Open mike 03/06/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 3rd, 2019 - 237 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

237 comments on “Open mike 03/06/2019 ”

  1. A statement from Matt Blomfield:

    On Tuesday last week we had the launch for the book Whale Oil by Margie Thomson. It was an incredible and humbling experience. About three hundred people turned up. My wife and kids attended and afterwards they talked about what an amazing night they had with other friends and family.

    This weekend with the dust starting to settle I looked back at the week that followed the launch and I felt uncomfortable. It was a busy week with media appearances and messages of support, and naturally there was a big focus on the details of my protracted battle against Cameron Slater. What got me thinking, though, was a book review on Newsroom by Finlay Macdonald – not his words but the image at the top of the page: Cameron Slater knocked out in the first round of his boxing match with Jesse Rider. He looks broken. I needed to beat Cameron in court in order to win back my reputation. It was never my intention to break the man.

    Cameron Slater has had his struggles in life. He’s had business failures. He struggled with mental illness; he lost his home. More recently he has had health issues. It follows that my mind takes me to a place of sympathy for Slater. He has a wife and kids just like me; he has tried to succeed, just like me. I feel increasingly concerned at the tone of some of the comments about him that are appearing online. I know what it’s like first hand to be ridiculed online, to be bullied and it affects more than just the individual. It flows through to that person’s friends and family.
    Slater is not well. His attacks against me are not the actions of a right thinking individual. He needs help.
    I’m concerned that some of the coverage given to the publication of Margie’s book gives the impression this book is a tit-for-tat exercise. It’s not, and that’s clear to anyone reading it. Yes, it’s the story of my long struggle to rescue my reputation and get justice, but
    it’s about much more than a fight between two individuals. It is about our changing world and a system that needs to change so that our children are protected. It introduces readers to some incredible individuals and shows that even during the hardest of times good people will stand up and be counted. It’s about never giving up, and that sometimes the decision to fight can come from a place of love, compassion and family. Finally, it’s about people as a whole and how we choose to live not only on the internet but as a society.

    The people who have read the book have all had the same reaction; a feeling of surprise. It follows that those same people have expressed to me what an important book this is and how much it impacted them as individuals.

    I am now going to focus on my family, my health, my education and hopefully move past this. My story has been told.

    I hope that people will move past attacking what can be only be described as a damaged individual. Let’s put him where he belongs, in the footnote of history, and move on to talking about the important issues he only symbolizes.

    • Peter Christchurh nz 1.1

      It's great that Blomfield can be so objective and magnanimous, but the evil of Slater is not just confined to him.

      That p.o.s. Slater has destroyed so many lives with his obsessive hatred, revelling in the hurt and suffering he inflicted on grieving families and systematic attempts to destroy public servants and the undermining of our justice system.

      Yes, sociopaths, for clearly that is what he is, can be smart. His blog did a great job with political commentary but sadly now has morphed into conspiracy theories and Islamophobia under the direction of his wife. I detest the childish nonsense of Karma, but his current suffering is well deserved.

  2. Robert Guyton 2

    This story; read and weep, fellow humans; this is the way we roll.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/112898870/the-aotearoa-chainsaw-massacre

    • marty mars 2.2

      "22 trees were cut down along Palmerston North's main street because of complaints about bird poo."

      Thus the utter depravity of our feelings of divorce from nature, from OUR nature, leads us to destruction.

      • greywarshark 2.2.1

        Not depravity – it may be that people just don't like sitting in bird poo. Perhaps the seats should have been shifted free of trees.
        .
        The streets and pavements would still have lots of white spots. But hey in other civilised countries there is a night-time water spray over city streets (they also clean their buildings too), so perhaps some NZ cities could start taking more pride in the civic appearance, Palmerston North leading the way!

        Cars receiving droppings could accept it as one-of-life's problems during the day.

        At night near twilight when the birds are gathering en masse and letting it all hang out, twittering about the day's events, and people gathering at bars doing the same, cars might be hit then. It would be a good incentive to cut the cackle, down a few beers and go and get some food. There is a way of managing such things without abandoning lots of trees.

    • In the Palmerston North example (trees along Broadway felled because people complained about birdshit on their cars), the result has been that, in the evenings, the few remaining trees (around the Square) now host all the birds in the central city and God help you if you park your car under one – you won't be able to see out the windows when you return to it. No doubt the city's councillors will apply their awesome problem-solving skills to the issue and cut down the remaining trees.

      • Jenny - How to Get there? 2.3.1

        https://www.ecowatch.com/adani-coal-mine-2638575797.html

        Australia's Controversial Adani Coal Mine Now One Approval Away From Construction

        ….."Assessment of this plan has been a rigorous process, informed by the best available science," a DES spokesperson said in a statement reported by The Guardian. "DES has met regularly with Adani to ensure that the plan is robust and is well-placed to deliver the best outcomes for the protection of the black-throated finch.

        ‘Rigorous’?

        Hardly.

        Not one mention of climate change as a reason to stop the Adani mega coal mine project

        In many ways this mirrors the approval process for coal mines in this country. – Make a big fuss about giant snails or weta but stay a million miles away from any mention of climate change.

        Actually, in New Zealand it is illegal for a consent tribunal to allow climate change evidence to be heard in any consent hearings for fossil fuel projects, including coal mines.

        I wonder why?

        Is it because, if climate change was allowed to raised as an objection, the evidence is so compelling that no new coal mine or oil well would ever win approval?

        Extinction: The species your are worrying about, may be your own.

        • johnm 2.3.1.1

          In 2009 250years above the 1750 baseline we were at .85c. Now a mere 10 years later in 2019 we've added another .9c to make 1.75c. We're now in exponential climate change. The Australian government is quite happy to destroy the liveability of the Planet to make more money. We're heading for hot house earth. The old white Oz morons running the show there, Australia is being impacted by climate change severely now, will be long dead when the sh*t really hits the fan. And that wonder of our planet: The great barrier reef is dying ,its beauty could be seen from space.

          • Jenny - How to Get there? 2.3.1.1.1

            As to the controversy over the Powelliphanta Snails and the Black Throated Finch prove,

            The first rule of climate change denial; Don't say anything about climate change denial.

            If the Green Party ever achieve anything meaningful in government about climate change, it would be to strive like hell to raise the issue of getting rid of the iniquitous legislation that makes it illegal for a planning consent tribunal to hear objections based on climate change evidence. And if the rest of the government don't agree, to make it an election issue.

            The real tragedy of the so called political consensus between all the political parties around Zero Carbon Act that the Green Party has tried so hard to achieve, and sacrificed real policy for, is that climate change will again not be debated in the elections.

            Why would it? They all agree. There is consensus.

            It is a consensus to say, (and do), nothing.

            The first rule of climate change denial; Don't say anything about climate change denial.

      • Sacha 2.3.2

        “in the evenings, the few remaining trees (around the Square) now host all the birds in the central city and God help you if you park your car under one”

        Fresh photographic evidence from Palmy: https://twitter.com/dairymanNZ/status/1135082969163419648

        • Robert Guyton 2.3.2.1

          "God help you" – sounds like a real crisis and your link reveals just how appalling, nay existentially threatening, those birds are! Can they be annihilated, please, for the sake of the children?

      • Visubversa 2.3.3

        In Vancouver, we walked past some trees near Stanley Park where the Blue Herons nest. There were a shedload of signs pointing out that there were nests above, and that herons (as fish eaters) have smelly and corrosive droppings and you should therefore not park your car underneath these trees. It seemed to work. Unfortunately, thanks to Rodney Hide and the NACT government of the time, the only trees that have any protection are those which are individually scheduled, or those on public land.

    • patricia 2.4

      Robert – I live near some of these desecrations and though we protested / tried to guard 24 hours daily the processes of law overwhelmed us.

      Now we have ticky tacky houses / apartments in the place of once beautiful trees. All they want in Auckand is as many houses on tiny sites as can be built ; the inhabitants live squashed in like lab rats and no lawns or trees nearby. Often no garages either so cars clutter up the roads.

      • Robert Guyton 2.4.1

        "A meme has gotten loose on this planet the socially equivalent of cancer (in my opinion), and what it is–is capitalism. Capitalism does not serve human beings. It serves itself, in the same way cancer does not serve a human being it serves itself. "

      • James 2.4.2

        so you were protesting some one going about their perfectly legal activities on their own land?

