the key.
The technology we need to fix things has been developed.
That starts with
The internet for freedom of information.
Product Hubs to deliver goods anywhere in the world.
And finally service hubs or platforms to be able to access services.
One of the key things that people don’t have enough of is time due to the demands of the current system.
In fact when you compare hours worked during Slavery in the US vs Capitalism now….. well let’s just say that if we are interested in outcomes it doesn’t paint a very pretty picture. In many ways, the hours are the same or similar. Sure you get to choose your master under Capitalism or you can even choose to be your own master and if you’re lucky (and statistically probably exceptionally lucky) you won’t have to work as much. But on the whole chances are you, your kids and everyone around you will have to work in order to survive in some way shape or form for the rest of their lives.
What’s worse is that as more and more roles are automated (45% in the next 10 years) this will be the case more and more. It would all be fine if wages kept pace with prices, but they aren’t going to. But the Market will correct right!? Well maybe one day but only after a crapload of people are made homeless and can’t afford to put food on the table. In fact, many will actually starve to death before the market corrects.
Why? This is because ‘The Market’ only needs a single willing buyer and a single willing seller to agree on price, for the market to appear to be working. Bob Jones bought himself an aeroplane earlier this year for a cool 2 million. Hey presto the market works, but most people reading this could never afford to buy one in their lifetime. You might shrug your shoulders at that example, but the same concept applies at a much lower level including things such as basic essentials. Things like food, a home, electricity, clothing and so on.
Take the example of a simple kebab shop. It can continue to make and sell kebabs and stay in business frequented by a few hundred customers per week at the very same time tens of thousands can’t afford to buy one. So the market correction theory doesn’t happen fast enough in the real world for it to make a difference. This becomes a real problem. Unfortunately, this is also what is happening right now.
That old poem written by Pastor Martin Neimoller on the principle of not speaking up…
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
….Applies to Capitalism in a similar vain.
There is only something wrong with Capitalism when it doesn’t work for you, but at that point its too late. But just so you know Capitalism doesn’t care that you can’t afford essential items like food and housing and nor do those at the top of the food chain so long as the profits keep coming and the money keeps rolling in.
Climate change and Capitalism? Well the long and the short of it is that fixing Climate change is simply incompatible with a system that requires continual extraction and consumption of resources to obtain profit which is under Capitalism required in order to survive.
You will never fix climate change whilst we have Capitalism.
(yes you could add in the true cost but by the time you get all of that sorted we will be living in a wasteland and there are far simpler and much more effective ways that solve many of the other problems we face at the same time.
It really depends on whether the best we can come up with, is a system that requires people to work similar hours to slavery). Capitalism doesn’t care about the environment and nor do those at the top of the food chain so long as the profits keep coming and the money keeps rolling in.
Capitalism doesn’t have boundaries. Capitalism doesn’t care about your sovereignty not in the slightest. It cares about one thing. Ownership or control of resources and Capital. Can no longer afford to live in your own country? Capitalism doesn’t care and nor do those at the top of the food chain, so long as the profit keeps coming and the money keeps rolling in
Capitalism doesn’t care about whether something is legal or illegal. You might, but Capitalism doesn’t and nor do many other people in this world. Something being illegal just means that it gets assigned a higher price tag under Capitalism. Whether its drugs, human trafficking and slavery or something else illegal like not paying your taxes or seeking to avoid them as many corporations do.
No Capitalism doesn’t care if something is illegal and nor do those at the top of the food chain, so long as the profit keeps coming and the money keeps rolling in.
Under proper systems analysis, Capitalism fails dismally. I won’t bore you with the details but it is basically determining what a system designed for people should do vs what Capitalism achieves..
If you want to go through it for yourself, systems analysis asks certain questions of the system.
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
& How?
These are the questions that are asked of any system, whether you are fixing a broken one or designing a new one. Done correctly it should be solution agnostic. That way you can determine a true set of requirements for any system no matter how big or how small.
Spoiler alert: it all comes down to the delivery of goods and services to meet needs and wants.
The question is what is the best way to do this for everyone given the available technology we have today.
For Needs, they are predominantly the same from one person to the next (Maslow’s Hierarchy Pyramid is a good place to start for this).
Wants – vastly different but the reality is you only need a system that enables people to obtain their wants and we can already do that provided you can overcome the barrier that is put in place called price.
For anyone about to lose the plot over the resources used to enable everyone to meet their needs, consider the concept of owning versus using. As an example, Under owning we have the humble lawnmower. You buy one to use on average 6 – 12 hours a year and you have to pay to maintain it. Not exactly a great use of resources now is it.
Under ‘Using; (coupled with technology of course) you can order a lawnmower via your smartphone that is delivered to your location by drone and mows your lawns automatically….. because its a robot. When it’s finished, it sends a signal to the drone which comes and picks it up to deliver it to the next location. We don’t have to do it that way, but that’s what is possible with technology from today.
The best part is it is all in place, we just need to change the way things work together and the way we work together coupled with a healthy dose of common sense.
Example: Capitalism a system where you compete against 7 billion other people for the resources you need in order to survive. Does that sound like common sense to you?
Add to that that we are facing challenges on a worldwide scale that in order to overcome, require us to work together more so than at any other time in the history ofr the human race.
How we fix things is interesting, because when you look at the monetary system and the problems it was introduced to overcome, those problems no longer exist to a large degree. I imagine the same would be true for Capitalism.
Capitalism has worked in the past, granted. In fact Capitalism has largely built the world around us today. The question is when do we begin to use what it has built in the most efficient and effective way for us, for everyone. Given that Capitalism is no longer delivering the outcomes we need it to both at an individual and at a societal level the time to relook at this has never been better or for that matter more important.
Imagine a world, where people had freedom. Where they could obtain basic essential items such as food and a home when they needed one.
Imagine a world, where you only had to work half of the time that you do now. Imagine a world, where the media once again just reported the news.
Imagine a world, where Science just gave us the facts without the corporate interference.
