That makes me feel physically sick. Foreigners buying up what they can now in anticipation that National may not get re-elected next year? Time to change the sell out National government, before there is nothing left in NZ’s hands anymore.
Flogging state houses should be collated with an OIA request about how much property soe’s and govt departments have flogged such as police houses in the regions etc
The good National party members picked someone who lives in and who has just set up her office in a East Auckland.yeah she is a great local candidate for a West Auckland seat.
Whereas the Labour party head office overrode the local Labour party members to appoint a candidate who I was working with as beiing crucial to the campaign in Mt Roskill in the 2005 election, and who was living there then. And he was an old hand in Roskill then.
/sarc
FFS it would been nice if you actually thought about reality more. The losing national candidate in Roskill with her faux concern about local issues is losing to the local preferred by the Mt Roskill Labour members.
Does Mr Wood really live in Mt Roskill and is to be voted for because he is a “local candidate”.
It will make a change, both for him and for the electorate then, won’t it?
What did Mr Wood say when he ran in Botany?
What did Mr Wood say when he ran in Epsom?
What did Mr Wood say when he ran in Pakuranga?
Or wherever else he has tried to get a nomination.
Is he the parliamentary equivalent of Shadbolt? “I don’t care where as long as I’m Mayor”. Mind you he will be a lucky man if he lasts as long as Tim has.
Just promise them “Bullshit and Jellybeans”.
Did Phil Goff, or you for that matter, suggest people not vote for him because he lived as far away from Mt Roskill as he could and yet still be in the general Auckland area for the 35 years he spent in Parliament? If not why not?
“Wood: I’m standing in the right electorate because Mt Roskill is my home, and it has been for the past 13 years. I’ve served in the community, been on the local board for the past six years.”
Very good. And yes I was aware of his current claim.
However what did he say to the residents of Botany when he stood there?
What did he say to the residents of Epsom when he stood there?
What did he say to the residents of Pakuranga when he stood there?
Did he tell them he was a carpetbagger, which he NOW seems to think is a valid objection to someone who doesn’t live in an electorate they choose to stand in?
Does he tell them how privileged they are to have someone who lives there rather than a person like their previous MP who lived an hours drive away?
Like hell he does, even though it is all true.
Now personally I don’t see why an MP should live within the actual boundary of the electorate. Wood however seems to think he can complain about his opponent doing exactly what he did so many times.
I wonder how he will explain these views to his leader? After all Little left New Plymouth when he was a teenager but still, in his 50s I suppose, tried to get elected there.
Hey Lyn, life would be a whole bunch easier for Labour activists if Labour’s leaders stopped trying to parachute in unpopular carpet-baggers into electorates with strong LEC’s.
I’m sure everyone’s got their own war stories of have a strong local candidate, well supported and known, only to have some numpty pop up and truck busloads of otherwise unknown union delegates into the selection meeting, or the Selection Committee gets stacked for some dork, and Hey Presto the local choice gets steamrollered flat.
And then they wonder why fresh talent doesn’t find Labour candidacy attractive, and caucus looks stale.
And then as a result most of the LEC ups and leaves or is totally pissed off. Sure, these things need to be renewed, and in reality what difference does and LEC do but form a fawning little glee club to plump up the MP’s ego, and actually don’t always a huge amount of difference to actual vote turnout.
But, people are not meant to be burnt off needlessly in life or in politics. It doesn’t need to happen.
The Labour Party should support its own renewal, without parachuting.
Unlike Labour where head office overrides the local members and decides who runs in an electorate.
LOL
yeah – like Scott Simpson for Coromandel!
Just one example – but I could list dozens.
Ever heard of John Key for Helensville?
Macro,
You clearly do not how local selections in National work. I can assure you that if the local party (membership above the qualifying threshold) has control they well and truly exercise it.
In fact being pushed too heavily by the leadership is likely to backfire.
The people you have to convince are the local delegates. If you can’t you won’t get selected.
Clutha-Southland must have some pretty gullible National party members then. (Though, arguably no more gullible than the rest of the locals, given the vote counts)
Soooo……… after the big test period where gear was checked so as to being up to the job and the net result is the independent company which produces footage of all sorts of illegal activity loses out to the company which is balls deep in corrupt practices of self interest.
Then…….. you remove the human observers and replace with surveillance equipment supplied by said corrupt company.
And 3 months later it turns out up to 80% of the gear is not up to the job and there has been very little if any actually monitoring of an industry which officials have previously admitted would fold if forced to follow the rules.
WTF?? So are we actually going to pay these compromised cowboys for a shite job?
What happened to proving the equipment was up to task prior to deployment (shades of Novapay here)?
Are we really surprised the corrupt fishing industry cant monitor its own practices?
Typical Nats solution to a looming problem, mouth appropriate verbiage, slide a sycophantic, self interested body into management, control the media —> what problem? we’re on it, all solved.
Meanwhile our declining moana gets pillaged even moar………….SNAFU
you forgot that even if there is illegal activity captured on these cameras (blind spots known and reliability dubious) it is of insufficient quality as evidence……it is a Claytons monitoring regime and by design.
red face – indigenous rights activists continually fight against the ridicule and misappropriation of indigenous knowledge, imagery and artifacts. This happens all over the globe – and is especially poignant for Native Americans – so much of their culture has been mythologized, demonized, misappropriated and just stolen – including traditional costumes, headdress and so on.
