Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
It was 2 degrees in Auckland last night.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a car.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a container.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a garage.
Not very warm to be sleeping on the street.
The mainstream media may think that Novak Djokovic being knocked out of Wimbledon is a news items, but is not.
The majority of the media are doing everything they can to support Paula Bennett and move homelessness off the headlines.
“Try walking in my shoes, it’s not actually that easy.”
This was the challenge TA set to Prime Minister John Key. But really it’s a challenge for us all.
So damn annoyed by how cruel life has become in New Zealand. We came across this man today at the back of an Inner City Hotel in Auckland. It was cold this morning, so cold. This guy who has obviously come across hard times is one of thousands in the new New Zealand under John Key’s dishonest, Corrupt, and Incompetent Government. I can’t take much more of those who still support this Crook, I really can’t! We watched as an obviously ‘high income’ ‘upper class’ Woman walked past him, rolled her eyes, and kept going, as if to say ‘What an inconvenience having to walk past peasants in the Street, oh Johnny dear, when you finish fondling that girls hair – get them removed!’ I could have slapped her!
Just two minutes later a young Maori guy walked up to him, bags of Mcdonalds in his hands – and placed it beside him. He didn’t appear to know who he was, he didn’t appear to have a lot of money himself from what he was wearing – but he cared enough to give a guy a break, giving him food. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Those with the least often seem to be the most caring and generous. Until recently in McDonalds in Kaikohe there was a framed certificate on the wall recording that in about 2010 over the whole nation the very poor town of Kaikohe made the second highest contribution to the Ronald McDonald House donations box. After Takanini I think. Kaikohe, one of the poorest towns in New Zealand.
DTB I have to tell you this……20 years ago went to a garage sale in Sarsfield Street, Herne Bay. Even then 3 mill’ weren’t unusual in that street.
Jeezuz……fucking jam jars without lids they wanted 90 cents for. The entitlement of them ?
Another world. Another fucking world !
But I suppose for them too……like when when my long time hoa wahine lustily burst out – ” Kia Ora Kia Ora Kia Ora !!! ” – OMG the startled faces……..hilarious ! Just wanted to get outa there after that and we took off, laughing our heads off. “Fucking jam jar ninety cents…… get orrrfff !”
Those with the least always give the most !
There will be a day of reckoning and a lot of questions and investigations launched and appearances in court once this country is liberated from the darkness i have no doubt.
Thanks again Paul (2). Your posts are much appreciated.
My staunch Socialist grandmother (often reviled for her political and social beliefs), used to take homeless people into her home (in the UK), give them a good meal to share with her and granddad, a hot bath and a warm comfy bed for the night. Before they left, she would in some instances take their ragged torn clothes and repair them to the best she possibly could. Apart from that she would volunteer to help out at shelters, soup kitchens and the like. When asked why she did this, she said because she “considered herself privileged for having shared some time with such good decent people.”
Through her, I learned the value of compassion, love, respect and treating society’s less fortunate as an equal. She always said to do so is a sign of strength of character, as well as generosity of spirit.
Obviously in NZ that charitable spirit still exists through the ordinary Kiwi, as you have indicated in your post. Apart from that, many similar instances being marae which have given shelter and fed NZ’s homeless families. A generosity of spirit which needs to grow more.
+100 mary_a…the values we are brought up with are pretty important…NZ has been corrupted by jonkey Nact….National voters should be ashamed of themselves
“”At some point, the governing elites of mature and globalised economies like ours will have to come up with a new deal to redistribute some of the bounties of globalisation.””
New Zealand – A Ticking Timebomb of Mass Social Unrest
As we drove home tonight, my Wife and I talked about how the New Zealand we live in today is one we honestly never thought we would see.
We have a Prime Minister who blatantly lies almost every single week about one thing or another. A Prime Minister who has been caught on camera many times, fondling or pulling the hair of little girls – a behaviour which would have seen others possibly jailed!
We have a Minister by the name of Paula Bennett, an ex-Beneficiary/Solo Mother who is hateful, nasty, uncaring, and judging by how she talks to the media and members of the Public – a Bully. (More about her later).
Then there is Nick Smith, a horrible little man with more skeletons in his closet than a Halloween Wholesaler, who, along with Key, continually states “There is no housing Crisis”, despite the statistics showing NZ now has thousands upon thousands of decent NZ citizens homeless, living in cars, garages, packed into houses with a dozen or even two dozen others, parents with newborn babies sleeping rough, and so on. What really gets me angry is seeing this pitiful man say this with a smirk on his face, just like his morbidly obese mate Paula Bennett.
The thing that gets me about Nick Smith is that he formed a relationship with a constituent, a woman he was helping in his role as an MP.An act that would have forced him from any other profession.Think Dr- Patient,Teacher-Student.A power in-balance.
