First post for me on The Standard, but am surprised that Tim Barnett has been able to censor what is and what isn’t posted on this site. Is this an indication of what we are going to see in the future? Not sure that I am comfortable with such suppression of free speech.
The concern with Slater and Farrar was that they were working in a clandestine way, receiving privileged information, probably often illegally, attacking other people and politicians.
What the Standard has done is in no way comparable. A request was made to remove information. Lprent has clearly (very clearly) detailed both that request, and his acceptance. If others want to be titillated by a regretted action that has been apologised for, then they are free to use Google or Slater and Farrar.
It’s not really a case of puppets. Those trying to seize the action as yet another example of “Gotcha” politics, are better described as muppets.
Well the action quite clearly shows influence by the Labour Party over this blog that can not be denied. So who to say that information isn’t past and attacks aren’t made. We just take your word for it I assume?
His word, and the result of the official investigations that are no doubt warranted and you’ll be presenting evidence to. No? No police complaint? Nothing for the SFO to worry about?
Careful, comrades, Beverley Wakem’s about to kick the door down.
So being civil and responding positively to a request Cancerman now means that the standard is a labour party blog and involved in dirty politics?
Do you read Cancerman, can you read? I mean what’s my politics – ask any labour person my position?
Have you read anyone else here and their opinions – Oh lets say Karol or Phillip Ure.
How about Iprent himself? Labour party hack you think?
Odd, what an odd comment you have made cancerman – it seem to me to reek of desperation. Of an individual who does not like or struggles with polite or civilised society. Or you’re a person who is feeling a little gun shy about voting for a government actively involved in the perversion of politics, morality and the decent society.
How can it be that a polite request, made to a reasonably fair minded individual, is somehow turned into a grand conspiracy?
Is politeness, now nothing more than something else the right can attack the left on?
Yes, that’s what everyone complains about, isn’t it. No? What’s that you say? In Greymouth?
Now I remember, it isn’t that the National Party has puppets, it’s the things it uses them for that are currently under investigation by at least three independent agencies including the SIS, Ombudsman and Police.
On balance, I think putting the post up in the first place was a mistake: it’s easy to get caught up in the moment, do we really want politicians families to be fair game?
Politics being war by other means I think it’s worth recalling how we treat soldiers who shoot civilians.
PS: yes, yes, I know, we give them medals and a lecture tour, I was speaking hypothetically.
You need to remember that Labour was led into the last election by a Statesman. The type of message that was censored is not befitting for a Statesman led party. Please understand that censorship is for your own good
Music4menz, censorship is when an official agency rules that the publication of certain material is illegal.
No such edict is in force or even enforceable, Open Mike being what it is. No information is suppressed, being in the public domain elsewhere.
In any case, speech at The Standard isn’t “free” – it costs money to host the site and we inhabitants are subject to its rules and our modern Robespierre, Lprent.
You do remember what happened to Robespierre don’t you?
Presided over the Reign of Terror and was then deposed and guillotined.
Surely there is a better comparison? I see him as Christopher Robin, presiding over the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood.
..A new study may have you rethinking your eating habits..”
Or not 🙂
Phillip, I cant see that happening at my house anytime in the near or even long distant future.
Im still trying to reconcile the local YMCA gym advertising how bad plastic water bottles are, while they have large vending machines full of the stuff in the front foyer.
And Im not sure if me driving to the gym each day is kosher either. 🙂
You have just reminded me that I need to start writing some more posts on climate change. In particular the probable time line and effects of the rapid melting of the WAIS that the drilling over the last few years revealed.
On climate change: I saw this on Al Jazeera this morning. Thousands of walrus’s corwding on to the shore on Alaska’s coast. usually they seek ice covered places to go ashore, but that is becoming harder for them to find.
Pacific walrus that can’t find sea ice for resting in Arctic waters are coming ashore in record numbers on a beach in north-west Alaska.
An estimated 35,000 walrus were photographed on Saturday about five miles north of Point Lay, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
[…]
In recent years, sea ice has receded north beyond shallow continental shelf waters and into Arctic Ocean water, where depths exceed two miles and walrus cannot dive to the bottom.
The World Wildlife Fund said walrus had also been gathering in large groups on the Russian side of the Chukchi Sea.
“It’s another remarkable sign of the dramatic environmental conditions changing as the result of sea ice loss,” said Margaret Williams, managing director of the group’s Arctic program.
“The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the high Arctic, and that is that the Arctic environment is changing extremely rapidly and it is time for the rest of the world to take notice and also to take action to address the root causes of climate change.”
Jeez, looks like I’ve innocently upset a few very thin skins here.
Why do these types personally attack everyone they dissagree with and
call them names. (Kind of childish way to discuss an issue isn’t it?)
Perhaps any one of you could explain the difference between AGW and
climate change ?
That is a simple question.
Now I would not call ‘McFlock’, ‘dv’, or even ‘Iprent’ ignorant or stupid so let
us see if any one of them could prove it and answer that one simple
question.
By the way. I would have no difficulty to explain the difference and will do
so for you if none of you are capable.
The fact that you are asking a question to which you claim to already know the answer demonstrates that you are not interested in a genuine discussion.
So I could talk about how AGW is a type of CC, but really you don’t give a shit. Because you’re a moron.
BTW, I don’t personally attack everyone I disagree with. Just fucking morons whose egos write cheques that their braincell can’t cash.
You are right, I do know the answer to that question.
The reason that I asked it was to see if you or dv or Iprent knew the
answer.
So, according to you, I don’t give a shit, I’m a fucking moron, and a bit of extra abuse regarding my ego and braincell thrown in for extra emphasis.
Charming, You seem to be a real prince.
PS. I’ve never ever personally abused anyone on this blog.
I did suggest to weka that the term anthropogenic global warming had
been replaced by climate change and got abused by you and abused and threatened by Iprent for my trouble.
You are right, I do know the answer to that question.