It is not good enough to say – tough cheese. We know black face is not right and red face is not right too.
So my message to the santa parade in christchurch (just think about that mashing up of myths, consumerism and exploitation in that sentence – whew!!!) is STOP! You do not have the right to steal other cultures items and (for whatever reason) say you are honoring them or respecting them – you aren’t. You are being colonisers of the mind and of the body. You are continuing the unthinking arrogant and obnoxious traits of racists and previous colonisers. STOP it.
“Organisers of the Santa Parade in Christchurch will not pull a float featuring children dressed as First Nations and Native Americans this weekend, despite a complaint it is “essentially red face” and is “highly inappropriate and culturally insensitive”.
The float has been part of the Santa Parade for many years and features local children dressed as people of the Ojibwe tribe, complete with face paint and headdresses.”
“”But Santa Parade manager Pam Morris said she was “offended” by the request. If she had a good look at that float, some of it belongs to a tribe that I went to the reservation of in Buffalo. They know about this float and they gave me some headgear to use on this float.
“We have the blessing of that tribe.”
BULLSHIT
because
“Professor of Maori and indigenous studies at Massey University, Rawiri Taonui, said the costumes were only offensive if they mocked First Nations people.
“It is OK if they are dressing up in costume as a way of learning about that culture in a respectful way.
“If that is the intent we should support it. It depends on the intent.”
I wonder how they’d feel if someone went out of their way to find their tender spots and dressed up to poke those spots – probably laugh – after it is is just jolly fun eh.
It could be done easily too – pity I’m not down to Waikawa till early next year…
I have sent an email with links to a respected senior person I know within the tribe – may take a day or so for an answer – and I know in my gut, and as a person who fights this often, what the answer will be – I’ll let you know draco seeing as how you appear to be interested 🙂
If the Right get their way and charter schools are allowed to grow like weeds in South Auckland we will get more Misa Fia Turners. For LGBT people, setting foot in South Auck would be like setting foot in Moscow. Day after day, thousands of schoolkids will have it drilled into them that magic created the earth and homosexuals are vermin to be exterminated by laypreachers like Tamaki.
Posted this yesterday, but interested in further comments on it.
At present, we are seeing the long con strategy being utilised by National. Merkel’s Germany has been doing it to good effect.
How to do the long con.
1) Soften up the electorate as much as you can whilst retaining as many of the core policy settings that enable society to function (even while cutting funding left right and centre). This means temporarily swallow the dead rats.
2) Make the same soothing noises each time so as not to spook the horses.
3) Utilise the lack of MMP understanding to your advantage knowing that by and large, most voters don’t really care about the ins and outs. It suits National for voters to just know the ‘high level’ overview which is “vote for this party, and vote for that person”.
4) Incrementally, and surely, keep hammering home the same message of being “sound economic managers” and portraying the opposition as a bunch of inept muppets.
5) Constantly belittle any brainfart or policy ideas that erupt from those quarters.
6) Make any issues that crop up during your governing period anyone else’s fault but your own. Blame your support parties. Sheet home all responsibility to them (RMA delays = blame Maori party, Party Drug/Marijuana issues = blame Peter Dunne)
Once achieved, and the same message has sunk in, it’s odds on proof that the electorate is softened up and all the ducks are in a row, so now you can go hard.
Sell one message, and one message only.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
Play to peoples wallets because 9 years of constant tax rises means people are poorer. Everyone is sick of hearing the same things – housing crisis, unclean water, mass sell offs of land etc.
Tax cuts, tax cuts tax cuts.
The majority do not care. The majority want more money to continue to obtain the things to buy to make their struggling, and probably miserable existence somewhat better. Consumerism has taught us all “feel down, buy junk, feel better.”
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
The majority listen, their ears perk up. More money say they! More money indeed say National.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
9 years in power with constrained control under MMP, in order to keep selling yourself as the “long term” government is nothing. All people hear now are tax cuts. No one hears anything else. All talk of “30 new taxes since 2008” is ignored.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
Overwhelmingly, the majority will vote for what’s good for their wallets. 9 long years of constantly struggling to get by and seeing more of your pay disappear each week means tax cuts will be a boon..
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
The opposition decries, “no, we can’t afford”. Shut up say the proletariat ‘You’re not the government, how do you know what we can afford. That John Key is such a nice guy’
tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
The masses hunger. They want these tax cuts. Nothing will stop them now from getting them. The party offering the message, simply, must. WIN!
Election day looms near. The repeated mantra of ‘tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts’ has assumed a soothing quality to the soma’d masses. No one wants to be a Delta, or an Epsilon. We all want to be Betas. Only the best can be Alphas. Being a Gamma wouldn’t be too bad, but a Beta is better.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
Election day itself
Party vote “tax cuts” say the masses. The dutiful tick goes to the party with the right message.
After 9 long years of softening up the hoi polloi, the governing party is returned with an outright majority. Too late, the people awaken. The look of horror is abject. The next three years is a selloff. Too late, the damage is done, the plan is to be carried out. The bankers and merchant men took over the country.