Coming along next, watch the Oz Labor Party begin to head down the road of division, leadership challenge and implosion, y’know like NZ and UK have experienced.
Kiwiri
I think that Labor have already eaten their fill of that particular meal; after the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd sandwich they were forced to choke down. It seems unlikely I know, but perhaps even career politicians can learn something from experience?
Also CV – isn’t the Oz Senate proportional?
[edit] I see it is proportional, though not proportionately proportional to overall population, but by state; if that makes sense…
One of my relatives is a staffer and said that it is mega toxic within the senior ranks. It would not be surprising that Shorten will be challenged within seconds, once it is clear that Labor will not be in government. He will be fine if ALP squeeks through. Of course, those who are in the know will be aware that Shorten has been triple dealing over the years and played a Machiavellian role in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd changeovers. No doubt, he has many daggers out for him.
Saw a headline about Caroline Aherne but the name didn’t ring a bell. Loved the Royales but especially the fast show.
To this day in our house we still use “El Skorchio!” to describe hot weather. Eg, this last stinking hot summer and weirdo warm autumn we’ve had was “El Skorchio”!
And one to the other during summer “What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow?” Reply “El skorchio!”.
Typical of men in high office, especially politics.
It is also said another man of that crowd should be pushing a pram of one of his former high ranking staffer’s who recently resigned. Quite the scandal of the slippery one, let us hope finally it brings his undoing!
You media shills in Wellington know it so let’s have it!
“You media shills in Wellington know it so let’s have it!” – but that’s the problem, those same ‘media shills’ are all in bed with them & eachother, take that as you will. & also, once the dirty stories start coming out, who will be left standing, the manager classes like the money & power but not the responsibility.
“House prices til now have been static for the last 8 years” Connor English.
Good interview with Key by Gower (!) & investigation on the Saudi sheep thing (HPA!). Hooton too, Boag was so unconvincing it was funny, she & McCully got scammed by a scammer it seems.
Williams & Johansson were warning about the consequences of elites not taking any responsibility (Brexit & Trump, working poor & generation rent getting restless) & Connor English told a nice fairy tale that if he got caught signing off on live sheep exports he would be out of business for the rest of his life. Pfft, as if.
…”Iceland remains one of the only nations to put their money where their mouth is and place the financial “fat cats” responsible for their country’s economic demise behind bars.
As in other countries, the Icelandic taxpayer has had to pay a high price for the failure of the banks. But where financial bosses got off with barely a slap on the wrist in some nations, Iceland set up a special investigative commission to probe crime within the banking sector…
‘Iceland’s jailed bankers ‘a model’ for dealing with ‘financial terrorists’ ‘
“By jailing four top officers of Iceland’s failed Kaupthing Bank, the country showed the world the right way to deal with the people largely responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, said Charlie McGrath, founder of news website, Wide Awake News.
The US and other nations must take it as a model for the next time the too-big- to-fail corporations screw things up and ask for a bailout with taxpayers’ money, he added…
‘Brexit: Iceland president says UK can join ‘triangle’ of non-EU countries’
For some obscure reason, despite what’s done to them, Kiwis just don’t have the self respect and challenging spirit as demonstrated by the Icelandic people. At present that is. But who knows. Once things begin to deteriorate more than they are doing now, we just might see more Kiwis than not stand up as a strong collective demanding …”ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, we are going to reclaim what’s been stolen from us.”
…i am waiting for youth to start organising politically …but thus far they are too much embroiled in their social media and tech gadgets…and living on debt ( student loans set a very bad precedent)
…also they blame the baby boomers without having any sophisticated sense of class warfare
…they don’t seem to realise yet that they are the underclass
a. they know they are fucked
b. they also know that what is given to them by their elders is not worth the paper its printed on.
c. they know they never will buy a house
d. they know that they will never have over job security
e. they know that the society of the 50 – 70 will never come back, most of their elders have either voted it away in the eighties and every time since then, and have sold it away, one acre a time to fund lifestyle and such
f. they all have a student loan, irrespective of wanting it or not, again it was their elders that voted away free studies and apprenticeship programmes via the various elections for various parties.
g. and yet they still try to learn a trade, pay of their loans, find a partner and marry, have children, find an affordable house, pay taxes so that society can function and the like.
I think that maybe the young ones simply don’t have any more appetite for revolution then their parents and grandparents.
I think that we – the elders effectively – should not blame the children of today for the short comings of our generations. The kids are alright, its just that we leave them nothing. And that, as sad as it is, is the truth, we leave them nothing but pollution, overfished seas, overgrazed plains, rivers/lakes that are on wadeable in full body armour, crap jobs with no future nor good pay, frankenstein food cause our pollution is everywhere and so on and so on.