        • WeTheBleeple 2.4.2.1

          [Deleted. WTB, you may not think highly of James but please address the topic and don’t attack another commenter with pointless abuse – Incognito]

    • WeTheBleeple 2.5

      Yesterday I was examining well placed street trees vs random plantings that will be culled, trying to figure out what the formula is to plant a tree with some reasonable chance of its longevity. After my impromptu study I came home and read that article. I've seen so many trees vanish I've stopped mentioning it.

      Avoiding parking areas was one of the first things I thought of. Not because bird shit is a real issue, but preciousness certainly is. Plant away from car parks.

      Avoiding power lines. This is a no brainer but you'd be surprised how many fail to look up when they plant things that grow tall. Likewise guttering. I don't mind cleaning mine, and gutter guards work well, but be aware of the previously mentioned preciousness of people.

      What's under the ground? Avoiding electrical and plumbing infrastructure is wise, but requires some investigation. Your local council has the details.

      To recap – trees are an ever expanding three dimensional structure. They can be pruned but ideally they are left to do their own thing.

      Education. People have no idea of the ecosystem services trees provide, or perhaps they're national voters who want the benefits but no leaves on their driveways.

      Trees are free. I walk about and see a tree I like in seed I grab some seed and throw it in a pot or two and leave them be. This summer/autumn I've sprouted Coprosmas, Kowhai, Karo, Pohutakawa, Jacaranda, Albizia, Inga, Acacia…

      We need to reverse the laws favoring developers and people over nature, or we will also perish.

      Plant trees wisely, make them count.

      P.S. I grow very wary of going back to edit every post because the software insists on putting all sorts of shit formatting in plain view. The above has already been edited twice.

      • Robert Guyton 2.5.1

        I've just come inside from planting the seeds of Himalayan Tree Strawberry; lots of them. Also, Sweet Chestnuts, about 200, straight into a sawdust/soil bed. My peach stones have been in for a couple of weeks now. This afternoon, I'll sow the seeds of the Chinese Hawthorn and Cornelian Cherry (really a dogwood). All these trees will go "somewhere", I know nor care not where, just out there, where they are needed. Great gifts, trees.

      • Sacha 2.5.2

        One thing, WTB, if you accidentally hold down the Crtl/Cmd key while you are typing a space, it turns into a special non-breaking one which the editor then shows as "nbsp".

        • francesca 3.1.1.1

          Basically if the UK had any pretension to being a justice based democracy and upholder of the "rules based order" it would free Assange as per UN rulings, so as to allow him to have urgently needed medical attention , and to prepare his defence in the Swedish case. It would never have without any objection, parcelled up Assange's belongings and handed them over to the US

          I think we can see whose "rules" have priority here.

          Sweden could assure him that it would not extradite to the US, as per Amnesty International

          https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/09/sweden-should-issue-assurance-it-won-t-extradite-assange-usa/

          If the Swedes had done this back in 2012, the Swedish complainants and Assange would have had their day in court, and justice would have been done

          Why such intransigence? Didn't the Swedes feel that the most important issue was that the Swedish women have their complaints heard?

          Probably not, according to Amnesty International's recent report on sexual violence in the Nordic countries .The courts are notoriously slow to act, sexual violence is widespread, and there are very few convictions compared to complaints. Only 6% of cases resulted in prosecution in 2017!

          https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/rape-and-sexual-violence-in-nordic-countries-consent-laws/

          So it seems that the Assange case has been unusual, pursued with far more vigour than any other of similar degree

          Frankly , I think its time to give up on the stubborn diehards who assert Assange has brought this on himself.

          I'm going with the UN on this one

          • aj 3.1.1.1.1

            Some US soldiers murdered citizens and Reuters reporters in cold blood. Assange published it. Who should face justice?

          • johnm 3.1.1.1.2

            Thankyou for your intelligent and accurate observations which are 100% true, Francesca, 🙂 . The U$K has joined the war criminal enterprise of the U$. And also has committed crimes at home against its own poor people.

            130,000 preventable austerity deaths as banquet is laid for trump

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMoGn14SxY4

    • johnm 3.2

      Julian Assange Is Being Murdered By The British Because Washington Wants Him Dead But Doesn’t Have A Case Against Him

      Caitlin sums it up: https://russia-insider.com/en/are-assanges-jailers-trying-kill-him-hes-so-ill-he-cant-speak-properly/ri27153

      We have been watching the slow-motion assassination of Julian Assange. They have been choking him to death by tactical psyops, siege tactics, and wilful neglect as surely as if they placed a noose tied around his neck, not just in Belmarsh Prison but in the embassy as well. The only difference between his execution and someone on death row is the same as the difference between covert and overt warfare, which makes sense because the intelligence, judicial and military agencies who are carrying out his death sentence operate within the same power structure which carries out war. First came the smears (propaganda), then came the siege (sanctions), and they staged their coup (dragged him out of the embassy) and now they’ve got him in their clutches and they can do what they want behind closed doors. That’s how you kill a nation while still looking like a nice guy, and that’s how they’re killing Assange.”

      If the world stands for the US/UK/Swedish judicial murder of an innocent man, the world does not deserve to exist another second.

      https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/05/30/julian-assange-is-being-murdered-by-the-british-because-washington-wants-him-dead-but-doesnt-have-a-case-against-him/

      • marty mars 3.2.1

        Well I followed your links – self referencing and fevered speculation. Waste of my time thanks for nothing.

        • Morrissey 3.2.1.1

          Your ability to stoically ignore the crushing of democracy is impressive, Marty.

          But not in a good way. Mind you, I recall you springing to the defence of “Sir” Mark Solomon’s “leadership” a few years ago, so this latest expression of contempt for democracy, though far uglier and more extreme, is really not a surprise.

          https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/11/kai-tahu-should-demand-better-leaders.html

          • aj 3.2.1.1.1

            "Anyone who is pushing the provably fake rape charges as a reason to not support a man dying in prison is a piece of s**t and waste of oxygen" – Twitter comment, and quite correct.

          • marty mars 3.2.1.1.2

            Your ability to get it wrong so much is impressive though minor morrie in the scheme of things – your 3rd rate stenographer skills and outright fabrications as well as your abysmal understanding of our national game put you in a class of your own – sadly that class is no class and a shadow of class – classless I think it is.

            • Morrissey 3.2.1.1.2.1

              That was more than a little incoherent. Could you rephrase?

              Here's a bit of advice: Edit, edit, edit.

            • Sacha 3.2.1.1.2.2

              Any criticism is interpreted as 'incoherence'. Long-used survival mechanism, I guess.

              • Morrissey

                "Criticism"? What "criticism"?

                You're probably the least appropriate person on this forum to talk about incoherence. Or gullibility.

                • Sacha

                  "ability to get it wrong"

                  "3rd rate stenographer skills"

                  "outright fabrications"

                  "abysmal understanding of our national game"

                  .. sure seem like criticisms. Never mind, some long-forgotten soviet dude probably has a quote about it you could highlight for us plebs.

                • aj

                  Marty. Should the war crimes exposed by Manning and Assange be pursued as ruthlessly as both these individuals are. It's clear they are not, why do you think this is? Do you think it is because they have better character than Assange and Manning?

            • Jenny - How to Get there? 3.2.1.1.2.3

              Related to Assange punitive detention and resulting suffering, at the hands of the vengeful US State Department, is the continued punitive detention and suffering of Chelsea Manning.

              https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/06/01/manning-renews-effort-be-released-virginia-jail.html

              Manning's lawyers filed court papers Friday asking a federal judge to reconsider his decision to send Manning to the Alexandria jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks…..

              …..

              Manning is suffering physically as a result of her incarceration and is in the midst of losing her home because of the financial effect it is having on her.

              Manning has been jailed for civil contempt since May 16. She could remain in jail for up to 18 months — the length of the grand-jury term. Judge Anthony Trenga also ordered fines of $500 a day to kick in after 30 days of confinement and $1,000 a day after 60 days.

              This follows a two-month jail term earlier this year for refusing to testify to a previous grand jury.

              …….Under federal law, a recalcitrant witness can only be jailed for civil contempt if there is a reasonable belief that incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying. If the jail time has no coercive effect and is purely punitive, the recalcitrant witness is supposed to be released….

              ……Manning, in response, penned a lengthy letter to the judge reiterating her rationale. She included a lengthy history on the use of grand juries around the world, and says that many Western countries have abandoned the system because it operates in secret and in a one-sided fashion to the benefit of prosecutors against those accused.

              ……Manning has said she believes grand juries in general are an abuse of power and that she would rather starve to death than testify.