No you don’t. That’s obvious from ignorant comments and I’m not going to bother to try and enlighten you as it’s obvious that you’ll continue denying reality because it goes against your beliefs.
I never said you knew the answer to your question.
If you think treating everybody like fucking morons (by making idiot statements and wanking with passive-aggressive questions that you believe you know the answer to) gives you the moral or intellectual advantage over someone honest enough to point out precisely why you are a fucking idiot and which specific comments you wrote demonstrate that you are patently uninterested in good-faith discussion of an issue, then your compass is broken.
But these are all pretty long cycles. There are shorter climate change events related to plume events from the earths radioactive core causing larger sustained volcanic events (like the Deccan traps).
Similarly short unsustained volcanic events around subduction zones causing ash triggered climate changes, which rarely persist for more than teeny numbers of years – typically 3-4 years.
Of the various very short-term (decades) and long term (hundreds of millions of years) solar cycles.
But AGW refers to climate change that is both short-term and sustained which is highly abnormal in the geological record and typically associated with large diebacks in the biotic parts of the climate system (large meteorite impacts mostly).
For instance the slow cooling of the northern hemisphere in the initial industrial era due to dust (approx 1850-1950) that cause regional effects.
But in less than 150 years we have seen some marked changes in the whole earth’s heat balance that are on the scale of the interglacial changes (they’re warming the entire earth’s oceans) but are happening in a fraction of the usual geological process times. These are (>95% confidence) attributed to changes in the composition of the earth’s atmosphere with the human introduction of greenhouse gases.
So having given you this extremely basic primer for a moron, could you please look down the links and get your useless brain aware of geological timescales. Then it might be worth training you to up to primary school level.
Now, far be it from me to resort to the same level of nasty personal abuse and threats that i have copped from Iprent and others on this site today so…
excuse me if I ask……
Did Tim Barnet OK your 9.49 effort yet Iprent ?
You may have to withdraw it if Tim doesn’t like it.
You still can’t resist calling me a ‘moron’ and referring to my ‘useless brain’
I gotta go,
G’nite all.
I leave it to all readers of the above to make up their own minds.
PS I do give Iprent a tick for not banning me forever from this site in spite of his threat.
Onya Iprent 4 that.
Just because he is not able to debate the issue without resorting to personal invective does not mean that he may not have a cogent point. Duh! What !
Thing is, based on the above exchanges…….
What is his point ?
The question was always quite simple.
He will be seeking wise counsel from Tim Barnet for some guidence.
Nope it just expresses what I think about you. It was quite pointed abuse
That you are quite stupid and and obviously quite ignorant on earth sciences is to me perfectly obvious. No more and no less.
I even thanked you for reminding me that I have a role in helping to educate those unfortunates who don’t understand the science. When I read your comment I could the weight of unfulfilled duty from my earth science degree calling to me to clear the weight of your ignorance.
BTW: I’d suggest you read the policy on the site about what is permissible and expected before I get around to doing a moderating sweep. My moderating personality tends to get irritated about people telling other people how they should behave on this site. That is the moderators job.
Hi Draco T Bastard, hope you are having a nice evening.
So, you too jump on the personal abuse wagon and accuse me of ignorance.
And, in your mind I am denying reality . How so ?
Are all the correspondents on this site incapable of discussion ?
I suggested that the term AGW had been superseeded by the term climate change.
Is that wrong ?
Look at the vituperate reaction that has provoked on this blogsite.
It’s staggering.
You join in with glee and tell me what I think and that you wont bother to reply to what you think I think. Jeez.
So why post anything ?
Why waste your time.
Do you know the answer to the question ?
Are you able to address the question without resorting to childish personal abuse simply because I had the temerity to pose it ?
Here is your chance to show you have something about you.
That is because we have seen far too many idiots like yourself coming through who haven’t bothered to examine the evidence. Instead you seem to think that your close examination of your pubic hairs whilst wanking is as important as being less self-indulgent and bothering to learn enough to make intelligent conversation.
Are you getting the point yet? We have heard all this before from other morons. You appear to be both stupid and ignorant. It simply isn’t worth the effort of explaining how and why you are.
Please check out my primer that I carefully wrote and linked for you. Then ask some intelligent questions rather than sending the blood to the wrong organ.
“idiots like you”
“other morons”
“examinine your pubic hairs” and
“wanking”
“You appear stupid and ignorant”
” It simply is not worth the effort explaining”
and yet you can’t help explaining.
Then you call for “intelligent questions”
Just silly.
Maybe a huge intellect like, say, Drako T Bastard
can explain your point for you.
I was listening to the Kathryn Ryan interview with Robbie Deans yesterday, Ive always been a Dean’s fan since the 80’s when he competed with Alan Hewson (who couldn’t tackle to save himself).
Deans reckoned that the critics affect the family/partners the hardest because they have no control, which brought me back to Karen Price’s enlightening tweets on the internal workings of the Labour Party.
But is David Cunliffe the Robbie Deans of NZ politics. Steve Tew (ABD perhaps) is to Robbie Deans what the ABC’s are to David Cunliffe.
Will Tim Barnett haul her in for a bollicking for washing clean linen in public?
This abuse of Twitter by the leading light of Robertson’s team will bring the party into disrepute.
Good to see someone standing up and doing something, thanks CV.
”This is dirty tricks and dirty politics in Dunedin South,” she told the Otago Daily Times this week.
Ok, so now ‘dirty politics’ is any time a political opponent opposes you in ways you disapprove of? Thanks Clare, we really needed a career politician on the left to render the concept of Dirty Politics that much less relevant 🙄
Every time I have seen anything from Curran, she has been shooting Labour in the foot. When we actually have an investigative journalist who actually has uncovered real dirty politics, and NAct has tried to change the definition away from their organised filth, why is a Labour MP giving credibility to the NAct story?
Go get her CV. Time for a team that cares about more than their seats in parliament.