We really should not blame the kids or for that matter anyone born 1980 and after. They are truly the screwed over generations.
Privacy.
Mate we had a bit of privacy an laws that made sense.
Today they have a fair chance of being charged with domestic terrorism or something like that, their life for ever fucked.
As i said above, the Young ones know that the 50 – 70 will never come back, neither the privilege that the people had at the time, the privilege to not be surveilled, the privilege to not have to take of their shoes and bras before boarding a plane etc etc.
And, please lets remember that there was terrorism during these times too, the first antifada comes to mind, Mogadishu etc etc etc.
And you still have the young ones going to demos and the likes. Have a good look at the pictures from NZ in regards to the TPPA demo’s, a lot of the people there are young.
Maybe us old ones need to take our blinkers of and see what is there and stop whinging and crying about the perceived shortcomings of a generation or two that really was screwed over and is given nothing bur scorched earth.
…radicalism and demonstrations still seems to be alive and kicking in France ( where they have banned fracking) and are fighting for a good std of living
btw i am not old …and also I dont think it is helpful to blame the ‘oldies’…it is this sort of lack of political education and focus that creates confusion and lack of action, lack of voting and organisation among the young
…the problem is not the older generation, many of whom are struggling themselves and have never supported neoliberalism ( this is an argument that lets the right wing off the hook…they would be very pleased with the blame being placed on the older generation)
…the problem is actually right wing neoliberalism…the politics of the elite 10% who own 60% and who control the media and have a formidable PR machine…as well as their buying off ‘left wing’ politicians (in parties like Labour ) here and overseas,which are supposedly on the left and for the people , but actually support neoliberalism and are afraid to take real socialist action for change and equality of opportunity.
The corruption of the Left is what disillusions young people and stops them from voting and taking action…(btw I am not talking about violent action, I am talking about peaceful mass demonstrations, organisation and voting amongst the young to create a real lobby group for change)
…in other words the real problem is not older people… but the ruling elite of laissez faire capitalism, in its last days …eating up and privatising into their own pockets the assets of countries and hopes and dreams of ordinary people for a good standard of living in their own countries…theft by the few of the many
I hope it doesn’t happen in New Zealand. But growing economic inequality may lead it that way. Some sense of democratic renewal is needed to avoid alienation, there is a sickness in western democracies.
And that sickness is the rich as they buy up our politicians and plunder our wealth.
+100 DTB …violation of the social contract ( Thomas Hobbs) usually leads to social chaos and revolution…people will take so much inequality and impoverishment and then no more..it amazes me that the ruling classes never seem to learn this lesson from history..are they stupid or has their greed affected their reason?
… these also are interesting discussions on implications of Brexit ( better than most NZ media , especially nz tv ) :
National’s answer to people living in cars? Build more roads:
The councils currently eligible to access the fund for such things as water and roading development are Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, and Christchurch… The Government has not yet decided how the fund will be structured but it will require an extra $1 billion in borrowing., The fund will own or finance the infrastructure until the councils receive rates revenue from the new houses.
Mr Key made his announcement in a speech to the National Party conference in Christchurch…
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the $1 billion fund “won’t even remotely cope” with the houses needed for new immigrants, let alone the country’s natural population increase… “Here after, this government will seek to blame local government for the housing crisis on the pretence that they, and not central government, is responsible for the massive demand that now exists.”
Being an Audrey Young piece, I imagine this is a reprint from the NZH. It would be good if; Labour, and the GP, were to have some response to this, and not let Peters always be the most visible face of opposition to this scheming government. But then again, they may simply not have been asked by Young. Which would be poor journalism, though hardly surprising from the sister of a sitting National MP.
I’d suggest a joint op-ed from Little and Turei targeting the issues. About time there is a follow-up from the MOU that was announced about two calendar months ago to keep the momentum going.
It wont prevent more homeless men dying this cold winter.
Or ex prisoners being released into saturated accommodation markets.
Or any relief or a amnesty from policy that makes people homeless, like affordable rentals, amnesty from paying three weeks rent in advance and a weeks rent to rental company.
Employers have no reason to lift wages, even when on the back of higher productivity and profits. Working for Families is an employer benefit.
Changes to kiwisaver see workers get gypped on paying for their employer deductions which National then tax.
I have yet to see any evidence of primary producers increasing their employment costs on the back of higher export volumes. Trade now wont lift wages or raise our living standards. It certainly doesnt make our primary produce cheaper to buy.
The Reserve Bank increased interest rates every time Fonterra had a huge payout,
so how did that improve kiwi’s standard of living.
