…and this condition is not restricted to the Right wing…it is found in the Left as well…and it usually comes in the guise of ‘holier than thou’ or keeping the Left movement pure…ie i am purer than thou , i am fighting to keep us pure, i am the bastion of purity, only I keep the code and know the True path
….in actual fact it is a form of self righteous fundamentalism and it is an inherently undemocratic frame of mind born of a privileged psyche…i am better than thou because of who i am
….bollocks!
….it has led to all sorts of crimes against humanity
Whilst never being one to give support to mumblefu*k and buttkiss, I’m not seeing right wing in any thing they’ve written. Are you sure you’re not just a little blinkered there mr ure? Maybe a little sleep still stuck around the eyes? Maybe just an ultra fanboy?
Goff ‘‘pure political opportunism’’, citing his previous donations to ACT MP John Banks, now the subject of a court case. ‘‘He wants to be able to influence and control politicians.’’
Goff ‘‘very critical’’ of National for exploiting MMP and failing to implement recommendations from the Electoral Commission to abolish the provision. ‘‘I’m scarcely likely to endorse another rort …I’m being entirely consistent,’’ ‘‘It will be the decision of the party leadership…but I see problems in creating a coalition where the philosophies and principle of people that you are trying to enter into a coalition with is unclear because they seem to be coming from diametrically opposed positions.’’
Shearer also used the social media site to write that although he wished the Internet-Mana ‘‘marriage’’ well, he knew ‘‘it’s going to end badly.’’
Hipkins ‘‘The good old days, when political parties formed from movements. Now all it takes is a couple of million and some unprincipled sellouts.’’
Contemptible.
Where is Labour’s “purity” and “principle” where it matters – in representing the interests of the most disadvantaged 20 percent? Allegedly Labour’s core constituency, but they are more than happy to throw them under the bus to further their own personal interests and ambitions.
Principle my arse, they disgust me.
NO ONE in ANY party or in ANY group of parties can effect ANY change in ANYTHING one desires UNLESS there is at least 50% of support from THE VOTERS. Elementary maths and elementary politics.
Ask yourself if you prefer to shuffle the progressive votes sideways and possibly lose the election or grow the vote and more possibly win the election for the progressive block?
The interminable exchanges in the columns of The Standard over David Shearer. And now he is revealed; a right faction bag man as suspected. Labour has had years to get its act together (no pun etc) since Clark handed the electorate Goff. Her departure was the time to democratise the party not anoint a successor.
Labour has had years to come up with super at 67, retaining the Reserve Bank Act and not removing GST from fruit and veg. Sure they have policy on CGT and asset sales etc but as Phillip alludes to seem determined to lose the election by not using MMP strategy to any extent let alone fully.
Meanwhile IMP has organised in mere months to bring something to politics that seems to have attracted support already. And no, mere cash cannot buy that type of experience and ability. Kiwibank, paid parental leave and banishing youth rates were Alliance initiatives which Labour grudgingly accepted. At least there is now political room for everyone to the left of National, but the fact is Key will not be denied a third term without an outbreak of strategic co-operation on the left.
The friendly Labour people that comment here will not like the ear bashing they are getting but the real life implications of a 3 term dirty filthy tory government are getting literally too much to bear for many of us.
I agree totally. What’s the point of Supporting Labour? Because they seemed not to have realised that that the LEFT Block can win the election. But Labour alone can lose the fucking thing!
So what Goff, Hipkins, Mallard, Davis and Shearer are really saying is…
By Martyn Bradbury / June 3, 2014
“This flexing of muscles and direct challenge to Cunliffe’s leadership is occurring while Labour’s factions thrash out the Party list. This sudden feigned political morality sounds more like the realisation of how far they’re dropping in that list…..
Of course I’m dark on national, I’m an age old left winger from last century, growing up in thatcher’s Britain, working class, when working class was the lowest of the low, before they invented the underclass.
What is your point? Apart from inferring right wing in the comments from Vance’s stuff page on three social media comments by Goff, DS and buttkiss where there is none.
@The Allen..so you are anti Laila Harre , Hone Harawira and the Mana/ Internet Party ….and you believe Martyn Bradbury is being used by Dotcom…..interesting
….i wonder where you are coming from?….care to elucidate
Certainly against the internet party, Harre was okay, but has lost a little of my respect in siding up to kim, Hone’s alright as far as leaders of 1% minority parties go.
“and you believe Martyn Bradbury is being used by Dotcom…..interesting”
Quite frankly i dont think Bomber Bradbury is anyone’s tool….and he makes up his own mind….and like many many other New Zealanders he wants a Left coalition government……No I dont think Martyn Bradbury is being used by Dotcom!
“Interference in the Kim Dotcom case?”
By Martyn Bradbury / June 2, 2014
“One of the worst lies being perpetrated by the mainstream media and Government mouthpieces is that Kim Dotcom has funded a political party to interfere in his extradition case…..
The sheer double standards being applied in this lie are remarkable because from the very first day, this Government have interfered with the Kim Dotcom case. The Campbell Live timeline establishes the process with which this interference has taken place and we now wait on the Snowden revelations and KDCs own evidence to fill in the details.
On top of the unseen political interference, we now have public statements by senior members of the Government cheerleading their lawyers into ‘nailing’ Kim Dotcom…
Screen Shot 2014-06-02 at 7.41.14 am
…how is what Bill English is saying here not interfering in the judicial process? Publicly hoping his Government’s lawyers nail someone before the court case has even been heard? How is that double standard allowed to go unchallenged by the mainstream media? Is English putting pressure on the prosecution the way Maurice Williamson tried to heavy the NZ Police into protecting one of National’s donors?
So let’s just get this straight in terms of the mainstream media narrative here, when the National Party instigates interference, it is not interference. When Opposition Parties question the level of National Party interference, THAT IS political interference.
Bomber bashing is a popular sport it seems, he deserves much praise imo.
Instrumental in The Daily Blog, second only to The Standard in left politics. Critics should try running a blog and sorting all the technical issues never mind the torrent of nutters that free of charge blather on.
And Bomber has a guest column in a prominent msm newspaper The NZ Herald, which should see Bradury banisher Jim Morar choking on his croissant on Sundays.
Tiger Mountain…Agreed !…Bradbury is a positive and articulate force for the Left imo…hence this:
“Brothers and Sisters – the Left are never going to get it this good – why you must vote this election”
By Martyn Bradbury / June 3, 2014
“We don’t want to just replace a Government, we want to change it
….The righteous cynicism many voters feel is matched by an intellectual existential Russel Brand mantra that legitimises apathy. Those are difficult arguments to overcome when so many political examples jade us election after election.
That’s why I think the possibility of a Labour-Green-Internet MANA majority should thrill any genuine progressive throughout NZ and call on their involvement.
What I think many still fail to grasp about MMP is that it’s one of the most representative democratic systems in the world and that every vote counts, and in this election there is the real possibility that the most progressive Government this country has ever seen may be the result and with that kind of majority comes the real ability to implement policy that is socially just and environmental.
Cynicism shouldn’t cloud our judgement, it should sharpen it.
A Labour-Green-Internet MANA majority is a genuinely exciting prospect, and one that progressives would be foolish to ignore if they really want to see the back of John Key….
“A Labour-Green-Internet MANA majority is a genuinely exciting prospect, and one that progressives would be foolish to ignore if they really want to see the back of John Key”
That’s bollocks. Like you only want to see the back of key if you vote for dotcom or you’re not progressive.
Well, I’m totally exited by the prospect of a Green Labour government as it’s one that progressives would be foolish to ignore if they really want to see the back of John Key.
Now rip that government to bits and show your left credentials… But only if you’re not taking the $8k pay cheque.
That’s bollocks. Like you only want to see the back of key if you vote for dotcom or you’re not progressive.
That is a pretty poor reading of what Bradbury was saying.
I’m o.k with a Labour and Green government – however you would be hard-pushed to convince me that having Mana and the Internet party involved wouldn’t make it more progressive. It seems to me that this is one of the points Martyn is making.
It is pretty obvious that you could vote for either one of those 4 parties and still be progressive and want National out – Mana or the Internet party, however, are included in the options of parties you can vote for to achieve those ends and dismissing them out of hand is to ignore these two parties capacity to achieve the end of ousting National and having a more progressive government.
This is the meaning I got out of Bradbury’s article. I think that ‘vote for Dotcom or you are supporting the Nats’ is neither a fair nor accurate reading of the article – it is ridiculous understanding to read from that article.
“Rob Salmond nails it. Bomber is going a bit nuts and demonstrating his grasp of reality in politics.”
“GREG PRESLAND’S… SAYS:
3 JUNE, 2014 – 10:52
Bomber should stick to real estate.”
Happy to defer to these two fine examples of left wing bloggers. 🙂
[It was not me. It is some troll who managed to get their comment approved using my name. For the record I enjoy Bomber’s passion and determination. Give me one Bomber for a thousand intellectual lefties decrying the current state of left wing politics any day – MS]
You are happy simply to cite an ‘article’ that provides no reasoning – rather just draws similar conclusions to your own sans reasoning? That leaves you highly open to being manipulated and manipulating others. This approach doesn’t hold water with me.
( I suggest you go and read my comment on that thread if you wish to find further out about what view I take toward Salmond’s article..)
You haven’t addressed the points I made. How do you get ‘vote for dotcom or else’ out of Bradbury’s article?
You think 2 ‘examples of blogging’ that diss another leftwing blogger and provide no reasoning are ‘fine examples of left wing bloggers’.
Heck, if your definition of left-wing is mindless divisiveness/attack – then fair enough. Sounds more like a right-wing framing of the leftwing, though, if you asked me. (You didn’t? oh…. 🙂 )
“You think 2 ‘examples of blogging’ that diss another leftwing blogger and provide no reasoning are ‘fine examples of left wing bloggers’.”
Just my opinion, but if I have to give a caveat, I’ll say I’ve always found their posts, comments and blogs to be informative, articulate and mostly they resonate in a positive manner.
“Sounds more like a right-wing framing of the leftwing”
Which doesn’t say much about your comprehension, if you ask me (even though you didn’t).
“Sounds more like a right-wing framing of the leftwing”
Which doesn’t say much about your comprehension, if you ask me (even though you didn’t).
What?
That the two provided articles weren’t simply two comments sounding off about someone else’s opinion without any reasons provided
or that the right-wing framing of the definition of left-wing is mindless divisiveness/attack?
I’m beginning to think that rightwing framing isn’t to far from the truth; it appears there are plenty on the left who can’t tell the difference between analysis/ raising discussion points/cooperation and ad hominem put-downs…. 🙁
“I’m beginning to think that rightwing framing isn’t to far from the truth”
Are you saying I’m right wing framing the left?
“it appears there are plenty on the left who can’t tell the difference between analysis/ raising discussion points/cooperation and ad hominem put-downs””
Congratulations on being the only lefty in the village 😆
p.s. I apologise for spelling your name wrong Al1en, that was an error.
p.s.s Oh dear, another one bites the dust; that means there is only one person you can cite as ‘fine examples of left wing bloggers’ [who diss another very active left-winger] …ah well, better luck next time, smarty pants 😉
“Bradbury is a positive and articulate force for the Left”; I do agree, but he is also not without faults. Chief of which is to let a nice turn of phrase trump factual accuracy.
Though Tiger Mountain is almost too restrained to call him; “Instrumental in The Daily Blog, second only to The Standard in left politics”. As, on top of editing, he damned near writes half of it (though more in publishing a large number of pithy short articles, than the longer more thoughtful pieces). TDB gets more page views than TS, and that’s after just over a year of its existence (though admittedly a lot may be just looking at the Daily Gallery or other click-bait).
Bomber ‘advertises’ on facebook regularly too which gets eyeballs. I like his sawn off shottie style word smithing, there are plenty of paragraph polishers around and they get it wrong too sometimes e.g. Pundit.
I like to think they complement each other. Every writer at the Standard brings different knowledge and networks with them. And a great depth and diversity of writers at “The Daily Blog”, not all of whom are regular contributors, plus it is sponsored by several old fashioned blue collar unions. It must have something going for it, with even herr Gosman patronising it.
The man is Minister of finance and he’s presenting misleading accounts. Surely Labour have someone who can do maths and work out the statistics properly?
For those wondering; for accounting purposes all welfare beneficiaries are counted as taxpayers and Crown tax receipts include tax on welfare payments. At the end of March 2013, 310,000 working-age people were receiving a main benefit. They are included in those figures on ‘nett taxpayers’
I don’t know the exact figures but if we assume an average benefit of around $20k before tax it would make up $6.2 billion of the “transfers received” in English’s chart and less than $1billion of the tax paid…. all in the lower income households groups.
Main benefits are not a redistribution of wealth from rich to poor. Every (working) taxpayer pitches in for those. But because benefits are low the welfare beneficiaries show up in the low income households in English’s chart and paint a completely false and misleading picture of taxpayers. That has nothing to do with redistribution, it is entirely down to the amount of their benefits.
As for English crowing about those on $150k+ paying more of the tax. Well in 2008 there were 203,000 households earning $150k+ and now there’s 249,000. Not exactly a surprise that group is paying more tax is it.
I find it quite disturbing that a Minister of Finance propagates such misleading financial information. He is supposed to be the country’s top accountant. It’s also a bit worrying that the opposition don’t seem to have anyone competent enough with numbers to figure out where it’s all wrong.
Bill english is misleading people again, and hand out a brief fact sheet stating as you have. Dont waste time explaining it, make the short statement, and do it over and over again.
Its what national does, but without any supporting fact sheet. For obvious reasons
“Dont waste time explaining it, make the short statement, and do it over and over again.”
I don’t think anyone in Labour has actually figured it out. Rob from Polity is the only person I’ve seen digging into it but he hasn’t picked up the most egregrious misuse of statistics either.
An obvious flaw is that no tax system has ever worked on income bands like that. English is claiming that each person’s share of the welfare bill is what people in their own income band are receiving. Those on $250k+ received an average of only $43.75 in transfers so English says their share of the welfare bill is $43.75 each.
“Except all that $250K+ is an economic transfer from the society to their household…”
Maybe, but that wasn’t my point. Even the rabid right would propose that every (working) taxpayer pays at least an equal share of the welfare bill. We’re all pitching in to pay for benefits, it’s not a rich/poor thing.
Divide gross transfers by total households and that comes to $5574 per household. English says those households on $250k+ only need to pay $43.75 as their share of welfare benefits…. when it should be at least $5574 even to the rabid right.
“Why does Labour let Bill English get away with pushing this nett taxpayer nonsense?”
Because David Parker is hopeless. He can not articulate himself or the left. I have never heard him and been convinced with the arguments he is making (even when I agree with him sometimes).
