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Former MP Todd Barclay commits what’s considered to be a crime, not talk to the police, no charges laid, then swans off on a taxpayer funded European holiday with the girlfriend!
Seems crime does definitely pays if you are a disgraced Natz MP!
Much as I don”t usually recommend reading the Herald, how about actually reading the article before commenting?
This article actually gives the details of what Barclay has and still is receiving until 23 December – as are other now ex MPs who stood down or lost their seats at the general election.
It is actually worth reading in full but here are some bits
Disgraced MP Todd Barclay has just enjoyed a two-month sun-filled tour of Italy, Croatia and Greece all while receiving a $3000 a week taxpayer-funded pay packet.
The former National MP announced in June he would not stand again after the “phone tapping” scandal – but under Parliament’s rules he still receives his salary until December 23.
That means Barclay will have pocketed a total of $80,000 of taxpayer money, before tax, over six months.
It’s unclear what work he has done since June – Parliamentary Services, which administers politicians’ funding entitlements, was unable to say how many days he had been in Parliament or whether he had claimed any expenses.
…
This week it was reported that Barclay had taken a job with the Japanese owners of Queenstown’s Millbrook Resort, the Ishii family. His London-based role is as international business affairs secretary for the family’s Japanese design and software company, Too Corporation, Mountain Scene reported.
As an MP and deputy chair of a select committee Barclay earned about $160,000 a year as well as the added benefits of travel and accommodation expenses.
…
Under Parliamentary policy someone who retired would still be paid until three months after polling day – up to December 23.
All 34 MPs who resigned or lost their seats at the 2017 election still get paid for three months – about $40,000 in total, or $3300 a week, before tax.
Former MPs and party leaders Peter Dunne and Te Ururoa Flavell defended Barclay, saying departed MPs have an entitlement and how they use it is their business.
Grantoc (2.2) … I never said Barclay was convicted of a crime. The police didn’t bother to lay charges!
BTW what has Metiria Turei got to do with this issue? At least she had the good grace to admit what she did was wrong and prepared to pay what she took, back to social welfare.
Pity Metiria is no longer an MP. Parliament is a poorer place for her absence.
True – you never actually said the words “he was convicted of a crime”. But you strongly implied that he had committed a crime, which is as near as dammit to actually saying that he should have been convicted. The whole tenure of your comment was to buy into the Herald’s faux righteous indignation and to tut tuttingly condemn him.
What does Metiria have to do with it? Simply that she acknowledged defrauding tax payers and she has since continued to receive tax payer paid remuneration in the same way Barclay has and every other mp who did not return to parliament has. Given the circumstances maybe we should also know how she has used her tax paid remuneration, and allow ourselves to be similarly outraged.
The Herald was highly selective in drawing their readers attention to, shock horror, Barclay’s situation whilst completely ignoring other retiring mp’s who in th opinion of the righteously indignant could have also acted disgracefully (eg Metiria).
I guess i’m irritated by the cynical inconsistency demonstrated by the Herald concerning Barclay. And the gullibility of those it dog whistled to for responding as they have.
Barclay told the PM he did it. And Turei had the excuse that she was being subjected to a welfare regime that deliberately pays people an amount that is insufficient to live on. Barclay had the defense that the pm was telling porkies about a member of his own caucus.
Grantoc 2.2.2.1) … recording a private conversation without the permission of those involved is a crime.
As for Metiria, she was torn to shreds by a vicious media, out for blood. And they got it. At the she left Parliament, Metiria was on her own, unlike Todd Barclay. He had a lying, conniving, dirty politics playing leader such as Bill English to spin lies on his behalf!
You guys do realise you’re debating with someone who either can’t spell or is too lazy to bother (Turei instead of Turei) or failed
English (tenure when they mean tenor)?
Kim Hill enabling Don Brash to rise from the crypt (loved the image we had on our recent post) gave fertiliser to the destroyers of NZ bi-cultural values that are ready like old man’s beard to spread and smother our society. It was a mistake. I feel sad that there are so many white men who are steeped in ideas of superiority and sufficiency so they have nothing to learn, no regard to wider society, no reflection of their own limitations once they find their niche to their ‘standing in the community’; their pipeline of trickle-down emoluments delivered to them personally as belonging to the entitled circle. They rose from their crypts at the Constitution Conversation and tried to take over the discourse with the single-mindedness displayed in that zombie-walking-dead tv show. My advice, keep your distance, and don’t let them bite you.
I like these thoughts from Lew of Kiwipolitico 2/12/17 as they get to the heart of the matter, from someone who has a heart and is also rational.
Brash finally went one small step too far, with the claim that the Māori are not the indigenous people of Aotearoa, but merely its second-most-recent invaders. This notion has been debunked for almost a hundred years,…There was nowhere left for Kim Hill to go. Nobody can debunk arguments advanced with such disregard for reality.
So she shut it down. But better than shutting it down would have been not entertaining it in the first place — which is, by and large, what Māori seem to have wanted. The error of this interview was not merely giving Brash a platform, but its objectification of Māori, the idea that their right to existence on their own terms was a matter for debate….
I was in the crowd for this sacrifice. Loath as I am to continue focusing on Pākehā feelings, I have to say: my only remaining feeling is the horror of being responsible for all this. Not only for today’s sacrifice, but the small sliver of the past that is my contribution to what got us here. We Pākehā need to take care of our own embarrassments, it should not fall to Māori to do that. So we need to stop treating the right to Māori existence on their own terms as conditional on our goodwill, and start treating it as a fact of life.
[from now on, please include a link when you cut and paste from a website – weka]
It would not have been difficult for RNZ to agree: “Yes, we will do translations at the time for any full sentences in Maori, just like they do in Parliament.”That would have taken the wind out of his sails.
Instead she treated him with unnecessary disdain, and he in turn did fine.
Hill spent far too much time posturing about the RNZ Charter, and far too much time lobbing easy oppositional questions so that Brash could dig holes for himself about pre-contact Maori being in the stone age.
She also made no mention of the other RNZ Maori-specific programming which slips easily from Maori to English with no fuss.
I find having to actually listen to what they are saying in Maori and trying to work out what they are saying helps my understanding of the reo. Translating it doesn’t help one understand the sentence structure.
I agree that most of the NZ public can pick up specific words, and can scrape by with a few phrases.
Maori Language Week specializes in that, and I see that in many workplaces.
It’s not enough.
If we are going to help the language survive as more than a set of nouns we trot out to feel pc, we need to deal with it in whole sentences.
That’s where live translation comes in, and it’s why Maori TV is so successful.
RNZ needs to improve enabling people to speak te roe Maori, as sentences not as words, and translating the sentences at the beginning of the morning news show is a great way to start that.