Aha… thanks NaPSS. Guyon Espinor mentioned it this morning.
Clare Curran has yet another “moaning, whining, public tanty”.
There’s a clear pattern developing here. The moaners and attackers bellowing to the media are former ABCers. What does it mean? Is someone coordinating them, or are they merely copying the ‘Dirty Politics’ meme – that is, accuse those who you attack… of doing the attacking!
We should all write to the Gen Sec asking that she gets some form of “counselling”. Perhaps she should be asked to pay Tat’s Labour membership fees for the next ten years?
I wonder if she is calling on the Editor of the OTD to practice the same type of leadership that she exercised when in control (with Grant R) of the Red Alert?
There is a very sexy picture of Tat there also. A real vote catching photo!
@ Not a PS Staffer
That’s interesting. Oh good new people joining up to the Party. Ooh the Party in Dunedin didn’t know if they really wanted them. Joining up like that theywould presumably have also been able to vote for the leader. Tat Loo definitely has a good head for strategy and policy. Not one to stay sitting on the whoopee cushion, though he might play a trick with it on one of the other sitting MPs.
I hope that some of you will enjoy this awesome lecture from John Perkins about the secret history of American Empire. John Perkins wrote “Confessions of an economic hitman” and in this lecture given at the Marlboro College in 2009 he tells his student audience about the history of the World Bank and the IMF and how they perform their “Duties”. It is part of my series about the Washington consensus and how John Key and ex-World Bank second in command Graeme Wheeler fit into the system and also how it connects with the policies put into place here in New Zealand.
The Washington Consensus, A Backgrounder And Yes, It Is Being Implemented In New Zealand Right Now http://wp.me/p638n-4w8
Lets be honest. The Robertson and Cunliffe debate is simply personality politics. Call it for what it is, and vote accordingly.
It’s really nothing to do with “left” and “centrist” and “core values” and “neo-liberal” and “traitorous”. And I can confidently assert this, because the debate is all about these labels and not about policy substance.
I am not sure there is anything simple about the situation Labour is currently finding itself in in terms of Labour’s caucus.
Likely there is a component of “personality politics.
What I have been reminded of is how powerful the phenomena of “group think” is. How people feel uncomfortable when they don’t concur with the dominant opinion that a group appears to hold.
And given the issues that some in the Labour caucus are so vocal about I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t what is going on around DC.
A personal anecdote to illustrate. Some twenty years ago or so I was the leader of a smallish team in a work place of 30. I had to select a small group of colleagues to attend a conference. We travelled to the conference and all bar one of them bunked off virtually for the whole event. I expressed my displeasure to one on the plane going home. When I next went into work (I was part time) out of the staff of 30 (ish) only two people spoke to me.
They then sabotage everything I tried to do. It was a very unpleasant experience. Fortunately I left and when on to a much, much better job and career wise I have never looked back.
I hope people on this site will forgive me for a personal anecdote, but I can’t help beut wonder (and it is only speculation) that a similar thing hasn’t happened to DC.
“It’s really nothing to do with “left” and “centrist” and “core values” and “neo-liberal” and “traitorous”. And I can confidently assert this, because the debate is all about these labels and not about policy substance.”
Do you mean the debate here? Because there was been lots around left vs neoliberal. Or do you mean between DC and GR?
It’s unfortunate that most of the MSM seem focussed on the invidivuals rather than what this represents in terms of left and neoliberal.
I guess the time is coming for DC to stand up and declare where he really intends to head (if he wins). Second chance won’t become a third one. Make or break time.
I am not sure there is anything simple about the situation Labour is currently finding itself in in terms of Labour’s caucus.
Likely there is a component of “personality politics.
What I have been reminded of is how powerful the phenomena of “group think” is. How people feel uncomfortable when they don’t concur with the dominant opinion that a group appears to hold.
And given the issues that some in the Labour caucus are so vocal about I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t what is going on around DC.
A personal anecdote to illustrate. Some twenty years ago or so I was the leader of a smallish team in a work place of 30. I had to select a small group of colleagues to attend a conference. We travelled to the conference and all bar one of them bunked off virtually for the whole event. I expressed my displeasure to one on the plane going home. When I next went into work (I was part time) out of the staff of 30 (ish) only two people spoke to me.
They then sabotaged everything I tried to do. It was a very unpleasant experience. Fortunately I left and went on to a much, much better job and career wise I have never looked back.
I hope people on this site will forgive me for a personal anecdote, but I can’t help beut wonder (and it is only speculation) that a similar thing hasn’t happened to DC.
I have always been aware of how “group think” operates and I speak up and resist it everytime I get a sniff of it.
I think that most are buying into a presidential like system as promoted by the main stream media. David Cunliffe did in my opinion do a reasonable job during the election campaign, as would have any of the other candidates for labour leadership in the last few years. There does how ever seem to be a disconnect between the labour party hierarchy and the caucus. Before we deal with the more important issues of party structures and personnel, this leadership issue needs to be resolved to get the media to change focus.
Why do political parties (and I’m talking all of them here) buy into the “Presidential” system that suits the MSM?
For some parties there is no alternative (WinstonFirst, DunneFirst, ActFirst and ConservyLoons). Another Party (DirtyJohn) has one orator who outshines everybody else in the caucus, and they gain advantage in keeping the less able away from public scrutiny.
But Labour , could, if it so chose, set it’s own path during an election. Refuse to make the Leader the sole spokesperson. Refuse to participate in Leader’s debates, if these are the only Air time available (They actually told us nothing, apart from the fact that Cunliffe is a very good debater, and Key is lovable or hateable depending on your political views.)
Bring out, and emphasise the team. Less convenient for MSM, but make that their problem. Bring out the Shadow Minister of Health to talk health issues, Education to talk Education issues, and the Finance spokesperson to provide the “gotcha” details on Fringe Benefit Tax. Show the Leader of the Party as exactly that …..somebody who can lead a competent team. Rather than someone simply selected as the best debater.