Contrast Parker with Norman. Russell is on point, talks to the interviewer (rather than looking all around the room like Parker does) and is often difficult to argue against because he has all his ducks in a row.
Parker is Labour’s weak link this election. Cunliffe needs to carry the burden of having Parker on the front bench.
Re Misleading Labeling of Food Products: Yes Paul and just last night I was yelling at the adverts on TV making all sorts of unsubstantiated claims for health and beauty. How come they can get away with these claims and not have to prove value at all. Just wheel in a sportsman, or a filmstar or a “scientist”. After all they must know a thing or two about stuff. Trust them? Sure can. In NZ it is cowboy country.
Voters want to know that Labour will form a stable relationship with the Greens.
The enemy is not the Greens or IMP (get that, ABCs?) Spending too much time differentiating yourselves from those who should/will be your allies is not only pissing off your allies, but believe me, it is turning away potential voters.
The Labour Party will gain more votes by being supportive of the Green’s carbon credit scheme. Dairy Farmers, who will oppose this policy, would NEVER vote for Labour even if Labour supported the current flawed ETS scheme.
Voters KNOW that Labour will not be able to govern on its own. They know that if they vote Labour they will get a Labour-Green Government (and probably IMP.)
The media love the in-fighting which makes a Party look disorganised and directionless. More common ground (like the Labour-Green electricity policy) is needed, not “differentiation” which is going to have to be compromised to some degree, after the election anyway.
This election is not about who wants to be Minister for what in the new Cabinet. Members of the Labour caucus need to put the people living in poverty first, before their own personal ambitions.
+100
Right wing Labour members of caucus threatening to undermine all the progress made by bold Green policies and great strategic plans by the IP and Mana.
Always wonder who these ABCs are Tautoko. Seems that some here “invent” some fresh “evidence” but do you think the Labour Caucus is stupid? The Greens and the Labourites are united in the need to be rid of the Key Misgovernment. As are the IMPs. So why don’t you help with a non-divisive front?
The Greens and the Labourites are united in the need to be rid of the Key Misgovernment
So, how many joint press conferences have Labour and Green MPs held on any policy issues or debates in the last 6 months? None? That’s showing a “united” front is it?
Labour appears totally split and putting up the pension age is the only policy they have that sticks in anybody’s mind.
Other parts of the left have convinced themselves that demonstrating they are just as cynical as the right is a brilliant strategy for bringing on board disillusioned voters.
National is awful in just about every way.
Peters has always been flaky.
The dodgy Maori Party is dying.
The Greens continue their march to the right under Russel’s guidance.
As a libertarian socialist I have always had some sympathy for anarchists ideals but ultimately rejected their theory because I couldn’t understand how a transition could occur without a socialist government to manage it.
But faced with the choices we have I do feel a kind of despair in the possibility of the sort of major changes required happening through our parliamentary system.
As a libertarian socialist I have always had some sympathy for anarchists ideals but ultimately rejected their theory because I couldn’t understand how a transition could occur without a socialist government to manage it.
A transition process could occur over a 5 year timeframe. Yes you would need a government and bureaucracy in Wellington willing to devolve their power and control over budgets and spending. (unlikely I know).
The process would consist of empowering transparent local community based organisations and grassroots community self-government, as well as democratising SMEs (ordinary workers get to choose their bosses, get to decide on the major business decisions, have worker representatives on the boards of directors). Significant assets across the country would be transferred into community owned trusts and worker owned co-ops. Consumers would be given a clear choice between spending their money at a big foreign corporate or giving their custom to a locally owned and run business.
The end results of this are solutions which come from the community, profits owned by workers, and a Wellington structure more focused on strategic nationwide co-ordination.
I don’t think passers-by would take notice of a chap talking quietly about his point of view Bob. Not much chance of the MSM reporting quiet protest. So if you believe in a cause shout it out.
Jones is more concerned that wealthy Parnell residents might have their peace disturbed for a few hours than for the victims of drone attacks.
Breathtaking.
From wikipedia.
“Jones………..formed the short-lived libertarian New Zealand Party in 1983, just before Robert Muldoon’s snap 1984 election. Jones explicitly stated his disgust that the supposedly pro-free-enterprise National Party of New Zealand had implemented socialist polices like price and wage freezes, and a top tax rate of 66%. His party acted as a spoiler, helping to deliver the government to the New Zealand Labour Party. Then, surprisingly for an ostensibly socialist party, this implemented free market reforms under Finance Minister Roger Douglas (hence Rogernomics). When the election was over, Jones disbanded the party, seeing that Labour had implemented many of his policies.”
Complicit then in the heist that occurred in the 1980s.
Listening this morning to Radionz and discussion about how tourists find driving on our roads difficult, it was interesting to hear the hostility to ideas for trying to prevent this. Mild suggestions for some new methods were pooh-poohed and I feel that this represents much of NZs thinking, to find negatives immediately, exaggerate difficulties, scorn the suggestion, show reluctance to consider and examine new ideas that could ameliorate or solve present problems.
This is why we are wallowing nationally, with dull, prejudiced minds finding group think with similar others reinforces their own impaired thinking and problem solving lack of ability.
An example from this morning. There was a suggestion about multi-lingual signs at certain spots from Dog & Lemon Guide guy who seems switched on and thoughtful. The journalist taking part scorned this and exaggerated the extent of languages needed to probably 150, which of course would not be the number. She therefore could not think lucidly, really not think at all.
Police spoke also, dissed new ideas and pointed out that a few things had already been done like the arrows on the roads at certain spots.
Listen to the editor of the Dog and Lemon Guide Clive Matthew-Wilson and motoring journalist Jacqui Madelin debate the issues. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/246095/safety-research-to-focus-on-tourists
Mathew-Wilson was right about judder bars at Stop intersections. But putting Stop in lots of different languages isn’t going to help.
Madelin was right about more arrows on the road indicating drive on the left. I have mistakenly driven on the left in Spain and after returning form Europe driven on the right here.
My mantra whenever driving in Europe was, “Drive on the Right! Give Way on the Left! Drive on the Right…..” My fear was that if distracted or careless my habits of a lifetime would kick in and I would start on the left. Horror! So sorry for the Dutch driver. I could make a mistake like that.
For heaven’s sake, ianmac. Europeans drive on the right, but they still give way to the right, just as we do. Which is why their roundabouts are ridiculous. They do NOT give way to the left. You may well be lucky that you did not land up not in that poor Dutchman’s position!
Thanks In Vino. Just looked it up and it seems there are variations and it is unclear and different European countries have different rules. In Croatia and in the Emirates I drove very carefully and gave way to the left when entering a roundabout. But it seems that in some countries any car entering a roundabout has right of way over the car already in the roundabout. Go figure. Giveway and Stop signs still the same as here. Will look a bit harder tomorrow.
So here’s a simple idea. Maybe they already do it since I’ve never rented a car I would’t know.
Put on the dashboard, prominent to the driver, stickers saying “Keep left, drive on the left side. Look right at intersections”.
Her point about it being worst when you’ve been driving around already for a while and in a moment of inattention you get it wrong – having stickers on the dashboard would help to remind people.
I’ve always considered that the position of the steering wheel should be the dead giveaway as to which side to drive on because the steering wheel should always be next to the centre line.
True, but people spend large amounts of driving in a dissociated state. Think about the trip you just did and how much detail you actually remember, esp if you were listening to the radio or thinking about something important. This is normal. In those situations the body’s memory has more influence on what happens ie we drive by rote. If we are used to driving on one side of the road, then that’s what the body memory will default us to in certain situations.
True, but people spend large amounts of driving in a dissociated state.
And habit is a killer. If you were taught at 16 to stay on the right side of the road and that’s the way you have been doing it every day for the next 30 years…
The problem of tourist drivers is very real, in the parts of the country they frequent. Just two days before this tragic crash I commented to a truck driver that imo the greatest danger when driving certain highways were tourist drivers ….. coming around a corner and finding some loopy on the wrong side of the road heading straight for you …..
The copper on the tele last night said ” blah blah only 6% are tourists … blah blah”. Well, actually 6% is a significant number. And when you look closely that 6% becomes probably something like 20-30% in the parts of NZ concerned….
Try driving the west coast highway, McKenzie country, southland or central Otago, pretty much anywhere rural and touristy in the South Island. In the last 12 months I have personally witnessed two tourists driving on the wrong side of the road – it took a great deal of horn-tooting and light-flashing to get them to realise …. all the while on a deadly trajectory.
Only solution is a beeper that goes nuts as soon as the vehicle crosses the centre-line …
vto
Yes good idea. Another one that Dog&Lemon suggested was a rumble strip in certain places to ensure they kept to the right track.
My idea is that on each rental vehicle there would be a stick-on panel on the windscreen along the right hand bottom showing a highway with dots down the middle and a large white arrow going forward on the left and a large truck in view facing the wheel on the other side. It would be not intrusive on the view forward through the windscreen but be perpetually on the edge of the vision, and once seen then would be constantly reinforcing the message. [Edit I see Lanthanide already suggested this so I just endorse that.]
Also a short recorded message could play when the vehicle started after stopping or pausing for a turn, just saying – choose from three languages – ‘Remember keep left.’
Something like the 5 minute video before taking the rental car would be good and it must involve some action to correct something by the driver and needs to be done sucessfully or repeated. I couldn’t care less about the Swedish driver who said he would never come again if asked to do that. Plenty of more responsible people still will do that. It is overlooked that tourists can cost us a lot of money as well as bring it into the economy.
We need to look after them while they are here better than we have in the past, and we need them to look after us better too, so that we can all stay alive and enjoy the mutual experience of meeting new people.
Yep, it needs to be something that activates and gets their attention every time they get in the car …….
….. this is the common scenario as witnessed ….. said tourist has pulled off the south westland highway at a place called Ship Creek, a delightful creek and beach just off the main road between Haast and Fox. Said tourists wander around and enjoy the waves and the tawaki and the seals and blue sky (and sandflies). Soaked in this natural glory, their minds over-relaxed and taken to other places, they pile back in the car and pull out onto the main highway again, straight into the right hand lane and continue in this manner until ……..
Yes ingrained habit rises to the fore after a period of relaxation and they do the usual thing without any prompts otherwise, and turn into the right land. We have known this for some time but the government these days does anything of practical value reluctantly. And of course there is the old personal responsibility mantra.
I spent 5 years in Europe. In year 4 I pulled out of a remote country Petrol Station on a straight, empty road. Luckily, I had 3 French passengers in my Kombi. They all screamed, “A droite, à droite!” and I quickly caught on. (I had forgotten where I was..)
A year later I was back in England. From another trivial stop I pulled out onto the road, only to see a truck coming towards me. I quickly corrected to the left, but got highly expressive hand signals from the truck driver.
Those are the moments that trap us all – Kiwis included. And don’t get too aggressive about this: in driving on the left we are a tiny minority. Ex British Empire countries (but not Canada) and Japan.
As such a minority, maybe we need to rethink our whole policy, instead of clinging to a lost policy simply because our nearest neighbour (Australia, for the dumbies) also illogically clings to driving on the left.
This is all off topic and likely to be moved to Open Mike?
Interesting! Chris Barton points out :”Could Judith Collin’s recent outburst on Twitter against press gallery journalist Katie Bradford have seen her prosecuted under the proposed Harmful Digital Communications Bill?
Could the Justice Minister, who has vowed to stomp out cyber bullies – “Your behaviour is not acceptable” – have been hoist on her own petard?”
This was on Fearfacts this morn, with no author attribution or source; does anyone know where it’s come from?
Norman revealed that new Internet Party leader Laila Harre had wanted to be a Green Party MP before she quit her adviser role in December.
A spokesman confirmed she was also on the campaign committee until a fortnight ago.
“so that was all it took..eh allen..? ..just $148,000..?”
So it would appear.
“..gee..!..her soul was cheap..eh..?”
Being on the dole at the moment, I wouldn’t say 148k was cheap, hell, even bombers 8k a week isn’t cheap, but then after paying my low mortgage and utilities (no hp, no loans) I’m left with $60 to buy food for me, my daughter and the cat for the week. Either way, her grab at the cash, seeing she was up for an mp spot and part of the election committee, seems a bit distasteful.
“.seriously allen..!..you are so full of shite…!”
With as much or as little respect as you want to claim, get fucked, nugget 😉
I’m still wondering why people are so upset about a political party supporting their candidates. It’s not as if they can do any other job while they are a candidate.
@The Allen …..re “get fucked , nugget” …. and I thought you were a sensitive New Age guy?!?…
….also i doubt Laila Harre has ever been in politics for the money ….she has the smarts and a good law degree to earn considerably more than an MP over the years …but has instead dedicated herself to working for the unions, the Left in general and Left wing political parties in particular
“@The Allen …..re “get fucked , nugget” …. and I thought you were a sensitive New Age guy?!?”
You give it you take it, and being third of five brothers, I’m cool with that. If Phil’s feeling are genuinely hurt, then of course I’ll apologise and refrain from now on.
As for new age, I don’t even know what that means these days. I remember new age first time around, which surely would make me old age new age if anything.
Like the joke about the museum guide telling the tour group the dinosaur bones are 65 million and 12 years old. How can you be so precise? Came the question, well it was 65 million years old when I started working here 12 years ago. Ba dum tish.
if you believe the unsourced statement from stuff. Remember the right dont understand principles. They cant relate to it unless they are using it in a rehearsed line
I’ve said if it’s not accurate, then I’ll retract. In fact, I won’t even wait for the defamation case, I’ll just man up and do it. How’s that?
As an aside, what do you think of it? LH being on the green party election team, possibly on the list, then leaving for the well paid position offered?
Lisa Owen: You were considering standing for the Green Party weren’t you. So why didn’t you do that?
Laila Harre: I gave it some consideration but at no point did I feel like it was right thing to do or the best use of my talents and skills and experience at that time. In fact, I’d committed this year to working on the Council of Trade Unions ‘Get Out the Vote’ campaign and we’ve been setting that up since the beginning of the year, it’s going very well.
“Internet Party leader Laila Harre reveals has revealed she is being a paid back-bench MP salary as leader of the Internet Party
A backbench MP is paid $147,800, plus perks including travel and accommodation expenses plus super.”
Though she states
” But I have to say that there simply wasn’t any discussion at all about personal remuneration for me at any stage during this decision and it just was not a factor in me making up my mind,”
hmmmmm because you cant imagine someone considering taking a position without considering the remuneration or something else.
Harres statement aboce, thank karol, strikes me as the facts so far.