New Zealand. The greatest experimental country for neo-liberalism to mass transfer and consolidate wealth to the few, since, well, ever.
All you are saying is that ‘tax cuts’ are superior political tactics to anything the left has produced.
What news is that? No news.
The left don’t seem to want to take notice of how they win elections getting fresh money into people’s pockets. They should. If they did they would be more likely to win elections.
It’s no news, but it’s the news that makes people take notice.
Unless labour can counter it with an effective appeal, it’s a vote winner.
Big issue policies won’t win over the hearts and minds of the undefined “centre”.
Hip pocket stuff wins the day.
My pick would be to counter the tax cuts mantra with something equally as powerful. $1500 tax refund within 100 days.
Then, when the inevitable bashing starts just say that it’s cheaper than Nationals tax cuts and people will get that $1500 right away instead of over 18 months under National.
Fight a lack of policy costings with just the same vigor. “We will show you our figures when National does”. Easy. Drives home the fact National have no plan.
How to pay for it? Easy. A new tax bracket for 500k+ of 45%. Sure as eggs are eggs, labour will win then.
….. or target those with the most who are cheating the rest of us ……
Its a worldwide problem
“All over the world governments are struggling to provide decent public services. Ordinary people pay ever-increasing taxes but get worse public services. Rather than paying their fair share of taxes, major corporations and wealthy individuals escape their social obligations by locating in offshore tax havens. Companies such as Enron, Newscorp, Elan, Exxon, Northern & Shell Group, Portland Investment, Microsoft, General Motors and others have used tax havens to shave their tax bills.
“A significant fraction of global private financial wealth — by our estimates, at least $21 to $32 trillion as of 2010 — has been invested virtually tax-free through the world’s still expanding black hole of more than 80 “offshore”secrecy jurisdictions. We believe this range to be conservative, for reasons discussed below. Remember: this is just financial wealth. A big share of the real estate, yachts, racehorses, gold bricks — and many other things that count as non-financial wealth –are also owned via offshore structures where it is impossible to identify the owners. These are outside the scope of this report. http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/The_Price_of_Offshore_Revisited_Presser_120722.pdf
Through the US Export-Import Bank, Barack Obama’s administration has spent nearly $34bn supporting 70 fossil fuel projects around the world, work by Columbia Journalism School’s Energy and Environment Reporting Project and the Guardian has revealed.
This unprecedented backing of oil, coal and gas projects is an unexpected footnote to Obama’s own climate change legacy. The president has called global warming “terrifying” and helped broker the world’s first proper agreement to tackle it, yet his administration has poured money into developments that will push the planet even closer to climate disaster.
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT is an occasional series highlighting some of the worst moments in our pretty shameful history of broadcasting mediocrity and downright failure.
Dolores Umbridge has surely never thought of herself as evil. Evil people never do. They think of themselves as working for the betterment of the world they live in. Dolores Umbridge lives in a world that is populated by all sorts of people—werewolves and merpeople and muggles and wizards.
And she knows in her heart that it would be a better world if some of those people—the lesser people, the less important people—served people like her. Or died. Either one will do. Either way, they must be broken.
It would be a better world, she tells herself, for everyone.
Sounds remarkably like the National Party as they bash down beneficiaries and the poor while helping the rich exploit the rest of society.
firstly John Michael Greer – I have been an avid fan of his for years – I cannot agree with his trump analysis – I think he is wrong to suppose that trump will do anything. Feel sad about JMG’s opinion on all that – makes me want to not read him anymore – but his analysis on other topics is insightful so will probably keep reading him, but it isn’t the same now 🙁
and Mana and The Māori Party – I’ve really tried but nah. Too far Hone, you have lost mana and don’t have the same pulling power mate. The Internet-Mana and dotcom stuff burnt too much political capital – we trusted you and we were let down. You can’t ask us to do it again – I’m not going to – I don’t trust The Māori Party – they have done too much against our people and they have supported the gnats too much.
As a Māori indigenous rights left activist I am NOT supporting the Mana Movement joining with The Māori Party – and I am NOT supporting Hone Harawira. I want NEW leadership, I want a commitment to the kaupapa we originally signed up for not this additional new direction. Nah – I’m not compromising my values and what I believe about fighting inequality and fighting for indigenous rights and fighting for the underpriviledged, the forgotten, and discarded in our society (whose ranks are well overcrowded with Māori). Nah – this proposed marrigae is NOT the way – I’m NOT putting my patu down yet.
A poem from a few years ago
Beneath Te Papa
My knee clicked loudly like an out of time fingersnapper
as I entered Te Papa. A museum, as am I, both hoarding
treasures deep on this day of my birth.
I am 50 today as I descend below Te Papa, the oversized
lift looming around us like an atrium, my socks slip
on the floor. A slow motion ritual fall to our past.
The doors weep quietly aside and I find them along walls.
Taiaha stacked supine, appearing settled yet expectant,
as poised as hungry white herons staring at faint flickers of fish.
They watch as years slide by. Discarded weapons now relics,
longing for a warm hand, the lightest touch of emotion, we were
forged for our time, as useful as a steady pay packet, or an edge.