It would not have been difficult for RNZ to agree: “Yes, we will do translations at the time for any full sentences in Maori, just like they do in Parliament.”That would have taken the wind out of his sails.
At the beginning of the interview, Kim Hill stated that the translations of the Maori greetings etc used by RNZ presenters are all set out on the RNZ website at http://www.radionz.co.nz/collections/kiaora
She subsequently repeated this several times during the i/v.
The RNZ website also includes a number of other articles, explanations etc setting out their objectives etc in relation to use of Te Reo (includinng directions from the former Minister of Maori Development under the previous National government).
For example this link which also includes links on pronunciation of various words, and links to other RNZ articles and external websites providing more help.
Yes I noted that about the website.
Five clicks in is not good communication, there’s simply no excuse for trying to use web communication with live translation. Doesn’t work in the U.N., doesn’t work in Parliament, certainly doesn’t work on radio.
RNZ should be held to the same standard as Maori TV, which regularly simulcasts its translation as subtext. As it should.
Brash on that point was right, and RNZ should simply acknowledge that it’s really easy to fix, and fix it.
Perhaps she saw Brash as an easy, risible target. But one should never underestimate the power of nostalgia for apparent past glories. In this case – of
European ascendancy and duplicity. Luckily Maori had a good line in duplicity too, so they couldn’t be taken to the cleaners for some blankets and beads.
She should have had that list you mentioned at hand. But I did like the jibe at unintelligible and uncertain business and economic-speak and all based on possible lies and unrelated stats making up a possible model that will be measured to see if it is working. And if not, then the report will not be released till after the Budget, the Election or some other high-water mark.
Between Kim Hill’s interview with the anachronism that is Brash and Wallace Chapman’s interview with Gideon Levy some of my faith in Natrad is restored.
‘Enabling’ ? Not really. Kim Hill gave him enough rope and sat back while he hanged himself. A delight to hear, and I could almost see that wide eyed look that so often appears on the faces of the blindly privileged when someone has the the temerity to suggest there may be opinions counter to his own.
One day these mostly white males will finally shuffle off their mortal coils and we might be free of their bigotry…until then, the younger folk need to hear that some of Grandpa’s wisdom is…. not.
Many thanks for you view greywarshark I agree totally. I seen a recent TV show were one has targets to reduce OUR prison population by 30% many thanks to Our coalition government for setting a. great goals. But I say that that goal will bite you on the ass when you don’t achieve it. Why do I no that won’t be achieved 1 points is most the people running our justice system are of the same era dum brash. They have the same ancient I dialogical view which has caused all the_____ups we have in our society this can be proven as fact. I no that most of these people vote national and the Maori party. I say it was a joke someone trying to blame Tamati Coffee for there lose of Mana.
So in my view OUR justice system is broken how do I no this well no one in the justice system is held accountable for there actions they control the media on articles about the justice system so that most that gets out is positive news about them they have no independent institutions to hold them accountable for there actions. There arguement will be the so called independent police conducted authority this is a farcical organisation that just protects there image O yea it works for the wealthy but not the other 95% of us.
To cut a long story short here is what has happened to me I filed a complaint to the IPCA it got accepted with help from a good kiwi.
They email me to say they were investigating my complaint of breach to my human rights and privacy rights. And one nite I get a random visit from this blonde police officer whom was supposubly look for a false person what was his motive well maybe to sight me or intimated me you will have to ask my neo liberal neighbour. A week also goes by and I get a email and the officer claims that he interviewed me and investigated my complaint and said that there was no case of breach to my rights YEA RIGHT. These people have been breaking into my house on a regular basis I asked the landlord to put dead lock on the front door but no you see he is m8 with my neo liberal neighbour so I payed $140 to get one installed. O and all those emails that I had from the IPCA they have been deleted from my computer but we all no that nothing is ever totally deleted from the Internet net I will get someone to recover this information when the time is right. We need to hold our justice system to account for there actions before we will be able to lower our prison population if we don’t do this these people will keep on doing what they are doing now an no one can touch them so they think they are right.
Here’s a story on all the time I have been discrimination against because of my Maori origins.
I was 17 fishing in Napier I brought my 3rd car HK 69 Holden I drove to work drove around a lot in Napier never got a fine.
I had a fallout with my mum went to Gisborne and met my wife and stayed at my auntie house which was the house that my great-grandmother brought me up in and every 2 days I got pulled up and fined so in 3 months I had racked up $1000 worth of fines I thought that there is just heaps of cops in Gisborne to explain why I had clocked so much fines in such a short time my auntie once commented to me that if the cops harassme me to write a letter of complaint to the police commissioner I did not take this information in at that time. 8 months later I sold my car to pay my fines and I find out later that my wife was pregnant with our first child at massey unerversity and I made a promise to my great grand mother that because I did not no I had a father that I will always put my wife and children first. And now when I look into my past I see that the cops targeted me because of my Whano which is a breach of my rights in the treaty of waitangi.
Because a lot of my whano are in the justice system they have used this against me and bribed them for false information IE whano gossip. I chose a different path to most of my whano which makes me different and can cause the eels in the bucket syndrome IE I climb out and they keep trying to pull me back in. They will try and use any tactics to get me as they do to other people it’s not hard to work this out. They use bait cars houses open gang members to try and intimidat me old associates parading Lady’s past me in my view they are putting these Lady’s in danger and this shows they have no respect for these Lady’s. I no everyone they have used to try an find shit on me they have stereotyped me into a farcical image based on some of my whano members. I would never do what they have tried to bait me into doing. 1 I’m not a idiot 2 it is not in my DNA to steal ect I never changed my name I never went bankrupt I payed most of my dept 3 I no that I will be held accountable for my actions unlike them. They use my children neighbours my neighbours and a lot of other people they have caused hardship to all my immediate Whano members. (And this behaviour by OUR justice system is OK by you well no and I will drag there ASSES over the hot coals of a court house and make them treat MAORI fair and humanly and equally ]. Kia Kaha
eco maori
You will be judged because of your whanau by the police and watched. And your whanau will be annoyed at you going off in your own direction. So maybe you need to think of a different location in the future. It’s hard to be an independent thinker. You might be right about everything but not be able to get redress, it is just the way the system works at present. Kia kaha.
Here’s a story on the hardship they have put on my daughter who lives in Pukeohe.