For the record my partner interviewed for a job in 2010. They offered it to her. Twice they rang back to make sure she would do it for what they were offerin, because it was less than she had been on and far less than she was worth. So, people do take jobs for the job, not the money.
So, people do take jobs for the job, not the money.
I do that fairly routinely. It really is the only way to both keep ahead of the ever changing game and from topping yourself from terminal boredom because you are always doing same things over and over again.
Just at present I’m job-hunting again. Something new is really high on my list of priorities..
“then leaving for the well paid position offered?”
You naturally have some proof for this statement?
I ask because you seem to have ignored the fact that since December, Laila Harre was actually working for the CTU.
“Laila Harre worked for the Green Party for about 18 months, but left in December 2013 to work for the Council of Trade Unions.” – RNZ
As far as resigning from the campaign committee, lots of people have to drop volunteer work to accommodate new professional duties. And being the leader of a new political party is a pretty good reason to stop doing work on another party’s campaign. (if it was a paid gig, I am sure the resignation was done according to the requirements of any agreement) Being a well respected lawyer Laila Harre would surely not have left the Greens in any way but by the book. The Greens you may notice, have not released any information that says they have any concerns with what has transpired from an employment perspective or even on a strategic/intellectual property angle.
(on a related issue…as the Labour Party knows… some people have to take more drastic moves than drop volunteer work to go to a new job. Some people have to drop their volunteer work, such as electorate campaign management, just to have time to find a job so they can feed their kids. For some, working to better their country is a dream they cannot even afford to partake in)
So I can only surmise your issue is the amount Laila Harre is being paid to run a political party. Are you suggesting that the Leader of a new political party that is 100% commited to removing John Key’s government, should only attempt to do so if paid under a particular sum?
Since the stated rate is too high in your opinion, what is an acceptable pay rate for the leader of a political party and all that comes with that?
“The Greens you may notice, have not released any information that says they have any concerns with what has transpired from an employment perspective or even on a strategic/intellectual property angle.”
In fact Turei said outright that she had no concerns about the strategy angle because Harre was a person of integrity.
It’s the on-line version of the Dom Post’sToday in Politics column. Which is at top of Page 2 of the newspaper and always anonymous. Presumably penned by Watkins/Small/Vance/Rutherford.or other Fairfax pol journo. And, yeah, no source.
Are wind farms full of 150 meter tall windmills so last centuries technology, if the Invelox wind energy systems are proven to deliver what the inventors say they can then the answer to that question is a big YES,
More on this later and why i totally applaud the Green Party abandoning the ”emissions Trading Scam” with plans to replace that with a ”Carbon tax” while only giving the announced policy a 6 outta 10,
Draco, i laugh out loud, such attitude as the theory has been known for years so it cannot be altered is incredibly, well for want of a word that you wouldn’t see as a direct insult, incredible,
According to the info i garnered off of the Googles i point readers at is the fact that they have working machines that ARE doing just that,
10 K wind in one end 15 K wind out the other, near enough to breaking that Law of thermo-whats-its,
The inventors/makers already have one little town/city signed up to buy the installation,
IF, this proves to be true, it is cheaper per kilowatt hour than current wind-mills, cheaper to maintain, less of a footprint on the landscape, and, probably could be mounted on existing buildings with flat roofs,
i have another interest in this tech as well, it is perfect for furthering technology which would enable CO2 to be removed from the atmosphere on an industrial scale, allowing that CO2 to then be adapted into a burnable gas and in turn be burned in a generator equipped with the full carbon capture tech to generate electricity…
Of course the other ingredient necessary to enable the design and installation of such equipment would be inherent in the price of Carbon as per the Green Party announcement on the weekend,
At $25 a tonne i would suggest the removal and burning of CO2 to create electricity would become a very profitable enterprise…
No need to be sorry CV, i think you will find that that is just not true, Iceland which generates electricity from Geo-thermal,(their geo-thermal also generates CO2), captures the CO2 and re-burns it in what is pretty much a closed loop system,
The CO2 does have to go through a process to enable it’s combustion but combust it does, it then comes down to a measurement of how much electricity is needed to process the CO2 versus how much electricity the burned CO2 produces…
yep…like getting ethanol from corn…what’s you take into account all the energy inputs from fertiliser, diesel, processing…you’re pretty much close to a stand still. It’s the Red Queen problem: running faster and faster just to stay in the same place.
Martin Hansen, a wind energy expert at the Technical University of Denmark, disagrees. He says INVELOX will draw in and speed up the wind as claimed, but when the turbine is placed inside the ductwork it will create such high pressure that little additional air will be drawn into the device, making it a poor alternative to conventional turbine designs.
The design looks interesting, but isn’t going to break any laws of thermodynamics. The interesting thing for me is that it can operate at very low wind speeds and is supposedly more efficient than a turbine, although it’s not clear how they made the comparison.
It uses the venturi effect to speed up air where the tube narrows, which means that the pressure goes down. I’m assuming that the higher velocity is an advantage in running the generating turbine more efficiently. They have small working models and it’s always possible that these won’t scale well to bigger sizes. The numerical modelling they have done generally gives an indication of whether something will work or not, but how accurate it is can be another question.
PS I wrote this before I saw 17.1.1.2, but it might as well stay here.
Are wind-farms so last centuries technology, if the inventors of the Invelox wind energy systems are proven correct then i would have to say a big YES to that question,
The capabilities and design of this particular instrument of capturing wind, speeding it up, and using it for the generation of electricity have far greater ramifications in terms of climate than first meets the eye,
The google for a look is:
Sheerwind Minnesota,
or,
Invelox wind energy systems…
I don’t see Lab, Greens and Mana/IP competing. Labour is targetting mainstream NZ. Greens the enviroment vote, Mana the poor who are disaffected by Labour, and now IP the non-voting online denizen.
Ford saw that to sell more cars he needed to pay his workers enough so they could afford them.
Dotcom realizes to grow the internet he needs to lower the cost of access to it.
Mana realizes that the best economy is a more equal society, and so have a synergy with Dotcom.
It is however inspiring how dumb the Q+A panel was.
We are seeing Mana/IP branding.
NZF is targets the older voters. ACT stupid rich. UF the deranged. Maori the Maori elite. And Crazy Colins, its hard to tell what world he is on. And lastly, National who are things to all people.
When I look left I see pragmatic progressive policies for the medium to long term.
When I look right I see sad pathetic policies designed to grow inequality and harm the economy all for short-term gains.
And please why would Pacific voters want a Nat-NZF tie up, welfare bashers and immigration basher, just because Cunliffe wants to stop a few immigrants from India and China, entering under the National rich prick visa, that forces up housing prices for them.
Listening to the political show on RNZ today I have to laugh at Hooton and his spin, which sounded like a paid advertisement for the corporates.
Come on Hooton selectively quoting low company tax rates in Nordic countries like Finland are an exception to the norm. Most Western Nations have far higher company tax rates to ours. Your elite corporate friends need to be paying far more than what they are now.
You could have mentioned the Nordic countries more progressive social policies aswell. No you couldn’t possibly mention these as they are an affront to your ideology. Having balance to your opinion gives credibility rather than making you look like a rightwing mug.
US federal corporate tax is 39% according to that list.
In reality of course the corporates have convinced Congress to pass through massive amounts of exemptions, loop holes, rebates etc so the real rate for big corporates is a pittance of that…SMEs still get smashed at the maximum rate though because they don’t have as good lobbyists.
i thought wee Matty’s effort on the wireless this morning was one of His better efforts, on Mana/Dotcom Hooton is behaving akin to a washing machine where the electronics have gone haywire,
He appears to be stuck on ‘agitate’ while the command from the wiring has also ordered ‘spin’, one minute the evil DotCom has sucked all the maori boys and girls of the Mana Party in big time,
In the next breath Matty postulates that all them aging Socialists have suckered poor old Dotcom outta 3 odd million dollars…
Very good comment – like the washing machine analogy.
But I don’t think I have ever thought the “maori boys and girls” have been sucked in by Dotcom. I have thought since I saw Hone being interviewed on Q&A a month or so ago that he is in charge and Dotcom has been duped.
Does your washing machine come with a ‘slip’ and ‘slither’ command Matty, without a dig through the information super-highway to dredge up your various ‘positions’ on InternetMana which on an issue that carries as much importance as, well you,which i don’t plan on taxing my severely depleted pile of neurons over, i will have to take your word,
Did i detect tho, with Your latest effort on the wireless a barely suppressed rage at the sheer audacity of all them aged Socialists having turned the 2014 election on it’s head via having 3 million bucks dumped in their lap to fight the contest with,
i was breathless waiting for another Matty meltdown moment which seemed to me to be bubbling incoherently below the surface of your comments…
Nice try Matthew, however your link states a ‘subjective’ element to it.
I think America’s 39% is more reflective of how low company tax rates are here, rather than many of the fuk nations you have linked us too. David Parker will sort this anomaly out, along with upping the tax rate for high income earners such as yourself. Those slush fund trusts will be reworked so that rort of a loop hole is closed out also.
Btw Hope you sprung for Pagani’s brunch after her cheerleading display for you on Q & A on Sunday. I found that most comical as I’m sure you did by the smitten look on ya face lol.
David Parker will sort this anomaly out, along with upping the tax rate for high income earners such as yourself. Those slush fund trusts will be reworked so that rort of a loop hole is closed out also.
As much as I’d like that to happen the fact that Parker still says we must increase retirement to 67 would indicate that having that much trust in him is contraindicated.
The problem is the raising the age of retirement policy became policy because the active members turned up at remit/policy review & LEC/branch meetings too endorse it. I turned up and was simply out voted. Believe it or not there was strong support from left minded members of the LP. Reasoning was put forward that many workers need too worker longer because they don’t have enough savings to retire. My argument was a hell of a lot of workers struggle to make 65 as it is, also computerization/robotic’s means that jobs won’t be there fullstop.
After Douglas ran a muck any rogue MP/s ‘must stick to policy’ they can blow their arse about any notion they like, however their sorry arse will be dragged back to the party’s policy if they try straying.
Sure the 39% US rate is nonsense. No one pays it. Mainly because it is so high. If they cut it, some people might start paying it rather than directing revenues through lower tax regimes.
Corporates are pulling $15B out of our country in profits every year mate. That’s what’s really high. And here you are wanting to increase that current account drain out of the nation even further. What is your problem?
today i listened to hoots and mike w. It occurred to me that to a large extent mike w is there as himself, to say what he thinks. Hoots is there helping to frame a viewpoint that assist the right. Thats why its so frustrating and why mike w will agree with hoots far more than the other way. Hoots is playing a role, mike w is being himself. Just a thought.
Hi Matthew, yes NZ is with its corporate tax rate higher then some of the Euro countries. However, you need to take all taxes into consideration. In most if not all Euro countries GST is certainly a lot higher and personal insurance cost (pension and health) contributions are considerably more. In the end this should not be a race to the bottom where we are content with 250 000 kids going hungry but any tax take should rather a tool to facilitate a civilized participation via economic means – this would mean infrastructure on logistical and humanistic terms. Sure, NZ with its physical isolation and small population will always face a challenge to participate against economies of scale. Instead of making things cheaper NZ should provide goods that have more value added.
We’re at the high end of the gst scale (especially considering that many of the higher rates have exemptions for food and other items) but you won’t see matty complaining about that.
Thinking of the future, I am reading Lark Rise, particularly the introduction to that book by Flora Thompson. It covers the demise of rural England and paints a picture that might be one to strive to return to when continuation as present becomes no longer viable.
What Flora Thompson depicts is the utter ruin of a closely knit organic society with a richly interwoven and traditional culture that had defied every change, every aggression, except the one that established the modern world…..
The old open fields community of co-operative self-help destroyed by the Enclosures is caught in the worlds….
In remembering the Rise when it was common land…carrying in her mind the England of small properties based on the land, the England whose native land belonged to its own people, not to a State masquerading as such, not even to the manorial lords who exacted services, but not from a landless proletariat. Still less to big business…
..it was Victoria’s reign that, partly through their agency [the Vicar and the Squire] but mainly by the growth of the industrial town and the industrial mentality, ended the self-sufficient England of peasant and craftsman…the attempted murder of something timeless in and quintessential to the spirit of man. A design for living has become unravelled, and there can be no substitute, because however imperfect the pattern, it was part of the essential constitution of human nature.
It seems that there is much in the musings of the writer. With the Enclosures went the ability to be self-sufficient so one then had to be a supplicant in the labour market which might reject you as an adult wishing to work in the fabric mills, but your children might be set to the ‘treadmill’ in a disciplined way far beyond the bursts of hard work and long hours at harvest time in the old days. How many ohus and co-ops are surviving in NZ I wonder? There have been speakers and economists interested in co-ops in NZ – I wonder how many still exist.
The old status quo was overthrown by the industrial age, now we should be looking at a new one relishing hand -crafted things, conserving and repairing with new skills. Perhaps we can convert and still have some graciousness in our living, not the harrassed stress of survivalists, and not the naked disdain and aggression ruling that arises from time to time in us all. To be continued – after the election.
Has key managed two election bribes from one policy?
“The Government is moving to increase the number of Pacific workers who can come into the country under the regional season employment (RSE) scheme.
Prime Minister John Key said a small increase was on the cards, partly driven by the likely return of Fiji to the scheme if it went ahead with democratic elections.
His comments followed a traditional Ava ceremony at Poutasi village where he was made a matai or chief after his visit to the tsunami-hit village after the devastation there in 2009.
During the ceremony one of the senior villagers thanked him and New Zealand for allowing its workers to come to New Zealand for temporary seasonal jobs.
But he also called on Key to lift the number of places available. ”
Cheap labour for businesses and jobs for pasifika family members
Yep cheap labour of the variety that the neo-lib Tories just love, use em and lose em, once the season they are employed for is over send them packing…
Astonishing, 6% unemployed but more immigrants that will most likely be ending up in seasonal short term work and then on the unemployment benefit. I don’t understand the logic, who is going to pay for that? But maybe it is true that the aim is to have enough unemployed to make sure wages don’t rise.
The main reason will be less about the return to a democratic process in Fiji (sometimes for the betterment of a Country democracy plays 2nd fiddle) but more a favour to another group of National’s donators. Fruit & vegie growers who struggle to get their produce harvested here in New Zeandand. Even the majority of the unemployed balk at such slave labour. I think we have all seen or heard examples of Island Nation people being exploited by scumbag contractor bosses. Of course many of the growers know these vulnerable workers are being exploited, however when confronted by the authorities they deny all knowledge.
Casual/seasonal workers are getting stiffed by this National outfit and things just keep getting worst, like the new 80 hour employment law change that ‘another group’ of donators have got rammed thru parliament. Yip those bloody dirty dairy farmers.