A weapon-less warrior watching warrior-less weapons.
Te Papa and I are the cave mouth open everyday, and they enter
to see, to touch, to feel – the museum, but not the man.
JK played golf with logical person! “President Obama Says Marijuana Should Be Treated Like Alcohol
In a just published “exit interview” with Rolling Stone Magazine, President Barack Obama opined that marijuana use should be treated as a public-health issue, not a criminal matter, and called the current patchwork of state and federal laws regarding the drug “untenable.”
“Look, I’ve been very clear about my belief that we should try to discourage substance abuse,” Obama said. “And I am not somebody who believes that legalization is a panacea. But I do believe that treating this as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol, is the much smarter way to deal with it.”
He added, “It is untenable over the long term for the Justice Department or the DEA to be enforcing a patchwork of laws, where something that’s legal in one state could get you a 20-year prison sentence in another. So this is a debate that is now ripe, much in the same way that we ended up making progress on same-sex marriage.”
This from Avaaz about the Syrian people and their self help group The White Helmets. Perhaps Buzz Aldrin would go and visit on a Peace Mission there and bring out a whole lot of the wounded and their families for the same price as getting out of Antarctica.
73,530 lives in fact. That’s how many people they have saved, rushing to the scene of bombings to pull people from the rubble and carry them to safety.
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I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
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Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
Alex Casey unearths Simon Court’s full sales pitch for how menstrual cups could end poverty. On Friday last week, Act MP Simon Court was accused of “mansplaining” during a parliamentary committee hearing about benefit sanctions. After submitter Rachel Dibble shared her concerns about period poverty and the impact that sanctions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted February 10–14 from a sample of 1,244, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the previous Newspoll, ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you enjoy whip-smart satire: The White Lotus (Neon, February 17) HBO’s award-winning The White Lotus is back for what critics are calling “an absolutely exquisite third ...
NZPF called for a slowdown of the curriculum change, asking for one subject at a time, so that teachers and principals could be fully trained and feel confident and competent to implement the changes, New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) President ...
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Analysis: While most Wellingtonians enjoyed a rare but unbeatable sunny day on Saturday, some New Zealand diplomats will have been briefly shocked by a screenshot making the rounds on social media showing US President Donald Trump calling us a “third world country”.The image, it appears, was a fake – certainly a ...
ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp says that the Treaty Principles Bill has galvanised the biggest movement in support of Te Tiriti in modern history. ...
While it is in the interests of Wellington ratepayers to sell off this subsidy for the rich, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point. The council should have never spent a penny on this programme, and the $3.4 million spent is a flagrant abuse ...
A search for the person behind a social media account ridiculing Māori.Last week, while scrolling Facebook, I came across a post shared to the New Zealand Centre for Political Research group. The post began, “From Matua Kahurangi on X”, before pasting his critique of iwi leadership – particularly Ngāpuhi ...
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As the four Findlay siblings run out on the hockey turf, dressed in black with the silver fern, they take the drive and determination of their late mum with them.Emma Findlay is a Black Stick defender, on her way to Chile on Monday to play for the New Zealand women ...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11758774
The selling off of nz gathers pace.
That makes me feel physically sick. Foreigners buying up what they can now in anticipation that National may not get re-elected next year? Time to change the sell out National government, before there is nothing left in NZ’s hands anymore.
Flogging state houses should be collated with an OIA request about how much property soe’s and govt departments have flogged such as police houses in the regions etc
So I hear on the tranny the over sight of fishing boats is to be further eroded.
The crux of this is lobbyists.
When (if) a new regime comes into power, the lobbyists remain.
Like a cancer, their hold gets stronger, the longer, they remain uninterrupted.
To the best of my knowledge, lobbyists only serve their masters.
How refreshing it would be to hear a leader of a major party, pledge to rid the lobbyists access to MPs, at least to the level that individuals have.
I personally think he is having a bit of fun and stirring – but if it was true I wonder who national would target from labour ??
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/national-poaching-labour-mps-2016120113
Stuart Nash and David Shearer.
The National party is a much better fit.
But James says Nash is sexist and comments inappropriately about women.
Oh wait, National is a much better fit.
He didn’t have his brain engaged in that situation, looks like a smart enough guy to learn from that and not do it again.
Have you read James’ posts? He’s not smart and is unlikely to learn much at all.
he will think it just not say it – yep the rightie way of learning lol
Key says they take all comers, and proof off that is in the position Misa Fia Turner finds herself in.
Odd that National can’t find decent candidates on their own though. Perhaps the end is near?
She must have been the choice of the local members.
Unlike Labour where head office overrides the local members and decides who runs in an electorate.
National the democratic party.
Misa Fia Turner is representing the National Party. Next you’ll be saying it’s out of their hands who gets selected.
According to the National party rule book If you have more than 600 members the region or the party HQ cannot get involved.
If the Mangere national party group has over 600 members than they can pick whoever they want.
You are more naive than I thought.
That’s what Slater says and he’d have a fairly good idea how things are done within National.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2016/11/michelle-boag-spinning-todd-barclay/
Yep he sure has! Take the carpet bagging of Coromandel for instance..
wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more…
good to know where you get your info bm – thought you only went there to look at the pictures?