Tax cuts are meaningless, whats needed is some major reform of raising tax thresholds.
Remember when GST was promoted as something to reduce PAYE take?
Wouldn’t it be loverly if something like this was operating in NZ before the next election. Maybe it would slow down the Key Lie-machine or the propagation of dirty tricks for Paddy to churn out. “Social media verification tools are now being developed.
Insider: ‘Corbyn will not quit until Chilcot verdict so he can brand Blair war criminal’
JEREMY Corbyn may be clinging on to power because he wants to brand Tony Blair a “war criminal” after the release of the Chilcot Inquiry report next week, Labour insiders have claimed.
Just a month and a half ago, another Holocaust survivor died. Unlike Elie Wiesel, she did not consort with crooks and murderers and she had the courage to speak out against evil no matter who the perpetrators were….
[Corrected the spelling of concentration camp survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel’s name. If I thought for a moment the misspelling was deliberate, you’d be gone for a long time, Moz. TRP]
Wiesel Name Meaning German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Wiesel ‘weasel’, Middle High German wisele. As a German name this is a nickname; as a Jewish name it is generally an ornamental name.German: from Middle High German wisel ‘leader’. JXE.
there is more to a name than many think.
Especially Jewish and Ashkenazic names have different meanings. And many of the names go back to Old German and are a thousand years old.
So while Wiesel means Weasel directly translated it has got nothing to do with the Last Name Wiesel.
Checking up a coupla things seems to me like Eli Weisel has a background that limits respect from me. Once again Morrissey gets the serious morality right !
[Ok, that’s clearly over the line and dullwitted to boot. Feel free to come back in August. Do some some study on the difference between anti-zionism and anti-semitism while you’re away so you don’t make the same mistake again. TRP]
Have been watching The Nation (taped) this evening and I was sickened by the state of the treatment of the sheep once they arrived in Saudi Arabia. This country should not be shipping livestock away for any reason, breeding or otherwise. No Trade Deal is worth the disgusting treatment of livestock. Do they think this country’s citizens are so gullible as to accept the the Government’s assurance that they do not ship any livestock for slaughter – what were the lambs from the pregnant ewes going to be used for, if not for disgusting slaughter for food. As it happened most of the lambs died of ill treatment. Apparently they ship livestock to China (but supposedly not for slaughter) – what happens to the stock that is bred from them once they are there. The entire affair is disgraceful.
We will sell our souls to the devil for the almighty dollar. Its bad enough with our own slaughter houses and the stress the stock goes through but at least they are stunned before being butchered, cool comfort but at least the animals are not in pain. The more I see of this disgraceful Government the less I want to be a New Zealander. The PM was a bumbling excuse for a PM and full of shit as usual, the sooner they make it compulsory for our citizens to vote the better, we may then be able to rid ourselves of this incompetent corrupt lot of troughers . Its got beyond anything that I can ever remember in my lifetime for evil, lying incompetent stewardship of this country, they are now as bad as the pig farmer back in the 80’s. We deserve much better than this. its shameful.
Thank you North, I admit I was pretty worked up with rage after I had watched it, I still am this morning Monday, have just watched the PM on Breakfast and had to turn the TV off. What is it about the man that is so dodgy and creepy? Its the dead eyes for me, does it every time.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
It was 2 degrees in Auckland last night.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a car.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a container.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a garage.
Not very warm to be sleeping on the street.
The mainstream media may think that Novak Djokovic being knocked out of Wimbledon is a news items, but is not.
The majority of the media are doing everything they can to support Paula Bennett and move homelessness off the headlines.
“Try walking in my shoes, it’s not actually that easy.”
This was the challenge TA set to Prime Minister John Key. But really it’s a challenge for us all.
Read the whole article here.
http://www.averagekiwi.com/?p=112
Those with the least often seem to be the most caring and generous. Until recently in McDonalds in Kaikohe there was a framed certificate on the wall recording that in about 2010 over the whole nation the very poor town of Kaikohe made the second highest contribution to the Ronald McDonald House donations box. After Takanini I think. Kaikohe, one of the poorest towns in New Zealand.
Studies back that up.
And that is why we can’t rely upon charity to fix poverty. The rich never give enough and the poor, although willing, simply can’t.
DTB I have to tell you this……20 years ago went to a garage sale in Sarsfield Street, Herne Bay. Even then 3 mill’ weren’t unusual in that street.
Jeezuz……fucking jam jars without lids they wanted 90 cents for. The entitlement of them ?
Another world. Another fucking world !
But I suppose for them too……like when when my long time hoa wahine lustily burst out – ” Kia Ora Kia Ora Kia Ora !!! ” – OMG the startled faces……..hilarious ! Just wanted to get outa there after that and we took off, laughing our heads off. “Fucking jam jar ninety cents…… get orrrfff !”