I suggest that this may work well for either Cunliffe or Robertson, or actually any other leader.
Thank you for your post, for you provide an excellent example of what the debate is unfortunately about. And which leaves me to conclude it’s not really of substance and more about the personalities of the contenders.
I’ll look further into your statements. Full of emotion, but basically a lot of hot air. I assume, suspect, you’ve got some ideas of substance lurking underneath, but until Labour activists start articulating what those are, instead of throwing around labels, the movement is doomed to not achieve what is possible.
~~~~
..it is entirely about the battle for the direction of the labour party.. ..does it..under robertson..continue to cling to the neo-liberal policies of the last 30 yrs..
..or does it..under cunnliffe…embrace progressive-polices focusing on poverty-busting etc..
“clinging to” emotive bullshit “neo-liberal policies of the last 30 years” meaningless claptrap, needing substance “embrace progressive policies” emotive bullshit “focussing on poverty-busting” Wow. The nearest we have come to something of substance. But still absolutely no details. No evidence of what your hero has done, or said he will do, that your villain will not also do.
I personally think that inequality and doing something about poverty are issues that are of the highest priority. The very highest. But if anybody is trying to persuade me that one candidate is better than another on the basis of one being good (“embraces progressive”) and not bad (“clinging to neo-liberal”) I’d suggest a course in Sales 101. It’s not that your answer is necessarily wrong. It’s just the justification that is absent. Totally missing in action.
~~~~
..the personality stuff is just a distraction…….and the right/corporate-media know what a crossroads this is………(hence their vicious-firestorm of a hate-campaign against cunnlife………they are terrified of the idea of a real labour party……
..one shed of its’ neo-liberal aberrations..)………and they also know what they want………and that is robertson..and neo-lib……….and just that fact should be enough to disqualify robertson..
Please just read this again, and again, and again. It’s absolute nonsense. At it’s very best, it’s drivel. It’s easier to say nothing with blank lines. It’s like a TV advertisement for hair shampoo. Trying to convey something?? by repetition. But repetition of a pile of crap, simply makes a bigger pile.
If these are reasons why you have a hero, and the other one is a villain, I suggest you change shampoos. Or preferably work at a shampoo factory for a week, to get the real detail on the ingredients in each shampoo.
~~~~
….(and i have figured out why a joke like nash is there..he is there to make robertson look less neo-lib than he is..)
When two people sit around, and have a common understanding of a problem, it’s ok to chew the fat, and say what you think. But all I understand from this statement (and I understand it well) is that you dislike Nash (intently). And that gets us where, precisely? Is this meant to be another argument that your hero should be elected, and your villain not be elected? I don’t think so.
Re my earlier comment about group think and the “personality issues”. I think this is (ie. group think) probably a factor, but just one factor.
I think the other issues are, Who will best represent the party? Who is geniune and capable about reversing policies that have hurt so many NZders, particularly Labour constitutiuants? Rogernomics or call it what you will has been so damaging for so many in NZ. My vote will go to someone who I believe has the will, the determination and knowledge to reverse this.
At the leadership campaign meeting I went to last year when the candidates were asked what they would like to be known for, DC that was what he wanted to be known for, i.e reversing Rogernomics.
Another significant issue is of course “Who will best achieve election success for the Party?” (Although your “Who will best represent the Party?” possibly covers this.)
My concern is that the leader may represent the party’s objectives very well, but his (or her) personal characteristics may turn voters off. I’m not thinking homosexuality here as much as perceptions of sincerity, drive, arrogance, empathy etc. These are all valid concerns along with the issues that you have raised.
Dita starts off with frustrating references to “progressive” values. (Everybody in the Labour Party probably has a reasonable understanding of the term, in their own heads at least. The label may even mean the same thing to most in the Party, but possibly not. But outside the Party in Voter-land, it probably means little.)
But then Dita immediately redeems herself, and actually starts specifying what progressive means. She picks issues such as “free basic education, a fairer tax system, protecting our ecosystem, better workers and human rights, and a strong health system that does not discriminate between rich and poor”
These are the things that will appeal to potential voters. They are not detailed policies, but they are a clear vision… She promotes a path: “In following the path of defining a set of core values and sticking with them even when the prevailing conservative chorus is decrying them” She gives good specific advice on how to work with other parties who have specific policies in common.
..apologies for not presenting a full poverty-busting poverty-program..
..but hey..!..a financial transaction tax on the banksters wd be a good start..
..to get that poverty-busting (’emotive’ i know..but there you go..!..)..to get that underway..
…heard of that..?
..can i suggest you google ‘neo-liberal-‘…?..(that may help enlighten you there..)
..’shampoo-references pass me by..
..i am part of the shampoo-free movement..
..haven’t piled that muck on my hair for years..
(and yes..thick/luxuriant/shiny enough to make dunne turn green with envy..)
..and seeing as you ask..
..and aide from nash being such good buddy/buddies with the denizens of the far-right..as in slater/lusk etc..
..(you quite relaxed about that..?..)
..there is the small fact that he is currently walking around trying to peddle the bullshit that he won the seat of napier because of his all-round skills..
..(going so fucken far as to offer to show other labour candidates ‘how’..(!)..)
..whereas the facts of the matter are that nash got no more votes in ’14 than he did in ’11..
..and the only reason he won napier..
..is because garth mcvicar stood for the conservatives..
..and hived over 4,500 votes from the national candidate..
..had he not done that..nash wd have lost..
..so yes..that he seems to be basing everything ‘good’ about him on what is a pile of stinking/steaming bullshit..
Would Mr. Botany (B.) be more politically correct?
~~~
..apologies for not presenting a full poverty-busting poverty-program…..
..but hey..!..a financial transaction tax on the banksters wd be a good start..