              • Morrissey

                Do McFlock and the rest of the mob pour filthy abuse on Chelsea Manning as well? I remember they ridiculed Edward Snowden, deriving a great deal of lynch-mob hilarity from the fact his girlfriend had been a stripper. It was almost as good as Julian Assange's cat as a device to belittle him with unfunny quips.

                Not sure the Cardinal’s experience was too happy, either. Got there in the end, but after how long? He must have not had a cat.

                https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-06-2019/#comment-1623897

                • Adrian thornton

                  Notice that most of the same people who buy into this establishment anti Assange at all costs narrative, are also the same people who pushed the Russia conspiracy, go along with intervention in Venezuela etc etc they probably believe Corbyn is anti semitic too…it's like they just can't help but get sucked into every establishment MSM narrative that gets spun to them, almost like they have no defense, broken internal bullshit detectors or something.

                  • Morrissey

                    they probably believe Corbyn is anti semitic too…

                    I'm sure they no one actually believes that, Adrian, any more than they believe that concocted story about rape in Sweden.

                    It doesn't stop them repeating it, however.

                    • McFlock

                      Moz, it's one thing to argue that we don't know he's guilty. But every time you call it a concocted story, I'll call you a rape apologist. Because you are.

                • McFlock

                  Actually, Snowden did it right. And I have respect for Manning, too.

                  More morrissey nuttiness.

              • marty mars

                That is wrongful incarceration and an utter disgrace. I spit on everyone involved in that process.

    • Adrian thornton 3.3

      Here is British justice for you…they will protect Pinochet but give Assange to the wolves

      Margaret Thatcher "The chance of Senator Pinochet receiving anything resembling what Britain would recognise as justice in a Spanish court is minimal, not least because key witnesses for his defence run the risk of immediate arrest if they set foot on Spanish soil. What is planned then is a show trial with a preordained outcome. Lingering death in a foreign land."

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7j3N5cCyf8

      • greywarshark 3.3.1

        I think Pinochet was nice to Margaret Thatcher in some way; did he help her during the Falklands War? She knew which side her bread was buttered, with only the best butter of course, and knew who to butter up. On further consideration she could give butter a bad name, so forget I mentioned it.

        • Adrian thornton 3.3.1.1

          Yeah probably beutiful imported New Zealand butter no doubt, not besmirching the name of our fine product I hope.

    • James 3.4

      Perhaps he can try showing that in court.

  3. Graeme 4

    To follow on from the the sentiments expressed by Matt Blomfield (via Pete George, cheers Pete) and Peter Chch's comment.

    It's pleasing to see on one got a gong for being a sociopath (Services to Business) in this years Queen's Birthday Honours. But rather people who've selflessly worked to make our society a better place.

    Congratulations to them all.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/06/full-queen-s-birthday-2019-honours-list.html

    • gsays 4.1

      Well congrats to nearly all..

      The awarding of a gong to Fran Walsh reminded me of her teary performance (along with Phillipa Boyens) with Kathryn Ryan on Nine To Noon. it was related to the Hobbitt/Warners dispute. Misinformation, obfuscation and out and out lies were the tactics used.

      Reading this article, from the other side, bought up an unpleasant time and raises some still unanswered questions:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1104/S00081/helen-kelly-the-hobbit-dispute.htm

      • Anne 4.1.1

        Re- Fran Walsh… my immediate thoughts too. Just another example of: it is not what you know, but who you know that counts.

        There are no doubt some very worthy recipients who deserve all the accolades they will receive but I can't help noticing the number of honours for… Services to Science. ONE.

        Apart from a Dr. Marie MCLintock for services to haemotology and obstretics, no other scientist has been honoured. Yet these are among our most intelligent and talented NZers whose research work is frequently internationally recognised, and they have the ability to change or save the lives of many thousands of people.

      • Morrissey 4.1.2

        Even worse was her and Boyens teaming up with John Barnett and Paul "I am a GOOD MAN" Holmes on Q&A to snarl at and belittle Sue Bradford. Peter Jackson was sitting there too, looking extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable. He was almost completely silent throughout.

        • Anne 4.1.2.1

          There was the infamous Q&A Holmes interview with John Barnett and Helen Kelly, but I don't recall Peter Jackson being present. I do remember him being interviewed on other occasions and being disgusted at his attitude. But nobody could see past his Lord of the Rings Hollywood success and were blind to his abysmal behaviour over the reasonable protests of the local artistic community – not the least Holmes himself.

          • Morrissey 4.1.2.1.1

            Those swine managed to get onto Q&A several times. Yes, Barnett tried to be extremely intimidating to Helen Kelly, and Holmes was harsh and derogatory towards her as well.

            On another episode, Boyens and Walsh and Peter Jackson opposed Sue Bradford. Boyens and Walsh were extremely unpleasant throughout the programme.

            That Walsh gets rewarded in spite of that repulsive display—and we can be sure she was even crueler and nastier away from the television cameras—is another reason to scrap these ridiculous "honours".

            • gsays 4.1.2.1.1.1

              Brownlee is caught in a lie in the Scoop article.

            • greywarshark 4.1.2.1.1.2

              Saint Sue should never be criticised. Jackson and Walsh who are hard-working entrepreneurs bringing NZ into the world 'stage' are downright cruel and nasty. Creatives like Robyn Malcolm are wonderful and deserve to exist on Cloud 9, where all self-made successful wonders get to be. Comment BAU.

            • Anne 4.1.2.1.1.3

              Well, as I said @ 4.1.1:

              It is not what you know that counts, but who you know.

              To be fair there are some exceptions to that rule.

          • WeTheBleeple 4.1.2.1.2

            Jackson can't decide if he's a common man or a rich prick.

            A friend visited him he juggled his Oscars to try give the illusion he cares not for such accolades. Then he got in bed with John Key.

      • aj 4.1.3

        The one person deserving an award was Helen Kelly. She might have refused it. She remains at the peak of my list of Great New Zealanders and her treatment during that dispute by Walsh and the director whose name I refuse to utter, and whose movies I refuse to watch, was quite disgusting

        • Morrissey 4.1.3.1

          Q+A: Barnett and Holmes meet their match in Helen Kelly

          TV1, Sunday Oct. 24, 2010

          Preliminary comment by JACK A. NAPES, for Daisycutter Sports Inc. ….
          This is billed as an "interview", but it's more of an attempted
          mugging. Unfortunately for Barnett and Holmes, Kelly is not
          intimidated by their antics. She remains polite and perfectly composed
          throughout, unlike her two opponents. Holmes interrupts Helen Kelly
          nearly every time she speaks, and Barnett interrupts her three times.
          But all this fails to upset her; she's an experienced union
          negotiator, and these two are lightweights compared to some business
          and union leaders she meets routinely. Barnett gets really angry when
          Kelly points out that he's a slack employer: "You yourself don't
          comply with the guidelines." Holmes calls her "clueless" twice and he
          swears angrily on two occasions. Note the way that Holmes won't let
          her speak even at the end, shouting: "No, Helen's had ENOUGH!"

          Q+A: Interview with Helen Kelly and John Barnett
          Published: 4:12PM Sunday October 24, 2010 Source: Q+A
          Related News
          Paul Holmes interviews Helen Kelly and John Barnett about the saga
          surrounding filming of The Hobbit.

          PAUL: We are joined by two folk at the heart of negotiations. Helen
          Kelly is president of the Combined Trade Unions, and John Barnett is
          the managing director of South Pacific Picture – very experienced film
          man. Of course, one of the most experienced film people in this
          country. So Helen Kelly, we'll start with you first of all. Good
          morning.
          HELEN KELLY: Good morning.
          PAUL: So, what we've got is the actors now in FULL RETREAT. What we've
          seen after last week with your handling of things is a complete
          failure for the union movement. That's so, isn't it?
          HELEN: Well, no, actually, Paul, this dispute wasn't settled last
          week. It was settled the week before with encouragement from Peter
          Jackson, who sent several emails to me saying, 'I'm encouraging SPADA
          to meet and to talk through all the issues and find a resolution.'
          That's what I did. I stepped into this dispute only at the end of
          September to help the parties find a way through. We've found a way
          through. It's completely settled…
          PAUL: I think… With the greatest respect, Ms Kelly, I think you
          might be fantasising. ….

          Read the whole thing….

          https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/qa-barnett-and-homes-meet-their-match.html

          • Wensleydale 4.1.3.1.1

            Jesus. I'm not ordinarily one to speak ill of the dead, but Paul Holmes was just a massive partisan arsehole all the way through that 'interview'. Interrupting, badgering, condescension, mockery and accusations of lying. How Helen Kelly kept from lunging across the table and punching him in the gob I don't know. She was a class act, rest her soul.