Imagine a world, where the systems we had, worked with nature rather than through the exploitation and destruction of it.
Imagine a world where no man held dominion over any other man woman or child.
Imagine a world, where the goal of the system was to enable you to live a happy and fulfilled life full of positive experiences in so far as you choose to do so.
Imagine true freedom.
Imagine a world, where our future was secure.
Again a man or woman cannot hope to fix this world whilst their own future is insecure.
In order to fix things we first have to secure everyone’s future.
That means we need to first and foremost decouple work from wages.
We need a new Financial system (only because most people would freak out if you removed money) This could and should be automated. It should be a highly secure crypto currency and should be used for enabling a Universal Basic Income for everyone thus largely securing everyones future.
We need a system that uses the internet, product hubs and service platforms to work for us and not simply to add to the profit of the corporate bottom line.
We need a system that automates people’s roles as much as we possibly can with a view of freeing them from having to work for the rest of their lives simply in order to survive.
At that point we can begin to really fix things, But only then.
democracy
Show people an alternative vision of the future they can themselves imagine. The biggest barrier to changing things right now is the lack of any real alternative.
Show them what the alternative is and how we would get there from where we are today.
What Is being proposed is in many ways no different than the sort of shift that took place when everything went from public ownership to private ownership (well sort of).
Govt already provides services to people. There is therefore justification to build a service hub using taxpayer funds. This is the start. Then as more and more essential services are not being met, public alternatives can fill the gap in an efficient manner using software automation.
The Crypto currency takes care and actually sidelines the powers that be to a large degree.
As has been said before the best way to change the system is to create a new and better one from within.
Thinking outside the box It could also be done by two or three key individuals (although they don’t realise it) with the help of Government through UBI. Elon Musk, Richard Branson and someone with access to a service hub. Would you or many others not support such an alliance with your dollar if this was the vision and the world that they stated up front they wanted to build? I now I would.
The masses have only just started to wake up. Many know something is wrong and parents are worried about their children’s future. Show them a better alternative and they will take the chance.
The pieces can be put in place without unvielling the full picture. There is justification to build a service hub in order to gain efficiencies in delivering govt services to people. The rest will take care of itself as things continue to get worse.
The alternative is to stick with the status quo and simply do nothing. Sounds like an interesting choice for people.
Will the royal visit influence flag choices in the first flag referendum as James Shaw and the Greens argue ? (….or WTF…the strange case of James Shaw and the NZ flag)
James Shaw helped John key make sure that the existing NZ flag with the Union Jack ( the most popular choice for New Zealanders) was excluded from the first referendum, which is when the royals turn up…but the corporate logo Red Peak flag, James’s favourite, is in the first referendum
….. James and the Greens went against Labour Party and NZF wishes ( their future coalition partners?). The Labour Party argued having the existing NZ flag in the first referendum would have saved a costly second referendum and in any case NZers dont want to change their flag. Winston Peters and NZF also argue this.
….so if the flag with the Union Jack is NOT to be in the first referendum when the royals arrive….how can the royal visit influence NZers voting for the Union Jack in the first referendum?
Preparing for NCEA exams?
“The letter bearing the college masthead and its official phone numbers claimed that senior students would have to undergo full body check – including their bare bottoms.”
What will they get up to next? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11538899
Picking up GST discussion with CV above on altogether unrelated thread…………
I agree with the taxation of luxury goods. (and also alcohol and tobacco) You suggested that an increase to 20% GST with an exemption of GST for the first $100 of a purchase would in effect be a de facto luxury tax.
However, when we are paying $250 in one go for groceries, paying our rates, paying for expensive car repairs, paying power bills etc we’re not paying for luxury goods, we’re paying for essentials.
These essentials, shouldn’t be taxed for moral reasons. For me, the idea of GST is a moral one as it places an unnecessary financial burden on many people. If GST were removed tomorrow, depending on your financial circumstances you’d see a dramatic improvement in your financial health. The less wealthy you are the greater the improvement as your little budget is unfairly weighted down by GST compared to the wealthy person’s budget.
From a business point of view, scrapping GST could be seen as beneficial. A reduction in financial stress in a household could see its members spending more on things they could never afford before. Money saved from GST could go into the tills of retailers.
(An aside. A former customer of mine, from my days as a sales rep, was a retailer who had a successful business. It had been going for 30 years. He had owned it for the previous 10. He suffered through the GFC, was partially affected by public service cuts, as some Wellington retailers were, but he said it was the increase in GST that the Natz brought in that was the last straw for him. They way we saw it was that not only does a consumer harm households, it harms business).
I’ve got more points in my abolishment of GST argument but this would end up a very long post and rehash old ground. Happy to discuss if others are interested though.
One final point I will cover again is Labour’s opportunity to address past wrongs, eg, being the ones to introduce GST in 1986.
Next year is the Centenary celebrations for the Labour Party. It will be a great time to highlight and celebrate the very proud history that the NZLP has, and how they led and shaped NZ into a decent and fair society through the introduction of the welfare state.
They will have to face their dark past too. GST was part of the neo liberal reforms. It has no place in the unequal society that we have become.
This is a good opportunity for them to abandon the tax policy they introduced. It would be a hugely bold move, but we need bold, not bland.
In 2011 Labour tinkered with the idea by having an election promise to remove GST off fresh fruit and vege. It didn’t gain any traction and seemed like a random policy out on it’s own, not in context with anything else.
In 2014 NZ First said they would exempt GST from council rates. Again, no traction with that one.
2016 is the right time to stand up and say GST, you can just f*ck off, and demonstrate to the voters how their lives will be improved for it.
There is no single item in a standard grocery shop which is over $50 or over $100.
Therefore under our branch’s remit, your entire grocery shop would be GST free.
See how it works?
Removing GST from rates is also a good idea. BTW I don’t think your conclusion that NZ First got “not traction” on that was correct: out of all the opposition parties they were the only one which GAINED MPs.
Yes, ok, the grocery shop would be GST free, because each single item is under $50/$100. I was thinking total shop.