“Bracanov later reappeared in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He has been remanded on bail until late August for a case-review hearing.
Outside court he said his grudge against John Banks began when he was fined $10,000 for throwing a bucketful of horse manure at a car carrying King Juan Carlos of Spain in the late 1980s.
Banks was minister of police when Bracanov was fined.
“He should not have charged me so much … the law is not for the people,” he said.
In 1994, Bracanov was convicted of disorderly behaviour after spraying air freshener as he rushed at Prince Charles who was on a royal walkabout at Auckland’s Viaduct Basin.
Banks also allegedly cut Bracanov off when he was making a point on a Radio Pacific show in 1997 that Banks was hosting.
Bracanov said it was important to throw the manure in public so people would get the point.”
This is getting stupid, i make 3 comments this morning, they don’t appear, i check later and all 3 have appeared and i make another comment that appears,
Then another 2 comments that don’t,
Is this a ”novel” form of censorship, or, just the computers viewing my comments as spam,???…
[lprent: It is the server and not just you. I can’t see any reason for it. At present I’m simply turning off possible causes one at a time and then seeing if anything else gets trapped. If it does I move to the next possible cause. It is a slow way of debugging, but there really isn’t any other way. It started on sunday. ]
No offence taken here Tracey. I’m well use to rough and tumble and didn’t feel under attack, but ta anyway.
Being unemployed stinks and having to deal with the ss makes it even worse. I’m glad you’re in a position to avoid that certain ‘pleasure’.
Still don’t think I should have kept my mouth shut and thus my job, so no regrets here. I’m just pleased I avoided the 13 week stand down and only had the 3 weeks without money – That would have been extra harsh.
Mercy, lord have mercy, you will have to ask Phillip to put up His link to Doctor Tashkin He supplied the other week as part of His other little crusade, dope,
And dope it was as Doctor Tashkin Oops pointed out that the miracle cures as expounded had all been arrived at by inflicting various cancers on animals and then pumping them full of dope….
just seen john ‘shifty’ key pretending to be enjoying himself in Samoa. anyway he should know that the all-blacks do not want to play in Samoa or other P.I. nations because the locals just want to bash them up for the hell of it. But I guess he knows better.sacrificing an all Blacks career for a few votes is really his style.
Prof Colin Campbell discovered that by adding animal/dairy to cancer cells in a petrie dish caused them to grow, adding plant products did not. My understanding of tamoxifen is that it will cause cancer of the reproductive organs so am surprised Jane Plant is using this. Many years ago I gave a friend with breast cancer Prof Plant’s book Your Life in your Hands. Unfortunately she couldnt give up meat and dairy and died 2 years later. Is meat and dairy worth dying for, I just dont get it.
I dont know the answer to that but it seems it will dramatically cut your risk of reproductive cancers by avoiding meat/dairy and having a healthy diet. Some vegans can have a diet very high in junk food so not sure where they sit with health stats.
Dr John McDougall has many testimonials on his website where people with chronic disease have recovered on a vegan diet.
So true. For my auto-immune illness, advice over the years about diets that will definitely cure me (and I’m sure people with cancer have had similar advice about absolutely proven cures) include:
Gelatine diet
Avoid all citrus
Avoid wheat
Go completely gluten free
Avoid refined carbs
Avoid all carbs
Go on the ‘caveman’ diet
Avoid red meat
Avoid all meat
Go vegetarian
Avoid all dairy
Go vegan
Have more probiotic foods
Go totally organic
Eat more chilli (avoid chilli)
Have more ginger / turmeric
Have more foods with omega3 / chondritin / glucosamine
Have cinnamon every morning
Have apple cider and manuka honey every morning
The latest was avoid foods of the solanine family (potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum etc).
Most have amazingly straightforward and superficially believable logic around them.
Recently I heard that soaking raisins in gin and have a spoonful each morning is the answer.
I’m quite liking the idea of this last one instead of a cup of tea (which is to be avoided) 😉
“But you’ve found that diet can have a major effect on how ill you are, right?”
No.
Edit: Obviously for so-called lifestyle diseases and general well-being a good diet is important. In terms of reducing auto-immune symptoms? No, diet doesn’t seem to have an effects (with the exception of ensuring I don’t have iron-deficiency anaemia).
Absolutely. I’m not arguing that a diet that supplies people all the nutrients they need and limits foods that contain damaging compounds doesn’t make them feel better. Otherwise we may as well all go choose our favourite junk food and live on that.
I should have stuck with my original ‘no’ answer to cv 😉
A problem with this chronic disease is that the disease (not dietary deficiency) can cause anaemia and then this in turn can have knock on effect of increasing the disease activity that is already present, and will remain after the anaemia is resolved.
It’s a new and very expensive drug that I can’t get in NZ that cured the very serious anaemia within a month after years of enduring it. Now I just make sure I get dietary sources of iron and reduce iron-stripping compound from products like tea (it’s all those polyphenol anti-oxidants). With the anaemia under control because the drug works on the cause of the original chronic illness, this dietary effect is enough to keep it that way, where it wasn’t enough before, that’s all.
The intention of that list was to indicate why dietary advice which is apparently well-meaning, is confusing and may be rejected. It’s not that people don’t want to get better. I get quite tired of people telling me that their diet will ‘fix’ me. I don’t think they realise how many, often conflicting, dietary ‘cures’ are out there.
Aside the errant nonsense about extrapolating petri dish experiments to making inferences about human diets, let me clarify what tamoxifen does – it’s an anti-oestrogen. It’s used in treating breast cancer that is oestrogen sensitive. If you reduce the oestrogen levels, the cancer growth rate is slowed. Combined with anticancer drugs or radiation, this increases survival rates.
It’s not too hard to check your understanding before you make statements like the above – wikipedia is a quick google away: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamoxifen
And this arises out of its anti-androgen effect, and is also true of what, every oestrogen based contraception? Tamoxifen has demonstrated benefits greatly outweighing its risks, and it’s plain irresponsible to be running around bagging it while you’re on a drugs-are-bad-veganism-is-good kick.
Doubt it. WP’s body of work was on how traditional cultures had such excellent oral health due to their diets, which included meat and dairy (although meat and dairy in quite different forms than what we eat today).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11266341
How can someone be convicted for accepting a bribe and yet from this article no one be found guilty of offering?
“Ping Ma and his wife, Jianping Shen, were convicted of accepting bribes and jailed for 13 and five years in prison respectively for obtaining $375,000 through the real estate deals.”
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Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
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“..Paul Krugman Utterly Destroys Inequality Deniers – and Piketty’s Critics..
..Columnist lays bare the real motivation for denying the obvious economic reality..”
http://www.alternet.org/economy/paul-krugman-utterly-destroys-inequality-deniers-and-pikettys-critics
Please forward to Key and English.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10052733/PM-John-Key-defends-equality-after-protest
I would like to see a journalist ask John Key to his face if he is ‘relaxed’ and ‘comfortable’ with New Zealand’s level of inequality.
Not if inequality has gone up or down during his tenure but the actual state of inequality, right now, in the country as he perceives it.
Journalists like that don’t exist as they work for Fearfax and other big corporates.
True Paul.
Tim Groser trying to defend the government’s failure to tackle climate change on RNZ. Failing.
Espiner asked him 2 or 3 decent questions.
Yep Paul I thought Espiner was good this AM hassling Groser.
But this is the first time he has been good-maybe someone has given him a rocket about being even-handed? It is his job after all.
hasn’t the excuse from national always been:..’we can’t do anything until others do’..
..well..now that obama is ‘doing something’..
..what will be their bullshit excuse to just-do-nothing! now..?
slight correction. Obama is saying he will do something… And lil johnny key will trot along behind him.
(my comment on the rightwing ratbags in labour..moaning about internet/mana..)
(ed:..i mean..goff/shearer/hipkins..?
..ya gotta laff..!..eh..?..
..those rightwingers in labour are probably terrified labour might get bullied into being a real ‘labour party’..
..not neo-lib/rand-ite/total sellouts of the poor – that the goff/shearer/hipkins coven wd rather be.)
..i am actually starting to get the real shits about/with labour..
..’plonkers’ like davis..(‘sgt schultz’..?)
..labor now against a carbon-taxing scheme they once supported..?
..the ‘we will win all maori-seats!’-bullshit..
..the list goes on and on..
..i’m about the point where i want to see their vote collapse..
..and those voters to turn to the greens/internet/mana..
..as the only ‘left’ parties offering any real change..
..labour just want more of the fucken same..
..but with them in charge..
..fuck them..!
+100 phillip ure…like an old oligarchy some Labour MPs have a sense of entitlement
…it seems to be inherent in human nature that some because of where they areor to whom they were born , feel that they can lord it over others
…and this condition is not restricted to the Right wing…it is found in the Left as well…and it usually comes in the guise of ‘holier than thou’ or keeping the Left movement pure…ie i am purer than thou , i am fighting to keep us pure, i am the bastion of purity, only I keep the code and know the True path
….in actual fact it is a form of self righteous fundamentalism and it is an inherently undemocratic frame of mind born of a privileged psyche…i am better than thou because of who i am
….bollocks!
….it has led to all sorts of crimes against humanity
Whilst never being one to give support to mumblefu*k and buttkiss, I’m not seeing right wing in any thing they’ve written. Are you sure you’re not just a little blinkered there mr ure? Maybe a little sleep still stuck around the eyes? Maybe just an ultra fanboy?
Goff ‘‘pure political opportunism’’, citing his previous donations to ACT MP John Banks, now the subject of a court case. ‘‘He wants to be able to influence and control politicians.’’
Goff ‘‘very critical’’ of National for exploiting MMP and failing to implement recommendations from the Electoral Commission to abolish the provision. ‘‘I’m scarcely likely to endorse another rort …I’m being entirely consistent,’’ ‘‘It will be the decision of the party leadership…but I see problems in creating a coalition where the philosophies and principle of people that you are trying to enter into a coalition with is unclear because they seem to be coming from diametrically opposed positions.’’
Shearer also used the social media site to write that although he wished the Internet-Mana ‘‘marriage’’ well, he knew ‘‘it’s going to end badly.’’
Hipkins ‘‘The good old days, when political parties formed from movements. Now all it takes is a couple of million and some unprincipled sellouts.’’
Contemptible.
Where is Labour’s “purity” and “principle” where it matters – in representing the interests of the most disadvantaged 20 percent? Allegedly Labour’s core constituency, but they are more than happy to throw them under the bus to further their own personal interests and ambitions.
Principle my arse, they disgust me.
NO ONE in ANY party or in ANY group of parties can effect ANY change in ANYTHING one desires UNLESS there is at least 50% of support from THE VOTERS. Elementary maths and elementary politics.
Ask yourself if you prefer to shuffle the progressive votes sideways and possibly lose the election or grow the vote and more possibly win the election for the progressive block?
The interminable exchanges in the columns of The Standard over David Shearer. And now he is revealed; a right faction bag man as suspected. Labour has had years to get its act together (no pun etc) since Clark handed the electorate Goff. Her departure was the time to democratise the party not anoint a successor.
Labour has had years to come up with super at 67, retaining the Reserve Bank Act and not removing GST from fruit and veg. Sure they have policy on CGT and asset sales etc but as Phillip alludes to seem determined to lose the election by not using MMP strategy to any extent let alone fully.
Meanwhile IMP has organised in mere months to bring something to politics that seems to have attracted support already. And no, mere cash cannot buy that type of experience and ability. Kiwibank, paid parental leave and banishing youth rates were Alliance initiatives which Labour grudgingly accepted. At least there is now political room for everyone to the left of National, but the fact is Key will not be denied a third term without an outbreak of strategic co-operation on the left.
The friendly Labour people that comment here will not like the ear bashing they are getting but the real life implications of a 3 term dirty filthy tory government are getting literally too much to bear for many of us.
“..but the real life implications of a 3 term dirty filthy tory government are getting literally too much to bear for many of us..”
..+ 1..
I’ve been at that point for some time. Best thing that could happen to this country is a Greens led government.
QFT
I agree totally. What’s the point of Supporting Labour? Because they seemed not to have realised that that the LEFT Block can win the election. But Labour alone can lose the fucking thing!
So what Goff, Hipkins, Mallard, Davis and Shearer are really saying is…
By Martyn Bradbury / June 3, 2014
“This flexing of muscles and direct challenge to Cunliffe’s leadership is occurring while Labour’s factions thrash out the Party list. This sudden feigned political morality sounds more like the realisation of how far they’re dropping in that list…..
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/06/03/so-what-goff-hipkins-mallard-davis-and-shearer-are-really-saying-is/
Bradbury would say that, wouldn’t he? Definitely a tool, but at least we know who’s using him now.
who is using Bradbury now? ( who has used him before?)…and why is he a tool?.
…he makes a lot of sense to me
For real? As far as I’m concerned he lost credibility ages ago, and certainly, since he took dotcom’s shilling.
shit allen..!
..you must be really dark on national..
..and their spending $2.5 million to lie their way to winning the last election..
..for national to moan about ‘money influencing politics’..
..is beyond fucken irony…
Of course I’m dark on national, I’m an age old left winger from last century, growing up in thatcher’s Britain, working class, when working class was the lowest of the low, before they invented the underclass.
What is your point? Apart from inferring right wing in the comments from Vance’s stuff page on three social media comments by Goff, DS and buttkiss where there is none.
@The Allen..so you are anti Laila Harre , Hone Harawira and the Mana/ Internet Party ….and you believe Martyn Bradbury is being used by Dotcom…..interesting
….i wonder where you are coming from?….care to elucidate
Certainly against the internet party, Harre was okay, but has lost a little of my respect in siding up to kim, Hone’s alright as far as leaders of 1% minority parties go.
“and you believe Martyn Bradbury is being used by Dotcom…..interesting”
And you think he’s not?
Quite frankly i dont think Bomber Bradbury is anyone’s tool….and he makes up his own mind….and like many many other New Zealanders he wants a Left coalition government……No I dont think Martyn Bradbury is being used by Dotcom!
“Interference in the Kim Dotcom case?”
By Martyn Bradbury / June 2, 2014
“One of the worst lies being perpetrated by the mainstream media and Government mouthpieces is that Kim Dotcom has funded a political party to interfere in his extradition case…..
The sheer double standards being applied in this lie are remarkable because from the very first day, this Government have interfered with the Kim Dotcom case. The Campbell Live timeline establishes the process with which this interference has taken place and we now wait on the Snowden revelations and KDCs own evidence to fill in the details.