Yeah…….the rich…….and the eye of a needle.
Those with the least always give the most !
There will be a day of reckoning and a lot of questions and investigations launched and appearances in court once this country is liberated from the darkness i have no doubt.
Thanks again Paul (2). Your posts are much appreciated.
My staunch Socialist grandmother (often reviled for her political and social beliefs), used to take homeless people into her home (in the UK), give them a good meal to share with her and granddad, a hot bath and a warm comfy bed for the night. Before they left, she would in some instances take their ragged torn clothes and repair them to the best she possibly could. Apart from that she would volunteer to help out at shelters, soup kitchens and the like. When asked why she did this, she said because she “considered herself privileged for having shared some time with such good decent people.”
Through her, I learned the value of compassion, love, respect and treating society’s less fortunate as an equal. She always said to do so is a sign of strength of character, as well as generosity of spirit.
Obviously in NZ that charitable spirit still exists through the ordinary Kiwi, as you have indicated in your post. Apart from that, many similar instances being marae which have given shelter and fed NZ’s homeless families. A generosity of spirit which needs to grow more.
+100 mary_a…the values we are brought up with are pretty important…NZ has been corrupted by jonkey Nact….National voters should be ashamed of themselves
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11667728
Mr Hickey at his best.
“”At some point, the governing elites of mature and globalised economies like ours will have to come up with a new deal to redistribute some of the bounties of globalisation.””
Sounds like a ubi is in his thinking.
Economics meets science. Guess who wins?
http://www.salon.com/2016/07/02/watch_bill_maher_rubs_californias_success_in_the_face_of_republicans/
Swallow your coffee and put the cup down before watching!
New Zealand – A Ticking Timebomb of Mass Social Unrest
Read the whole article here.
http://www.averagekiwi.com/?p=94
+100 Paul
Dr Nick Smith he knows everything about everything just like John Key is the master of business and moneymaking.
The thing that gets me about Nick Smith is that he formed a relationship with a constituent, a woman he was helping in his role as an MP.An act that would have forced him from any other profession.Think Dr- Patient,Teacher-Student.A power in-balance.
I hope someone is watching those Aussie ballot boxes – an interrupted count is one of the first signs of a stolen election.
It’s a cliffhanger!!
These are the 12 seats in doubt, with Lab 67 Coalition 66 Greens 1 (but polled very respectable 10%) and others 4. It’s 76 to rule.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/results/list/?selector=indoubt&sort=az
They desperately need proportional representation over there.
Coming along next, watch the Oz Labor Party begin to head down the road of division, leadership challenge and implosion, y’know like NZ and UK have experienced.
Kiwiri
I think that Labor have already eaten their fill of that particular meal; after the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd sandwich they were forced to choke down. It seems unlikely I know, but perhaps even career politicians can learn something from experience?
Also CV – isn’t the Oz Senate proportional?
[edit] I see it is proportional, though not proportionately proportional to overall population, but by state; if that makes sense…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Senate
One of my relatives is a staffer and said that it is mega toxic within the senior ranks. It would not be surprising that Shorten will be challenged within seconds, once it is clear that Labor will not be in government. He will be fine if ALP squeeks through. Of course, those who are in the know will be aware that Shorten has been triple dealing over the years and played a Machiavellian role in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd changeovers. No doubt, he has many daggers out for him.
Bafta award-winning writer of The Royale Family (one of the greatest sitcoms of the last 30 years) and key member of The Fast Show cast, Caroline Aherne, dies.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/02/caroline-aherne-actor-comedian-dies-52-royle-family?CMP=share_btn_tw
Very Sad, an incredibly funny & talented woman, loved Royle Family.
Haha, was just going to post that! Looking back theres not a lot of politically correct Fast Show material either.
Saw a headline about Caroline Aherne but the name didn’t ring a bell. Loved the Royales but especially the fast show.
To this day in our house we still use “El Skorchio!” to describe hot weather. Eg, this last stinking hot summer and weirdo warm autumn we’ve had was “El Skorchio”!
And one to the other during summer “What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow?” Reply “El skorchio!”.
And so it goes.
RIP Caroline lol lady. You were grand.
Typical of men in high office, especially politics.
It is also said another man of that crowd should be pushing a pram of one of his former high ranking staffer’s who recently resigned. Quite the scandal of the slippery one, let us hope finally it brings his undoing!
You media shills in Wellington know it so let’s have it!
“You media shills in Wellington know it so let’s have it!” – but that’s the problem, those same ‘media shills’ are all in bed with them & eachother, take that as you will. & also, once the dirty stories start coming out, who will be left standing, the manager classes like the money & power but not the responsibility.