        • gsays 4.1.3.2

          @aj Hear hear on Helen Kelly.

          I feel compromised on the afore not mentioned director.

          I saw Bad Taste at the film festival at the Regent in Palmy.

          Still one of my favourites.

          I find myself politically disalinged from him on workers rights.

          • Adrian thornton 4.1.3.2.1

            I to loved Jackson's earlier works, however IMO he hasn't made a good movie for a long long time.

        • Adrian thornton 4.1.3.3

          @aj, +100….' The one person deserving an award was Helen Kelly'…lost our only chance of having a real and relevant Labour back at any time soon when we lost her.

  4. Rapunzel 5

    Knighthoods aye? What do you reckon you would need to have done to receive such a thing for "philanthropy" in particular?

    I see local Tauranga "businessman" Paul Adams now has one, and as someone from Tauranga I would have said the interests that led to it are far more personal than philanthropic. The Herald story attached says "As chairman of Accessible Properties, Sir Paul has helped to develop social housing in Tauranga, including negotiating to buy more than 1000 Housing New Zealand homes for the city." which reads well but in fact was the only single sale of NZ city or towns's entire – to my knowledge 1138 – Housing NZ stock. The only other one to come close was Invercargill which fell through.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12235832

    The houses were already here – The Government will transfer ownership and management of 1138 Housing New Zealand properties and tenancies in Tauranga to a new landlord, Accessible Properties from 1 April 2017.
    https://www.accessibleproperties.co.nz/tauranga-tenants/qas/

    So "it" and he "developed" nothing other than to work with the National govt to pusrchase all of Tauranga's Housing NZ stock for an undisclosed amount and with the agreement that the tax payer would continue to meet the bill to bring them up to standard and that incl the flawed "P" testing and any work attached to that.

    Having at the end of last year helped a young single working mum get decent accommodation in Tauranga we couldn't even work out if there a Housing NZ office in Tauranga or even who to approach so gave up even considering that – in the end we could fix it and there will be others in more need.

    But getting back to "Mr" Adams the majority of his "philanthropic" interest seem to have been in the main local sporting and hobby groups and nothing too "socially" demanding. One thing is for sure that his previous "business" interests were very deep in a lot of ring-fencing land in the area that has benefitted a few rather than the many hopeful homeowners here.

    As far and away the largest contributor to local MP Bridges election campaign funds how coincidental is this former award "It is not the first time he has been recognised in the Queen's Honours List after being awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for business and philanthropy in 2015." and I wonder who made this nomination?

    • Rosemary McDonald 5.1

      Thank you Rapunzel for shining a strong light into that particularly dark place.

      For some people, saying someone is involved with IHC is an automatic reputational boost.

      It ain't necessarily so.

      • Rapunzel 5.1.1

        At all happened here in Tauranga and scarcely a peep. Maybe, as we do have some good local advocates there is an "upside" in there that the general public don't see but for two or so years I have found the whole thing peculiar that it is painted in this light and comes with a "reward". More than a few "charities" look to me to be personal hobby horses and avenues for networking, and for some a salaried past-time, and are nothing more than that.

    • mauī 5.2

      Thanks for the reality check and deconstructing the property developer cares more about people than profit BS.

      This guy has done handsomely profiting from land development while his community suffers from possibly it's worst housing crisis in history. Not only that, but seeking to profit from our most vulnerable's housing situation is the lowest of the low.

      He is no hero. The only heroes in this are people like all of those from Te Puea Marae who gave up their own meagre property/assets and time to house others in their hour of need.

    • Wensleydale 5.3

      Many knighthoods are bought and paid for, perhaps not in an obvious fashion, but nevertheless. It also helps to be the 'right sort of person', know the 'right sorts of people', have passed through the 'right educational institutions', been employed by the 'right organisations' and have made considerable donations to the 'right political parties'. Quid pro quo and all that. Nothing is unforgivable if you've done right by the 'right people'. You could, for instance, repeatedly assault a waitress in a public place, and as long as you atone for your misdeeds with a weak apology and a couple of bottles of plonk, you're away laughing. Nothing to see here, move along.

      Alternatively, you could just be really good at throwing a ball about.

  5. marty mars 6

    Toxic attitudes – what sort of shit would we find under your bed mr priest.

    Diocese of Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin sparked a backlash beginning on Saturday when he tweeted: "A reminder that Catholics should not support or attend LGBTQ 'Pride Month' events held in June. They promote a culture and encourage activities that are contrary to Catholic faith and morals. They are especially harmful for children."

    The posting spurred rebukes by thousands of people who replied on Twitter, including actresses Mia Farrow and Patricia Arquette.

    Many invoked the scandals of clergy sexual abuse of children in the church…

    …Tobin is a conservative bishop who has said that he was aware of incidents of sexual abuse reported to church officials while working in Pennsylvania, but that it wasn't his job to deal with them. He was auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh from 1992 until 1996.

    A Pennsylvania grand jury report last year detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses, including the Pittsburgh diocese.

    In July 2018, Tobin deleted his Twitter account, calling it a major distraction, an obstacle to his spiritual life and an "occasion of sin" for himself and others. But he resumed tweeting in January, according to his current Twitter account.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/113196398/us-bishop-faces-backlash-over-tweet-urging-catholics-not-to-support-pride-month

    an occasion of sin revisited – sure mate we believe you NOT

  6. marty mars 7

    How to lie for beginners

    1. lie

    2. Keep lying

    3. lie some more

    Donald Trump has said he did not call Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, “nasty” when giving an interview to the Sun, despite an audio recording released by the paper.

    Speaking to the tabloid before his visit to the UK, Trump was told that Meghan “wasn’t so nice” about him during the 2016 US presidential campaign, to which he replied: “I didn’t know that. What can I say? I didn’t know that she was nasty.”

    However, in a series of early morning tweets on Sunday, the US president said he “never called Meghan Markle nasty” and that the “Fake News Media” had invented his remarks.

    Royals to serve as extras in Donald Trump’s victory lap of UK

    He said it was “Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold! Will CNN, NY Times and others apologize? Doubt it!”

    The Sun posted a recording of the original interview to prove that its reporting was accurate.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/02/donal-trump-denies-calling-meghan-nasty-despite-audio-recording

    Don't worry his thick supporters will lap it up.

    • Morrissey 7.1

      What about the thick ones who voted for Clinton? Which are thicker, do you think?

      • Bewildered 7.1.1

        Spot on Moz, Clinton who supported her rapist husband then jumps on me too movement, Hilary who vaporised her hard drive destroying 30000 emails, then burnt her phones, Hillary who lied about Libya God she even lied about how she got her first name, claiming our Ed. Give Trump his due over Hillary ; he doesn’t pretend to be somebody else than a narcissist bull shitter Likewise some of his policies are ok

    • Sacha 7.2

      Whataboutism is usually a bit more subtle.

    • Gabby 7.3

      Are they going to sue him?

  7. "Coltan is Venezuela’s Oro Azul or ‘blue gold’. In 2009, President Hugo Chávezannounced the discovery of reserves worth $100 billion of “the blue gold of the 21st century” in the Amazon region of the country.

    The price of this blue gold follows an increasing demand for a high-grade metal known as tantalum, processed from refined coltan. Demand for coltan is so intense, it fetches a higher price on the international market than even gold or diamonds.

    Tantalum is the metal used in capacitors that store energy in modern electronics like smart phones and tablets. Tantalum capacitors are also essential in powering modern military weaponry because the metal resists corrosion and can withstand the extreme temperatures generated by the new military applications. Without it, weapons systems would overheat.

    The US relies on tantalum to build the basic circuitry in guidance control systems in smart bombs, the on-board navigational systems in drones, anti-tank systems, robots and most weapons systems.

    The metal is vital to US defense. Yet, it has no domestic source of coltan. Importing and stockpiling tantalum is its only recourse."

    https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11372

    • "The Rare Earth Threat

      The third tool is exports of certain goods that are critical to some important U.S. industries.

      One is rare earth metals, a group of minerals that are vital to advanced electronics and power systems, including smartphones, batteries for many applications including electric vehicles, and high-tech military weapons. China is the source of 80% of the world’s supply and there are signs the country has threatened a potential restriction of rare earth exports to U.S. firms, according to CNBC.

      Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals that have a wide variety of uses, including electronics, magnets, lasers, ceramics, batteries, medical equipment, and optics. The name can be misleading, as, in theory, the materials are plentiful. But they are thinly distributed. The rare part is having heavy enough concentrations to make mining economically possible. A complication is environmental impact because processing uses dangerous chemicals and high heat that can release pollutants."

      http://fortune.com/2019/05/29/rare-earths-bonds-and-permit-hell-three-weapons-china-can-use-to-escalate-the-trade-war/

      • greywarshark 8.1.1

        We don't want to see two big powers going head to head – orange and black – too much colour contrast there. Red will be the next colour revealed, and grey, brown?

        If the citizens of the USA took their hand off their hearts, which is a required response for saluting the USA and as ubiquitous as an outstretched arm in 1930's Europe (which also excited certain groups in the USA), then they might get a better understanding of the country they live in, and they could go two-handed at making it better. At present the USA is beefing up its wish for dominance in the China seas, which is trying to have a ring of protection around it, just like the USA has had probably since WW1. The USA is perverting the financial system by running a huge deficit for attack weapons of advanced type, threatening everyone's security, because it can – so bugger off everybody who quails and complains.

        • joe90 8.1.1.1

          a required response for saluting the USA and as ubiquitous as an outstretched arm

          The Bellamy salute preceded the hand over heart jobbie.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute

          • greywarshark 8.1.1.1.1

            Mine of info joe 90. Hadn't heard of that – Bellamy salute eh. I must pull myself away from this addictive screen and go take part in the physical world. I will read about Bellamy later. Perhaps this is the modern version of hell, to be able to read all that has happened from which we have never learned, and only be able to watch a new version of the old play – perhaps called Love's Labour Lost or Titus Andronicus with a new name that relates to modern ears.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Andronicus

            All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good.

            1/9/1939 whauden

            Sorry to wax woebegone.

    • But there is another material from Venezuelan soil that could be extremely valuable. Its name is torio (Thorium), and it has the potential of becoming an ecological nuclear fuel. Professor Eduardo Greaves, an expert in nuclear physics and a professor at Simón Bolívar University, pointed out that Venezuela has “a huge deposit” of Thorium in the Cerro Impacto in the southern state of Amazonas, which is part of the Orinoco Mining Arc, of which China knows all about, having directed the development of the geological and mining map of the Venezuelan territory. Greaves said these reserves could be used in thorium nuclear reactors for at least 300 years.

      https://supchina.com/2019/01/14/venezuela-china-explained-2/

  8. PaddockBoy 9

    A great read on why another Brexit Referendum in itself will not address the woes in England.

    “Another referendum may, conceivably, get us out of the worst practical consequences of the Brexit mess. But that will not win the culture war (what, anyway, does victory or defeat look like in a culture war?) and it is certainly fanciful to think that it would “cauterise the gaping national split and confront once and for all the many dark issue that lurk beneath the nativist Brexit idea,,” ”

    http://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/

    • francesca 10.1

      bloody hell Chair

      snap!

    • Rosemary McDonald 10.2

      Has Bryan Bruce received a gong? Ever?

      Probably too honourable.

      • The Chairman 10.2.1

        TBH, I don't know, Rosemary. But I do like his effort.

        I sense he may be working on a doc that is going to hold Jacinda/Labour to account for their big talk and poor delivery.

    • gsays 10.3

      Thanks chairman, I enjoyed that hour.

      Can't help wondering if the statement from the floor about our financial system and government issued sovereign currency lies at the heart of a meaningful answer.

      I fail to see the imagination let alone the courage for that to happen.

      Prof Kelsey and her words on preparing for the changes needed were encouraging.

      • The Chairman 10.3.1

        Can't help wondering if the statement from the floor about our financial system and government issued sovereign currency lies at the heart of a meaningful answer

        Social Credit Party Leader, Chris Leitch, told the party’s Canterbury Regional conference Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s budget could have contained an additional $6 billion in spending without costing taxpayers a single cent more.

        Leitch said, the Finance Minister could save that amount every year on interest payments on the government’s borrowing.

        Finance Ministers in Japan and China access funding from their central bank at no interest and use the money saved on interest payments to benefit their citizens.

        https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/05/21/robertsons-budget-6-billion-short-social-credit/

  9. francesca 11

    Bryan Bruce mced a great town hall type panel and discussion last night

    Trotter disappointing but probably to a degree correct.He says too many of us have done well(I'm talking baby boomers here)out of the property bonanza to feel urgency for those who haven't .His "grand old man of the left" routine was a bit too pretentious for my tastes, and I'm usually a fan of his historical offerings

    Wayne Hope was impressive, as was Russell Norman, god I miss him as co leader of the Greens.

    We could do with more of this stuff. Commentators from the coal face

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/

    • aj 11.1

      That discussion should replace the complete 6-7pm drivel on TV1 and the country would be better for it. No, it will never happen.

      • The Chairman 11.1.1

        That discussion should replace the complete 6-7pm drivel on TV1 and the country would be better for it.

        yes

    • The Chairman 11.2

      Yes, we could do with more of this stuff, francesca. Particularly in the mainstream.

      And yes, bring back Russell Norman. It was interesting to hear (on the above screening) that it was Shaw that pushed for and succeeded in securing the BRR. Largely aligning the fiscal oversight of the two main parties.

      I disagree with Trotter. Improvement doesn't require reducing the wealth of the majority. For example, a CGT wasn't going to apply to the family home. Kiwibuild (which was welcomed from across the political spectrum) objective was to slow the pace of increase, not reduce current values

      Annie Newman from the living wage made a good point. And if we take the regional spend that the Government has been dishing out to the private sector as an example, where are the strings attached ensuring jobs the Government is fiscally helping to create are decent jobs that pay a living wage?

      As the funding is already being given away, adding these strings wouldn't come at any extra cost to the Government.

      Overall, it's well worth a look. It was a good discussion with many good points made.

      Disappointing there weren't too many (if any) political faces (Greens, Labour, etc) seen in attendance.

    • greywarshark 11.3

      Chris Trotter has to make a living and he has to be able to see the problems from both sides. I think he does well in being able to lift slightly and regularly the cloth of gold curtain of the comfortably off so they can receive peeks at life for the others, and so get some innoculation for the shock of the innovation of some disease-ridden policy that cuts down their supplies of goodies.

  10. Morrissey 12

    Fanatics, cynics, sadists and moral cowards
    Exhibit No. 1: The Panel, RNZ National, Tuesday 1 July 2014

    JIM MORA: Now, Julian Assange on the catwalk.
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: [highly amused] Yes!
    MORA: How’s he going to manage this?
    ZARA POTTS: Well, it hasn’t stopped him, his asylum claim hasn’t stopped him from doing all sorts of things. Even last week he opened rapper MIA’s New York concert with a ten minute Skype chat, so he’s pretty busy.
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I thought he couldn’t leave though.
    ZARA POTTS: He does it all on his computer.
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Oh, right.
    ZARA POTTS: This is Vivienne Westwood’s son Ben, and as part of London Fashion Week, he is going to take the catwalk to Julian Assange in the Ecadorian embassy.
    GRAHAM BELL: [derisive snort] Ha!
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: [querulous tone] How-w-w-w-w?
    GRAHAM BELL: Some people will do ANYTHING to get publicity.
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha!
    ZARA POTTS: Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, it’s not because he cuts a particularly dashing figure or wears clothes THAT well. The whole thing is a little bit more political than that. Ben Westwood is saying that he wants Julian Assange in his show so that Assange doesn’t slip into obscurity.
    MORA: There’s not much danger of that though, is there.
    ZARA POTTS: No. He’s wanting to highlight his plight.
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: So he’s going to be modeling the clothes.
    ZARA POTTS: Yes.
    GRAHAM BELL: It’ll be the look for the very OILY character. Hm hm hm hm hm.
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Yeowww!
    GRAHAM BELL: Hm hm hm hm hm.
    MORA: How do they put a runway into an embassy? It’s basically just a big HOUSE, isn’t it.
    ZARA POTTS: Maybe they’ve got a big hallway. The collection has been influenced by Clint Eastwood’s Western films and also Assange’s “combat beret look”.

    ….[General snickering, snorting and guffawing]….

    ZARA POTTS: And there is also a garment with Julian Assange’s image printed on it. He he he he he!
    DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha!
    GRAHAM BELL: Ho ho ho ho ho! Can’t WAIT!
    MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
    ZARA POTTS: The soundtrack is from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, so that will be something to, uh, see….

    https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/graham-bell-continues-to-run-amok-on.html

    "Abstaining from the witchhunt would have classed the dissenter as an enemy. Stalin was supported by fanatics, cynics, sadists and moral cowards."