On top of the unseen political interference, we now have public statements by senior members of the Government cheerleading their lawyers into ‘nailing’ Kim Dotcom…
Screen Shot 2014-06-02 at 7.41.14 am
…how is what Bill English is saying here not interfering in the judicial process? Publicly hoping his Government’s lawyers nail someone before the court case has even been heard? How is that double standard allowed to go unchallenged by the mainstream media? Is English putting pressure on the prosecution the way Maurice Williamson tried to heavy the NZ Police into protecting one of National’s donors?
So let’s just get this straight in terms of the mainstream media narrative here, when the National Party instigates interference, it is not interference. When Opposition Parties question the level of National Party interference, THAT IS political interference.
Unbelievable.”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/06/02/interference-in-the-kim-dotcom-case/
“Quite frankly i dont think Bomber Bradbury is anyone’s tool”
No, he’s just a tool
If a right winger like you does not like him, then that’s a sign he’s making the correct choices.
+1
But I am not a right-winger, I’m a green voter.
What does it mean when a left winger like myself also thinks Bradbury is a tool?
If a right winger like you does not like him, then that’s a sign he’s making the correct choices.
Pure nonsense. If this was an example of political interference then the opposition should hound Bill English till he resigns.
Well if you say so gosman, it must be true.
Do you think there will be any opposition taking up this serious abuse of democracy then?
+1
+1 Chook
Bomber bashing is a popular sport it seems, he deserves much praise imo.
Instrumental in The Daily Blog, second only to The Standard in left politics. Critics should try running a blog and sorting all the technical issues never mind the torrent of nutters that free of charge blather on.
And Bomber has a guest column in a prominent msm newspaper The NZ Herald, which should see Bradury banisher Jim Morar choking on his croissant on Sundays.
“Bomber bashing is a popular sport it seems”
Because he is a sanctimoniousness and dishonest windbag
@ The Contrarian…well if you say so from the Right wing …this adds to his credentials imo
Right-wing? I’m a green voter you muppet.
Tory swine.
Contrarian
Indeed? Yet your first comment when you came off ban in May stated:
I don’t disagree with everything you type, but it’s hard to square that comment with your being a committed Green Party supporter.
As the election creeps closer my decision becomes clearer.
If an election were held today I would vote Green.
Right wing people can vote GP, it’s not against the rules. I’m sure you are not the only one TC.
Lots of people voted GP party vote and chose a National candidate for their electorate MP, not a Labour one.
Apparently the Greens are going for soft Tories like you now. Or so states Mr Bradbury.
so, he and hoots should be the left and right commentators. Different side of the same coin
Tiger Mountain…Agreed !…Bradbury is a positive and articulate force for the Left imo…hence this:
“Brothers and Sisters – the Left are never going to get it this good – why you must vote this election”
By Martyn Bradbury / June 3, 2014
“We don’t want to just replace a Government, we want to change it
….The righteous cynicism many voters feel is matched by an intellectual existential Russel Brand mantra that legitimises apathy. Those are difficult arguments to overcome when so many political examples jade us election after election.
That’s why I think the possibility of a Labour-Green-Internet MANA majority should thrill any genuine progressive throughout NZ and call on their involvement.
What I think many still fail to grasp about MMP is that it’s one of the most representative democratic systems in the world and that every vote counts, and in this election there is the real possibility that the most progressive Government this country has ever seen may be the result and with that kind of majority comes the real ability to implement policy that is socially just and environmental.
Cynicism shouldn’t cloud our judgement, it should sharpen it.
A Labour-Green-Internet MANA majority is a genuinely exciting prospect, and one that progressives would be foolish to ignore if they really want to see the back of John Key….
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/06/03/brothers-and-sisters-the-left-are-never-going-to-get-it-this-good-why-you-must-vote-this-election/.
“A Labour-Green-Internet MANA majority is a genuinely exciting prospect, and one that progressives would be foolish to ignore if they really want to see the back of John Key”
That’s bollocks. Like you only want to see the back of key if you vote for dotcom or you’re not progressive.
Well, I’m totally exited by the prospect of a Green Labour government as it’s one that progressives would be foolish to ignore if they really want to see the back of John Key.
Now rip that government to bits and show your left credentials… But only if you’re not taking the $8k pay cheque.
That’s bollocks. Like you only want to see the back of key if you vote for dotcom or you’re not progressive.
That is a pretty poor reading of what Bradbury was saying.
I’m o.k with a Labour and Green government – however you would be hard-pushed to convince me that having Mana and the Internet party involved wouldn’t make it more progressive. It seems to me that this is one of the points Martyn is making.
It is pretty obvious that you could vote for either one of those 4 parties and still be progressive and want National out – Mana or the Internet party, however, are included in the options of parties you can vote for to achieve those ends and dismissing them out of hand is to ignore these two parties capacity to achieve the end of ousting National and having a more progressive government.
This is the meaning I got out of Bradbury’s article. I think that ‘vote for Dotcom or you are supporting the Nats’ is neither a fair nor accurate reading of the article – it is ridiculous understanding to read from that article.
“Rob Salmond nails it. Bomber is going a bit nuts and demonstrating his grasp of reality in politics.”
“GREG PRESLAND’S… SAYS:
3 JUNE, 2014 – 10:52
Bomber should stick to real estate.”
Happy to defer to these two fine examples of left wing bloggers. 🙂
[It was not me. It is some troll who managed to get their comment approved using my name. For the record I enjoy Bomber’s passion and determination. Give me one Bomber for a thousand intellectual lefties decrying the current state of left wing politics any day – MS]
‘Fine articles’ ??
You are happy simply to cite an ‘article’ that provides no reasoning – rather just draws similar conclusions to your own sans reasoning? That leaves you highly open to being manipulated and manipulating others. This approach doesn’t hold water with me.
( I suggest you go and read my comment on that thread if you wish to find further out about what view I take toward Salmond’s article..)
You haven’t addressed the points I made. How do you get ‘vote for dotcom or else’ out of Bradbury’s article?
“‘Fine articles’ ??”
Actually it was “fine examples of left wing bloggers”
You think 2 ‘examples of blogging’ that diss another leftwing blogger and provide no reasoning are ‘fine examples of left wing bloggers’.
Heck, if your definition of left-wing is mindless divisiveness/attack – then fair enough. Sounds more like a right-wing framing of the leftwing, though, if you asked me. (You didn’t? oh…. 🙂 )
“You think 2 ‘examples of blogging’ that diss another leftwing blogger and provide no reasoning are ‘fine examples of left wing bloggers’.”
Just my opinion, but if I have to give a caveat, I’ll say I’ve always found their posts, comments and blogs to be informative, articulate and mostly they resonate in a positive manner.
“Sounds more like a right-wing framing of the leftwing”
Which doesn’t say much about your comprehension, if you ask me (even though you didn’t).
“Sounds more like a right-wing framing of the leftwing”
Which doesn’t say much about your comprehension, if you ask me (even though you didn’t).
What?
That the two provided articles weren’t simply two comments sounding off about someone else’s opinion without any reasons provided
or that the right-wing framing of the definition of left-wing is mindless divisiveness/attack?
I’m beginning to think that rightwing framing isn’t to far from the truth; it appears there are plenty on the left who can’t tell the difference between analysis/ raising discussion points/cooperation and ad hominem put-downs…. 🙁
“I’m beginning to think that rightwing framing isn’t to far from the truth”
Are you saying I’m right wing framing the left?
“it appears there are plenty on the left who can’t tell the difference between analysis/ raising discussion points/cooperation and ad hominem put-downs””
Congratulations on being the only lefty in the village 😆
…what a cheeky smart-arse Al1ien you turned out to be….
( 🙂 )
“…what a cheeky smart-arse Al1ien you turned out to be….”
😉
“It was not me. It is some troll who managed to get their comment approved using my name.”
That’s pretty poor stuff on their part, but I still stand by the compliment.
“Give me one Bomber for a thousand intellectual lefties decrying the current state of left wing politics any day”
I’d accept half a bomber for the bottom drawer or back of the wardrobe.
p.s. I apologise for spelling your name wrong Al1en, that was an error.
p.s.s Oh dear, another one bites the dust; that means there is only one person you can cite as ‘fine examples of left wing bloggers’ [who diss another very active left-winger] …ah well, better luck next time, smarty pants 😉
“p.s. I apologise for spelling your name wrong Al1en, that was an error.”
No apology needed.
“p.s.s Oh dear, another one bites the dust; that means there is only one person you can cite as ‘fine examples of left wing blogger”
I still think MS is a fine left wing blogger.
“smarty pants”
I go commando like Kate, so smart arse was right in the first place 😉
as opposed to
Nats
Unclecousin
For every willing buyer theres a willing martyr
I will pay for the right to hit my children when and where they like
No wonder hoots is spinning on radio this morning.
Chooky
“Bradbury is a positive and articulate force for the Left”; I do agree, but he is also not without faults. Chief of which is to let a nice turn of phrase trump factual accuracy.
Though Tiger Mountain is almost too restrained to call him; “Instrumental in The Daily Blog, second only to The Standard in left politics”. As, on top of editing, he damned near writes half of it (though more in publishing a large number of pithy short articles, than the longer more thoughtful pieces). TDB gets more page views than TS, and that’s after just over a year of its existence (though admittedly a lot may be just looking at the Daily Gallery or other click-bait).
Bomber ‘advertises’ on facebook regularly too which gets eyeballs. I like his sawn off shottie style word smithing, there are plenty of paragraph polishers around and they get it wrong too sometimes e.g. Pundit.
According to Mr Bradbury the Daily Blog is better than The Standard in terms of it’s popularity.
Isn’t that one of your arguments for Slater’s sewer?
I like to think they complement each other. Every writer at the Standard brings different knowledge and networks with them. And a great depth and diversity of writers at “The Daily Blog”, not all of whom are regular contributors, plus it is sponsored by several old fashioned blue collar unions. It must have something going for it, with even herr Gosman patronising it.
+100 Tiger Mountain.. re the Standard and the Daily Blog: “I like to think they complement each other”.
There are some heavy weight Lefties on the Daily Blog eg Jane Kelsey and Nicky Hager…not to mention the regulars
….you dont have to agree with them all the time …in fact i frequently disagree but to completely dis Martyn Bradbury is stupid or worse!
“This sudden feigned political morality sounds more like the realisation of how far they’re dropping in that list…..”
All have safe seats. If they’re being de-selected and put on the list, then that would be a story.
Then they had better work bloody hard to get re-elected then.
Why does Labour let Bill English get away with pushing this nett taxpayer nonsense?
http://admin.beehive.govt.nz/release/significant-income-redistribution-after-tax-reforms
http://admin.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Net_Tax_Paid_by_Households,_estimated_for_the_tax_year_ending_31_March_2015.png
The man is Minister of finance and he’s presenting misleading accounts. Surely Labour have someone who can do maths and work out the statistics properly?
For those wondering; for accounting purposes all welfare beneficiaries are counted as taxpayers and Crown tax receipts include tax on welfare payments. At the end of March 2013, 310,000 working-age people were receiving a main benefit. They are included in those figures on ‘nett taxpayers’
I don’t know the exact figures but if we assume an average benefit of around $20k before tax it would make up $6.2 billion of the “transfers received” in English’s chart and less than $1billion of the tax paid…. all in the lower income households groups.
Main benefits are not a redistribution of wealth from rich to poor. Every (working) taxpayer pitches in for those. But because benefits are low the welfare beneficiaries show up in the low income households in English’s chart and paint a completely false and misleading picture of taxpayers. That has nothing to do with redistribution, it is entirely down to the amount of their benefits.
As for English crowing about those on $150k+ paying more of the tax. Well in 2008 there were 203,000 households earning $150k+ and now there’s 249,000. Not exactly a surprise that group is paying more tax is it.
I find it quite disturbing that a Minister of Finance propagates such misleading financial information. He is supposed to be the country’s top accountant. It’s also a bit worrying that the opposition don’t seem to have anyone competent enough with numbers to figure out where it’s all wrong.
All they have to say is
Bill english is misleading people again, and hand out a brief fact sheet stating as you have. Dont waste time explaining it, make the short statement, and do it over and over again.
Its what national does, but without any supporting fact sheet. For obvious reasons
The “net tax payer” thing is a Right Wing think tank meme out of the USA.
“Dont waste time explaining it, make the short statement, and do it over and over again.”
I don’t think anyone in Labour has actually figured it out. Rob from Polity is the only person I’ve seen digging into it but he hasn’t picked up the most egregrious misuse of statistics either.
An obvious flaw is that no tax system has ever worked on income bands like that. English is claiming that each person’s share of the welfare bill is what people in their own income band are receiving. Those on $250k+ received an average of only $43.75 in transfers so English says their share of the welfare bill is $43.75 each.
Except all that $250K+ is an economic transfer from the society to their household…
“Except all that $250K+ is an economic transfer from the society to their household…”
Maybe, but that wasn’t my point. Even the rabid right would propose that every (working) taxpayer pays at least an equal share of the welfare bill. We’re all pitching in to pay for benefits, it’s not a rich/poor thing.
Divide gross transfers by total households and that comes to $5574 per household. English says those households on $250k+ only need to pay $43.75 as their share of welfare benefits…. when it should be at least $5574 even to the rabid right.
“Why does Labour let Bill English get away with pushing this nett taxpayer nonsense?”
Because David Parker is hopeless. He can not articulate himself or the left. I have never heard him and been convinced with the arguments he is making (even when I agree with him sometimes).
Contrast Parker with Norman. Russell is on point, talks to the interviewer (rather than looking all around the room like Parker does) and is often difficult to argue against because he has all his ducks in a row.
Parker is Labour’s weak link this election. Cunliffe needs to carry the burden of having Parker on the front bench.
this is a 13 min tour de force from oliver..
..on the subject of net-neutrality..
..a subject/topic he describes as being as boredom-inducing..
.. as the words:
..’and featuring sting’..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/02/john-oliver-net-neutrality-last-week-tonight_n_5431215.html?ref=topbar
John Oliver doing a lot of good work.
The death penalty in the US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kye2oX-b39E
Misleading Labeling of Food Products
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JLxHgsEjzw
Tony Abbott
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3IaKVmkXuk
Re Misleading Labeling of Food Products: Yes Paul and just last night I was yelling at the adverts on TV making all sorts of unsubstantiated claims for health and beauty. How come they can get away with these claims and not have to prove value at all. Just wheel in a sportsman, or a filmstar or a “scientist”. After all they must know a thing or two about stuff. Trust them? Sure can. In NZ it is cowboy country.
Yup.
Can’t have any p.c. nonsense here, can we?
Voters want to know that Labour will form a stable relationship with the Greens.
The enemy is not the Greens or IMP (get that, ABCs?) Spending too much time differentiating yourselves from those who should/will be your allies is not only pissing off your allies, but believe me, it is turning away potential voters.