..to get that poverty-busting (‘emotive’ i know..but there you go..!..)..to get that underway..…heard of that..?..
I did not claim that “poverty-busting” was emotive. In fact I singled what you wrote there as the best part of your whole post. Seems like we (may) share a common vision of what we think has to be achieved?
~~~~
..and the only reason he (Nash) won napier….is because garth mcvicar stood for the conservatives….and hived over 4,500 votes from the national candidate….had he not done that..nash wd have lost….
More lies from Key and Joyce around their Convention Centre deal… bet their own blind trusts are filled with Sky City shares … even Herald allows it to seem suspect as a hotel “slips” on to land for convention centre only …
The public purse ripped off by sale of TVNZ land for peanuts below commercial value; lovingly sponsored by Key and Joyce .. now the truth outs .. and it seems Joyce lied in the House as well … ho hum, just another day at the office …
(Apologies if this has already been discussed) From yesterday’s Gordon Campbell article on Scoop:
“…………the chances of the TPP countries pulling a deal together in the next three years are slim. One chronic reason being, the Obama administration has no authority to conclude this deal even if member countries could agree on the content – which they don’t. The US currently lacks the Trade Promotion Authority for Obama to clinch the terms of the deal.”
So if the TPP is really on it’s last legs as the article suggests, we do at least have three years grace at best, with our pro TPP government sidelined perhaps?
yes great news Rosie!…i heard it the other day on the radio i think…and was relieved at the reprieve…but you can never rule them out pulling something out of the hat at any moment when you least expect it
It’s been on the rocks for at least the last 2 years. That hasn’t stopped various countries and governments from parroting on that they’re working towards the agreement, though.
Basically it just seems like a waste of taxpayer funds and an excuse to go on overseas trips.
I have heard such comment previously Lanthanide but was reluctant to focus too much energy on it, for the reason Chooky gives above:
“but you can never rule them out pulling something out of the hat at any moment when you least expect it”.
All those overseas trips you mention had to be justified so perhaps governments put on a brave fake face in an effort to avoid embarrassment. These are the cowboys of the wild new frontier of global corporate control, taking it further than ever before, they’ve got a reputation to protect. Just a thought.
Lots of airpoints and hotel reward points accummulated for those overseas jetsetting negotiations can now be used to take the family on holiday. Nice job if you can get it.
so what is their next move in your opinion?…is this just a pretend “off the table”…while they regroup covertly and present us all with a fait accompli ?
TPP won’t go away, and the accummulation of airports and hotel reward points won’t end.
TPP will keep coming back, again and again. And it must be opposed again and again. It was being pushed at us as the MAI more than ten years ago. Now, we are battling against the TPP and it won’t stop coming at us more strongly, with another acronym change if that is what it takes to try to dupe people again.
travellerev. There’s really no need for the rolly eyes. Truth is, I don’t really know what to “believe”.
I don’t think anyone can relax until it’s well and truly buried. I think if it does go then as Kiwiri suggests, it’s will come back again and again – just in a different format. I’m sure the global corporate powers have many masks and disguises for their intentions.
People can say what they like, just not under the banner of a Labour supporting site.
Reactionary posts are not supporting Labour, if anything they support National by dividing people……very convenient for National that the left do feel free to have robust debates, when done on Twitter or blogs too easy to misconstrue, escalate by MSM and cause fractures.
For people to suggest this is supression is worrying, almost looking for another battle, rather than focussing on issues that matter?
If a “Labour Supporting Site” is simply an extension of the official Labour Party site, it becomes simply a propaganda site. That’s fine, but contributions would quickly dry up
Robust debates are, or should be, the life blood of all political parties. The benefits far outweigh the possible concerns that others may misconstrue from such discussions. This is politics after all: Those on the other side of every fence are only too keen to misconstrue.
Ideas are born of robust debate. The strength of this site, that I quickly discovered, is the relative tolerance to such robustness (I’ve been labelled a troll on a couple of occasions here; a badge I’ll wear with pride, as it seems to me the unsupported labelling was more a reflection of the accuser than anything else)
The discussions here have substance …. and a common vision with intelligent disagreement can only be respected.
If you want to reflect on alternatives, have a quick look at the drivel that takes place in the discussions on kiwiblog. Lots and lots of comments, but childish substance. Even Farrar is desperately trying to get more intelligent discussion by promoting extra “assistance” and saying that he will accept guest posts from those who disagree with him. (It will never work for Farrar, unless he actually relinquishes most of his personal power, and adopts a format more similar to the Standard)
“Ideas are born of robust debate” absobloodyluetely, in an environment that seeks to generate growth and meetings of minds, which social media is not, especially in a tribal climate generated and supported by a right wing MSM
Lots of truth there. But social media is here, and to stay. I envisage that as time goes on, social media will become more mature and effective, as people learn what works best and what doesn’t.
Social media does provide an environment where there is “robust” discussion (One or three of my posts have been very blunt). Far more “robust” than in a face to face meeting would ever generate. I can see both advantages and disadvantages with that. It also allows for the participation of many more people with ideas
I wasn’t too sure about your comment on social media debate being influenced by a right wing MSM. The discussion here is very different than MSM news and opinion, and seems to have formed it’s own style reasonably independently?
xox
I used to give credibility to Dr Bryce Edwards blog but he seems to have lost his ‘ balance’ the closer he gets to the MSM. Funny that. Do others at TS feel the same?
On the trail of active businesses keeping the NZ economy going and what sector, there is an Insight on Sunday on Radionz with Wallace Chapman on the thoroughbred industry. I heard a trailer this morning and I think they feel neglected, not taken seriously and they employ 33,000 people. Let’s hear it for the gee gees!
Sunday 5/10 at 8.12 a.m. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight
The heady days when horse racing was king, are gone.
People are discovering new ways to spent their entertainment dollar and the thoroughbred industry is now having to share the gambling pie with others like lotto and the casinos.