    —-Donald Rayfield, Stalin and His Hangmen: An Authoritative Portrait of a Tyrant and Those Who Served Him (Viking, 2004)

  11. Morrissey 14

    An assurance of goodwill from a member of the lynch mob

    Yesterday one of our resident fools, "The Al1en", interjected himself into a witchburning in order to offer the following assurance of future fair treatment for the bound and gagged victim: "@McFlock I'm sure he'll get more support once he's faced and beaten the rape charges in a court of law." In the Deep South not so long ago, similar moral idiots turned to their neighbours and said: "@Travis I'm sure this ni*&er will get more support once he's faced and beaten the rape charges in a court of law."

    https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-06-2019/#comment-1623641

    • Sacha 14.1

      Get a hobby.

      • McFlock 14.1.1

        Unfortunately, this is it.

        • Morrissey 14.1.1.1

          Haven't you got some vitriol to pour over Assange? Why are you wasting your time making facetious little comments like that about me?

          Still, it's funnier than your cat joke.

          • McFlock 14.1.1.1.1

            You mentioned me twice today. That caught my eye. Your continued attempts to make the world safe for Assange to commit rape (regardless of whether he actually did anything in 2010) hold my attention.

            Apparently one wikileaks is good for at least two abandoned rape investigations, according to your ethical model.

            • Morrissey 14.1.1.1.1.1

              Doubling down on your wild, fantastic allegations doesn't make them one whit more credible. Even if they are officially sanctioned by four rogue states. You know as well as everyone else in the world knows: there is no credible case against Assange—other than the case that he is a dangerous truth-telling journalist.

              • solkta

                You know as well as everyone else in the world knows

                Fuck, does that include me? Thanks for that, i didn't know that i knew. Now i know what i didn't know that i knew.

                • Morrissey

                  Sorry—maybe you're a flat earther and a flying saucer enthusiast. I was talking about people with an I.Q. above room temperature.

                  • solkta

                    Wow, you managed to find two conspiracy theories that you don't believe in. Keep trying.

                    • Morrissey

                      Ah! A choosy conspiracy theorist. A selective and discerning one. You believe that Assange is a tool of those cunning Russian masterminds, do you?

                    • solkta

                      I don't believe anything about Assange. I don't have enough information to come to any conclusions. Funny to watch you though.

                    • Morrissey

                      You should do some reading then, solkta. A lot of reading. And discriminate in your reading. Don't just swallow state media (The Grauniad, the Murdoch media empire, the BBC, MSNBC) wholesale.

                      See you back here when you've done your homework~

                    • solkta

                      I've seen the kind of bullshit that you call homework.Remember that Skeletons in the Cupboard bollocks. Oh wait, you probably still believe in that. Keep trying.

              • McFlock

                In your case, the odds are more in favour that you're delusional rather than a liar.

                Either way, you're still a rape apologist.

                • Morrissey

                  Just like those foolish lawyers in the Deep South who represented black men accused, with similar rigorous devotion to lawful process, of rape. They were accused of being "rape apologists" by people like you.

                  • McFlock

                    You remember when dolt45 said he could shoot someone on 5th avenue and not lose any voters? Yeah, that's you're support for Assange: unquestioning, and oblivious to reality.

                    You're about one tab of acid away from joining a suicide cult.

                    • Morrissey

                      You can be as creative and ridiculous in your abuse as you want—comparing me to a Trump supporter, for pity's sake!—but it doesn't change the fact you've been caught out.

                    • McFlock

                      damn, looks like you popped that tab already.

                    • Morrissey

                      Abuse away, my friend. You've been caught out, and abuse is all you have left.

                      Fire away: you haven't called me a Russian bot like one of your compadres did a while ago.

                    • McFlock

                      But this is also a different topic. I understand that you have difficulty distinguishing between separate issues, but come on, even you should be able to figure that one out.

            • The Al1en 14.1.1.1.1.2

              “Apparently one wikileaks is good for at least two abandoned rape investigations, according to your ethical model.”

              Just be thankful it wasn't Gary Glitter who ran wikileaks

        • Sam 14.1.1.2

          You and the rest of the woke have been quite pathetic in your assault on Julian Assange and anyone who might defend Assange and the democratic processes that are being trampled on by the U.S. People like me, we hold no ill will against Assange or the alleged rape victims but you and the woke Trying to curse out anyone who understands that the U.S isn't playing ball is just pathetic.

          • McFlock 14.1.1.2.1

            The simple fact you seem incapable of processing is that it is perfectly possible that Assange did wikileaks as well as committing sexual assault. People can be complicated. Do you think the Swedes invented an entire high-profile sexual assault investigation just to get Assange into their custody so they could extradite him to the USA? Because if they did not invent that investigation, he needs to go to Sweden and face it.

            • Morrissey 14.1.1.2.1.1

              It wasn't "the Swedes" who concocted that fantastic allegation, it was some malignant strategist in the State Department. Instead of blaming "the Swedes", we need to be specific and narrow it down to the culprit: one very beleaguered and browbeaten State Persecutor, the Dishonorable Marianne Ny.

              • McFlock

                Is there any circumstance in which Assange could commit sexual assault and you wouldn't proclaim his innocence? I doubt it.

                • Morrissey

                  Sure: if he did. But fantastical allegations concocted by some evil functionary/functionaries at the U.S. State Department is not a compelling or credible case whatsoever.

                  Still, you're invested in this as surely as Tony Blair was invested in another campaign of destruction; you're never going to resile from your comments and your allegations now.

                  Please fire some more "rape apologist" slurs at me; they're as convincing as the case against Assange.

                  • McFlock

                    lol "if he did".

                    How would you know?

                    • Morrissey

                      The onus is on the persecutors—-i.e. the people he and Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning exposed as mass murderers—to prove the allegations. They have no evidence whatsoever, and you know that as well as the rest of us do.

                    • McFlock

                      That wasn't the question.

                      My suggestion is that you would defend Assange even if he committed a crime because nothing would convince you that he had committed a crime.

                      So under what circumstances, as an internet denizen probably located in NZ, how would you know that some prosecutor's claims against Assange were true?

                      We literally have transcripts and records, and you're still adamant that he did nothing wrong. You refuse to countenance the possibility that they are accurate. So what would it actually take to convince you?

                    • Morrissey

                      Evidence. There is none.

                      The two women who engaged in consensual sex with Assange both wanted all the proceedings against him stopped. They—just like you—could see that the state prosecutor was trying to fit him up.

                    • McFlock

                      Delusional right there.

            • The Al1en 14.1.1.2.1.2

              I agree with that. Also…

              Should he be extradited to the usa for the leaks? – No, even though it's cowardly on his part after Manning served time.

              Should he go to Sweden, face up to the rape allegations and clear his name? – Yes.

              And if the Swedes don't bring charges and require him in court? – Once his 50 weeks are up, deport him to Australia.

            • Sam 14.1.1.2.1.3

              It's a matter of public record that the U.S manufactured this whole situation. Could you even imagine how lonely the two alleged rape victims are right now knowing that the U.S is putting pressure on them and the Swedish state to produce results for the U.S. Are you even aware of your own ideology.

              • McFlock

                If that were the situation, he wouldn't have lost his extradition case.

                • Sam

                  I don't know what you are talking about. It is still a matter of public record that America orchestrated the whole affair

                  • Morrissey

                    Sam, you're wasting your energy—-four generations ago, you would have had similar satisfactioin trying to reason with a Soviet commissar during the Great Terror.

                    • McFlock

                      I like it when you give sam encouragement.

                      Something sweet about a delusional encouraging a dunce.

                    • Morrissey

                      I'll leave Sam to comment on the "dunce" crack against him. Now, how am I "delusional" exactly?

                    • Sam

                      dosnt help prove your theories McFlock

                    • McFlock

                      Not my theories. I'm not the one claiming that he is innocent, or that he is guilty.

                      That's you guys claiming to know it's all a fabrication against poor, innocent Julian.

                    • Sam

                      All that comes off of your keyboard, McFlock (lol) is slow learner, bigot, nazi, transphob, apologist for Assad/Putin/Assange/Trump/Rape with some a's Ames and buts mixed in. Although these ideological utterances separates McFlock (lol) and I, he's still debating at a pretty high level. What does separate McFlock and I is McFlock debates with a bit more emotion. This is why McFlock will regularly spam 100 or 200 or 300 comments and regularly pops in some ad homing only to then fain outrage at being retaliated against. While being emotional like this is a weakness a bit like being raped, it is a weakness although probably due to a lack of discipline or experience. When people get overly emotional there IQ falls several points and are not able to think clearly especially in a rape crises where margins of error are basically non existent.