She meets her partner in Rotorua he has 2 children and my daughter looks after them when they visited she is a loving caring girl. They have a baby girl of there own the state takes the 2 children off the scorned ex and gives them to my Daughter these children have been through a lot of bad things she treats them like her own one day we all have Christmas together and the boy punches a window that my second eldest moko is poking tongues at him she get a shard of glass in her eye I saw it sticking out lucky she only had minor damage to her eye this shows anger problems that was stressful fast forward 3 years. My daughter had a fall out with her partner and comes to stay with us and leaves his children with him so he goes to see if the ex can look after there children while he works shes a addict and the scored ex accuses him of indecent assault WTF Anyone with a brain can see she is a woman scorned she has trolled my daughter on social media the cops charged my son-in-law with this farcical charge I advise them to fight this charge and it cost them thousands to defend the. Because of more false statements from the ex the state takes the 2 children off them they just as there behaviour was coming right and gives them to the scorned ex. The charges get dismissed but they make my son in law do 400 hours community service and slap a 5 months home detention on him to ice this farcical cake they are making my daughter and her partner eat and to top it all off they had the cheek to ask my daughter to take the children back because the ex gets done for drunk drivering
I advised them that the other 2 children have been ruined and they will teach my mokos bad behaviour and also to keep the Ex out of there lives and to do that they cannot take the children back
Because of this evil woman ways. This has place my moko and daughter and son in law in hardship. What sort of justice is that I no they have treated them like this because of me. Ana to kai
Wallace Chapman interviewed a very impressive Israeli guy Gideon Levy this morning who condemns the actions of the Israeli government illegally defying UN sanctions with the settlements and the prison that is Gaza . Well worth a listen.
interesting that Israelis are not allowed to visit Gaza. Hidden under the carpet even though it is 15 minutes drive from Israel. Levy says that Gaza has been assessed as being “unlivable” in 2020.
And he mentioned apartheid. He says the settlers live close to the Palestinians. The Israeli settlers are supplied with water and electricity and services. The Palestinians nearby have no water supply, no electricity, and can wake up in the night to armed Israelis in their bedroom. He says that Israelis are deep into a mindset from propaganda that Palestinians are low humans and don’t deserve caring human consideration because of some reason… that justifies this attitude.
On Dec. 29, a transition adviser to Mr. Trump, K. T. McFarland, wrote in an email to a colleague that sanctions announced hours before by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russian election meddling were aimed at discrediting Mr. Trump’s victory. The sanctions could also make it much harder for Mr. Trump to ease tensions with Russia, “which has just thrown the U.S.A. election to him,” she wrote in the emails obtained by The Times.
“Professor Philip Bagshaw, founder of the Canterbury Charity Hospital, says the country is stuck in an austerity model for health and it’s about time doctors spoke out about it moving to an investment model.:
He speaks of how neo liberalism has practically killed the NHS (as was intended) and what needs to be done to save our own publicly funded health system.
A better question would be:
Does Sky TV risk disappearing up its own arse?
It seems to have a management that is incapable of seeing the bleeding obvious when things cudda shudda wudda been oh so different.
You know, if I could be bothered, I could get all the channels I regularly watch (off satellite and FTA) with a little investment in things like C-Band LNB and associated equipment, AND have the ability to record and watch as and when desired.
I think the answer is, SKY will have to radically mutate, or it will disappear up its own arse – EVEN IF it wins its latest desperate attempt to control and plunder.
Seems to me they’re trying to morph into a streaming company (hence really wanting to jump in bed with vodafone), but they haven’t managed to bridge the gap.
The pisser is their court case where they want veto rights on internet access, lol.
The funny thing is, they’re almost there, with the skyplus boxes that have a hard disk function they expect people to pay an extra $15/mth for when they also stream the same content. What they could do is get from China some boxes that have everything as optional addons: broadband streaming (including subscriptions to different services that pay a royalty to be installed on the boxes), or takes satellite if you go for that subscription, and the hdd rental on top of that. And the box doubles as a wifi router if you need one of them, so it’s kit you have around even if you’re not paying sky anything at the moment – because it makes it easier to give them money if you change your mind.
Not sure that Sky want to go streaming, but if they do, they don’t want to seriously commit to it until they absolutely have to, by which time Vodafone and others will probably have left them behind.
The only reason people like me are still with sky is pure laziness. To be fair, they’ve made some effort with that loyalty app, but I have limited space on my phone so haven’t downloaded it, and you can’t use app from a desktop/website. So the only thing keeping me with them is a) I like paying for content I really like, and b) I don’t want to have to go through upteen steps to watch a program, with tv it’s turnontv-flickchannels-done. The ultimate sense-experience, not “what do I want to watch” but “this’ll do”. I’m hot, I’m tired, I’m cooking dinner, what to watch doesn’t need to be a menu goddamn choice. My food isn’t, the TV I watch needn’t be.
Sometimes I do want to watch/stream specfic things, but not after work..
“The only reason people like me are still with sky is pure laziness.”
Me too, although not necessarily laziness – more that I’ve got better things to do than go down to Sky and hand in my decoder, and invest in CBand LNBs, and associated electronics. Last time I did (just to tell them I was fucking off overseas for 3 months), I was confronted with desperate sales-speak and ‘press 1’ for fuck all, or press 2 for slightly better than fuck all options.
You know Sky could have prolonged the inevitable if they’d been more reasonable – except they chose to be smart arses. But then what do you expect with a CEO like that? Now they’re trying to push the limited even further in some ego-driven fight to the death plan.
It’s utter wankery – but it’s also to be expected
Labour better sort this out before they go chucking huge amounts of taxpayer money at the sector.
Almost 90 per cent of the forestry industry is breaching employment standards and that may not even be the full extent of it, according to a Government audit of the sector.
I’m pretty sure Labour are well aware of it, just as they are in other sectors. Hence their commitment to beef up the Labour Inspectorate – which is way, way, way overdue.
I’m also pretty sure they’re well aware of past ills (some still present) in MoBIE.
The only thing that surprises me is that they haven’t seen fit to do with MoBIE what they’re doing with MPI.
It hasn’t just been the Labour Inspectorate, but also other agencies under MoBIE (such as INZ)
Agreed!. Don’t get me started!
I have two long files of various LI and INZ failings and fuckups.
Immigration lawyers (the genuine ones), unions, NGOs and others have been trying to draw attention to the problems now for years.
And the new coalition government fairly quickly recognised the need for more LI inspectors given all the breaches and slave labour conditions that had been reported in media – announcing an increase in numbers in early November, YET the LI National Manager was spouting off that they had sufficient only a few weeks beforehand.
Restructuring can be difficult, but unless there are some forceful messages given to some Senior managers, it might be better to pull agencies out from under the aegis of MoBIE and operate them standalone in the interim.
“A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it took “the exploitation of workers very seriously” and was working hard to stop the practice.
Simmons said the New Zealand response to problems on fishing boats was poorly co-ordinated, with police, Department of Labour, Ministry for Primary Industries and Maritime NZ working to different briefs. “…
“A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it took “the exploitation of workers very seriously” and was working hard to stop the practice.”