Racing, along with greyhounds and trotting, still manages turnover nearing two billion dollars and contributes to about one percent of the country’s gross domestic product, but many in the industry say it is getting harder to make a living.
Radio New Zealand’s Waikato reporter, Andrew McRae talks to all parts of the thoroughbred racing industry from trainers and owners, through to the breeders and jockeys about how it can try to keep pace with its competitors.
I tried to get some stats on employment in dairying but it’s hard to find for a newbie. There are more details from the dairy companies on cows, opportunities finance, yield of milk and money. Simple employment does not rate highly.
Some of the pdfs don’t convert to my old Firefox very well. There are all sorts of symbols in the headings.
Stats NZ is like following a will of the whisp. Every time I got into an area which I think could answer the simple? question of the annual count of employment in the dairy industry. I was directed to some program that would provide it if I pressed this button and spent 10 minutes reading about it.
And of course there is the proviso of how they changed the employment count in 2003 to give a broad brush over all employment presumably. Until 2003, statistics used full-time equivalent (FTE) persons engaged as the business-size measure. From 2003 onwards, FTE was replaced by employee count (EC). Business demography statistics showing EC are available for 2000 onwards.
I think this means in reality, in use, that they can then count someone doing 1 paid hour per week in employment statistics, but that will require probably an hour’s study on how to use their tables and find definitions.
An interesting statistic from Min for Primary Industries: New Zealand dairy production has risen 77 percent over the past 20 years … Sources: Statistics New Zealand, DairyNZ, Fonterra Co-operative Group, and MPI. … The parties to the Accord agreed to work together to achieve clean healthy …
I suspect the problem has more to do with employment and earnings. When you look at the Labour MPs most of them would struggle to earn 70k a year let alone what an MP makes
So these MPs are making more money then they ever have before so its only natural that they want to protect the money because they know when they leave they won’t have the same power, unfluence or pay packet
I mean would T. Mallard or C. Curran get paid in the private market anything like they’re getting now?
I see the main issue with the left is that they’re creating policies that appeal to the party members not the public.
Great if you want to be a niche party, not so good if you want to be a major party.
I agree with you about the labour Mps, which is why they’re so hard to pry off the trough, politics is as good as it gets so they’re not going anywhere without a fight.
they’re creating policies that appeal to the party members not the public
hahaha. try again. your framing there is misleading, mischievous as well as malicious.
let’s see what those policies are that appeal to party members not the public? abandoning the call for GST to be removed from fresh fruit and vegetables? increasing the super age?
How much would Paula Bennett be able to earn? She’s pretty much as useless as Mallard or Curran, as are plenty of other Tories. The only way any of them make heaps is when they’re appointed to bullshit positions as a political reward.
In a victory for local residents opposed to the mine and Auckland Coal Action, The proposed excavation of the Mangatangi coal mine by Glen Coal ltd. just south of the city, at Mangatawhiri has been put on indefinite hold.
Dita de Boni
‘Time for Labour to embrace the left.
Instead of trying to appeal to ‘middle New Zealand’, the party should proudly stand by progressive values…….
I am convinced that the Labour party of today has the same problem. And the advice from well-wishers and nefarious right-wing commentators alike – to “appeal to middle New Zealanders” – is, I believe, misguided.
The fact of the matter is that “middle New Zealand” currently prefers John Key. They want tax cuts, they want a prime minister they could have a beer with. God alone knows why, but their ideal female politician is Judith Collins, Hekia Parata and Maggie Barry (the “Hyacinth Bucket” model).
And they don’t care that dirty politics seeps out of every pore of the current administration.
So be it. Labour, at present, cannot sway these people and is not in good enough shape to take on the right-wing smear machine. But to my mind, it doesn’t have to – right now. It needs to reclaim and reaffirm that it stands for genuine left-wing values and ignore the critics – critics that are often non-voters, or non-Labour voters, egged on by opponents.’
John Key is the type of person I least like having a beer with. He would insist on being the centre of attention and make puerile wisecracks. He’s the sort of guy who would have been better off not drinking in a public bar when they had heavy glass jugs. Something has changed drastically with middle NZ, and I don’t like it. Some people say that social attitudes have changed for the better, but when you see the Rawshark emails and chats, you realise that for a lot of movers and shakers on the right, this is only lip service.
AN ALERT – Lecture coming up 15 October Auckland. Wednesday 15 October, 6.30pm
Maidment Theatre
Alfred Street
The University of Auckland
The Maidment Bar will open from 5.30pm
The 2014 Bruce Jesson Lecture
Mike Joy – Paradise Squandered; New Zealand’s Environmental Asset Stripping
New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser.
The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks.
The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up.
Mike Joy MSc(Hons), PhD in Ecology is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Environmental Science at the Ecology Group-Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North. He has received a number of awards, including the Ecology in Action award from the New Zealand Ecological Society; an Old Blue award from the Royal Forest and Bird protection Society; Environmental New Zealander of the Year from North and South magazine and the Manawatu Evening Standard Person of the Year.
Presented by Politics and International Relations and the Bruce Jesson Foundation
Wednesday 15 October, 6.30pm
Maidment Theatre
Alfred Street
The University of Auckland
The Maidm
Except that ACTs currently in power and has been in power previously whereas the Greens have never been in power, in fact they’re the only party that’ve never had an mp in government
Fact is the Greens are nothing less then a disapointment
Both him and Dunne were reported as being over the $500K mark on Campbell live once all their perks and bonus salaries were added up. Nice work if you can get it. Over a million dollars for one party that polled 0.22% and one that polled 0.7%.
I’d say the Greens could learn something from them but I think they prefer to be martyrs rather then try to ackshully get something done for their voters
Chris Trotter’s latest missive stopped me in my tracks. I felt like I could have written the article from start to finish. ( If I could write)
A brilliant summary of how people like me still haven’t forgiven or forgotten.