The Nation.
“House prices til now have been static for the last 8 years” Connor English.
Good interview with Key by Gower (!) & investigation on the Saudi sheep thing (HPA!). Hooton too, Boag was so unconvincing it was funny, she & McCully got scammed by a scammer it seems.
Williams & Johansson were warning about the consequences of elites not taking any responsibility (Brexit & Trump, working poor & generation rent getting restless) & Connor English told a nice fairy tale that if he got caught signing off on live sheep exports he would be out of business for the rest of his life. Pfft, as if.
MORON WATCH No. 1:
Jesse Hughes (Eagles of Death Metal)
Believe it or not, there ARE some thoughtful and intelligent pop stars.
But there are also a lot of pop morons, like Ted Nugent, and this fool….
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/16/eagles-of-death-metal-frontman
The Yes Men have a idea for Jesse:
Lets follow Iceland’s model…yus
‘Jailed bankers, gender equality & majestic fjords: Reasons to love Iceland’
https://www.rt.com/viral/349321-iceland-love-landscape-music/
…”Iceland remains one of the only nations to put their money where their mouth is and place the financial “fat cats” responsible for their country’s economic demise behind bars.
As in other countries, the Icelandic taxpayer has had to pay a high price for the failure of the banks. But where financial bosses got off with barely a slap on the wrist in some nations, Iceland set up a special investigative commission to probe crime within the banking sector…
‘Iceland’s jailed bankers ‘a model’ for dealing with ‘financial terrorists’ ‘
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/iceland-bank-sentence-model-246/
“By jailing four top officers of Iceland’s failed Kaupthing Bank, the country showed the world the right way to deal with the people largely responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, said Charlie McGrath, founder of news website, Wide Awake News.
The US and other nations must take it as a model for the next time the too-big- to-fail corporations screw things up and ask for a bailout with taxpayers’ money, he added…
‘Brexit: Iceland president says UK can join ‘triangle’ of non-EU countries’
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-uk-eu-referendum-latest-iceland-norway-greenland-faroe-islands-a7105641.html
Agree with everything in your post Chooky (13).
For some obscure reason, despite what’s done to them, Kiwis just don’t have the self respect and challenging spirit as demonstrated by the Icelandic people. At present that is. But who knows. Once things begin to deteriorate more than they are doing now, we just might see more Kiwis than not stand up as a strong collective demanding …”ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, we are going to reclaim what’s been stolen from us.”
Bring on that day. Can’t come soon enough for me.
+100 mary_a
…i am waiting for youth to start organising politically …but thus far they are too much embroiled in their social media and tech gadgets…and living on debt ( student loans set a very bad precedent)
…also they blame the baby boomers without having any sophisticated sense of class warfare
…they don’t seem to realise yet that they are the underclass
i work with a few young people
a. they know they are fucked
b. they also know that what is given to them by their elders is not worth the paper its printed on.
c. they know they never will buy a house
d. they know that they will never have over job security
e. they know that the society of the 50 – 70 will never come back, most of their elders have either voted it away in the eighties and every time since then, and have sold it away, one acre a time to fund lifestyle and such
f. they all have a student loan, irrespective of wanting it or not, again it was their elders that voted away free studies and apprenticeship programmes via the various elections for various parties.
g. and yet they still try to learn a trade, pay of their loans, find a partner and marry, have children, find an affordable house, pay taxes so that society can function and the like.
I think that maybe the young ones simply don’t have any more appetite for revolution then their parents and grandparents.
I think that we – the elders effectively – should not blame the children of today for the short comings of our generations. The kids are alright, its just that we leave them nothing. And that, as sad as it is, is the truth, we leave them nothing but pollution, overfished seas, overgrazed plains, rivers/lakes that are on wadeable in full body armour, crap jobs with no future nor good pay, frankenstein food cause our pollution is everywhere and so on and so on.
We really should not blame the kids or for that matter anyone born 1980 and after. They are truly the screwed over generations.
yes agree…but whatever happened to youth radicalism, socialism, marxism?…maybe it is yet to come?
….maybe many are still being cushioned by their baby boomer parents?
…maybe they know the global warming end is nigh and they just want to enjoy life as much as possible
…maybe the alternate reality of cyberspace has taken over?
Privacy.
Mate we had a bit of privacy an laws that made sense.
Today they have a fair chance of being charged with domestic terrorism or something like that, their life for ever fucked.
As i said above, the Young ones know that the 50 – 70 will never come back, neither the privilege that the people had at the time, the privilege to not be surveilled, the privilege to not have to take of their shoes and bras before boarding a plane etc etc.
And, please lets remember that there was terrorism during these times too, the first antifada comes to mind, Mogadishu etc etc etc.