Except that MoBIE has the wrong organisational culture and focus, and that’s become evident in the way it has resourced the Labour Inspectorate and INZ over the years. It has turned immigration into a business – in order to keep the necessary churn for PTEs, others requiring labour, and shoddy immigration consultancies.
Check out its organisational structure and the backgrounds of its gNat appointees. I’m now convinced it has been working as designed (by Steven Joyce – even though he may not have realised the problems that are now haunting us).
Then there’s this doozy from a Cabinet Paper at the time of its creation (Steven Joyce and Jonathan Coleman who have such spectacular records):
“If real or perceived conflicts of objective within the Ministry’s role (for example, social vs. economic objectives; employer vs. worker perspectives; producer vs. consumer interests) are not managed, there is a risk that the new Ministry will not fully realise its benefits and will not be sustainable over time. This risk will be managed through organisational design and diligent management”.
Well I think we all now know what their intended benefits were, (and they’re to do with business growth growth growth and exploitation), that organisation design is a complete bugger’s muddle, and there must be a new definition of diligent management
No doubt they are aware of it. And to be fair, the Minister has issued a warning. Moreover, as you say, they plan to beef up the inspectors.
However, will they get on top of it on time? The Minister is going to start announcing expenditure on new projects before Christmas. The last thing the Government needs is headlines reporting employers funded by the taxpayer are breaching employment standards, thus exploiting their employees.
So far @The Chairman, the Minister(s) APPEARS to have more confidence in MoBIE officials than I do (and probably you – even though I suspect our politics might be eons apart).
On the other hand, I’m pretty bloody sure (as ‘the Minister(s) responsible’ come(s) to realise who has been responsible for various impediments in progressing new policy [going forward, of course], …….. he/they may get his/their dander up).
The MPI problem was a little more obvious. Then of course Rome wasn’t built in a day, and there are fuckups galore to have to deal with.
MoBIE would hopefully be 2nd or 3rd on the list (that Munstry for Everything dressed up in drag). There’s MSD, Health, Education, Land Transport, some of the SOE’s, etc., etc.
Back in the day when we had the old NZ Forest Service, the department provided leadership and training to the industry, so dodgy practices weren’t allowed to flourish.
Hopefully the re-establishment of the department will reintroduce this role into the industry.
The old NZFS certainly needed reform, but in killing it totally we lost a lot of vital functions that we as a country and economy, and especially those working in the industry desperately need now.
Sovereignty, freedom & democracy is under threat here. A good article worth reading here. Its our freedoms going under threat. https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/02/trade-minister-david-parker-must-intervene-over-sudden-and-bizarre-de-registration-of-anti-tppa-ngos/#comment-409789
Says Professor Jane Kelsey.
The bizarre de-registration of anti-WTO NGOs
By Prof Jane Kelsey / December 2, 2017 /
Yesterday I wrote to Trade Minister David Parker asking him to intervene urgently over the sudden and bizarre de-registration of representatives of prominent NGOs who had been accredited to attend the World Trade Organization ministerial conference from 10 to 13 December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Parker is one of four vice-chairs of the eleventh WTO ministerial conference (MC11). To his credit he moved immediately. Vitalis Vangelis, the deputy head of MFAT responsible for these issues emailed back that:
“The Minister has asked me to underline to you that we absolutely share your concern that this is a very troubling development. The Minister has also told me to formally and urgently instruct our WTO Mission in Geneva to take this up as a priority with the WTO Secretariat, including to clarify what has happened – and quickly. A Formal Message (ie an instruction to the Mission) is being sent tonight to that effect.”
Trickle Down Economics
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I read a article that Sir Peter gluckman put out and it was very promising for our science in NZ. The sad part is some people have a hard time working out the truth here’s how I figure that out. First Id check that there are no conflicts of interest buy the author. 2 I use logic to analyse the article if the claim is not logical well that’s a no 3 I use math to analyse the percentage of scientists are for and against the artcail 4 I use social media
To check what the people say I usually made up my mind before this Ka pai
Many thanks to the 90% of kiwi who no science is good for US I say that science is essential for US to survive this tragic future that the wealth could impose on us. I will not stop trying to steer us to a sustainable humane future for our mokos.
PS I think that Elon Mus idea about sending a Tesla car into space will promote sustainability and solar and electricik cars but I’m a bit biased in Mus favour lol Ka kite ano.
Anyone been on Stuff lately?, the comment sections are unbelievably one sided, and yes I do realise im saying this in this little echo chamber we call TS, but youd think a national media website like this would be a bit more discrete in their biases.
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Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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GROPERS
No. 15: Matt Lauer
Like another highly controversial American, the anti-free speech zealot Peter Thiel, this creep was given special treatment by the (thankfully defunct) National government….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/99395517/disgraced-us-tv-host-matt-lauer-irks-kiwis-who-cannot-pass-through-his-land-to-huge-park
“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
Keep up with the Gropers….
No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris; No. 9 Harold Bloom; No. 10 Sir Jimmy Savile; No. 11 Dr Morgan Fahey; No.12 Prince Harry; No. 13 Bill Clinton; No.14 Judge Roy Moore
Brilliant /sarc …
Former MP Todd Barclay commits what’s considered to be a crime, not talk to the police, no charges laid, then swans off on a taxpayer funded European holiday with the girlfriend!
Seems crime does definitely pays if you are a disgraced Natz MP!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11951474
Be interesting to know who paid there fares?
Is there any way he could of got the fares paid by the taxpayer(other that from his salary)?
I think I heard he is still paid as an MP for a while (3 months?) after he leaves parliament.
Yes, i was wondering if he had a paid for junket trip.
Much as I don”t usually recommend reading the Herald, how about actually reading the article before commenting?
This article actually gives the details of what Barclay has and still is receiving until 23 December – as are other now ex MPs who stood down or lost their seats at the general election.
It is actually worth reading in full but here are some bits
Disgraced MP Todd Barclay has just enjoyed a two-month sun-filled tour of Italy, Croatia and Greece all while receiving a $3000 a week taxpayer-funded pay packet.
The former National MP announced in June he would not stand again after the “phone tapping” scandal – but under Parliament’s rules he still receives his salary until December 23.
That means Barclay will have pocketed a total of $80,000 of taxpayer money, before tax, over six months.
It’s unclear what work he has done since June – Parliamentary Services, which administers politicians’ funding entitlements, was unable to say how many days he had been in Parliament or whether he had claimed any expenses.
…
This week it was reported that Barclay had taken a job with the Japanese owners of Queenstown’s Millbrook Resort, the Ishii family. His London-based role is as international business affairs secretary for the family’s Japanese design and software company, Too Corporation, Mountain Scene reported.
As an MP and deputy chair of a select committee Barclay earned about $160,000 a year as well as the added benefits of travel and accommodation expenses.