But what about power bills? You would have to be a single person living on your own with extremely minimal use of power to get to the GST free threshold of $100. What about car repairs and servicing? Nothing much there under $100. Our head gasket blew and we had to borrow $3K for repairs. This has a GST content of $450, which is being paid off with interest over 18 months. Interest on a tax, hardly fair. Have to buy new tyres for the car? Not cheap either.
Need to get an electrician or plumber in? Have never seen a bill that would meet the GST excluded threshold you propose. Chimney sweep? same thing. Have to see the dentist? You’ll be paying that off on the credit card, and like the mechanics bill you’ll be paying a massive chunk of GST with interest added.
And you are proposing we add another 5% to that cost! Sorry CV, only the wealthy can afford that.
The only way people would benefit under the 20% GST with a threshold of $100 as GST free would be for food, weekly public transport costs, a small top up of petrol for the car and sundry items. I think this policy, rather than being helpful would cause even greater hardship. It’s a messy option. Any short term savings you make on the small things will get gobbled up on the larger living costs, and even worse than before. Things also need to be kept super simple for voters. Just get rid of GST altogether.
Thats without going into the logistics for wholesalers and retailers who carry a variety of lines some of which fall into the GST excluded zone. For example, what happens when a retailer purchases an item from the wholesaler and pays GST on it, but then the item won’t sell, even after markdowns. Eventually they have to sell below original wholesale cost, and lose not only their profit but they directly lose the 20% tax they had to pay?
Re NZ First, I was referring to the GST off council rates policy getting no traction in the form of generating public discussion, not the success that NZ First had last year. Labours GST off produce in 2011 only generated a bit of confusion.
applying the GST correctly is very simple in the age of computerised inventory and sales systems.
Wine and beer sold in supermarkets have varying alcohol excise tax applied in addition to GST. No one complained it couldnt be done.
Also the 20% GST only applies to each dollar above say $100. So a $150 car tyre or dentists check up will only have $10 of GST added: which is less than you are paying in GST today.
Thanks. I do appreciate the time you have taken to explain your proposal. I’m still uncomfortable with it, and I do think it’s messy.
The big thing for me is that GST is a neoliberal tax, it belongs in the past. I have a moral issue with it. Transfer the tax burden to the wealthy and introduce a Robin Hood style tax.
I have no probs with that. Especially since I am of the school which says that Government does not need to raise all its revenues through taxation and that taxation can be used to achieve many different purposes other than to raise revenues.
Since the in-house Labour technocrats are utterly disinterested in all these ideas I might as well find alternative avenues to put these non-orthodox ideas out there.
Turnbull was never an arse licker to the Anglo-Saxon establishment.
Key and National are died in the wool royalists. Shipley used Bolger’s republicanism (and more subtly his Irish Catholicism) to get support to stab him in the back.
Malcolm Turnbull has dumped Tony Abbott’s widely ridiculed policy of reinstating Knights and Dames, saying the titles are “not appropriate” in modern Australia.
Good on the All Blacks for winning the Rugby World Cup. Many will have celebrated their victory and much has been reported and discussed in the MSM of course.
Let us perhaps focus on some important stuff that matters. I did already post this link under Open Mike for 01 Nov. last night. It deserves some attention.
The Office of Ombudsmen is conducting a survey on experiences with and satisfaction with OIA requests and responses:
This should be of much interest to readers here, especially those who care about transparency of government, of ministries and agencies. The OIA process is supposed to strengthen our democracy, but as we know, things have gone downhill with it for some time.
I encourage all to participate in their survey, those that care about improving the OIA process, and especially those that have had experiences with OIA requests and replies.
Sadly it does not seem to get much attention by our media.
EXCLUSIVE: Jane Kelsey – TPPA HAS NOT BEEN SIGNED.
Crucial protest on 14 Nov
By Prof Jane Kelsey / November 2, 2015
This is no time for surrender or fatigue. Other countries are fighting to ensure the political price is too high for their governments to do so and that opposition parties make an uncompromising commitment to reject the still-secret
The fact many people think the TPPA is a done deal and there’s nothing we can do shows how effective the government’s propaganda campaign has been.
That’s what they need people to believe so they can kill off one of the most effective public campaigns to oppose a core government policy for several decades.
And they have done so despite conceding the deal would deliver almost none of the gains they made a bottom line, and keeping the text secret so no-one can categorically rebut the content or omissions in their ‘fact sheets’.
The truth is that the TPPA can’t be signed for at least another three months.
Until then New Zealand has not been committed in any formal legal manner to the political deal. Even then, the country won’t be bound irrevocably to the TPPA for probably another two years.
This is no time for surrender or fatigue.
Other countries are fighting to ensure the political price is too high for their governments to do so and that opposition parties make an uncompromising commitment to reject the still-secret deal.
We need to do that here, starting with a mass turnout to the protests around the country, especially in Auckland and Wellington, on Saturday 14 November.
The Fast Track legislation said Obama must give 90 days’ notice before he can sign the TPPA. The text becomes public no longer than 30 days into that 90 days, which means two months to debunk the pro-TPPA lobby’s spin.
Obama has not given that 90 days’ notice yet.
The officials have been in Japan doing what we call the ‘legal scrubbing’ of the text. That should be a purely technical task, but reports suggest there are many problems emerging about interpretations and some countries are only just finding out what others have agreed between themselves in side-letters.
The legal officials’ meeting has finished. They will try to sort out the remain issues by internet, but they are likely to have to meet again.
The longer this takes, the further away those 90 days become and the more time we have to make it clear to the Key/Groser government that we don’t believe their snow job and will make any attempt to sign it politically toxic, and to the opposition parties that they have to
Seems Crosby T advisers have got to key. Haven’t seen the same fawning photo ops. Guess they have said, “let the country revel in it John, and we’ll step it up a notch when everyone’s home. Plenty of time yet!”
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
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 in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
Trident, a weapon of mass destruction.
The Labour Party in Scotland votes Yes, No and Maybe!