And you still have the young ones going to demos and the likes. Have a good look at the pictures from NZ in regards to the TPPA demo’s, a lot of the people there are young.
Maybe us old ones need to take our blinkers of and see what is there and stop whinging and crying about the perceived shortcomings of a generation or two that really was screwed over and is given nothing bur scorched earth.
…radicalism and demonstrations still seems to be alive and kicking in France ( where they have banned fracking) and are fighting for a good std of living
btw i am not old …and also I dont think it is helpful to blame the ‘oldies’…it is this sort of lack of political education and focus that creates confusion and lack of action, lack of voting and organisation among the young
…the problem is not the older generation, many of whom are struggling themselves and have never supported neoliberalism ( this is an argument that lets the right wing off the hook…they would be very pleased with the blame being placed on the older generation)
…the problem is actually right wing neoliberalism…the politics of the elite 10% who own 60% and who control the media and have a formidable PR machine…as well as their buying off ‘left wing’ politicians (in parties like Labour ) here and overseas,which are supposedly on the left and for the people , but actually support neoliberalism and are afraid to take real socialist action for change and equality of opportunity.
The corruption of the Left is what disillusions young people and stops them from voting and taking action…(btw I am not talking about violent action, I am talking about peaceful mass demonstrations, organisation and voting amongst the young to create a real lobby group for change)
…in other words the real problem is not older people… but the ruling elite of laissez faire capitalism, in its last days …eating up and privatising into their own pockets the assets of countries and hopes and dreams of ordinary people for a good standard of living in their own countries…theft by the few of the many
The political elites foisted a new system on ordinary Brits. Little wonder they’re grabbing it back
By Geoffrey Palmer
No, it wasn’t a new system – it was the same old one that failed in the 19th century and brought WWI.
And that sickness is the rich as they buy up our politicians and plunder our wealth.
+100 DTB …violation of the social contract ( Thomas Hobbs) usually leads to social chaos and revolution…people will take so much inequality and impoverishment and then no more..it amazes me that the ruling classes never seem to learn this lesson from history..are they stupid or has their greed affected their reason?
… these also are interesting discussions on implications of Brexit ( better than most NZ media , especially nz tv ) :
‘Russia’s Brexit’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/349095-russia-brexit-democracy-security/
‘EU implosion?’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/348831-eu-reform-democracy-brexit/
‘Brexit: Goal!’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/348295-brexit-goal-uk-eu/
National’s answer to people living in cars? Build more roads:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/389037/1b-fund-address-housing-crisis
Being an Audrey Young piece, I imagine this is a reprint from the NZH. It would be good if; Labour, and the GP, were to have some response to this, and not let Peters always be the most visible face of opposition to this scheming government. But then again, they may simply not have been asked by Young. Which would be poor journalism, though hardly surprising from the sister of a sitting National MP.
I’d suggest a joint op-ed from Little and Turei targeting the issues. About time there is a follow-up from the MOU that was announced about two calendar months ago to keep the momentum going.
It wont prevent more homeless men dying this cold winter.
Or ex prisoners being released into saturated accommodation markets.
Or any relief or a amnesty from policy that makes people homeless, like affordable rentals, amnesty from paying three weeks rent in advance and a weeks rent to rental company.
Employers have no reason to lift wages, even when on the back of higher productivity and profits. Working for Families is an employer benefit.
Changes to kiwisaver see workers get gypped on paying for their employer deductions which National then tax.
I have yet to see any evidence of primary producers increasing their employment costs on the back of higher export volumes. Trade now wont lift wages or raise our living standards. It certainly doesnt make our primary produce cheaper to buy.
The Reserve Bank increased interest rates every time Fonterra had a huge payout,
so how did that improve kiwi’s standard of living.
Tax cuts are meaningless, whats needed is some major reform of raising tax thresholds.
Remember when GST was promoted as something to reduce PAYE take?
At the time of posting this, I see The Daily Blog has gone down again! What’s going on?
waghorns out there scenario on the brexit.
The new Tory leader will call a snap election while labour is in turmoil, and the torys will run on a stay in the EU if they win ticket, .
Here’s the plan.
http://thebrexitplan.com/
he he that’s what you get when you didn’t expect to lose.
The best laugh of the day. 😀
Wouldn’t it be loverly if something like this was operating in NZ before the next election. Maybe it would slow down the Key Lie-machine or the propagation of dirty tricks for Paddy to churn out.
“Social media verification tools are now being developed.
Pheme, named after the greek goddess of fame and renown, is an open-source online tool to help newsrooms detect, track and verify facts and claims the moment they start spreading on Twitter….”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/201806336/brexit-media-from-a-to-zz-top
Bernard Hickey – “Mr Key……..the people are revolting.”