…
Under Parliamentary policy someone who retired would still be paid until three months after polling day – up to December 23.
All 34 MPs who resigned or lost their seats at the 2017 election still get paid for three months – about $40,000 in total, or $3300 a week, before tax.
Former MPs and party leaders Peter Dunne and Te Ururoa Flavell defended Barclay, saying departed MPs have an entitlement and how they use it is their business.
mary_a
You are wrong. Barclay was never convicted of a crime.
Metiria Turie admitted committing fraud, which I believe is a crime.
In the interests of balance the Herald should have commented on her too and how she has spent her tax paid salary since she left parliament.
If mary_a had said Barclay was convicted you may have a point, but she didn’t so your comment just makes you look incapable of comprehension.
+1
Grantoc (2.2) … I never said Barclay was convicted of a crime. The police didn’t bother to lay charges!
BTW what has Metiria Turei got to do with this issue? At least she had the good grace to admit what she did was wrong and prepared to pay what she took, back to social welfare.
Pity Metiria is no longer an MP. Parliament is a poorer place for her absence.
Mary_a
True – you never actually said the words “he was convicted of a crime”. But you strongly implied that he had committed a crime, which is as near as dammit to actually saying that he should have been convicted. The whole tenure of your comment was to buy into the Herald’s faux righteous indignation and to tut tuttingly condemn him.
What does Metiria have to do with it? Simply that she acknowledged defrauding tax payers and she has since continued to receive tax payer paid remuneration in the same way Barclay has and every other mp who did not return to parliament has. Given the circumstances maybe we should also know how she has used her tax paid remuneration, and allow ourselves to be similarly outraged.
The Herald was highly selective in drawing their readers attention to, shock horror, Barclay’s situation whilst completely ignoring other retiring mp’s who in th opinion of the righteously indignant could have also acted disgracefully (eg Metiria).
I guess i’m irritated by the cynical inconsistency demonstrated by the Herald concerning Barclay. And the gullibility of those it dog whistled to for responding as they have.
Bill English also strongly implied Barclay had committed a crime, have you taken it up with him?
Wonder why that little shit ran off and refused to give a statement to the police?
Barclay told the PM he did it. And Turei had the excuse that she was being subjected to a welfare regime that deliberately pays people an amount that is insufficient to live on. Barclay had the defense that the pm was telling porkies about a member of his own caucus.
Grantoc 2.2.2.1) … recording a private conversation without the permission of those involved is a crime.
As for Metiria, she was torn to shreds by a vicious media, out for blood. And they got it. At the she left Parliament, Metiria was on her own, unlike Todd Barclay. He had a lying, conniving, dirty politics playing leader such as Bill English to spin lies on his behalf!
You guys do realise you’re debating with someone who either can’t spell or is too lazy to bother (Turei instead of Turei) or failed
English (tenure when they mean tenor)?
Sorry too rushed, Grantoc = Turie
Barclay was never convicted of a crime. The money out of our taxes to pay off someone from his office wasn’t for a crime, it was for ……………… um ……………
Kim Hill enabling Don Brash to rise from the crypt (loved the image we had on our recent post) gave fertiliser to the destroyers of NZ bi-cultural values that are ready like old man’s beard to spread and smother our society. It was a mistake. I feel sad that there are so many white men who are steeped in ideas of superiority and sufficiency so they have nothing to learn, no regard to wider society, no reflection of their own limitations once they find their niche to their ‘standing in the community’; their pipeline of trickle-down emoluments delivered to them personally as belonging to the entitled circle. They rose from their crypts at the Constitution Conversation and tried to take over the discourse with the single-mindedness displayed in that zombie-walking-dead tv show. My advice, keep your distance, and don’t let them bite you.
I like these thoughts from Lew of Kiwipolitico 2/12/17 as they get to the heart of the matter, from someone who has a heart and is also rational.
Brash finally went one small step too far, with the claim that the Māori are not the indigenous people of Aotearoa, but merely its second-most-recent invaders. This notion has been debunked for almost a hundred years,…There was nowhere left for Kim Hill to go. Nobody can debunk arguments advanced with such disregard for reality.
So she shut it down. But better than shutting it down would have been not entertaining it in the first place — which is, by and large, what Māori seem to have wanted. The error of this interview was not merely giving Brash a platform, but its objectification of Māori, the idea that their right to existence on their own terms was a matter for debate….
I was in the crowd for this sacrifice. Loath as I am to continue focusing on Pākehā feelings, I have to say: my only remaining feeling is the horror of being responsible for all this. Not only for today’s sacrifice, but the small sliver of the past that is my contribution to what got us here. We Pākehā need to take care of our own embarrassments, it should not fall to Māori to do that. So we need to stop treating the right to Māori existence on their own terms as conditional on our goodwill, and start treating it as a fact of life.
[from now on, please include a link when you cut and paste from a website – weka]
It would not have been difficult for RNZ to agree: “Yes, we will do translations at the time for any full sentences in Maori, just like they do in Parliament.”That would have taken the wind out of his sails.
Instead she treated him with unnecessary disdain, and he in turn did fine.
Hill spent far too much time posturing about the RNZ Charter, and far too much time lobbing easy oppositional questions so that Brash could dig holes for himself about pre-contact Maori being in the stone age.
She also made no mention of the other RNZ Maori-specific programming which slips easily from Maori to English with no fuss.
I find having to actually listen to what they are saying in Maori and trying to work out what they are saying helps my understanding of the reo. Translating it doesn’t help one understand the sentence structure.
I agree that most of the NZ public can pick up specific words, and can scrape by with a few phrases.
Maori Language Week specializes in that, and I see that in many workplaces.
It’s not enough.
If we are going to help the language survive as more than a set of nouns we trot out to feel pc, we need to deal with it in whole sentences.
That’s where live translation comes in, and it’s why Maori TV is so successful.
RNZ needs to improve enabling people to speak te roe Maori, as sentences not as words, and translating the sentences at the beginning of the morning news show is a great way to start that.
It would not have been difficult for RNZ to agree: “Yes, we will do translations at the time for any full sentences in Maori, just like they do in Parliament.”That would have taken the wind out of his sails.
At the beginning of the interview, Kim Hill stated that the translations of the Maori greetings etc used by RNZ presenters are all set out on the RNZ website at http://www.radionz.co.nz/collections/kiaora
She subsequently repeated this several times during the i/v.
The RNZ website also includes a number of other articles, explanations etc setting out their objectives etc in relation to use of Te Reo (includinng directions from the former Minister of Maori Development under the previous National government).
For example this link which also includes links on pronunciation of various words, and links to other RNZ articles and external websites providing more help.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/279645/new-kupu-for-maori-language-week
Yes I noted that about the website.