The Labour Party will gain more votes by being supportive of the Green’s carbon credit scheme. Dairy Farmers, who will oppose this policy, would NEVER vote for Labour even if Labour supported the current flawed ETS scheme.
Voters KNOW that Labour will not be able to govern on its own. They know that if they vote Labour they will get a Labour-Green Government (and probably IMP.)
The media love the in-fighting which makes a Party look disorganised and directionless. More common ground (like the Labour-Green electricity policy) is needed, not “differentiation” which is going to have to be compromised to some degree, after the election anyway.
This election is not about who wants to be Minister for what in the new Cabinet. Members of the Labour caucus need to put the people living in poverty first, before their own personal ambitions.
+100
Right wing Labour members of caucus threatening to undermine all the progress made by bold Green policies and great strategic plans by the IP and Mana.
Always wonder who these ABCs are Tautoko. Seems that some here “invent” some fresh “evidence” but do you think the Labour Caucus is stupid? The Greens and the Labourites are united in the need to be rid of the Key Misgovernment. As are the IMPs. So why don’t you help with a non-divisive front?
So, how many joint press conferences have Labour and Green MPs held on any policy issues or debates in the last 6 months? None? That’s showing a “united” front is it?
Ummm. Just read http://imperatorfish.com/2014/06/03/how-to-win-an-election/ where he quotes some of the Hitchens/Davis/Goff comments. The buggers must be mad. Attack Key not IMP. Idjits!
ianmac..so true.”inventing ” ‘fresh evidence’ ” is prevalent.
Labour appears totally split and putting up the pension age is the only policy they have that sticks in anybody’s mind.
Other parts of the left have convinced themselves that demonstrating they are just as cynical as the right is a brilliant strategy for bringing on board disillusioned voters.
National is awful in just about every way.
Peters has always been flaky.
The dodgy Maori Party is dying.
The Greens continue their march to the right under Russel’s guidance.
As a libertarian socialist I have always had some sympathy for anarchists ideals but ultimately rejected their theory because I couldn’t understand how a transition could occur without a socialist government to manage it.
But faced with the choices we have I do feel a kind of despair in the possibility of the sort of major changes required happening through our parliamentary system.
A transition process could occur over a 5 year timeframe. Yes you would need a government and bureaucracy in Wellington willing to devolve their power and control over budgets and spending. (unlikely I know).
The process would consist of empowering transparent local community based organisations and grassroots community self-government, as well as democratising SMEs (ordinary workers get to choose their bosses, get to decide on the major business decisions, have worker representatives on the boards of directors). Significant assets across the country would be transferred into community owned trusts and worker owned co-ops. Consumers would be given a clear choice between spending their money at a big foreign corporate or giving their custom to a locally owned and run business.
The end results of this are solutions which come from the community, profits owned by workers, and a Wellington structure more focused on strategic nationwide co-ordination.
Corey Dann, a preacherman for the religion of neoliberalism.
No evidence can turn his faith.
He is a true believer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11266258
This is how you say sweatshop.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11266600
A democratic message from New Zealand’s extreme right.
‘Shut up.’
Why? Are the neoliberal elite scared people might listen?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11266262
I don’t think passers-by would take notice of a chap talking quietly about his point of view Bob. Not much chance of the MSM reporting quiet protest. So if you believe in a cause shout it out.
Jones is more concerned that wealthy Parnell residents might have their peace disturbed for a few hours than for the victims of drone attacks.
Breathtaking.
From wikipedia.
“Jones………..formed the short-lived libertarian New Zealand Party in 1983, just before Robert Muldoon’s snap 1984 election. Jones explicitly stated his disgust that the supposedly pro-free-enterprise National Party of New Zealand had implemented socialist polices like price and wage freezes, and a top tax rate of 66%. His party acted as a spoiler, helping to deliver the government to the New Zealand Labour Party. Then, surprisingly for an ostensibly socialist party, this implemented free market reforms under Finance Minister Roger Douglas (hence Rogernomics). When the election was over, Jones disbanded the party, seeing that Labour had implemented many of his policies.”
Complicit then in the heist that occurred in the 1980s.
bob jones should be a swear phrase, just add an! when you say it
Bob Jones telling John Minto to shut up.
Chris Trotter telling Kelvin Davis to shut up.
What is happening to the idea of free speech and tolerance of opposing voices and views?
Any view genuinely opposing the neo-liberal doctrine is suppressed in NZ.
jones has ‘lost it’..
..he is bouncing off the walls..
They do seem a little rattled – are they petrified of the thought of John Minto in parliament?
John Key branding young people “cynical” too. Bit of a mistake I think.
Listening this morning to Radionz and discussion about how tourists find driving on our roads difficult, it was interesting to hear the hostility to ideas for trying to prevent this. Mild suggestions for some new methods were pooh-poohed and I feel that this represents much of NZs thinking, to find negatives immediately, exaggerate difficulties, scorn the suggestion, show reluctance to consider and examine new ideas that could ameliorate or solve present problems.
This is why we are wallowing nationally, with dull, prejudiced minds finding group think with similar others reinforces their own impaired thinking and problem solving lack of ability.
An example from this morning. There was a suggestion about multi-lingual signs at certain spots from Dog & Lemon Guide guy who seems switched on and thoughtful. The journalist taking part scorned this and exaggerated the extent of languages needed to probably 150, which of course would not be the number. She therefore could not think lucidly, really not think at all.
Police spoke also, dissed new ideas and pointed out that a few things had already been done like the arrows on the roads at certain spots.
Listen to the editor of the Dog and Lemon Guide Clive Matthew-Wilson and motoring journalist Jacqui Madelin debate the issues.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/246095/safety-research-to-focus-on-tourists
Mathew-Wilson was right about judder bars at Stop intersections. But putting Stop in lots of different languages isn’t going to help.
Madelin was right about more arrows on the road indicating drive on the left. I have mistakenly driven on the left in Spain and after returning form Europe driven on the right here.
My mantra whenever driving in Europe was, “Drive on the Right! Give Way on the Left! Drive on the Right…..” My fear was that if distracted or careless my habits of a lifetime would kick in and I would start on the left. Horror! So sorry for the Dutch driver. I could make a mistake like that.
For heaven’s sake, ianmac. Europeans drive on the right, but they still give way to the right, just as we do. Which is why their roundabouts are ridiculous. They do NOT give way to the left. You may well be lucky that you did not land up not in that poor Dutchman’s position!
Thanks In Vino. Just looked it up and it seems there are variations and it is unclear and different European countries have different rules. In Croatia and in the Emirates I drove very carefully and gave way to the left when entering a roundabout. But it seems that in some countries any car entering a roundabout has right of way over the car already in the roundabout. Go figure. Giveway and Stop signs still the same as here. Will look a bit harder tomorrow.
So here’s a simple idea. Maybe they already do it since I’ve never rented a car I would’t know.
Put on the dashboard, prominent to the driver, stickers saying “Keep left, drive on the left side. Look right at intersections”.
Her point about it being worst when you’ve been driving around already for a while and in a moment of inattention you get it wrong – having stickers on the dashboard would help to remind people.
those stickers are already in place in rentals Lanthanide
I’ve always considered that the position of the steering wheel should be the dead giveaway as to which side to drive on because the steering wheel should always be next to the centre line.
True, but people spend large amounts of driving in a dissociated state. Think about the trip you just did and how much detail you actually remember, esp if you were listening to the radio or thinking about something important. This is normal. In those situations the body’s memory has more influence on what happens ie we drive by rote. If we are used to driving on one side of the road, then that’s what the body memory will default us to in certain situations.
And habit is a killer. If you were taught at 16 to stay on the right side of the road and that’s the way you have been doing it every day for the next 30 years…
The problem of tourist drivers is very real, in the parts of the country they frequent. Just two days before this tragic crash I commented to a truck driver that imo the greatest danger when driving certain highways were tourist drivers ….. coming around a corner and finding some loopy on the wrong side of the road heading straight for you …..
The copper on the tele last night said ” blah blah only 6% are tourists … blah blah”. Well, actually 6% is a significant number. And when you look closely that 6% becomes probably something like 20-30% in the parts of NZ concerned….
Try driving the west coast highway, McKenzie country, southland or central Otago, pretty much anywhere rural and touristy in the South Island. In the last 12 months I have personally witnessed two tourists driving on the wrong side of the road – it took a great deal of horn-tooting and light-flashing to get them to realise …. all the while on a deadly trajectory.
Only solution is a beeper that goes nuts as soon as the vehicle crosses the centre-line …
this problem is very real
vto
Yes good idea. Another one that Dog&Lemon suggested was a rumble strip in certain places to ensure they kept to the right track.
My idea is that on each rental vehicle there would be a stick-on panel on the windscreen along the right hand bottom showing a highway with dots down the middle and a large white arrow going forward on the left and a large truck in view facing the wheel on the other side. It would be not intrusive on the view forward through the windscreen but be perpetually on the edge of the vision, and once seen then would be constantly reinforcing the message. [Edit I see Lanthanide already suggested this so I just endorse that.]
Also a short recorded message could play when the vehicle started after stopping or pausing for a turn, just saying – choose from three languages – ‘Remember keep left.’
Something like the 5 minute video before taking the rental car would be good and it must involve some action to correct something by the driver and needs to be done sucessfully or repeated. I couldn’t care less about the Swedish driver who said he would never come again if asked to do that. Plenty of more responsible people still will do that. It is overlooked that tourists can cost us a lot of money as well as bring it into the economy.
We need to look after them while they are here better than we have in the past, and we need them to look after us better too, so that we can all stay alive and enjoy the mutual experience of meeting new people.
Yep, it needs to be something that activates and gets their attention every time they get in the car …….
….. this is the common scenario as witnessed ….. said tourist has pulled off the south westland highway at a place called Ship Creek, a delightful creek and beach just off the main road between Haast and Fox. Said tourists wander around and enjoy the waves and the tawaki and the seals and blue sky (and sandflies). Soaked in this natural glory, their minds over-relaxed and taken to other places, they pile back in the car and pull out onto the main highway again, straight into the right hand lane and continue in this manner until ……..
kabaam
Yes ingrained habit rises to the fore after a period of relaxation and they do the usual thing without any prompts otherwise, and turn into the right land. We have known this for some time but the government these days does anything of practical value reluctantly. And of course there is the old personal responsibility mantra.
What do you mean “They”, Paleface?
I spent 5 years in Europe. In year 4 I pulled out of a remote country Petrol Station on a straight, empty road. Luckily, I had 3 French passengers in my Kombi. They all screamed, “A droite, à droite!” and I quickly caught on. (I had forgotten where I was..)
A year later I was back in England. From another trivial stop I pulled out onto the road, only to see a truck coming towards me. I quickly corrected to the left, but got highly expressive hand signals from the truck driver.
Those are the moments that trap us all – Kiwis included. And don’t get too aggressive about this: in driving on the left we are a tiny minority. Ex British Empire countries (but not Canada) and Japan.
As such a minority, maybe we need to rethink our whole policy, instead of clinging to a lost policy simply because our nearest neighbour (Australia, for the dumbies) also illogically clings to driving on the left.
This is all off topic and likely to be moved to Open Mike?
maybe they should only be allowed to bike?…or drive vehicles that go no more than 20kph
The casino economy.
Just substitute the word speculator for investor.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11266674
+1
Interesting! Chris Barton points out :”Could Judith Collin’s recent outburst on Twitter against press gallery journalist Katie Bradford have seen her prosecuted under the proposed Harmful Digital Communications Bill?
Could the Justice Minister, who has vowed to stomp out cyber bullies – “Your behaviour is not acceptable” – have been hoist on her own petard?”
Lets go with that when the Bill is debated again!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11266589
This was on Fearfacts this morn, with no author attribution or source; does anyone know where it’s come from?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10111559/Today-in-politics-Tuesday-June-3
and who was that numpty who said i was talking shit..
..when i talked about just this the other day..?
So upshot is LH wanted the $148,000 on offer. That’s very principled and progressive of her.
so that was all it took..eh allen..?
..just $148,000..?
..gee..!..her soul was cheap..eh..?
..seriously allen..!..you are so full of shite…!
“so that was all it took..eh allen..? ..just $148,000..?”
So it would appear.
“..gee..!..her soul was cheap..eh..?”
Being on the dole at the moment, I wouldn’t say 148k was cheap, hell, even bombers 8k a week isn’t cheap, but then after paying my low mortgage and utilities (no hp, no loans) I’m left with $60 to buy food for me, my daughter and the cat for the week. Either way, her grab at the cash, seeing she was up for an mp spot and part of the election committee, seems a bit distasteful.
“.seriously allen..!..you are so full of shite…!”
With as much or as little respect as you want to claim, get fucked, nugget 😉
you were that ‘numpty’..weren’t you..?
If you say so mate.
I’m still wondering why people are so upset about a political party supporting their candidates. It’s not as if they can do any other job while they are a candidate.
+1, which skews candidacy towards wealthy people. I’m glad Harre is getting paid and can’t see how this is an issue of integrity at all.
@The Allen …..re “get fucked , nugget” …. and I thought you were a sensitive New Age guy?!?…
….also i doubt Laila Harre has ever been in politics for the money ….she has the smarts and a good law degree to earn considerably more than an MP over the years …but has instead dedicated herself to working for the unions, the Left in general and Left wing political parties in particular
“@The Allen …..re “get fucked , nugget” …. and I thought you were a sensitive New Age guy?!?”
You give it you take it, and being third of five brothers, I’m cool with that. If Phil’s feeling are genuinely hurt, then of course I’ll apologise and refrain from now on.
As for new age, I don’t even know what that means these days. I remember new age first time around, which surely would make me old age new age if anything.
Like the joke about the museum guide telling the tour group the dinosaur bones are 65 million and 12 years old. How can you be so precise? Came the question, well it was 65 million years old when I started working here 12 years ago. Ba dum tish.
if you believe the unsourced statement from stuff. Remember the right dont understand principles. They cant relate to it unless they are using it in a rehearsed line
Just commenting on the story being lauded by phil.
If the story isn’t correct, of course I’ll retract when LH successfully sues for defamation.
But having wrote that, $148k if true, speaks volumes. I wouldn’t be in a rush to apologise.
are you saying that an unsourced statement, unless proven false by defamation proceedings is treated as true, by you?
I’ve said if it’s not accurate, then I’ll retract. In fact, I won’t even wait for the defamation case, I’ll just man up and do it. How’s that?
As an aside, what do you think of it? LH being on the green party election team, possibly on the list, then leaving for the well paid position offered?