Mr Key – “I know they are…….I’ve felt that way since I was 12”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11667728
Seen this?
Joined a few dots for me regarding the apparent Blairite campaign to remove Jeremy Corbett …..
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/685663/Jeremy-Corbyn-Tony-Blair-war-criminal-Chilcot-Inquiry-verdict-quit-Labour-leader
Insider: ‘Corbyn will not quit until Chilcot verdict so he can brand Blair war criminal’
JEREMY Corbyn may be clinging on to power because he wants to brand Tony Blair a “war criminal” after the release of the Chilcot Inquiry report next week, Labour insiders have claimed.
_________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
pfft. Was saying that last Wednesday 😉
(sorry, shameless self promotion)
http://thestandard.org.nz/chilcot-corbyn-and-the-uk-labour-party-caucus/
That old fraud Elie Wiesel is eulogized, but Hedy Epstein is largely ignored
Elie Wiesel, who has died aged 87, was neither brave nor moral….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05072015/#comment-1038877
Just a month and a half ago, another Holocaust survivor died. Unlike Elie Wiesel, she did not consort with crooks and murderers and she had the courage to speak out against evil no matter who the perpetrators were….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Epstein
[Corrected the spelling of concentration camp survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel’s name. If I thought for a moment the misspelling was deliberate, you’d be gone for a long time, Moz. TRP]
Good judgement TRP
Just saw that Al Jazeera is broadcasting the name as Wiesel. (Subtitles across bottom of screen.)
Hmm Seems an unlikely German name, but if it is right, we owe Morrisey an apology.
Or Al Jazeera need a rev-up?
Errare humanum est
Yep – Google confirms that we owe Morrisey an apology – the guy’s surname really was German for ‘weasel’.
Great surname is all I can now say.
[The man was not German and his surname does not mean what you think it does. Don’t go down this track. TRP]
Wiesel Name Meaning German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Wiesel ‘weasel’, Middle High German wisele. As a German name this is a nickname; as a Jewish name it is generally an ornamental name.German: from Middle High German wisel ‘leader’. JXE.
there is more to a name than many think.
Especially Jewish and Ashkenazic names have different meanings. And many of the names go back to Old German and are a thousand years old.
So while Wiesel means Weasel directly translated it has got nothing to do with the Last Name Wiesel.
http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=wiesel&geo_a=r&geo_s=us&geo_t=us&geo_v=2.0.0&o_xid=62916&o_lid=62916&o_sch=Partners
and even if it did, I doubt Morrissey would have the brains to know it.
Romanian.
Checking up a coupla things seems to me like Eli Weisel has a background that limits respect from me. Once again Morrissey gets the serious morality right !
Elie Wiesel.
A life well lived, fully lived.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel
Rest in Well Deserved Peace.
[Deleted].
[Ok, that’s clearly over the line and dullwitted to boot. Feel free to come back in August. Do some some study on the difference between anti-zionism and anti-semitism while you’re away so you don’t make the same mistake again. TRP]
Have been watching The Nation (taped) this evening and I was sickened by the state of the treatment of the sheep once they arrived in Saudi Arabia. This country should not be shipping livestock away for any reason, breeding or otherwise. No Trade Deal is worth the disgusting treatment of livestock. Do they think this country’s citizens are so gullible as to accept the the Government’s assurance that they do not ship any livestock for slaughter – what were the lambs from the pregnant ewes going to be used for, if not for disgusting slaughter for food. As it happened most of the lambs died of ill treatment. Apparently they ship livestock to China (but supposedly not for slaughter) – what happens to the stock that is bred from them once they are there. The entire affair is disgraceful.
We will sell our souls to the devil for the almighty dollar. Its bad enough with our own slaughter houses and the stress the stock goes through but at least they are stunned before being butchered, cool comfort but at least the animals are not in pain. The more I see of this disgraceful Government the less I want to be a New Zealander. The PM was a bumbling excuse for a PM and full of shit as usual, the sooner they make it compulsory for our citizens to vote the better, we may then be able to rid ourselves of this incompetent corrupt lot of troughers . Its got beyond anything that I can ever remember in my lifetime for evil, lying incompetent stewardship of this country, they are now as bad as the pig farmer back in the 80’s. We deserve much better than this. its shameful.
Whispering Kate……that was not a whisper…….it was an impassioned and magnificent cry. It will be answered. The moneylenders will be cast out……..!
Thank you North, I admit I was pretty worked up with rage after I had watched it, I still am this morning Monday, have just watched the PM on Breakfast and had to turn the TV off. What is it about the man that is so dodgy and creepy? Its the dead eyes for me, does it every time.