Five clicks in is not good communication, there’s simply no excuse for trying to use web communication with live translation. Doesn’t work in the U.N., doesn’t work in Parliament, certainly doesn’t work on radio.
RNZ should be held to the same standard as Maori TV, which regularly simulcasts its translation as subtext. As it should.
Brash on that point was right, and RNZ should simply acknowledge that it’s really easy to fix, and fix it.
True re the five clicks! LOL. I have it bookmarked so its only one click away.
Perhaps she saw Brash as an easy, risible target. But one should never underestimate the power of nostalgia for apparent past glories. In this case – of
European ascendancy and duplicity. Luckily Maori had a good line in duplicity too, so they couldn’t be taken to the cleaners for some blankets and beads.
She should have had that list you mentioned at hand. But I did like the jibe at unintelligible and uncertain business and economic-speak and all based on possible lies and unrelated stats making up a possible model that will be measured to see if it is working. And if not, then the report will not be released till after the Budget, the Election or some other high-water mark.
Between Kim Hill’s interview with the anachronism that is Brash and Wallace Chapman’s interview with Gideon Levy some of my faith in Natrad is restored.
‘Enabling’ ? Not really. Kim Hill gave him enough rope and sat back while he hanged himself. A delight to hear, and I could almost see that wide eyed look that so often appears on the faces of the blindly privileged when someone has the the temerity to suggest there may be opinions counter to his own.
One day these mostly white males will finally shuffle off their mortal coils and we might be free of their bigotry…until then, the younger folk need to hear that some of Grandpa’s wisdom is…. not.
Time for younger more tolerant (and kinder) leadership to shut these old white trumplike dinosaurs down.
greywarshark, please include the link to the story: http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2017/12/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-an-error/
+1, will add a moderator note.
sorry weka thought I had.
all good, thanks.
please see moderator note above.
Many thanks for you view greywarshark I agree totally. I seen a recent TV show were one has targets to reduce OUR prison population by 30% many thanks to Our coalition government for setting a. great goals. But I say that that goal will bite you on the ass when you don’t achieve it. Why do I no that won’t be achieved 1 points is most the people running our justice system are of the same era dum brash. They have the same ancient I dialogical view which has caused all the_____ups we have in our society this can be proven as fact. I no that most of these people vote national and the Maori party. I say it was a joke someone trying to blame Tamati Coffee for there lose of Mana.
So in my view OUR justice system is broken how do I no this well no one in the justice system is held accountable for there actions they control the media on articles about the justice system so that most that gets out is positive news about them they have no independent institutions to hold them accountable for there actions. There arguement will be the so called independent police conducted authority this is a farcical organisation that just protects there image O yea it works for the wealthy but not the other 95% of us.
To cut a long story short here is what has happened to me I filed a complaint to the IPCA it got accepted with help from a good kiwi.
They email me to say they were investigating my complaint of breach to my human rights and privacy rights. And one nite I get a random visit from this blonde police officer whom was supposubly look for a false person what was his motive well maybe to sight me or intimated me you will have to ask my neo liberal neighbour. A week also goes by and I get a email and the officer claims that he interviewed me and investigated my complaint and said that there was no case of breach to my rights YEA RIGHT. These people have been breaking into my house on a regular basis I asked the landlord to put dead lock on the front door but no you see he is m8 with my neo liberal neighbour so I payed $140 to get one installed. O and all those emails that I had from the IPCA they have been deleted from my computer but we all no that nothing is ever totally deleted from the Internet net I will get someone to recover this information when the time is right. We need to hold our justice system to account for there actions before we will be able to lower our prison population if we don’t do this these people will keep on doing what they are doing now an no one can touch them so they think they are right.
Here’s a story on all the time I have been discrimination against because of my Maori origins.
I was 17 fishing in Napier I brought my 3rd car HK 69 Holden I drove to work drove around a lot in Napier never got a fine.
I had a fallout with my mum went to Gisborne and met my wife and stayed at my auntie house which was the house that my great-grandmother brought me up in and every 2 days I got pulled up and fined so in 3 months I had racked up $1000 worth of fines I thought that there is just heaps of cops in Gisborne to explain why I had clocked so much fines in such a short time my auntie once commented to me that if the cops harassme me to write a letter of complaint to the police commissioner I did not take this information in at that time. 8 months later I sold my car to pay my fines and I find out later that my wife was pregnant with our first child at massey unerversity and I made a promise to my great grand mother that because I did not no I had a father that I will always put my wife and children first. And now when I look into my past I see that the cops targeted me because of my Whano which is a breach of my rights in the treaty of waitangi.
Because a lot of my whano are in the justice system they have used this against me and bribed them for false information IE whano gossip. I chose a different path to most of my whano which makes me different and can cause the eels in the bucket syndrome IE I climb out and they keep trying to pull me back in. They will try and use any tactics to get me as they do to other people it’s not hard to work this out. They use bait cars houses open gang members to try and intimidat me old associates parading Lady’s past me in my view they are putting these Lady’s in danger and this shows they have no respect for these Lady’s. I no everyone they have used to try an find shit on me they have stereotyped me into a farcical image based on some of my whano members. I would never do what they have tried to bait me into doing. 1 I’m not a idiot 2 it is not in my DNA to steal ect I never changed my name I never went bankrupt I payed most of my dept 3 I no that I will be held accountable for my actions unlike them. They use my children neighbours my neighbours and a lot of other people they have caused hardship to all my immediate Whano members. (And this behaviour by OUR justice system is OK by you well no and I will drag there ASSES over the hot coals of a court house and make them treat MAORI fair and humanly and equally ]. Kia Kaha
eco maori
You will be judged because of your whanau by the police and watched. And your whanau will be annoyed at you going off in your own direction. So maybe you need to think of a different location in the future. It’s hard to be an independent thinker. You might be right about everything but not be able to get redress, it is just the way the system works at present. Kia kaha.
I’m not running away from these dicks GWS I do not fall for power suggestions so go try it on someone else I will have my days in court Ana to kai
Here’s a story on the hardship they have put on my daughter who lives in Pukeohe.