                      So there you have it guys, too very different debating styles let me know which one you'd prefer. So I'll just allow for the crowds to decide who won, the Pro Assange side (my side) or McFlock.

                    • Incognito []

                      I prefer commenters who deal with the topic at hand and don’t go off reserve attacking other commenters. Sam, you’re at your best here when you genuinely debate the topic and leave out the personal insults. Just saying.

    • greywarshark 14.2

      Calm down Morrissey – you are just spreading hate and vicious talk and hysteria. We are up to our necks in it already. Please desist, take a deep breath, go out into the sun if you can find it, and dig the garden. Soothe yourself and don't exacerbate what we already have to put up with. We know what you know, we don't need to have it again brought up and shoved down our throats in large, violent gobstoppers.

      • Morrissey 14.2.1

        … you are just spreading hate and vicious talk and hysteria.

        So it's ME that's shouting "rapist" at a political prisoner and laughing at his suffering?

        We know what you know, we don't need to have it again brought up and shoved down our throats in large, violent gobstoppers.

        Certainly I'll stop reminding people that these vicious people are moral cowards and flunkies—as soon as they stop posting their lies, smears, and their unfunny jokes about Assange's cat.

    • The Al1en 14.3

      Only a fucked up single minded, played out, one trick pony would compare the Swedish judicial system to one lynching black people in the deep south of the fifties and sixties to push a support point for an alleged rapist who fled from justice because he dished shit on the yanks and in particular Hilary Clinton.

      Set the narrative however you want, but to borrow a phrase, rape enabling shitheel – Go fuck yourself yes

      • Adrian thornton 14.3.1

        You mean this legal system… U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer on Assange…“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution, I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize and abuse a single individual for such a long time.”

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErW1taJEPrs

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErW1taJEPrs

        • The Al1en 14.3.1.1

          The fuckup above compared the Jim Crow era with the modern day Swedish judiciary. If you want to agree with him on that point, and make excusing arguments for an alleged rapist who has done nothing to answer the allegations but fight extradition, lose, and run off to self imposed exile, so be it.

          • Sam 14.3.1.1.1

            I think Morrissey has a point. Iv never heard of the U.S fighting so hard to have some one charged with rape since the Jim Crow days.

                • Morrissey

                  And please tell us with a straight face: you would have supported those young black men and not backed the "authorities" and their army of media and society backers in calling for what they termed those "animals" to be executed.

                  • The Al1en

                    Well some determined special little soldier is enjoying setting false narratives.

                    Me, I don't fall into traps, especially the pointedly obvious ones. I just like to state my point and if others twist it to whatever the see as their advantage, that's what free speech is all about.

                    You, in between being Mr Angry from Cheam and welded to your warrior keyboard spouting bullshit at those who don't agree with you can stay playing at chief R.E.S, but unlike the incarcerated alleged rapist and you, I'm off outside for a freedom walk in the sunshine.

                    • Morrissey

                      Me, I don't fall into traps…

                      ?????

                      So what are you doing in a lynch mob?

              • Sam

                The ones that I was concerned about was the ones involving U.S military and bureaucrats raping and murdering female adults and minors on a systemic level. Here we have the hypocrisy of the u.s and its apologists going hard out for Julian Assange.

          • Adrian thornton 14.3.1.1.2

            .What you are saying here?…that the UK govt spent millions of pounds watching and monitoring Assange for the sake of a couple of alleged rape cases?

            If you actually really believe this has anything whatsoever to do with those two woman in Sweden then (and I hate to be rude) you must be either extremely naive or extremely stupid

            • Morrissey 14.3.1.1.2.1

              … you must be either extremely naive or extremely stupid

              He's neither of those, Adrian. He's simply chosen his gang, his mob, and is sticking with it. It's prideful and ornery behaviour, which we see from many others on this forum.

              He would indeed be stupid if he had been serious when he said to another member of that baying lynch-mob that he was sure that Assange will "get more support once he's faced and beaten the rape charges in a court of law."

              But I don't think he believed a word of that statement.

              • The Al1en

                Clearest case of projection you'll ever see on the internet from someone who, along with the same handful of regular Assange supporters/anti American/Clinton hating/Pro Putin bots, attempt to set their own narrative as default, shouting down any dissenting opinion with persistent insults, whataboutisms and an apparent mastery of the 'if you believe this' then 'you must believe that' trope.

                I personally don't give a fuck if you want to, by way of your habit, spend your lives trying to make your views the only line The Standard will tolerate airing. I think it's great that you have the ability to push shit uphill in public and long may that last, but you have to realise you're not the tone setter, nor the final word, and as long as you continue exhibiting your agenda, you're always gonna get push back, especially when you’re wrong and nutty as a fruit bar.

                As for starting topics with no other reasons apart from trolling, personal aggrandizing and the feel goods they obviously bring to someone like you, as you did here today, then they're just hit outs and no serious value can come from them. No points made, no minds changed, just internet fights for the bored of heart and simple of mind. Excellent to waste a few hours on, but ultimately pointless. Your success at it is also your biggest weakness, and you can’t even see it.

                • Morrissey

                  Clearest case of projection you'll ever see on the internet…

                  "Projection"? Oh, I get it: you mean that the witness becomes the crime he's reporting on. Very hard to understand, I must confess, but I guess you're a philosopher, a thinker of some kind? Zen, is it?

                  from someone who, along with the same handful of regular Assange supporters/anti American/Clinton hating/Pro Putin bots, ….

                  Well, yes, I do support the right of journalists to report the crimes of governments. So you got the Assange supporter bit right. But "anti American"? You'll need to justify that charge, but I don't think you have the ability to do that. "Clinton hating"? I'm opposed to the Clintons, certainly—Bill, Hillary, and their foolish daughter; but I don't hate them. Hatred, the foulest vituperation and the most malignant defamation is what we see every day displayed here on this forum towards the world's most famous journalist and political dissident. Of all your allegations, the one that intrigued me the most was the one claiming that I'm a "Pro Putin bot." Боже, помоги мне! Я русский робот!

                • Adrian thornton

                  @ The Al1en, You haven't answered my question… that the UK govt spent millions of pounds watching and monitoring Assange for the sake of a couple of alleged rape cases?

                  • The Al1en

                    They would have done the same if it were David Beckham or Elton John who'd skipped bail and hid in an embassy.

                    • Adrian thornton

                      Do you really think so?, you are saying that you actually believe that the UK govt would have spent seven years and millions of pounds watching David Beckham if he had skipped bail?…seriously.

                    • The Al1en

                      Any high profile fugitive would have received similar observation.

                  • Morrissey

                    Adrian, you're wasting your time with this fellow.

          • mauī 14.3.1.1.3

            "…who has done nothing to answer the allegations but fight extradition…"

            Well that's not quite true, he was happy to be interviewed over the allegations and that only took 6 or 7 years for the authorities to get round to it even though they had the victim statements and the physical evidence. Once interviewed the case was quickly dropped thereafter.

            The alarm bells should be ring-a-ding-ling-a-ling that something is quite amiss here.

            • Adrian thornton 14.3.1.1.3.1

              @maui, "The alarm bells should be ring-a-ding-ling-a-ling that something is quite amiss here"

              Yeah so you would think…..but strangely not for some.

        • Morrissey 14.3.1.2

          He doesn't know what he means, Adrian.

        • RedLogix 14.3.1.3

          And much closer to home in Australia we have another whistleblower being abused by the system. Note carefully his description of the debilitating stress of this:

          Mr Boyle said he lost his job, had a breakdown, suffered chronic insomnia and has had a series of stress-related heart issues.

          "I've had some dark moments," he said. "It's taken a huge toll on my mental health. I couldn't work. I couldn't sleep and my health spiralled into what I describe as a devastating situation."

          https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-03/ato-whistleblower-facing-prison-says-he-almost-died-from-stress/11167954

          And this for just one year.

          • Adrian thornton 14.3.1.3.1

            Holy hell, that is one rough story, first time I have heard of it.

            " He alleged that some ATO staff were instructed to use an aggressive debt collection practice known as garnishee notices, which allows the ATO to seize funds from the bank accounts of Australian taxpayers without notice or consideration of their circumstances."

            I had business partner (long time ago) who had been audited by the IRD previous to out partnership, he told me it was the worst experience of his life, just under two years they took, said they looked into absolutely every facet of his life, and came up with SFA.

            The only thing good to come out of it was that his books where immaculate at the end of the ordeal (that was his joke)..more than can be said of mine!