You do realise that the average number of National Party members per electorate is about 150 don’t you?
TurgidFascinating stuff BM. How do they make policy? At Cabinet Club? No?Ah. I can just see that happening in Mt Roskill.
The good National party members picked someone who lives in and who has just set up her office in a East Auckland.yeah she is a great local candidate for a West Auckland seat.
Whereas the Labour party head office overrode the local Labour party members to appoint a candidate who I was working with as beiing crucial to the campaign in Mt Roskill in the 2005 election, and who was living there then. And he was an old hand in Roskill then.
/sarc
FFS it would been nice if you actually thought about reality more. The losing national candidate in Roskill with her faux concern about local issues is losing to the local preferred by the Mt Roskill Labour members.
Do you think it will be close or do you expect Wood to win by a mile like Phil Goff?
It was 10,000 to 18,000 in 2014 be interesting to see how much of that 8000 vote difference was due to Goff.
Are you claiming anything lower than an 8000 margin of victory for Wood is a win for National?
You don’t seriously believe the turnout will be as high as 2014, do you?
Percentages, I would have thought that was obvious.
Does Mr Wood really live in Mt Roskill and is to be voted for because he is a “local candidate”.
It will make a change, both for him and for the electorate then, won’t it?
What did Mr Wood say when he ran in Botany?
What did Mr Wood say when he ran in Epsom?
What did Mr Wood say when he ran in Pakuranga?
Or wherever else he has tried to get a nomination.
Is he the parliamentary equivalent of Shadbolt? “I don’t care where as long as I’m Mayor”. Mind you he will be a lucky man if he lasts as long as Tim has.
Just promise them “Bullshit and Jellybeans”.
Did Phil Goff, or you for that matter, suggest people not vote for him because he lived as far away from Mt Roskill as he could and yet still be in the general Auckland area for the 35 years he spent in Parliament? If not why not?
Just promise them “Bullshit and Jellybeans”.
Or penis lollies 🙂
“Wood: I’m standing in the right electorate because Mt Roskill is my home, and it has been for the past 13 years. I’ve served in the community, been on the local board for the past six years.”
<a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1611/S00261/the-nation-michael-wood-and-parmjeet-parmar.htm
Very good. And yes I was aware of his current claim.
However what did he say to the residents of Botany when he stood there?
What did he say to the residents of Epsom when he stood there?
What did he say to the residents of Pakuranga when he stood there?
Did he tell them he was a carpetbagger, which he NOW seems to think is a valid objection to someone who doesn’t live in an electorate they choose to stand in?
Does he tell them how privileged they are to have someone who lives there rather than a person like their previous MP who lived an hours drive away?
Like hell he does, even though it is all true.
Now personally I don’t see why an MP should live within the actual boundary of the electorate. Wood however seems to think he can complain about his opponent doing exactly what he did so many times.
I wonder how he will explain these views to his leader? After all Little left New Plymouth when he was a teenager but still, in his 50s I suppose, tried to get elected there.
He doesn’t need to explain, and he certainly doesn’t need to explain YOUR VIEWS to his leader. Did you read the transcript?
Your question was “Does Mr Wood really live in Mt Roskill and is to be voted for because he is a “local candidate”
The answer to your questions is yes and yes and I have provided the information in the link.
Hey Lyn, life would be a whole bunch easier for Labour activists if Labour’s leaders stopped trying to parachute in unpopular carpet-baggers into electorates with strong LEC’s.
I’m sure everyone’s got their own war stories of have a strong local candidate, well supported and known, only to have some numpty pop up and truck busloads of otherwise unknown union delegates into the selection meeting, or the Selection Committee gets stacked for some dork, and Hey Presto the local choice gets steamrollered flat.
And then they wonder why fresh talent doesn’t find Labour candidacy attractive, and caucus looks stale.
And then as a result most of the LEC ups and leaves or is totally pissed off. Sure, these things need to be renewed, and in reality what difference does and LEC do but form a fawning little glee club to plump up the MP’s ego, and actually don’t always a huge amount of difference to actual vote turnout.
But, people are not meant to be burnt off needlessly in life or in politics. It doesn’t need to happen.
The Labour Party should support its own renewal, without parachuting.
Unlike Labour where head office overrides the local members and decides who runs in an electorate.
LOL
yeah – like Scott Simpson for Coromandel!
Just one example – but I could list dozens.
Ever heard of John Key for Helensville?
Macro,
You clearly do not how local selections in National work. I can assure you that if the local party (membership above the qualifying threshold) has control they well and truly exercise it.
In fact being pushed too heavily by the leadership is likely to backfire.
The people you have to convince are the local delegates. If you can’t you won’t get selected.
Yes I’m sure the local delegates were convinced Wayne. 🙂 So convenient how the then incumbent, resigned at the time.
Clutha-Southland must have some pretty gullible National party members then. (Though, arguably no more gullible than the rest of the locals, given the vote counts)
So. What happened in Northland? Wayne.