She meets her partner in Rotorua he has 2 children and my daughter looks after them when they visited she is a loving caring girl. They have a baby girl of there own the state takes the 2 children off the scorned ex and gives them to my Daughter these children have been through a lot of bad things she treats them like her own one day we all have Christmas together and the boy punches a window that my second eldest moko is poking tongues at him she get a shard of glass in her eye I saw it sticking out lucky she only had minor damage to her eye this shows anger problems that was stressful fast forward 3 years. My daughter had a fall out with her partner and comes to stay with us and leaves his children with him so he goes to see if the ex can look after there children while he works shes a addict and the scored ex accuses him of indecent assault WTF Anyone with a brain can see she is a woman scorned she has trolled my daughter on social media the cops charged my son-in-law with this farcical charge I advise them to fight this charge and it cost them thousands to defend the. Because of more false statements from the ex the state takes the 2 children off them they just as there behaviour was coming right and gives them to the scorned ex. The charges get dismissed but they make my son in law do 400 hours community service and slap a 5 months home detention on him to ice this farcical cake they are making my daughter and her partner eat and to top it all off they had the cheek to ask my daughter to take the children back because the ex gets done for drunk drivering
I advised them that the other 2 children have been ruined and they will teach my mokos bad behaviour and also to keep the Ex out of there lives and to do that they cannot take the children back
Because of this evil woman ways. This has place my moko and daughter and son in law in hardship. What sort of justice is that I no they have treated them like this because of me. Ana to kai
Wallace Chapman interviewed a very impressive Israeli guy Gideon Levy this morning who condemns the actions of the Israeli government illegally defying UN sanctions with the settlements and the prison that is Gaza . Well worth a listen.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018623972/gideon-levy-israeli-journalist
interesting that Israelis are not allowed to visit Gaza. Hidden under the carpet even though it is 15 minutes drive from Israel. Levy says that Gaza has been assessed as being “unlivable” in 2020.
And he mentioned apartheid. He says the settlers live close to the Palestinians. The Israeli settlers are supplied with water and electricity and services. The Palestinians nearby have no water supply, no electricity, and can wake up in the night to armed Israelis in their bedroom. He says that Israelis are deep into a mindset from propaganda that Palestinians are low humans and don’t deserve caring human consideration because of some reason… that justifies this attitude.
But her emails.
On Dec. 29, a transition adviser to Mr. Trump, K. T. McFarland, wrote in an email to a colleague that sanctions announced hours before by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russian election meddling were aimed at discrediting Mr. Trump’s victory. The sanctions could also make it much harder for Mr. Trump to ease tensions with Russia, “which has just thrown the U.S.A. election to him,” she wrote in the emails obtained by The Times.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/us/russia-mcfarland-flynn-trump-emails.html?referer=https://t.co/Rt9xh2iQjw?amp=1
Thank you Michael Flynn
Your transitional, timely and nuanced “collusion” resulted in this;
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-putin-president-invite-35-us-diplomats-kremlin-christmas-barack-obama-sanction-russian-a7509301.html
Shame that the children of Russian diplomats in Maryland did not have such happy prospects for Christmas;
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/28/obama-poised-to-hit-russia-with-further-sanctions-before-leaving-office
And, and, this… http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018623967/philip-bagshaw-why-doctors-needs-to-speak-out …from Wallace Chapman this morning.
“Professor Philip Bagshaw, founder of the Canterbury Charity Hospital, says the country is stuck in an austerity model for health and it’s about time doctors spoke out about it moving to an investment model.:
He speaks of how neo liberalism has practically killed the NHS (as was intended) and what needs to be done to save our own publicly funded health system.
Strong on advocacy is this one…:-)
Does Sky TV risk consumer backlash (such as a boycott) with its attempt to censor the internet?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/11/sky-tv-accused-of-trying-to-censor-the-internet.html
A better question would be:
Does Sky TV risk disappearing up its own arse?
It seems to have a management that is incapable of seeing the bleeding obvious when things cudda shudda wudda been oh so different.
You know, if I could be bothered, I could get all the channels I regularly watch (off satellite and FTA) with a little investment in things like C-Band LNB and associated equipment, AND have the ability to record and watch as and when desired.
I think the answer is, SKY will have to radically mutate, or it will disappear up its own arse – EVEN IF it wins its latest desperate attempt to control and plunder.
“Does Sky TV risk disappearing up its own arse?”
If they lose the rights to the rugby, most likely.
Seems to me they’re trying to morph into a streaming company (hence really wanting to jump in bed with vodafone), but they haven’t managed to bridge the gap.
The pisser is their court case where they want veto rights on internet access, lol.
The funny thing is, they’re almost there, with the skyplus boxes that have a hard disk function they expect people to pay an extra $15/mth for when they also stream the same content. What they could do is get from China some boxes that have everything as optional addons: broadband streaming (including subscriptions to different services that pay a royalty to be installed on the boxes), or takes satellite if you go for that subscription, and the hdd rental on top of that. And the box doubles as a wifi router if you need one of them, so it’s kit you have around even if you’re not paying sky anything at the moment – because it makes it easier to give them money if you change your mind.
Not sure that Sky want to go streaming, but if they do, they don’t want to seriously commit to it until they absolutely have to, by which time Vodafone and others will probably have left them behind.
Someone was looking for synergies with that merger plan.
The only reason people like me are still with sky is pure laziness. To be fair, they’ve made some effort with that loyalty app, but I have limited space on my phone so haven’t downloaded it, and you can’t use app from a desktop/website. So the only thing keeping me with them is a) I like paying for content I really like, and b) I don’t want to have to go through upteen steps to watch a program, with tv it’s turnontv-flickchannels-done. The ultimate sense-experience, not “what do I want to watch” but “this’ll do”. I’m hot, I’m tired, I’m cooking dinner, what to watch doesn’t need to be a menu goddamn choice. My food isn’t, the TV I watch needn’t be.
Sometimes I do want to watch/stream specfic things, but not after work..
“The only reason people like me are still with sky is pure laziness.”
Me too, although not necessarily laziness – more that I’ve got better things to do than go down to Sky and hand in my decoder, and invest in CBand LNBs, and associated electronics. Last time I did (just to tell them I was fucking off overseas for 3 months), I was confronted with desperate sales-speak and ‘press 1’ for fuck all, or press 2 for slightly better than fuck all options.
You know Sky could have prolonged the inevitable if they’d been more reasonable – except they chose to be smart arses. But then what do you expect with a CEO like that? Now they’re trying to push the limited even further in some ego-driven fight to the death plan.
It’s utter wankery – but it’s also to be expected
Important Notice:
“What does CPTPP mean for you? Come along Tuesday 5 Dec, Europe House @AUTuni to hear from Minister of Trade David Parker. Register here: https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/nz-trade-policy/public-engagement-on-trade/ …”
Other venues/ dates here… From Dunners to the Tron all on this week
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/nz-trade-policy/public-engagement-on-trade/
Labour better sort this out before they go chucking huge amounts of taxpayer money at the sector.
Almost 90 per cent of the forestry industry is breaching employment standards and that may not even be the full extent of it, according to a Government audit of the sector.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99430664/forestry-audit-reveals-widespread-breaches-in-employment-standards
I’m pretty sure Labour are well aware of it, just as they are in other sectors. Hence their commitment to beef up the Labour Inspectorate – which is way, way, way overdue.
I’m also pretty sure they’re well aware of past ills (some still present) in MoBIE.