“Labour in Scotland has passed a resolution against renewing the Trident weapons of mass destruction, Labour in Scotland is now officially against renewing Trident but its leader is in favour. Meanwhile UK Labour is officially in favour of renewing Trident but its leader is against. It’s perfectly straightforward, and another step backward in Labour’s attempts to make sense to the electorate of Scotland. Labour’s now got all the nuclear bases covered, yes, no and maybe. The party is as all over the place as a hedgehog that’s been playing on the M8, only with rather less integrity. Still, at least their heart is in the right place, splattered on the asphalt and being ground into the dirt.”
https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com
As a little bit of history , the base for nuclear submarines in Scotland was first set up by a New Zealander.
I thought that Andrew Little was giving a speech to the Scottish Labour Party later this week.
I sounds as if he has already done so and that they listened to him. With his “on the one hand this, and on the other hand that” they could hardly help ending up totally confused.
Is he still opposed to a CGT while the party is in favour? Is he opposed to raising the age for Super, while the party is in favour? Is he in favour of a knighthood for Richie, while the party is opposed to knighthoods?
If the SLP listened to him it is hardly surprising they are confused is it?
Just caught the RNZ interview with Andrew Little about giving a knighthood to Ritchie MCCaw. What is the man thinking?
Why would the captain of our greatest national team give fealty to another nation by accepting a knighthood?
These feudal honours were always favours for political support for kings against potential usurpers. It is a corrupt system always has been, always will be.
To dress it up as “service to the nation” or “outstanding leadership”, or as Little tries to justify it “its what we do now, so we should do it”, is delusion at best or just plain selling out to a despicable system.
I hope Ritchie shows that he has greater integrity than that, and will decline as he did before.
where you coming from John key b
een saying it for 5 years Ritchie already turned one down
Labour previously abolished these stupid titles and all that went with them.
If Andrew Little is listening to people who think giving knighthoods is a great idea then we are going nowhere.
I reckon nowhere is precisely where Labour is going.
Knighthood for McCaw, no reason to oppose the TPA, amend right to fire to make it fairer.
A pragmatic comment from Andrew. If he said Ritchie should not get a medal, imagine the outcry. He would be damned by thousands who admire Ritchie.
He either believes in titles or not – If he doesn’t then he should have said so. If he does, then why not?
I think Richie will take it this time. He knows he wont be able to lead another world cup.
I suggest you listen to the interview before you go on to demonstrate more ignorance about what he said. What part of ‘recognition’ is hard to understand?
What’s wrong with our own NZ honours system? Home grown recognition and none of the obsequious bowing and scraping that Knighthoods entail
Who said anything was wrong with it? Certainly not Andrew Little nor I.
God forbid that we should say ANYTHING that caused an outcry from Breakfast TV or talkback radio land.
Do we stand for anything?
Go grow a pair.
Looking at my herald this morning pg3 and I see that parata is proposing stricter measures for schools such as closure where outcomes are consistently poor. Scary stuff when no account seems to be made for things such as transience and poverty. I predict that as with the us this will be an attack on the poor with school closures and charter schools to profit national’s rich mates. Oh yes and of course a dumbed down curriculum as schools teach to the test to save their skins. The story of Michelle Rhee in New York makes sobering reading http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113096/how-michelle-rhee-misled-education-reform
I think parata is of the same ilk – self promoting with a nasty dislike of teachers. Out schools are in deep trouble. I hope we have the guts to do what they did in new york and kick out the politician responsible,
Apart from poorly performing Charter schools, because business run schools are exempt.
Idiot territory really – what are the kids and parents going to do – waste a lot of money travelling to the next school- overcrowd that school results reduce – original school sold off to developers – oh there’s a motive
However we are fast approaching a point where we should pool our taxes locally, stuff paying it to this mob and we get better paid people and better outcomes
Parata and co want a few think big mega schools like factories churning out products… put in excessively paid sycophant principals, sorry..Chief executives .. big classes-saves money- more efficient -forget all this rubbish about schools being focal points for communities.
Dotcom, got no money?, yeah right…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/73578775/kim-dotcom-is-building-his-own-private-internet
You think you’re upset about it, imagine what it was like for all your STASI mates when their authoritarian wet dream ended.
Yes we don’t want to encourage Internet Entrepreneurs in NZ. If only Dotcom had just bought up our real estate and paid zero taxes like all the other corps – he would be sitting beside John Key with a smile on his face instead of being persecuted for having smarter technology platforms than Hollywood.
There is one reason he is trying this and one only – and thats to get money.
Lets look at his other examples – Baboom – total failure.
MEGA – another failure – only kept alive by by $$$ coming from Bill Liu – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11340600
This time he will be taking $$$ off individual investors by crowd funding. Rest assured it will be as successful as the other ideas and yet again the $$$ will end up in his back pocket.
LOL what would you or the NZ Herald know about Dotcom’s personal situations.
Oh, hey CV, sorry to butt in but are you going to around for a bit? I need to ask you a question about a topic we briefly touched on months and months ago – raising the issue of the abolishment of GST at your local LEC meeting.
yes will be checking in to The Std through the afternoon 🙂
Thanks CV. This might be a bit of a drag because GST is a totally off the radar topic and there are so many other pressing topics that overwhelm such a yawn inducing one, such as GST.
So, I think I recall you mentioning quite some time ago that you were going to raise the idea at a LEC meeting of abolishing GST and introducing a FTT in it’s place. If you got enough support at a vote that you would take it further and introduce it as a remit (remit?) at the next Labour Party annual conference.
I am unsure of several of those statements so please correct me.
As a new Labour member who knows very little of the structure of the Party, I am really wanting to know how ideas from ordinary members get to make it into the light of day and to the attention of party officials.
I also want to see GST abolished for many reasons, which I’ve covered before.
Part two of my question is how successful were you in raising the GST abolishment issue and will it go further?
I won’t be able to attend the conference in Palmerston North coming up soon. It would have been good to see how the Party functions at a structural level.