Ask David Kirk about it
Yep. 23% shows they are finished for sure
Soooo……… after the big test period where gear was checked so as to being up to the job and the net result is the independent company which produces footage of all sorts of illegal activity loses out to the company which is balls deep in corrupt practices of self interest.
Then…….. you remove the human observers and replace with surveillance equipment supplied by said corrupt company.
And 3 months later it turns out up to 80% of the gear is not up to the job and there has been very little if any actually monitoring of an industry which officials have previously admitted would fold if forced to follow the rules.
WTF?? So are we actually going to pay these compromised cowboys for a shite job?
What happened to proving the equipment was up to task prior to deployment (shades of Novapay here)?
Are we really surprised the corrupt fishing industry cant monitor its own practices?
Typical Nats solution to a looming problem, mouth appropriate verbiage, slide a sycophantic, self interested body into management, control the media —> what problem? we’re on it, all solved.
Meanwhile our declining moana gets pillaged even moar………….SNAFU
you forgot that even if there is illegal activity captured on these cameras (blind spots known and reliability dubious) it is of insufficient quality as evidence……it is a Claytons monitoring regime and by design.
Nah! The cameras are working fine now – they only seem to stop recording when there is fish dumping to be done.
It’s all good!
/sarc
red face – indigenous rights activists continually fight against the ridicule and misappropriation of indigenous knowledge, imagery and artifacts. This happens all over the globe – and is especially poignant for Native Americans – so much of their culture has been mythologized, demonized, misappropriated and just stolen – including traditional costumes, headdress and so on.
It is not good enough to say – tough cheese. We know black face is not right and red face is not right too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redface
http://apihtawikosisan.com/hall-of-shame/an-open-letter-to-non-natives-in-headdresses/
So my message to the santa parade in christchurch (just think about that mashing up of myths, consumerism and exploitation in that sentence – whew!!!) is STOP! You do not have the right to steal other cultures items and (for whatever reason) say you are honoring them or respecting them – you aren’t. You are being colonisers of the mind and of the body. You are continuing the unthinking arrogant and obnoxious traits of racists and previous colonisers. STOP it.
“Organisers of the Santa Parade in Christchurch will not pull a float featuring children dressed as First Nations and Native Americans this weekend, despite a complaint it is “essentially red face” and is “highly inappropriate and culturally insensitive”.
The float has been part of the Santa Parade for many years and features local children dressed as people of the Ojibwe tribe, complete with face paint and headdresses.”
“”But Santa Parade manager Pam Morris said she was “offended” by the request. If she had a good look at that float, some of it belongs to a tribe that I went to the reservation of in Buffalo. They know about this float and they gave me some headgear to use on this float.
“We have the blessing of that tribe.”
BULLSHIT
because
“Professor of Maori and indigenous studies at Massey University, Rawiri Taonui, said the costumes were only offensive if they mocked First Nations people.
“It is OK if they are dressing up in costume as a way of learning about that culture in a respectful way.
“If that is the intent we should support it. It depends on the intent.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/87072747/santa-parade-defiant-over-red-face-claims
Is that what they are doing? NO – it is simple entertainment.
In our town two people dress up as golliwogs for the Santa parade. Nothing’s said.
I wonder how they’d feel if someone went out of their way to find their tender spots and dressed up to poke those spots – probably laugh – after it is is just jolly fun eh.
It could be done easily too – pity I’m not down to Waikawa till early next year…
Jeepers, even i think golliwogs are a bit much
Have you contacted that tribe and asked them?
read up about this subject before you start – it may help you – may.
I have sent an email with links to a respected senior person I know within the tribe – may take a day or so for an answer – and I know in my gut, and as a person who fights this often, what the answer will be – I’ll let you know draco seeing as how you appear to be interested 🙂
More people join Pike River protest including a Dame.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/dame-fiona-kidman-joins-pike-river-protest/
Andrew Little should be there.
If the Right get their way and charter schools are allowed to grow like weeds in South Auckland we will get more Misa Fia Turners. For LGBT people, setting foot in South Auck would be like setting foot in Moscow. Day after day, thousands of schoolkids will have it drilled into them that magic created the earth and homosexuals are vermin to be exterminated by laypreachers like Tamaki.
Looks like the ninth floor had a word with police…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11759041
Posted this yesterday, but interested in further comments on it.
At present, we are seeing the long con strategy being utilised by National. Merkel’s Germany has been doing it to good effect.
How to do the long con.
1) Soften up the electorate as much as you can whilst retaining as many of the core policy settings that enable society to function (even while cutting funding left right and centre). This means temporarily swallow the dead rats.
2) Make the same soothing noises each time so as not to spook the horses.
3) Utilise the lack of MMP understanding to your advantage knowing that by and large, most voters don’t really care about the ins and outs. It suits National for voters to just know the ‘high level’ overview which is “vote for this party, and vote for that person”.
4) Incrementally, and surely, keep hammering home the same message of being “sound economic managers” and portraying the opposition as a bunch of inept muppets.
5) Constantly belittle any brainfart or policy ideas that erupt from those quarters.
6) Make any issues that crop up during your governing period anyone else’s fault but your own. Blame your support parties. Sheet home all responsibility to them (RMA delays = blame Maori party, Party Drug/Marijuana issues = blame Peter Dunne)
Once achieved, and the same message has sunk in, it’s odds on proof that the electorate is softened up and all the ducks are in a row, so now you can go hard.