The only thing that surprises me is that they haven’t seen fit to do with MoBIE what they’re doing with MPI.
It hasn’t just been the Labour Inspectorate, but also other agencies under MoBIE (such as INZ)
INZ definately need a rocket!
https://twitter.com/MichaelFieldNZ/status/935392065789206528
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/99397804/vietnamese-fishermen-to-be-repatriated-after-jumping-ship-in-bluff
Agreed!. Don’t get me started!
I have two long files of various LI and INZ failings and fuckups.
Immigration lawyers (the genuine ones), unions, NGOs and others have been trying to draw attention to the problems now for years.
And the new coalition government fairly quickly recognised the need for more LI inspectors given all the breaches and slave labour conditions that had been reported in media – announcing an increase in numbers in early November, YET the LI National Manager was spouting off that they had sufficient only a few weeks beforehand.
Restructuring can be difficult, but unless there are some forceful messages given to some Senior managers, it might be better to pull agencies out from under the aegis of MoBIE and operate them standalone in the interim.
It’s got me going Tim..
“A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it took “the exploitation of workers very seriously” and was working hard to stop the practice.
Simmons said the New Zealand response to problems on fishing boats was poorly co-ordinated, with police, Department of Labour, Ministry for Primary Industries and Maritime NZ working to different briefs. “…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/344987/absconding-men-probably-desperate-to-leave-vessel
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/68739974/slavery-on-nz-seas-rape-bonded-labour-and-abuse-widespread-on-fishing-boats
The 3 Vietmanese were Captured Tuesday and deported by INZ on Thursday! No legal assistance even though offered pro bono.
“A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it took “the exploitation of workers very seriously” and was working hard to stop the practice.”
Except that MoBIE has the wrong organisational culture and focus, and that’s become evident in the way it has resourced the Labour Inspectorate and INZ over the years. It has turned immigration into a business – in order to keep the necessary churn for PTEs, others requiring labour, and shoddy immigration consultancies.
Check out its organisational structure and the backgrounds of its gNat appointees. I’m now convinced it has been working as designed (by Steven Joyce – even though he may not have realised the problems that are now haunting us).
Then there’s this doozy from a Cabinet Paper at the time of its creation (Steven Joyce and Jonathan Coleman who have such spectacular records):
“If real or perceived conflicts of objective within the Ministry’s role (for example, social vs. economic objectives; employer vs. worker perspectives; producer vs. consumer interests) are not managed, there is a risk that the new Ministry will not fully realise its benefits and will not be sustainable over time. This risk will be managed through organisational design and diligent management”.
Well I think we all now know what their intended benefits were, (and they’re to do with business growth growth growth and exploitation), that organisation design is a complete bugger’s muddle, and there must be a new definition of diligent management
@ OnceWasTim
No doubt they are aware of it. And to be fair, the Minister has issued a warning. Moreover, as you say, they plan to beef up the inspectors.
However, will they get on top of it on time? The Minister is going to start announcing expenditure on new projects before Christmas. The last thing the Government needs is headlines reporting employers funded by the taxpayer are breaching employment standards, thus exploiting their employees.
So far @The Chairman, the Minister(s) APPEARS to have more confidence in MoBIE officials than I do (and probably you – even though I suspect our politics might be eons apart).
On the other hand, I’m pretty bloody sure (as ‘the Minister(s) responsible’ come(s) to realise who has been responsible for various impediments in progressing new policy [going forward, of course], …….. he/they may get his/their dander up).
The MPI problem was a little more obvious. Then of course Rome wasn’t built in a day, and there are fuckups galore to have to deal with.
MoBIE would hopefully be 2nd or 3rd on the list (that Munstry for Everything dressed up in drag). There’s MSD, Health, Education, Land Transport, some of the SOE’s, etc., etc.
Back in the day when we had the old NZ Forest Service, the department provided leadership and training to the industry, so dodgy practices weren’t allowed to flourish.
Hopefully the re-establishment of the department will reintroduce this role into the industry.
The old NZFS certainly needed reform, but in killing it totally we lost a lot of vital functions that we as a country and economy, and especially those working in the industry desperately need now.
Sovereignty, freedom & democracy is under threat here. A good article worth reading here. Its our freedoms going under threat.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/02/trade-minister-david-parker-must-intervene-over-sudden-and-bizarre-de-registration-of-anti-tppa-ngos/#comment-409789
Says Professor Jane Kelsey.
The bizarre de-registration of anti-WTO NGOs
By Prof Jane Kelsey / December 2, 2017 /
Yesterday I wrote to Trade Minister David Parker asking him to intervene urgently over the sudden and bizarre de-registration of representatives of prominent NGOs who had been accredited to attend the World Trade Organization ministerial conference from 10 to 13 December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Parker is one of four vice-chairs of the eleventh WTO ministerial conference (MC11). To his credit he moved immediately. Vitalis Vangelis, the deputy head of MFAT responsible for these issues emailed back that:
“The Minister has asked me to underline to you that we absolutely share your concern that this is a very troubling development. The Minister has also told me to formally and urgently instruct our WTO Mission in Geneva to take this up as a priority with the WTO Secretariat, including to clarify what has happened – and quickly. A Formal Message (ie an instruction to the Mission) is being sent tonight to that effect.”
Keeper
very good.
Nice!!
You missed
Trickle Down
And there goes the base.
LOL gotta love those stupid republicans.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax/senate-approves-major-tax-cuts-in-victory-for-trump-idUSKBN1DV4K2
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/senate-tax-cuts-donald-trump-rich-us-vote-republican-vote-result-latest-a8088196.html
Shane Jones blaming the poor and getting wide spread coverage.
And note above the forestry work stuff.
FFS
Did I just c Shane Jones throwing a hospital pass to Grant Robertson on National tv…ffs prepare better man
Dam I need to drink more 🙁
I read a article that Sir Peter gluckman put out and it was very promising for our science in NZ. The sad part is some people have a hard time working out the truth here’s how I figure that out. First Id check that there are no conflicts of interest buy the author. 2 I use logic to analyse the article if the claim is not logical well that’s a no 3 I use math to analyse the percentage of scientists are for and against the artcail 4 I use social media
To check what the people say I usually made up my mind before this Ka pai
Many thanks to the 90% of kiwi who no science is good for US I say that science is essential for US to survive this tragic future that the wealth could impose on us. I will not stop trying to steer us to a sustainable humane future for our mokos.
PS I think that Elon Mus idea about sending a Tesla car into space will promote sustainability and solar and electricik cars but I’m a bit biased in Mus favour lol Ka kite ano.
Anyone been on Stuff lately?, the comment sections are unbelievably one sided, and yes I do realise im saying this in this little echo chamber we call TS, but youd think a national media website like this would be a bit more discrete in their biases.