I wonder where Jason Ede and Cathy Odgers are? Have they eloped? Are they helping out at Whaleoil? Or the new “moderators” at kiwiblog? I hope their disappearance is not creating any sort of holdup on the inquiries that have started.
Fuck Russel Norman (I say that as a long time GP member and voter). “Crazies”? Really?
“I mean we had enough trouble with John Key standing up every day telling all his nonsense about us and on the other had we had to deal with these crazies. Having them on the radio and tv all the time talking their nonsense, it was like ‘Oh god,’ it did make it incredibly difficult to change the Government at that point because a lot of people who might have voted for Labour went ‘Oh god, if a vote for Labour means a vote for Dotcom and Harre, I’m not going to do that,'” he says
i think the Greens lost votes in the last week because it was said by a television reporter ( rightly or wrongly) that Norman was making overtures and was seeking a coalition with Nactional !
…Unconscionable!…people were confused and shocked…it seemed like an opportunistic betrayal by the Greens who were signalling Labour would not win in their opinion ,so they were ready to do deals with the Nactional which represents BIG BUSINESS and is the biggest violator of the environment!
+1
Good comment Chooky. Sometimes I think we the ordinary people here have a more honest and clearer view of things than some of these stupid ego driven smart arse dumb political ‘leaders’.
+1
You can take the boy out of Brisbane, but you can’t take Brisbane out of the boy. I have to wonder how much his growing up in a white supremacist monoculture made him unable to understand Maori at all. I can’t think why else he would call them crazies, especially when they have a similar political alignment to his party.
I also think he can go and fuck himself, and Metiria should speak for the Greens. I was going off Norman anyway, with all his talk of fiscal responsibility.
lol….unfortunately for Starbucks New Zealanders have gotten used to good coffee….only young teenagers and Americans like Starbucks
my friend took me to Palm Beach and I was shocked to find only a Starbucks coffee shop….i refused to drink the coffee she bought me ….but bought her a cake with green icing …she refused to eat her cake….she reckoned the cakes were made from ingredients in rocketry (she looked up the listed ingredients of Starbucks cakes on her laptop and pronounced they were also used in rocket fuel or some such)….ONLY IN USA!
With speculation mounting that he will contest Labour’s leadership, Napier MP STUART NASH will go one on one with Sean Plunket tonight.
PLEASE NOTE — TONIGHT’S SHOW WILL BE AT THE LATER TIME OF 10 30.
And we’re surrendering. Tonight we have pundits! BILL RALSTON and BRIAN EDWARDS to take an informed but light hearted look back at the campaign.
(And yes, we know Brian is a friend of David Cunliffe and a long time Labour advisor and supporter and we also know that Bill worked on the National campaign. That’s why we invited them!)
It most definitely is not!
Just take a look at their policies. Which of these do you honestly think are ‘neo liberal’ policies?
*100,000 new, affordable homes
*Free healthcare to under 13s, pregnant women and over 65s
*Raising the minimum wage to $16.25
*Ensure every rental is warm and dry
*Everything paid for, plus we’re in surplus
*Ensure all Kiwis under 20 are in work, education or training
*Best Start for Kiwi kids
*Reduce unemployment to 4% in our first term
*Lower class sizes
*Extend paid paternal leave to 26 weeks
*Ensure that all our rivers and lakes are clean
*Lowering power bills
*Convert the dole to apprenticeships
*Protecting our land from speculators
*Christchurch recovery policy
*Capital gains tax excluding family home
*Increase tax to 36c/$ for incomes above $150,000
* investments to upgrade regional economies and create jobs
*Auckland and Christchurch city Rail Link
*Public Service Television Station
*Ban shark finning , animal testing of cosmetics, synthetic highs.
* New ministry for children
*Restore Adult and community education
*Kiwi assure insurance
*Marine reserves
*Abolition of secondary tax
*Inquiry into wages and collective bargaining
*Review of spy laws.
I think it is time the Left recognized we need a single Left party. It will require a huge amount of compromise on policies and organization. Can we do it or do we individually prefer to remain in the political wilderness?
why bother with MMP then? A single left party would homogenise left wing politics and disenfranchise more people. It might win Labour the govt, but what would be the point?
What a different election it would have been if instead of just National there was a farmers party, a small business party, and a real estate developers party.
with one monolithic left wing party we’d have a left version of National, locking NZ into a centrist/rightist govt long term. So again, what would be the point? Power at all costs?
Here’s another idea. How about Labour try being a left wing party and seeing if the non-vote comes out again. We’re running out of time though, because not voting will become a hard habit to break.
The rich countries like these kinds of wars: defense companies get richer as expensive ordinance gets blown up. But no troops on the ground to come home in coffins.
Sorry, Key. We are cannon fodder so if you send our SAS, send body bags, too.
FRIDAY, OCT 3, 2014 10:25 AM NZDT
The great charter school rip-off: Finally, the truth catches up to education “reform” phonies
Fraud, financial mismanagement, lousy results: Reports highlight awful charter schools and people are catching on
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
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First post for me on The Standard, but am surprised that Tim Barnett has been able to censor what is and what isn’t posted on this site. Is this an indication of what we are going to see in the future? Not sure that I am comfortable with such suppression of free speech.
How is it suppression of free speech?
He probably asked nicely and lprent responded by respecting the request. Sounds pretty reasonable all round to me.
It was a polite request and lprent decided to take it down. There was no censorship involved.
And everyone complains Slater/Farrer are puppets of the National Party. Just more effective puppets it seems.
@ Cancerman (1.2.1)
The concern with Slater and Farrar was that they were working in a clandestine way, receiving privileged information, probably often illegally, attacking other people and politicians.
What the Standard has done is in no way comparable. A request was made to remove information. Lprent has clearly (very clearly) detailed both that request, and his acceptance. If others want to be titillated by a regretted action that has been apologised for, then they are free to use Google or Slater and Farrar.