Sell one message, and one message only.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
Play to peoples wallets because 9 years of constant tax rises means people are poorer. Everyone is sick of hearing the same things – housing crisis, unclean water, mass sell offs of land etc.
Tax cuts, tax cuts tax cuts.
The majority do not care. The majority want more money to continue to obtain the things to buy to make their struggling, and probably miserable existence somewhat better. Consumerism has taught us all “feel down, buy junk, feel better.”
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
The majority listen, their ears perk up. More money say they! More money indeed say National.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
9 years in power with constrained control under MMP, in order to keep selling yourself as the “long term” government is nothing. All people hear now are tax cuts. No one hears anything else. All talk of “30 new taxes since 2008” is ignored.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
Overwhelmingly, the majority will vote for what’s good for their wallets. 9 long years of constantly struggling to get by and seeing more of your pay disappear each week means tax cuts will be a boon..
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
The opposition decries, “no, we can’t afford”. Shut up say the proletariat ‘You’re not the government, how do you know what we can afford. That John Key is such a nice guy’
tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
The masses hunger. They want these tax cuts. Nothing will stop them now from getting them. The party offering the message, simply, must. WIN!
Election day looms near. The repeated mantra of ‘tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts’ has assumed a soothing quality to the soma’d masses. No one wants to be a Delta, or an Epsilon. We all want to be Betas. Only the best can be Alphas. Being a Gamma wouldn’t be too bad, but a Beta is better.
Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.
Election day itself
Party vote “tax cuts” say the masses. The dutiful tick goes to the party with the right message.
After 9 long years of softening up the hoi polloi, the governing party is returned with an outright majority. Too late, the people awaken. The look of horror is abject. The next three years is a selloff. Too late, the damage is done, the plan is to be carried out. The bankers and merchant men took over the country.
New Zealand. The greatest experimental country for neo-liberalism to mass transfer and consolidate wealth to the few, since, well, ever.
This post deserves an article on mass hypnosis, great stuff James T!
All you are saying is that ‘tax cuts’ are superior political tactics to anything the left has produced.
What news is that? No news.
The left don’t seem to want to take notice of how they win elections getting fresh money into people’s pockets. They should. If they did they would be more likely to win elections.
It’s no news, but it’s the news that makes people take notice.
Unless labour can counter it with an effective appeal, it’s a vote winner.
Big issue policies won’t win over the hearts and minds of the undefined “centre”.
Hip pocket stuff wins the day.
My pick would be to counter the tax cuts mantra with something equally as powerful. $1500 tax refund within 100 days.
Then, when the inevitable bashing starts just say that it’s cheaper than Nationals tax cuts and people will get that $1500 right away instead of over 18 months under National.
Fight a lack of policy costings with just the same vigor. “We will show you our figures when National does”. Easy. Drives home the fact National have no plan.
How to pay for it? Easy. A new tax bracket for 500k+ of 45%. Sure as eggs are eggs, labour will win then.
….. or target those with the most who are cheating the rest of us ……
Its a worldwide problem
“All over the world governments are struggling to provide decent public services. Ordinary people pay ever-increasing taxes but get worse public services. Rather than paying their fair share of taxes, major corporations and wealthy individuals escape their social obligations by locating in offshore tax havens. Companies such as Enron, Newscorp, Elan, Exxon, Northern & Shell Group, Portland Investment, Microsoft, General Motors and others have used tax havens to shave their tax bills.
By plugging the leakage of tax revenues to tax havens, the UK government could raise up to £85 billion extra in tax revenues, large enough to fund schools, hospitals, pensions, public transport and social infrastructure.” http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/No_accounting_for_tax_havens_FEB-02.pdf
“A significant fraction of global private financial wealth — by our estimates, at least $21 to $32 trillion as of 2010 — has been invested virtually tax-free through the world’s still expanding black hole of more than 80 “offshore”secrecy jurisdictions. We believe this range to be conservative, for reasons discussed below. Remember: this is just financial wealth. A big share of the real estate, yachts, racehorses, gold bricks — and many other things that count as non-financial wealth –are also owned via offshore structures where it is impossible to identify the owners. These are outside the scope of this report. http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/The_Price_of_Offshore_Revisited_Presser_120722.pdf
And a who’s who ………. http://ctj.org/pdf/offshoreshellgames2016.pdf
Bank of America Corp. Number of Tax Haven Subsidiaries: 109
Location of Tax Haven Subsidiaries : Bahamas (2), Bermuda (4), Cayman Islands (18), Channel Islands (13), Costa Rica (1), Gibraltar (4), Hong Kong (3), Ireland (8), Luxembourg (13), Mauritius (6), Netherlands (25), Netherlands Antilles (1), Singapore (8), Switzerland (3
Good idea – The Community Fridge: Reducing food waste and feeding those in need
https://lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz/the-community-fridge-reducing-food-waste-and-feeding-the-hungry/
Through the US Export-Import Bank, Barack Obama’s administration has spent nearly $34bn supporting 70 fossil fuel projects around the world, work by Columbia Journalism School’s Energy and Environment Reporting Project and the Guardian has revealed.