I refuse to comment until someone sources it 😉
Fair enough, but I’m sure if it’s incorrect we’ll know about it sooner than later.
To me the comment by Norman is in keeping with what Harre said herself on The Nation:
Transcript:
That might have been quite a while ago and not really relevant to the current situation.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/harre-confirms-she-being-paid-dotcom-and-how-much-ck-157052
“Internet Party leader Laila Harre reveals has revealed she is being a paid back-bench MP salary as leader of the Internet Party
A backbench MP is paid $147,800, plus perks including travel and accommodation expenses plus super.”
Though she states
” But I have to say that there simply wasn’t any discussion at all about personal remuneration for me at any stage during this decision and it just was not a factor in me making up my mind,”
Hmmm
hmmmmm because you cant imagine someone considering taking a position without considering the remuneration or something else.
Harres statement aboce, thank karol, strikes me as the facts so far.
For the record my partner interviewed for a job in 2010. They offered it to her. Twice they rang back to make sure she would do it for what they were offerin, because it was less than she had been on and far less than she was worth. So, people do take jobs for the job, not the money.
I do that fairly routinely. It really is the only way to both keep ahead of the ever changing game and from topping yourself from terminal boredom because you are always doing same things over and over again.
Just at present I’m job-hunting again. Something new is really high on my list of priorities..
Yep. Always go for the job as a priority. I might not have considered a job if it was less than a living wage. But that never happened to me.
No, hmmm because I’m not quite convinced money wasn’t raised, but will give her the benefit of the doubt and take her at her word this time.
“So, people do take jobs for the job, not the money.”
Absolutely they do, have done many times myself.
ditto.
I ended a contract last year for ethical reasons. Am struggling to replace it financially.
ditto.
Except I had a contract ended last month for ethical reasons. Am struggling to replace it .
Sure they do – when they can afford to. Most of the people in this country can’t afford to.
true enough draco.
I have a leaky home rebuild to pay for, and we are now a one income family BUT i recognise that i am still in a very good position compared to most.
My point remains that harre considering the job not the remuneration is entirely possible. I want some decent proof to undo my opinion of her.
“then leaving for the well paid position offered?”
You naturally have some proof for this statement?
I ask because you seem to have ignored the fact that since December, Laila Harre was actually working for the CTU.
“Laila Harre worked for the Green Party for about 18 months, but left in December 2013 to work for the Council of Trade Unions.” – RNZ
As far as resigning from the campaign committee, lots of people have to drop volunteer work to accommodate new professional duties. And being the leader of a new political party is a pretty good reason to stop doing work on another party’s campaign. (if it was a paid gig, I am sure the resignation was done according to the requirements of any agreement) Being a well respected lawyer Laila Harre would surely not have left the Greens in any way but by the book. The Greens you may notice, have not released any information that says they have any concerns with what has transpired from an employment perspective or even on a strategic/intellectual property angle.
(on a related issue…as the Labour Party knows… some people have to take more drastic moves than drop volunteer work to go to a new job. Some people have to drop their volunteer work, such as electorate campaign management, just to have time to find a job so they can feed their kids. For some, working to better their country is a dream they cannot even afford to partake in)
So I can only surmise your issue is the amount Laila Harre is being paid to run a political party. Are you suggesting that the Leader of a new political party that is 100% commited to removing John Key’s government, should only attempt to do so if paid under a particular sum?
Since the stated rate is too high in your opinion, what is an acceptable pay rate for the leader of a political party and all that comes with that?
“The Greens you may notice, have not released any information that says they have any concerns with what has transpired from an employment perspective or even on a strategic/intellectual property angle.”
In fact Turei said outright that she had no concerns about the strategy angle because Harre was a person of integrity.
“I ask because you seem to have ignored the fact that since December, Laila Harre was actually working for the CTU.”
Not ignored, but point accepted.
@ Pasupial
It’s the on-line version of the Dom Post’s Today in Politics column. Which is at top of Page 2 of the newspaper and always anonymous. Presumably penned by Watkins/Small/Vance/Rutherford.or other Fairfax pol journo. And, yeah, no source.
“..Anger as report exposes kitten experiments at top universities..”
“..Claims that animals were paralysed –
had skulls cracked open –
and had electrodes stuck into brains..”
(cont..)
(ed:..and be in no doubt that shit like that happens here in new zealand..)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/anger-as-report-exposes-kitten-experiments-at-top-universities-9474017.html
(..sick/evil-fucks..)
phillip ure …i dont want to read that….and I wont…but I agree with you !
Are wind farms full of 150 meter tall windmills so last centuries technology, if the Invelox wind energy systems are proven to deliver what the inventors say they can then the answer to that question is a big YES,
More on this later and why i totally applaud the Green Party abandoning the ”emissions Trading Scam” with plans to replace that with a ”Carbon tax” while only giving the announced policy a 6 outta 10,
For more on ”Invelox” google:
Invelox wind energy systems,
or,
Sheerwind Minnesota…
It can’t. The formula for energy from wind has been known for decades and nobody has been able to break it yet.
Draco, i laugh out loud, such attitude as the theory has been known for years so it cannot be altered is incredibly, well for want of a word that you wouldn’t see as a direct insult, incredible,
According to the info i garnered off of the Googles i point readers at is the fact that they have working machines that ARE doing just that,
10 K wind in one end 15 K wind out the other, near enough to breaking that Law of thermo-whats-its,
The inventors/makers already have one little town/city signed up to buy the installation,
IF, this proves to be true, it is cheaper per kilowatt hour than current wind-mills, cheaper to maintain, less of a footprint on the landscape, and, probably could be mounted on existing buildings with flat roofs,
i have another interest in this tech as well, it is perfect for furthering technology which would enable CO2 to be removed from the atmosphere on an industrial scale, allowing that CO2 to then be adapted into a burnable gas and in turn be burned in a generator equipped with the full carbon capture tech to generate electricity…
Of course the other ingredient necessary to enable the design and installation of such equipment would be inherent in the price of Carbon as per the Green Party announcement on the weekend,
At $25 a tonne i would suggest the removal and burning of CO2 to create electricity would become a very profitable enterprise…
Sorry it is difficult to chemically extract any more energy out of CO2. It’s a very stable end product which doesn’t release any more heat easily.
No need to be sorry CV, i think you will find that that is just not true, Iceland which generates electricity from Geo-thermal,(their geo-thermal also generates CO2), captures the CO2 and re-burns it in what is pretty much a closed loop system,
The CO2 does have to go through a process to enable it’s combustion but combust it does, it then comes down to a measurement of how much electricity is needed to process the CO2 versus how much electricity the burned CO2 produces…
It seems that they’re not extracting more energy out of CO2 but pumping more energy into it to turn it into methanol.
yep…like getting ethanol from corn…what’s you take into account all the energy inputs from fertiliser, diesel, processing…you’re pretty much close to a stand still. It’s the Red Queen problem: running faster and faster just to stay in the same place.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/508136/ducted-wind-turbines-an-energy-game-changer/
http://phys.org/news/2013-05-sheerwind-invelox-turbine-power.html
When all we have is claim s from the company making them and they’re not allowing outside testing then I’m going to call BS on their claims.
The design looks interesting, but isn’t going to break any laws of thermodynamics. The interesting thing for me is that it can operate at very low wind speeds and is supposedly more efficient than a turbine, although it’s not clear how they made the comparison.
It uses the venturi effect to speed up air where the tube narrows, which means that the pressure goes down. I’m assuming that the higher velocity is an advantage in running the generating turbine more efficiently. They have small working models and it’s always possible that these won’t scale well to bigger sizes. The numerical modelling they have done generally gives an indication of whether something will work or not, but how accurate it is can be another question.
PS I wrote this before I saw 17.1.1.2, but it might as well stay here.
Are wind-farms so last centuries technology, if the inventors of the Invelox wind energy systems are proven correct then i would have to say a big YES to that question,
The capabilities and design of this particular instrument of capturing wind, speeding it up, and using it for the generation of electricity have far greater ramifications in terms of climate than first meets the eye,
The google for a look is:
Sheerwind Minnesota,
or,
Invelox wind energy systems…
Not again, all my comments are disappearing into the ethereal unknown again this morning…
And then, they all appear at once even the ones i repeated…
I don’t see Lab, Greens and Mana/IP competing. Labour is targetting mainstream NZ. Greens the enviroment vote, Mana the poor who are disaffected by Labour, and now IP the non-voting online denizen.
Ford saw that to sell more cars he needed to pay his workers enough so they could afford them.
Dotcom realizes to grow the internet he needs to lower the cost of access to it.
Mana realizes that the best economy is a more equal society, and so have a synergy with Dotcom.
It is however inspiring how dumb the Q+A panel was.
We are seeing Mana/IP branding.
NZF is targets the older voters. ACT stupid rich. UF the deranged. Maori the Maori elite. And Crazy Colins, its hard to tell what world he is on. And lastly, National who are things to all people.
When I look left I see pragmatic progressive policies for the medium to long term.
When I look right I see sad pathetic policies designed to grow inequality and harm the economy all for short-term gains.
And please why would Pacific voters want a Nat-NZF tie up, welfare bashers and immigration basher, just because Cunliffe wants to stop a few immigrants from India and China, entering under the National rich prick visa, that forces up housing prices for them.
cos that lovely mr key has gone to the pacific to use lots of words to say nothing.
Presumably labour is on the ground where it matters
Listening to the political show on RNZ today I have to laugh at Hooton and his spin, which sounded like a paid advertisement for the corporates.
Come on Hooton selectively quoting low company tax rates in Nordic countries like Finland are an exception to the norm. Most Western Nations have far higher company tax rates to ours. Your elite corporate friends need to be paying far more than what they are now.
You could have mentioned the Nordic countries more progressive social policies aswell. No you couldn’t possibly mention these as they are an affront to your ideology. Having balance to your opinion gives credibility rather than making you look like a rightwing mug.
You’re wrong. Check out http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates
28% is high.
You’re high, Matthew.
US federal corporate tax is 39% according to that list.
Anyway, typical of an entry-level corporate toadie, you’ll cherry pick away at any stats to try and prop up your miserable world view.
Go and read Picketty.
In reality of course the corporates have convinced Congress to pass through massive amounts of exemptions, loop holes, rebates etc so the real rate for big corporates is a pittance of that…SMEs still get smashed at the maximum rate though because they don’t have as good lobbyists.
Matthew is paid to think what he does.
I feel sorry for him in some ways.
It must be depressing not have lost your freedom to think for yourself.
Then I remember the damage the spinning he does causes to the vulnerable in our society and that brief moment of sympathy disappears.
and he sounds so pleased with himself
i thought wee Matty’s effort on the wireless this morning was one of His better efforts, on Mana/Dotcom Hooton is behaving akin to a washing machine where the electronics have gone haywire,
He appears to be stuck on ‘agitate’ while the command from the wiring has also ordered ‘spin’, one minute the evil DotCom has sucked all the maori boys and girls of the Mana Party in big time,
In the next breath Matty postulates that all them aging Socialists have suckered poor old Dotcom outta 3 odd million dollars…
lol
Yeah. Dat was a laff. He was all over the place and it was soooh obvious.
Very good comment – like the washing machine analogy.
But I don’t think I have ever thought the “maori boys and girls” have been sucked in by Dotcom. I have thought since I saw Hone being interviewed on Q&A a month or so ago that he is in charge and Dotcom has been duped.
Does your washing machine come with a ‘slip’ and ‘slither’ command Matty, without a dig through the information super-highway to dredge up your various ‘positions’ on InternetMana which on an issue that carries as much importance as, well you,which i don’t plan on taxing my severely depleted pile of neurons over, i will have to take your word,
Did i detect tho, with Your latest effort on the wireless a barely suppressed rage at the sheer audacity of all them aged Socialists having turned the 2014 election on it’s head via having 3 million bucks dumped in their lap to fight the contest with,
i was breathless waiting for another Matty meltdown moment which seemed to me to be bubbling incoherently below the surface of your comments…
Nice try Matthew, however your link states a ‘subjective’ element to it.
I think America’s 39% is more reflective of how low company tax rates are here, rather than many of the fuk nations you have linked us too. David Parker will sort this anomaly out, along with upping the tax rate for high income earners such as yourself. Those slush fund trusts will be reworked so that rort of a loop hole is closed out also.
Btw Hope you sprung for Pagani’s brunch after her cheerleading display for you on Q & A on Sunday. I found that most comical as I’m sure you did by the smitten look on ya face lol.
As much as I’d like that to happen the fact that Parker still says we must increase retirement to 67 would indicate that having that much trust in him is contraindicated.
DTB
The problem is the raising the age of retirement policy became policy because the active members turned up at remit/policy review & LEC/branch meetings too endorse it. I turned up and was simply out voted. Believe it or not there was strong support from left minded members of the LP. Reasoning was put forward that many workers need too worker longer because they don’t have enough savings to retire. My argument was a hell of a lot of workers struggle to make 65 as it is, also computerization/robotic’s means that jobs won’t be there fullstop.
After Douglas ran a muck any rogue MP/s ‘must stick to policy’ they can blow their arse about any notion they like, however their sorry arse will be dragged back to the party’s policy if they try straying.
Sure the 39% US rate is nonsense. No one pays it. Mainly because it is so high. If they cut it, some people might start paying it rather than directing revenues through lower tax regimes.
Corporates are pulling $15B out of our country in profits every year mate. That’s what’s really high. And here you are wanting to increase that current account drain out of the nation even further. What is your problem?
today i listened to hoots and mike w. It occurred to me that to a large extent mike w is there as himself, to say what he thinks. Hoots is there helping to frame a viewpoint that assist the right. Thats why its so frustrating and why mike w will agree with hoots far more than the other way. Hoots is playing a role, mike w is being himself. Just a thought.
re williams..
..there was of course that question williams just didn’t answer..
..ie..’who/what stopped the carbon tax plans of yesteryear..?..you’d know mike..!’
..williams didn’t even try to answer that..(and of course ryan just let him get away with it/not answering..)
..maybe ‘cos his ‘old mate’ winston peters was the one who killed that earlier carbon-tax..?..
..just ‘mike’..being himself…
..problem is..’himself’ wants labour/nz first after the election..
ryan also didnt know a couple of basic things… Like mana running annette sykes andnot just having te tai tokerau.
so, you think we should also follow some scandanavian countries on social policy and education too?
You know the right are worried when they suggest we should be more like scandanavian countries.
There is much we can learn from Norway, in particular.
If we would – hurray lets bring it on….