            • RedLogix 14.3.1.3.1.1

              In my modest experience the most corrosive aspect of this kind of stress is the constant threat, uncertainty and instability. Until you've been through something like it for an extended period, most people have no fucking clue what it's like.

              • Adrian thornton

                Yes that is true, although in no way as serious, I had a pretty serious burn out about fifteen years ago, brought on by small business stress, financial insecurity, young family, to way much work etc..what I learnt was, that when you step over that invisible line that many people are teetering on, you don't get to step back…it took me many years to fully recover, it was brutal.

                That burn out, although terrible has had one very positive effect on my life, it gave me a very real insight into mental health both though my experience and through the reading I did on the subject when I was going through it.

                Hence my utter disgust at the treatment of Assange, right out in the open, right in front of our eyes, and what makes it even worse is it is done with the total support of nearly all media, history won't judge this period well I think.

              • Anne

                Until you've been through something like it for an extended period, most people have no fucking clue what it's like.

                Tell me about it. It isn't a common experience so makes it even harder for people to understand the effects.

                And I agree with Adrian thornton. While I don't take sides on the Assange affair, I do have sympathy for his current predicament no matter if he was responsible (in part at least) for bringing it about. The stress of isolation, being surrounded by enemies and the fear for his life is not only hugely debilitating but it is inevitable paranoia will set in as well – something the authorities after his blood are only too well aware.

  12. mosa 16

    As the funding has now run out for cleaning up the pollution disaster on the West coast and the volunteers have had to resort to a give a little page to beg for donations to help stem a situation that will take the the next few years and a lot more than $300.000 put up by the government to sort this mess out it points too a larger problem on our back door step the Pacific.

    Tipping point for Pacific waste problems – SPREP

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/391106/tipping-point-for-pacific-waste-problems-sprep

    • greywarshark 16.1

      If government wasn't so busy fudging unecployment stats, in concert with OECD, they might make some Task Force Green action groups up from willing workers and give them a West Coast working holiday.

  13. greywarshark 17

    Yesterday we were talking about bringing sexual cases to justice and murder being covered up. I talked about Betty in Canada,

    This morning on Radionz doco roundup the reviewer Sarah referred to ROLL RED ROLL is the true story of the Stubenville rape case – and how concerned journalists pulled the story together and pushed for prosecution.

    I thought this was an important documentation and a sterling job by journalists to assemble unassailable facts that honour the live taken and dishonour the awful amoral system in Stubenville. So keep an eye out for it.

    Sarah McMullan: Doc Edge Film Festival

    Film Reviewer Sarah McMullan has checked out Doc Edge 2019: a festival of documentaries and will be talking about her top picks, including THE MENS ROOM, an all male Norwegian choir that prides itself on its beer-drinking ability and beards, who is asked to open for Black Sabbath – but that's not the only surprise they get. A NZ film that picked up two festival awards for its tale of six strangers walking the 800km Camino de Santiago (Camino Skies) Is 2019 the year of the asshole? ASSHOLE: A THEORY attempts to answer that question, while HALF THE PICTURE asks why are there so few women directing film and TV? What's going on and how do we change it?

    And ROLL RED ROLL is the true story of the Stubenville rape case – and how concerned journalists pulled the story together and pushed for prosecution.

    Have to go.

  14. Sacha 18

    Selling the UK’s National Health Service to US corporations would cap off the grand brexit plan..

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/02/us-wants-access-to-nhs-in-post-brexit-deal-ambassador-to-uk-says

    And how lucky are we that our last govt did not try the same here after the Australian insurance industry turned down the chance to own part of our ACC system.

  15. greywarshark 19

    Morrissey

    My search isn't working and I can't find quickly where I said to you to ease up. Thinking about it I still feel the same, but recognise that I am in the same place so am going to follow my advice to you. If I can I will stay away from TS for a while and perhaps the news!

  16. Incognito 20

    Children left too long on devices can build their own reality inside their head and trying to dissuade them from their beliefs instead of fact can be impossible. It is called Cognitive Dissonance.

    Not just children.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/113198575/children-need-to-learn-to-speak-well-to-function-in-society

    • greywarshark 20.1

      Parents under stress, financially and time poor, don't have time to have lovely little conversations with their children. They have to be up early and dump their kids at school while they go to their poorly paid jobs and worry about explaining why their kids can't take part in things because their shoes, equipment are broken, stolen, or whatever.

      They aren't meant to enjoy life because if they are strugglers and not getting enough to live on, its probably because they don't try enough. If they are on a benefit, ditto, and the immoral filter is applied to the Welfare view of them and happiness would mean that they were enjoying life on the benefit and the point is for them to get unhappy to get the lazy buggers out in the workforce where it is a cliche' that employment will be the motivator for them to be happy and successful

      When I was at school what gave you 'class' was to be good at sport. Reading and expression and comprehension was second to that. So advice from the professionals needs to be more than exhortion – it could be how to initiate discussion on something at the meal table; what happened at school, what was new, how the kids' friends are getting on, whether their child is getting on, something that is coming to town and sounds interesting, ideas for their plot in the garden. My grandchildren often talk garbage at the table, turning it into some sort of game. Talking isn't the problem, they never stop or they sing. It's like being at a circus. Just some time together talking about something that interests them all and keeps them thinking about staying at the table and eating the meal would be good. They could vote for their favourite meal and plan meals for the weekend even.

  17. Morrissey 21

    "We do trust the judiciary to be independent and impartial…. I do trust Lt General’s Mateparae and Jones."

    DR. WAYNE MAPP: I am pretty sure that most members of the current government also believe that the UK and Sweden have an independent judiciary. I would have thought it is axiomatic that one of the fundamental principles of our democratic system is that we do trust the judiciary to be independent and impartial, even if they do make mistakes from time to time. Since you mention Afghanistan, it will not have escaped your notice that I thought an independent Inquiry was necessary as soon as it was apparent there were credible allegations of civilian casualties (by Jon Stephenson in 2014 in his programme on Maori TV). But nevertheless, I do trust Lt General’s Mateparae and Jones.

    MORRISSEY BREEN: In the 1930s people like you counselled concerned Germans to trust jurists like Roland Freisler.

    DR. WAYNE MAPP: The Nazi comparison is offensive, as well you know. But not unsurprising from you.

    MORRISSEY BREEN: All right, then: people like you counselled concerned Soviet citizens to trust jurists like Andrey Vyshinsky, and to trust that jury in Florida in 2013.

    https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-06-2019/#comment-1623996

    Unfortunately, this kind of horrifying expression of faith in the "justice system" is not limited to former Ministers of "Defence"…. https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/chris-trotter-reckons-zimmerman-jury.html

  18. MickeyBoyle 23

    The ALP has taken a turn right in Australia, they are now pro coal and anti Nauru asylum seekers. And all their climate policies are now under review. Albanese has said that the Australian public are clearly right of the current Labour position, so the ALP must go right to meet them. Not great news for progressives in Australia.

    • Morrissey 23.1

      "In Canberra last week I met some Australian members of parliament. It gave me hope, because until I heard them speak I had always thought that Israel’s right wing politicians were the worst. —-(LAUGHTER)— I’ve never heard any Israeli politician speak about the Palestinian people the way that those Australian politicians did. But they are Australia’s problem, not mine. (LAUGHTER) I spoke with the Australian foreign minister; she talked and she was very nice but we could not agree on anything." (LAUGHTER)

      —- Gideon Levy, speaking in Auckland, Dec. 3, 2017

      https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/unbelievable-brutality-day-after-day.html

  19. Morrissey 24

    "SCUM! Russian SCUM!!!" (Keith Olberman going nuts)

    "We are at war with Russia!" he rants, hilariously. (Apologies to The Al1en, Andre and all the other conspiracy theorists on this mostly excellent site.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X02gJQZoeFg

  20. Sacha 25

    Can a moderator please take out the trash. It's stinking up the place.

  21. greywarshark 26

    In Nelson we have had big paper advertisements for energyclub nz offering low this and that on electricity retail. I don't respond to cheapest, I don't trust big business and I haven't caught up with this company yet. Can someone who knows give me a quick low-down?

  22. greywarshark 27

    Chris Trotter at Bryan Bruce's town hall meeting for The People's Budget.

    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/100017/chris-trotter-says-left-can-detail-many-privations-too-many-our-citizens-they-cant

    Chris Trotter says the left can detail the many privations of too-many of our citizens. But they can't figure out why poverty, inequality, homelessness and environmental despoliation are happening, so their political message doesn't connect

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    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 ...
    1 hour ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    5 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    5 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    13 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T07:37:48+00:00