Typically, members at a branch have to formulate and word policy remits which are then considered and voted on at Regional Conference. If the policy remit passes at Regional Conference, it is then put forward to be considered at NZ Conference.
However, the overall process is extremely clunky and leads to mechanistic and narrow consideration of policy.
For instance, to solve the housing crisis in Auckland would require a comprehensive programme of policy measures – it is impossible for such a systematic programme to be developed and considered via this remit process.
Unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that the remit process is largely a diversionary waste of time. Even if NZ conference passes a remit there is no guarantee (or mechanism to guarantee) that caucus will act on it or act on it as intended.
In other words, caucus can and does go off and do its own thing all the time.
We can discuss the GST issue further – essentially I think our branch submited a remit which said that GST should be raised to 20%: but the first $100 of any item or service would be excluded from GST.
In this way, GST becomes a de facto luxury living tax, since the vast majority of items bought by the vast majority of people come under the $100 or $50 threshold.
Thanks for your response. The remit process was explained in a helpful way. Seeing as we are on a thread about Dot Com I will restart the GST discussion below as a separate post………….
A pre-hearing demonstration to voice our dissapointment that Craddocks are still considering building this factory farm both in Patumahoe or at all. If you have time you can then join us at 10am in the court room for the hearing directly after the demonstration. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. Bring your best placards to help get the message across. We want to be heard!
https://web.facebook.com/events/625096927629982/
Does anyone know about this? Is this the case where the commissioners have approved a massive battery chicken farm about 30m away from residential housing citing no effects?
Yes. My neck of the woods actually.
The local residents have done extremely well in bringing this to the community’s attention, and have been supported by animal welfare organisations and many in the immediate community. There has also been the expected backlash from the “farmers are the backbone of this country” crowd who don’t know details about the issue, but back “their” team.
Unfortunately, the animal welfare issue cannot be a reason for denying resource consent, but the failure of the applicants to credibly demonstrate the issue of mitigating air quality adverse effects has led to the initial application being turned down.
The appeal has redesigned the air stacks in increase the height (and dispersion), so that’ll be interesting.
The residents have had to fund their experts regarding air and water quality independently, and it will cost them in the region of $80 – $100K to see this through.
They have been subject to small degrees of harassment, outright lying about the resource consent conditions and no small amount of emotional stress. The arrogance of the Craddocks organisation – who were offered the opportunity to onsell when the public reaction became known – has been ongoing and revealing of how our current system rewards the morally poor.
Auckland Council however, has dipped a toe in the water, and have decided to make submissions to oppose the updated application in the hearing – which is some progress.
However, until Craddocks onsells the property or indicates that they will not develop in this particular way on this site, they are in the bullying position of resubmitting applications and forcing residents to continue this fight for a long time.
Wow what a weekend, can’t believe I managed to drag myself to work but there you go…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/73578987/sam-cane-faces-nervous-wait-for-mccaw-to-confirm-retirement
The best NZ has to offer whether it be sporting, military or political…makes you proud to be a kiwi!
It is reported that Sonny will be given a replacement medal for the one he gave to the boy. Seems wrong somehow. He gives and the lad feels great. We feel great. Somehow diminishes the generosity to replace the medal.
Episode 830
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/320218-episode-max-keiser-830/
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss how a service driven Chinese economy could spell bad news for Western economies but how a two-child policy could save the global property ponzi for another generation. In the second half, Max interviews Dan Collins of TheChinaMoneyReport.com about the latest news with the Chinese economy, its crackdown on corruption and its increasing role in the global economy.”
Questions: from a Labour, NZFirst and Green perspective ,what are the implications of more Chinese overpopulation and the Chinese ecological disaster for New Zealand?
…it seems to me that the NZ housing and property bubble is NOT going to burst as Bill English claims…eg.as Max and Tracy state “how a two-child policy could save the global property ponzi for another generation”
…hence no relief for young New Zealanders and future generations of New Zealanders wanting to buy their own home from scarce New Zealand housing stock ….which is being bought up by overseas investors and escalating house prices
…also the pressure on immigration to New Zealand will continue
….unless curbs are put on both overseas ownership of NZ property and immigration by the foreign wealthy fleeing their own environmental and overpopulation disasters
As if more proof were needed that MSM has completely gone down the gurgler…
A dose of man flu for an ‘entertainer’ with a narcissistic personality disorder (aka Mike Hosking) hits the Herald headlines. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11538804
Hosking is probably upset that he is no longer Key’s favourite and has his nose out of joint over Key’s bromance/obsession with Richie McCaw.
This is a pretty disgusting story about dairy pollution that is not being
officially charged by the appropriate govt. authority it seems.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/73502841/hundreds-of-dairy-farmers-caught-breaking-rules
Ack!
Hundreds of Cantab dairy farmers caught out over breaking effluent discharge rules in the past year. Profits are the priority!
Do the individual or company owners have Chinese-sounding or Kiwi-sounding names??
From a Systems Analysis point of view. The current system is a very broken beast. For a system that should be for everyone, it works for less and less especially in so called first world countries and fails to deliver anywhere near the outcomes that it should, especially given our level of technological advancement in society.
To fix it?
Well, that’s the big question.
Consider this first and foremost. A man or woman cannot hope to fix the world unless his or her future has been secured.
(And yes the Irony is that the world must first be fixed in order to secure anyone’s future).
But that is also the key.
The technology we need to fix things has been developed.
That starts with
The internet for freedom of information.
Product Hubs to deliver goods anywhere in the world.
And finally service hubs or platforms to be able to access services.
One of the key things that people don’t have enough of is time due to the demands of the current system.
In fact when you compare hours worked during Slavery in the US vs Capitalism now….. well let’s just say that if we are interested in outcomes it doesn’t paint a very pretty picture. In many ways, the hours are the same or similar. Sure you get to choose your master under Capitalism or you can even choose to be your own master and if you’re lucky (and statistically probably exceptionally lucky) you won’t have to work as much. But on the whole chances are you, your kids and everyone around you will have to work in order to survive in some way shape or form for the rest of their lives.