This unprecedented backing of oil, coal and gas projects is an unexpected footnote to Obama’s own climate change legacy. The president has called global warming “terrifying” and helped broker the world’s first proper agreement to tackle it, yet his administration has poured money into developments that will push the planet even closer to climate disaster.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/01/obama-fossil-fuels-us-export-import-bank-energy-projects
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT.
No. 1: Pippa Wetzell grovels and simpers before a slimeball….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbTCAbWTN2E
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT is an occasional series highlighting some of the worst moments in our pretty shameful history of broadcasting mediocrity and downright failure.
Great moments in stenography. NOT.
Any of Messr Breen’s postings on this fine blog.
Ouch.
http://rs991.pbsrc.com/albums/af32/TheValiantSoul/Thatreallyhurt.jpg~c200
Women of Harry Potter: Evil in Authority
Sounds remarkably like the National Party as they bash down beneficiaries and the poor while helping the rich exploit the rest of society.
Feeling a bit disillusioned.
firstly John Michael Greer – I have been an avid fan of his for years – I cannot agree with his trump analysis – I think he is wrong to suppose that trump will do anything. Feel sad about JMG’s opinion on all that – makes me want to not read him anymore – but his analysis on other topics is insightful so will probably keep reading him, but it isn’t the same now 🙁
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/2016/11/the-end-of-american-century.html
and Mana and The Māori Party – I’ve really tried but nah. Too far Hone, you have lost mana and don’t have the same pulling power mate. The Internet-Mana and dotcom stuff burnt too much political capital – we trusted you and we were let down. You can’t ask us to do it again – I’m not going to – I don’t trust The Māori Party – they have done too much against our people and they have supported the gnats too much.
As a Māori indigenous rights left activist I am NOT supporting the Mana Movement joining with The Māori Party – and I am NOT supporting Hone Harawira. I want NEW leadership, I want a commitment to the kaupapa we originally signed up for not this additional new direction. Nah – I’m not compromising my values and what I believe about fighting inequality and fighting for indigenous rights and fighting for the underpriviledged, the forgotten, and discarded in our society (whose ranks are well overcrowded with Māori). Nah – this proposed marrigae is NOT the way – I’m NOT putting my patu down yet.
A poem from a few years ago
Beneath Te Papa
My knee clicked loudly like an out of time fingersnapper
as I entered Te Papa. A museum, as am I, both hoarding
treasures deep on this day of my birth.
I am 50 today as I descend below Te Papa, the oversized
lift looming around us like an atrium, my socks slip
on the floor. A slow motion ritual fall to our past.
The doors weep quietly aside and I find them along walls.
Taiaha stacked supine, appearing settled yet expectant,
as poised as hungry white herons staring at faint flickers of fish.
They watch as years slide by. Discarded weapons now relics,
longing for a warm hand, the lightest touch of emotion, we were
forged for our time, as useful as a steady pay packet, or an edge.
A weapon-less warrior watching warrior-less weapons.
Te Papa and I are the cave mouth open everyday, and they enter
to see, to touch, to feel – the museum, but not the man.
Kia kaha, Marty.
The future certainly looks very bleak but it is the continuing activism by people like you that still gives me some hope.
Agree – from another somewhat despondent and disillusioned leftie
“Taiaha stacked supine, appearing settled yet expectant,
as poised as hungry white herons staring at faint flickers of fish.
They watch as years slide by. Discarded weapons now relics,
longing for a warm hand, the lightest touch of emotion,…”
The tide MUST turn soon, it must.
A couple of updates on the panama papers. In the interest of internationalism, not globalisation.
https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/12/01/20502/journalists-hang-tough-face-backlash-against-panama-papers-reporting?
https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/12/01/20500/panama-papers-have-had-historic-global-effects-and-impacts-keep-coming?
JK played golf with logical person! “President Obama Says Marijuana Should Be Treated Like Alcohol
In a just published “exit interview” with Rolling Stone Magazine, President Barack Obama opined that marijuana use should be treated as a public-health issue, not a criminal matter, and called the current patchwork of state and federal laws regarding the drug “untenable.”
“Look, I’ve been very clear about my belief that we should try to discourage substance abuse,” Obama said. “And I am not somebody who believes that legalization is a panacea. But I do believe that treating this as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol, is the much smarter way to deal with it.”
He added, “It is untenable over the long term for the Justice Department or the DEA to be enforcing a patchwork of laws, where something that’s legal in one state could get you a 20-year prison sentence in another. So this is a debate that is now ripe, much in the same way that we ended up making progress on same-sex marriage.”
Rolling Stone interview, which is excellent read:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/obama-on-his-legacy-trumps-win-and-the-path-forward-w452527
something up with my email just seeing if the standard still knows this is my address.
This from Avaaz about the Syrian people and their self help group The White Helmets. Perhaps Buzz Aldrin would go and visit on a Peace Mission there and bring out a whole lot of the wounded and their families for the same price as getting out of Antarctica.
73,530 lives in fact. That’s how many people they have saved, rushing to the scene of bombings to pull people from the rubble and carry them to safety.