Hi Matthew, yes NZ is with its corporate tax rate higher then some of the Euro countries. However, you need to take all taxes into consideration. In most if not all Euro countries GST is certainly a lot higher and personal insurance cost (pension and health) contributions are considerably more. In the end this should not be a race to the bottom where we are content with 250 000 kids going hungry but any tax take should rather a tool to facilitate a civilized participation via economic means – this would mean infrastructure on logistical and humanistic terms. Sure, NZ with its physical isolation and small population will always face a challenge to participate against economies of scale. Instead of making things cheaper NZ should provide goods that have more value added.
We’re at the high end of the gst scale (especially considering that many of the higher rates have exemptions for food and other items) but you won’t see matty complaining about that.
National’s latest attempt to solve the housing crisis: Build ugly houses
Thinking of the future, I am reading Lark Rise, particularly the introduction to that book by Flora Thompson. It covers the demise of rural England and paints a picture that might be one to strive to return to when continuation as present becomes no longer viable.
What Flora Thompson depicts is the utter ruin of a closely knit organic society with a richly interwoven and traditional culture that had defied every change, every aggression, except the one that established the modern world…..
The old open fields community of co-operative self-help destroyed by the Enclosures is caught in the worlds….
In remembering the Rise when it was common land…carrying in her mind the England of small properties based on the land, the England whose native land belonged to its own people, not to a State masquerading as such, not even to the manorial lords who exacted services, but not from a landless proletariat. Still less to big business…
..it was Victoria’s reign that, partly through their agency [the Vicar and the Squire] but mainly by the growth of the industrial town and the industrial mentality, ended the self-sufficient England of peasant and craftsman…the attempted murder of something timeless in and quintessential to the spirit of man. A design for living has become unravelled, and there can be no substitute, because however imperfect the pattern, it was part of the essential constitution of human nature.
It seems that there is much in the musings of the writer. With the Enclosures went the ability to be self-sufficient so one then had to be a supplicant in the labour market which might reject you as an adult wishing to work in the fabric mills, but your children might be set to the ‘treadmill’ in a disciplined way far beyond the bursts of hard work and long hours at harvest time in the old days. How many ohus and co-ops are surviving in NZ I wonder? There have been speakers and economists interested in co-ops in NZ – I wonder how many still exist.
The old status quo was overthrown by the industrial age, now we should be looking at a new one relishing hand -crafted things, conserving and repairing with new skills. Perhaps we can convert and still have some graciousness in our living, not the harrassed stress of survivalists, and not the naked disdain and aggression ruling that arises from time to time in us all. To be continued – after the election.
look forward to it!
Has key managed two election bribes from one policy?
“The Government is moving to increase the number of Pacific workers who can come into the country under the regional season employment (RSE) scheme.
Prime Minister John Key said a small increase was on the cards, partly driven by the likely return of Fiji to the scheme if it went ahead with democratic elections.
His comments followed a traditional Ava ceremony at Poutasi village where he was made a matai or chief after his visit to the tsunami-hit village after the devastation there in 2009.
During the ceremony one of the senior villagers thanked him and New Zealand for allowing its workers to come to New Zealand for temporary seasonal jobs.
But he also called on Key to lift the number of places available. ”
Cheap labour for businesses and jobs for pasifika family members
Yep cheap labour of the variety that the neo-lib Tories just love, use em and lose em, once the season they are employed for is over send them packing…
Apparently and neither one good for NZ.
Astonishing, 6% unemployed but more immigrants that will most likely be ending up in seasonal short term work and then on the unemployment benefit. I don’t understand the logic, who is going to pay for that? But maybe it is true that the aim is to have enough unemployed to make sure wages don’t rise.
It’s National so that is most definitely the goal.
The main reason will be less about the return to a democratic process in Fiji (sometimes for the betterment of a Country democracy plays 2nd fiddle) but more a favour to another group of National’s donators. Fruit & vegie growers who struggle to get their produce harvested here in New Zeandand. Even the majority of the unemployed balk at such slave labour. I think we have all seen or heard examples of Island Nation people being exploited by scumbag contractor bosses. Of course many of the growers know these vulnerable workers are being exploited, however when confronted by the authorities they deny all knowledge.
Casual/seasonal workers are getting stiffed by this National outfit and things just keep getting worst, like the new 80 hour employment law change that ‘another group’ of donators have got rammed thru parliament. Yip those bloody dirty dairy farmers.
What a hoot !
“Bracanov later reappeared in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He has been remanded on bail until late August for a case-review hearing.
Outside court he said his grudge against John Banks began when he was fined $10,000 for throwing a bucketful of horse manure at a car carrying King Juan Carlos of Spain in the late 1980s.
Banks was minister of police when Bracanov was fined.
“He should not have charged me so much … the law is not for the people,” he said.
In 1994, Bracanov was convicted of disorderly behaviour after spraying air freshener as he rushed at Prince Charles who was on a royal walkabout at Auckland’s Viaduct Basin.
Banks also allegedly cut Bracanov off when he was making a point on a Radio Pacific show in 1997 that Banks was hosting.
Bracanov said it was important to throw the manure in public so people would get the point.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/10113578/Manure-protester-Banks-grudge-is-done
Yes, just read that. Gee, he holds a grudge for a long time. I’d have thought there were far more recent things to criticize Banks for.
Mad as a March Hare.
and even worse..terrible dress sense..
Are you meaning Banks for wearing a soiled suit
Anyway, wasn’t $10,000 fine excessive? Was he able to pay it at is he still paying it at $5 a fortnight or something?
This is getting stupid, i make 3 comments this morning, they don’t appear, i check later and all 3 have appeared and i make another comment that appears,
Then another 2 comments that don’t,
Is this a ”novel” form of censorship, or, just the computers viewing my comments as spam,???…
[lprent: It is the server and not just you. I can’t see any reason for it. At present I’m simply turning off possible causes one at a time and then seeing if anything else gets trapped. If it does I move to the next possible cause. It is a slow way of debugging, but there really isn’t any other way. It started on sunday. ]
Thanks for that LPrent, i will just have to exercise patience but knowing where the problem is will allow me to keep the blood pressure under control…
[lprent: Well it isn’t in the blacklist. Next one… ]
not attacking you al1en, sorry if it seemed that way.
She would have known she would be paid just not how much.
I have been effectively unemployed since 2013. Im not amongst the stats though cos i am not drawing welfare.
Wishing you best of luck finding some work.
No offence taken here Tracey. I’m well use to rough and tumble and didn’t feel under attack, but ta anyway.
Being unemployed stinks and having to deal with the ss makes it even worse. I’m glad you’re in a position to avoid that certain ‘pleasure’.
Still don’t think I should have kept my mouth shut and thus my job, so no regrets here. I’m just pleased I avoided the 13 week stand down and only had the 3 weeks without money – That would have been extra harsh.
testing…
Not on animals I hope, ’cause p u will be sending a celery rocket up your arse otherwise 😆
Mercy, lord have mercy, you will have to ask Phillip to put up His link to Doctor Tashkin He supplied the other week as part of His other little crusade, dope,
And dope it was as Doctor Tashkin Oops pointed out that the miracle cures as expounded had all been arrived at by inflicting various cancers on animals and then pumping them full of dope….
Prepare for a caulicluster bomb, or worse still, a spud missile 😆
Lolz, we have already discussed the topic at length, Phillip chose to use psychic emanations as His method of conversation,(also known as silence)…
Guess you know when the argument has been won
hi..!..it’s me again..!
..(that annoying vegan guy..)
..i’ve got some more dairy/cancer evidence for ya..eh..?
“..Will quitting dairy defeat cancer?..
..A leading scientist and cancer survivor says the disease is overwhelmingly linked to animal products..”
(cont..)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11266900
..yr welcome..!
would you like cheese with that..?
I don’t know why, but that just takes me back to pre muckdonald days of yore, and now I so fancy a Wimpy half pounder (minus the tomato).
you just laugh in the face of the evidence…eh allen..?
..fuck cancer.!..gizza ciggy..!
..when did you stop smoking tobacco..allen..?
“you just laugh in the face of the evidence…eh allen..?”
I just really fancied a wimpy half pounder with cheese, don’t get sanctimonious on me.
“..fuck cancer.!..gizza ciggy..!
..when did you stop smoking tobacco..allen..?”
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
so why did you stop..?
..was it because smoking causes cancer..?
..and you didn’t want to get cancer..?
Amongst other diseases, yes, it was certainly one factor in stopping smoking.
Am I going to stop eating meat and dairy products and go vegan, no, no I am not.
Am I prepared to risk it and eat cheese (when I can afford to again), yes, yes I will.
And the worst thing of all, and call child services on me if you like, I feed my daughter the same food I eat.
staunch in yr ignorances…eh..?
‘i smoked..so my daughter should smoke too..’
Have you seen this movie phil?
Very powerful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCRspwfKHmI
chrs 4 that paul..
more evidence..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=dairy+cancer
test
just seen john ‘shifty’ key pretending to be enjoying himself in Samoa. anyway he should know that the all-blacks do not want to play in Samoa or other P.I. nations because the locals just want to bash them up for the hell of it. But I guess he knows better.sacrificing an all Blacks career for a few votes is really his style.
Prof Colin Campbell discovered that by adding animal/dairy to cancer cells in a petrie dish caused them to grow, adding plant products did not. My understanding of tamoxifen is that it will cause cancer of the reproductive organs so am surprised Jane Plant is using this. Many years ago I gave a friend with breast cancer Prof Plant’s book Your Life in your Hands. Unfortunately she couldnt give up meat and dairy and died 2 years later. Is meat and dairy worth dying for, I just dont get it.
Are you suggesting that no vegans ever get cancer?
I dont know the answer to that but it seems it will dramatically cut your risk of reproductive cancers by avoiding meat/dairy and having a healthy diet. Some vegans can have a diet very high in junk food so not sure where they sit with health stats.
Dr John McDougall has many testimonials on his website where people with chronic disease have recovered on a vegan diet.
Likewise the Weston Price Foundation, who advocate a traditional (pre-industrial) diet that includes meat and dairy. One size doesn’t fit all.
“One size doesn’t fit all
So true. For my auto-immune illness, advice over the years about diets that will definitely cure me (and I’m sure people with cancer have had similar advice about absolutely proven cures) include:
Gelatine diet
Avoid all citrus
Avoid wheat
Go completely gluten free
Avoid refined carbs
Avoid all carbs
Go on the ‘caveman’ diet
Avoid red meat
Avoid all meat
Go vegetarian
Avoid all dairy
Go vegan
Have more probiotic foods
Go totally organic
Eat more chilli (avoid chilli)
Have more ginger / turmeric
Have more foods with omega3 / chondritin / glucosamine
Have cinnamon every morning
Have apple cider and manuka honey every morning
The latest was avoid foods of the solanine family (potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum etc).
Most have amazingly straightforward and superficially believable logic around them.
Recently I heard that soaking raisins in gin and have a spoonful each morning is the answer.
I’m quite liking the idea of this last one instead of a cup of tea (which is to be avoided) 😉
But you’ve found that diet can have a major effect on how ill you are, right?
“But you’ve found that diet can have a major effect on how ill you are, right?”
No.
Edit: Obviously for so-called lifestyle diseases and general well-being a good diet is important. In terms of reducing auto-immune symptoms? No, diet doesn’t seem to have an effects (with the exception of ensuring I don’t have iron-deficiency anaemia).
which would be another example of one size not fitting all 🙂 Some people find diet helps, others don’t.
Absolutely. I’m not arguing that a diet that supplies people all the nutrients they need and limits foods that contain damaging compounds doesn’t make them feel better. Otherwise we may as well all go choose our favourite junk food and live on that.
I should have stuck with my original ‘no’ answer to cv 😉
A problem with this chronic disease is that the disease (not dietary deficiency) can cause anaemia and then this in turn can have knock on effect of increasing the disease activity that is already present, and will remain after the anaemia is resolved.
It’s a new and very expensive drug that I can’t get in NZ that cured the very serious anaemia within a month after years of enduring it. Now I just make sure I get dietary sources of iron and reduce iron-stripping compound from products like tea (it’s all those polyphenol anti-oxidants). With the anaemia under control because the drug works on the cause of the original chronic illness, this dietary effect is enough to keep it that way, where it wasn’t enough before, that’s all.
The intention of that list was to indicate why dietary advice which is apparently well-meaning, is confusing and may be rejected. It’s not that people don’t want to get better. I get quite tired of people telling me that their diet will ‘fix’ me. I don’t think they realise how many, often conflicting, dietary ‘cures’ are out there.
Aside the errant nonsense about extrapolating petri dish experiments to making inferences about human diets, let me clarify what tamoxifen does – it’s an anti-oestrogen. It’s used in treating breast cancer that is oestrogen sensitive. If you reduce the oestrogen levels, the cancer growth rate is slowed. Combined with anticancer drugs or radiation, this increases survival rates.
It’s not too hard to check your understanding before you make statements like the above – wikipedia is a quick google away: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamoxifen
A side effect of tamoxifen is uterine cancer, check it out for yourself.
And this arises out of its anti-androgen effect, and is also true of what, every oestrogen based contraception? Tamoxifen has demonstrated benefits greatly outweighing its risks, and it’s plain irresponsible to be running around bagging it while you’re on a drugs-are-bad-veganism-is-good kick.
Except for the people who get uterine cancer it doesn’t.
Weston Price was a dentist and apparently later in life advised his family not to eat meat and dairy or so I have read.
Doubt it. WP’s body of work was on how traditional cultures had such excellent oral health due to their diets, which included meat and dairy (although meat and dairy in quite different forms than what we eat today).
man I feel like a fresh baked gnu tonite!
What language of gnu? c++, objectivec, fortran…. ?
So the NZ Navy are to be welcomed into Pearl Harbour.
“We’ve all been briefed on the background and the requirement for this to be seen as a keynote event in our history,” says Commander David Turner, HMNZS Canterbury commanding officer.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/nz-navy-welcomed-into-pearl-harbour-after-30-year-freeze-5989672
What is the significance of this “keynote event”?
The US needs allies to counterbalance China in the Pacific
NZ would be stupid to pick sides in that coming superpower tussle
no gnus is good gnus!
ask any hominid hanging out in the paleolithic savannah circa 50,000 y.a.
The biggest robbery ever enacted upon the American people
The US Federal Reserve
A nice little 7 minute primer for those who are not yet familiar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j282JKnmeVo#t=30
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11266341
How can someone be convicted for accepting a bribe and yet from this article no one be found guilty of offering?
“Ping Ma and his wife, Jianping Shen, were convicted of accepting bribes and jailed for 13 and five years in prison respectively for obtaining $375,000 through the real estate deals.”
It must be like all the times people would appear in court with resisting arrest as the only charge. I could never figure it out.
Testing testing …