What’s worse is that as more and more roles are automated (45% in the next 10 years) this will be the case more and more. It would all be fine if wages kept pace with prices, but they aren’t going to. But the Market will correct right!? Well maybe one day but only after a crapload of people are made homeless and can’t afford to put food on the table. In fact, many will actually starve to death before the market corrects.
Why? This is because ‘The Market’ only needs a single willing buyer and a single willing seller to agree on price, for the market to appear to be working. Bob Jones bought himself an aeroplane earlier this year for a cool 2 million. Hey presto the market works, but most people reading this could never afford to buy one in their lifetime. You might shrug your shoulders at that example, but the same concept applies at a much lower level including things such as basic essentials. Things like food, a home, electricity, clothing and so on.
Take the example of a simple kebab shop. It can continue to make and sell kebabs and stay in business frequented by a few hundred customers per week at the very same time tens of thousands can’t afford to buy one. So the market correction theory doesn’t happen fast enough in the real world for it to make a difference. This becomes a real problem. Unfortunately, this is also what is happening right now.
That old poem written by Pastor Martin Neimoller on the principle of not speaking up…
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
….Applies to Capitalism in a similar vain.
There is only something wrong with Capitalism when it doesn’t work for you, but at that point its too late. But just so you know Capitalism doesn’t care that you can’t afford essential items like food and housing and nor do those at the top of the food chain so long as the profits keep coming and the money keeps rolling in.
Climate change and Capitalism? Well the long and the short of it is that fixing Climate change is simply incompatible with a system that requires continual extraction and consumption of resources to obtain profit which is under Capitalism required in order to survive.
You will never fix climate change whilst we have Capitalism.
(yes you could add in the true cost but by the time you get all of that sorted we will be living in a wasteland and there are far simpler and much more effective ways that solve many of the other problems we face at the same time.
It really depends on whether the best we can come up with, is a system that requires people to work similar hours to slavery). Capitalism doesn’t care about the environment and nor do those at the top of the food chain so long as the profits keep coming and the money keeps rolling in.
Capitalism doesn’t have boundaries. Capitalism doesn’t care about your sovereignty not in the slightest. It cares about one thing. Ownership or control of resources and Capital. Can no longer afford to live in your own country? Capitalism doesn’t care and nor do those at the top of the food chain, so long as the profit keeps coming and the money keeps rolling in
Capitalism doesn’t care about whether something is legal or illegal. You might, but Capitalism doesn’t and nor do many other people in this world. Something being illegal just means that it gets assigned a higher price tag under Capitalism. Whether its drugs, human trafficking and slavery or something else illegal like not paying your taxes or seeking to avoid them as many corporations do.
No Capitalism doesn’t care if something is illegal and nor do those at the top of the food chain, so long as the profit keeps coming and the money keeps rolling in.
Under proper systems analysis, Capitalism fails dismally. I won’t bore you with the details but it is basically determining what a system designed for people should do vs what Capitalism achieves..
If you want to go through it for yourself, systems analysis asks certain questions of the system.
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
& How?
These are the questions that are asked of any system, whether you are fixing a broken one or designing a new one. Done correctly it should be solution agnostic. That way you can determine a true set of requirements for any system no matter how big or how small.
Spoiler alert: it all comes down to the delivery of goods and services to meet needs and wants.
The question is what is the best way to do this for everyone given the available technology we have today.
For Needs, they are predominantly the same from one person to the next (Maslow’s Hierarchy Pyramid is a good place to start for this).
Wants – vastly different but the reality is you only need a system that enables people to obtain their wants and we can already do that provided you can overcome the barrier that is put in place called price.
For anyone about to lose the plot over the resources used to enable everyone to meet their needs, consider the concept of owning versus using. As an example, Under owning we have the humble lawnmower. You buy one to use on average 6 – 12 hours a year and you have to pay to maintain it. Not exactly a great use of resources now is it.
Under ‘Using; (coupled with technology of course) you can order a lawnmower via your smartphone that is delivered to your location by drone and mows your lawns automatically….. because its a robot. When it’s finished, it sends a signal to the drone which comes and picks it up to deliver it to the next location. We don’t have to do it that way, but that’s what is possible with technology from today.
The best part is it is all in place, we just need to change the way things work together and the way we work together coupled with a healthy dose of common sense.
Example: Capitalism a system where you compete against 7 billion other people for the resources you need in order to survive. Does that sound like common sense to you?
Add to that that we are facing challenges on a worldwide scale that in order to overcome, require us to work together more so than at any other time in the history ofr the human race.
How we fix things is interesting, because when you look at the monetary system and the problems it was introduced to overcome, those problems no longer exist to a large degree. I imagine the same would be true for Capitalism.
Capitalism has worked in the past, granted. In fact Capitalism has largely built the world around us today. The question is when do we begin to use what it has built in the most efficient and effective way for us, for everyone. Given that Capitalism is no longer delivering the outcomes we need it to both at an individual and at a societal level the time to relook at this has never been better or for that matter more important.
Imagine a world, where people had freedom. Where they could obtain basic essential items such as food and a home when they needed one.
Imagine a world, where you only had to work half of the time that you do now. Imagine a world, where the media once again just reported the news.
Imagine a world, where Science just gave us the facts without the corporate interference.
Imagine a world, where the systems we had, worked with nature rather than through the exploitation and destruction of it.
Imagine a world where no man held dominion over any other man woman or child.
Imagine a world, where the goal of the system was to enable you to live a happy and fulfilled life full of positive experiences in so far as you choose to do so.
Imagine true freedom.
Imagine a world, where our future was secure.
Again a man or woman cannot hope to fix this world whilst their own future is insecure.
In order to fix things we first have to secure everyone’s future.
That means we need to first and foremost decouple work from wages.
We need a new Financial system (only because most people would freak out if you removed money) This could and should be automated. It should be a highly secure crypto currency and should be used for enabling a Universal Basic Income for everyone thus largely securing everyones future.
We need a system that uses the internet, product hubs and service platforms to work for us and not simply to add to the profit of the corporate bottom line.
We need a system that automates people’s roles as much as we possibly can with a view of freeing them from having to work for the rest of their lives simply in order to survive.
At that point we can begin to really fix things, But only then.
so how do you shift power and influence away from that top 0.1% who are currently major beneficiaries of the existing order?
democracy
Show people an alternative vision of the future they can themselves imagine. The biggest barrier to changing things right now is the lack of any real alternative.
Show them what the alternative is and how we would get there from where we are today.
What Is being proposed is in many ways no different than the sort of shift that took place when everything went from public ownership to private ownership (well sort of).
Govt already provides services to people. There is therefore justification to build a service hub using taxpayer funds. This is the start. Then as more and more essential services are not being met, public alternatives can fill the gap in an efficient manner using software automation.
The Crypto currency takes care and actually sidelines the powers that be to a large degree.
As has been said before the best way to change the system is to create a new and better one from within.
Thinking outside the box It could also be done by two or three key individuals (although they don’t realise it) with the help of Government through UBI. Elon Musk, Richard Branson and someone with access to a service hub. Would you or many others not support such an alliance with your dollar if this was the vision and the world that they stated up front they wanted to build? I now I would.
If democracy actually worked to disempower the 0.1%, it would have been outlawed ages ago.
The masses have only just started to wake up. Many know something is wrong and parents are worried about their children’s future. Show them a better alternative and they will take the chance.
The pieces can be put in place without unvielling the full picture. There is justification to build a service hub in order to gain efficiencies in delivering govt services to people. The rest will take care of itself as things continue to get worse.
The alternative is to stick with the status quo and simply do nothing. Sounds like an interesting choice for people.
Will the royal visit influence flag choices in the first flag referendum as James Shaw and the Greens argue ? (….or WTF…the strange case of James Shaw and the NZ flag)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/288575/greens-question-timing-of-royal-visit
James Shaw helped John key make sure that the existing NZ flag with the Union Jack ( the most popular choice for New Zealanders) was excluded from the first referendum, which is when the royals turn up…but the corporate logo Red Peak flag, James’s favourite, is in the first referendum
….. James and the Greens went against Labour Party and NZF wishes ( their future coalition partners?). The Labour Party argued having the existing NZ flag in the first referendum would have saved a costly second referendum and in any case NZers dont want to change their flag. Winston Peters and NZF also argue this.
….so if the flag with the Union Jack is NOT to be in the first referendum when the royals arrive….how can the royal visit influence NZers voting for the Union Jack in the first referendum?
( or am I missing something here?)
Preparing for NCEA exams?
“The letter bearing the college masthead and its official phone numbers claimed that senior students would have to undergo full body check – including their bare bottoms.”
What will they get up to next?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11538899
Picking up GST discussion with CV above on altogether unrelated thread…………
I agree with the taxation of luxury goods. (and also alcohol and tobacco) You suggested that an increase to 20% GST with an exemption of GST for the first $100 of a purchase would in effect be a de facto luxury tax.
However, when we are paying $250 in one go for groceries, paying our rates, paying for expensive car repairs, paying power bills etc we’re not paying for luxury goods, we’re paying for essentials.
These essentials, shouldn’t be taxed for moral reasons. For me, the idea of GST is a moral one as it places an unnecessary financial burden on many people. If GST were removed tomorrow, depending on your financial circumstances you’d see a dramatic improvement in your financial health. The less wealthy you are the greater the improvement as your little budget is unfairly weighted down by GST compared to the wealthy person’s budget.
From a business point of view, scrapping GST could be seen as beneficial. A reduction in financial stress in a household could see its members spending more on things they could never afford before. Money saved from GST could go into the tills of retailers.
(An aside. A former customer of mine, from my days as a sales rep, was a retailer who had a successful business. It had been going for 30 years. He had owned it for the previous 10. He suffered through the GFC, was partially affected by public service cuts, as some Wellington retailers were, but he said it was the increase in GST that the Natz brought in that was the last straw for him. They way we saw it was that not only does a consumer harm households, it harms business).
I’ve got more points in my abolishment of GST argument but this would end up a very long post and rehash old ground. Happy to discuss if others are interested though.
One final point I will cover again is Labour’s opportunity to address past wrongs, eg, being the ones to introduce GST in 1986.
Next year is the Centenary celebrations for the Labour Party. It will be a great time to highlight and celebrate the very proud history that the NZLP has, and how they led and shaped NZ into a decent and fair society through the introduction of the welfare state.
They will have to face their dark past too. GST was part of the neo liberal reforms. It has no place in the unequal society that we have become.
This is a good opportunity for them to abandon the tax policy they introduced. It would be a hugely bold move, but we need bold, not bland.
In 2011 Labour tinkered with the idea by having an election promise to remove GST off fresh fruit and vege. It didn’t gain any traction and seemed like a random policy out on it’s own, not in context with anything else.
In 2014 NZ First said they would exempt GST from council rates. Again, no traction with that one.
2016 is the right time to stand up and say GST, you can just f*ck off, and demonstrate to the voters how their lives will be improved for it.
There is no single item in a standard grocery shop which is over $50 or over $100.
Therefore under our branch’s remit, your entire grocery shop would be GST free.
See how it works?
Removing GST from rates is also a good idea. BTW I don’t think your conclusion that NZ First got “not traction” on that was correct: out of all the opposition parties they were the only one which GAINED MPs.
Yes, ok, the grocery shop would be GST free, because each single item is under $50/$100. I was thinking total shop.
But what about power bills? You would have to be a single person living on your own with extremely minimal use of power to get to the GST free threshold of $100. What about car repairs and servicing? Nothing much there under $100. Our head gasket blew and we had to borrow $3K for repairs. This has a GST content of $450, which is being paid off with interest over 18 months. Interest on a tax, hardly fair. Have to buy new tyres for the car? Not cheap either.
Need to get an electrician or plumber in? Have never seen a bill that would meet the GST excluded threshold you propose. Chimney sweep? same thing. Have to see the dentist? You’ll be paying that off on the credit card, and like the mechanics bill you’ll be paying a massive chunk of GST with interest added.
And you are proposing we add another 5% to that cost! Sorry CV, only the wealthy can afford that.
The only way people would benefit under the 20% GST with a threshold of $100 as GST free would be for food, weekly public transport costs, a small top up of petrol for the car and sundry items. I think this policy, rather than being helpful would cause even greater hardship. It’s a messy option. Any short term savings you make on the small things will get gobbled up on the larger living costs, and even worse than before. Things also need to be kept super simple for voters. Just get rid of GST altogether.
Thats without going into the logistics for wholesalers and retailers who carry a variety of lines some of which fall into the GST excluded zone. For example, what happens when a retailer purchases an item from the wholesaler and pays GST on it, but then the item won’t sell, even after markdowns. Eventually they have to sell below original wholesale cost, and lose not only their profit but they directly lose the 20% tax they had to pay?
Re NZ First, I was referring to the GST off council rates policy getting no traction in the form of generating public discussion, not the success that NZ First had last year. Labours GST off produce in 2011 only generated a bit of confusion.
applying the GST correctly is very simple in the age of computerised inventory and sales systems.
Wine and beer sold in supermarkets have varying alcohol excise tax applied in addition to GST. No one complained it couldnt be done.
Also the 20% GST only applies to each dollar above say $100. So a $150 car tyre or dentists check up will only have $10 of GST added: which is less than you are paying in GST today.
A unit of power is only 20c. No GST applies.
Our branch worked all this out in detail.
Thanks. I do appreciate the time you have taken to explain your proposal. I’m still uncomfortable with it, and I do think it’s messy.
The big thing for me is that GST is a neoliberal tax, it belongs in the past. I have a moral issue with it. Transfer the tax burden to the wealthy and introduce a Robin Hood style tax.
I have no probs with that. Especially since I am of the school which says that Government does not need to raise all its revenues through taxation and that taxation can be used to achieve many different purposes other than to raise revenues.
“Our branch worked all this out in detail.”
Any chance you could put this in the public domain (or would that hobble the process within Labour)?
I also appreciate the explanations and would love to see more.
Since the in-house Labour technocrats are utterly disinterested in all these ideas I might as well find alternative avenues to put these non-orthodox ideas out there.
great, look forward to it.
Aussies dumping Knights and Dames as inappropriate in this day and age. Is Turnbull trying to upset his new pal John Key?
Turnbull was never an arse licker to the Anglo-Saxon establishment.
Key and National are died in the wool royalists. Shipley used Bolger’s republicanism (and more subtly his Irish Catholicism) to get support to stab him in the back.
Malcolm Turnbull has dumped Tony Abbott’s widely ridiculed policy of reinstating Knights and Dames, saying the titles are “not appropriate” in modern Australia.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-scraps-tony-abbotts-knights-and-dames-20151101-gkodek.html
Good on the All Blacks for winning the Rugby World Cup. Many will have celebrated their victory and much has been reported and discussed in the MSM of course.
Let us perhaps focus on some important stuff that matters. I did already post this link under Open Mike for 01 Nov. last night. It deserves some attention.
The Office of Ombudsmen is conducting a survey on experiences with and satisfaction with OIA requests and responses:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OIASurvey2
This should be of much interest to readers here, especially those who care about transparency of government, of ministries and agencies. The OIA process is supposed to strengthen our democracy, but as we know, things have gone downhill with it for some time.
I encourage all to participate in their survey, those that care about improving the OIA process, and especially those that have had experiences with OIA requests and replies.
Sadly it does not seem to get much attention by our media.
Here is more info on all this on the Ombudsman’s website:
http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/newsroom/item/chief-ombudsman-seeks-public-experience-of-oia
Seen this?
EXCLUSIVE: Jane Kelsey – TPPA HAS NOT BEEN SIGNED.
Crucial protest on 14 Nov
By Prof Jane Kelsey / November 2, 2015
This is no time for surrender or fatigue. Other countries are fighting to ensure the political price is too high for their governments to do so and that opposition parties make an uncompromising commitment to reject the still-secret
The fact many people think the TPPA is a done deal and there’s nothing we can do shows how effective the government’s propaganda campaign has been.
That’s what they need people to believe so they can kill off one of the most effective public campaigns to oppose a core government policy for several decades.
And they have done so despite conceding the deal would deliver almost none of the gains they made a bottom line, and keeping the text secret so no-one can categorically rebut the content or omissions in their ‘fact sheets’.
The truth is that the TPPA can’t be signed for at least another three months.
Until then New Zealand has not been committed in any formal legal manner to the political deal. Even then, the country won’t be bound irrevocably to the TPPA for probably another two years.
This is no time for surrender or fatigue.
Other countries are fighting to ensure the political price is too high for their governments to do so and that opposition parties make an uncompromising commitment to reject the still-secret deal.
We need to do that here, starting with a mass turnout to the protests around the country, especially in Auckland and Wellington, on Saturday 14 November.
The Fast Track legislation said Obama must give 90 days’ notice before he can sign the TPPA. The text becomes public no longer than 30 days into that 90 days, which means two months to debunk the pro-TPPA lobby’s spin.
Obama has not given that 90 days’ notice yet.
The officials have been in Japan doing what we call the ‘legal scrubbing’ of the text. That should be a purely technical task, but reports suggest there are many problems emerging about interpretations and some countries are only just finding out what others have agreed between themselves in side-letters.
The legal officials’ meeting has finished. They will try to sort out the remain issues by internet, but they are likely to have to meet again.
The longer this takes, the further away those 90 days become and the more time we have to make it clear to the Key/Groser government that we don’t believe their snow job and will make any attempt to sign it politically toxic, and to the opposition parties that they have to
Seems Crosby T advisers have got to key. Haven’t seen the same fawning photo ops. Guess they have said, “let the country revel in it John, and we’ll step it up a notch when everyone’s home. Plenty of time yet!”