It’s not really a case of puppets. Those trying to seize the action as yet another example of “Gotcha” politics, are better described as muppets.
Agreed. Strange to equate the unpublishing of a post with the smearing of innocent people using beehive sourced information.
Well the action quite clearly shows influence by the Labour Party over this blog that can not be denied. So who to say that information isn’t past and attacks aren’t made. We just take your word for it I assume?
His word, and the result of the official investigations that are no doubt warranted and you’ll be presenting evidence to. No? No police complaint? Nothing for the SFO to worry about?
Careful, comrades, Beverley Wakem’s about to kick the door down.
If we asked you to stop being an asshole, and you agreed because you thought it was a reasonable request, would that be censorship or influence?
lprent appears to have decided that Barnett made a reasonable request. His autonomy and the autonomy of this blog is in no way compromised by that.
So being civil and responding positively to a request Cancerman now means that the standard is a labour party blog and involved in dirty politics?
Do you read Cancerman, can you read? I mean what’s my politics – ask any labour person my position?
Have you read anyone else here and their opinions – Oh lets say Karol or Phillip Ure.
How about Iprent himself? Labour party hack you think?
Odd, what an odd comment you have made cancerman – it seem to me to reek of desperation. Of an individual who does not like or struggles with polite or civilised society. Or you’re a person who is feeling a little gun shy about voting for a government actively involved in the perversion of politics, morality and the decent society.
How can it be that a polite request, made to a reasonably fair minded individual, is somehow turned into a grand conspiracy?
Is politeness, now nothing more than something else the right can attack the left on?
Yes, that’s what everyone complains about, isn’t it. No? What’s that you say? In Greymouth?
Now I remember, it isn’t that the National Party has puppets, it’s the things it uses them for that are currently under investigation by at least three independent agencies including the SIS, Ombudsman and Police.
On balance, I think putting the post up in the first place was a mistake: it’s easy to get caught up in the moment, do we really want politicians families to be fair game?
Politics being war by other means I think it’s worth recalling how we treat soldiers who shoot civilians.
PS: yes, yes, I know, we give them medals and a lecture tour, I was speaking hypothetically.
Polite request…Yeah Right!
You need to remember that Labour was led into the last election by a Statesman. The type of message that was censored is not befitting for a Statesman led party. Please understand that censorship is for your own good
Music4menz, censorship is when an official agency rules that the publication of certain material is illegal.
No such edict is in force or even enforceable, Open Mike being what it is. No information is suppressed, being in the public domain elsewhere.
In any case, speech at The Standard isn’t “free” – it costs money to host the site and we inhabitants are subject to its rules and our modern Robespierre, Lprent.
You do remember what happened to Robespierre don’t you?
Presided over the Reign of Terror and was then deposed and guillotined.
Surely there is a better comparison? I see him as Christopher Robin, presiding over the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood.
I see him more as Kermit the frog presiding over a bunch of …think I’ll leave that bit out, not sure what his sense of humour is like at the moment 🙂
Where have all the Kactus Kate posts on Whalespew gone? Who censored them and suppressed her free speech?
“..If You Stop Eating Beef – But Still Eat a Lot of Dairy – You Won’t Help Climate Change..
..A new study may have you rethinking your eating habits..”
(cont..)
http://www.alternet.org/food/eating-less-meat-more-dairy-climate-change
..A new study may have you rethinking your eating habits..”
Or not 🙂
Phillip, I cant see that happening at my house anytime in the near or even long distant future.
Im still trying to reconcile the local YMCA gym advertising how bad plastic water bottles are, while they have large vending machines full of the stuff in the front foyer.
And Im not sure if me driving to the gym each day is kosher either. 🙂
@ tlh..
i crack up at the auto-eroticists who drive their bike-laden s.u.v.’s to ponsonby..
..park up..unload their expensive-toys..
and make their lycra-clad way up and down ‘p’-road…
Likewise, eating industrial grains and beans courtesy of Monsanto doesn’t help with AGW either.
It’s not what you eat, it’s how it’s grown that makes the difference.
Get with the programme weka.
AGW was dropped ages ago, it’s, “climate change” these days.
That’s because the globe is not warming and anyone who has heard of stuff
like, say, the ice ages for e.g. cannot deny that the climate does change.
People are not sucked into AGW any more.
Much easier to spook the sheeple with just ‘climate change.’
Do you recall Miss Clark scoffing accross the parliament at the, “Climate change
deniers.”
This is just as effective in shutting down your opponents as labelling them racists or homophobes and so on.
You have just reminded me that I need to start writing some more posts on climate change. In particular the probable time line and effects of the rapid melting of the WAIS that the drilling over the last few years revealed.
Thank you… Your ignorant stupidity was inspiring
On climate change: I saw this on Al Jazeera this morning. Thousands of walrus’s corwding on to the shore on Alaska’s coast. usually they seek ice covered places to go ashore, but that is becoming harder for them to find.
The Guardian report on it:
Iprent…,
I guess from your post above that you dissagree with me about AGW and climate change.
Thats fine, but why do you need attack me personally ?
Do you find that tactic lends some weight to your opinion ?
Use of childish invective like calling me ignorant and stupid reveals more about your character than anything else.
When someone is insensible to logic, one might as well call them the moron that they are.
It won’t change their opinions or undeserved sense of mental adequacy, but it can be fun.
I thought Lpent was gentle with you crick
Jeez, looks like I’ve innocently upset a few very thin skins here.
Why do these types personally attack everyone they dissagree with and
call them names. (Kind of childish way to discuss an issue isn’t it?)
Perhaps any one of you could explain the difference between AGW and
climate change ?
That is a simple question.
Now I would not call ‘McFlock’, ‘dv’, or even ‘Iprent’ ignorant or stupid so let
us see if any one of them could prove it and answer that one simple
question.
By the way. I would have no difficulty to explain the difference and will do
so for you if none of you are capable.
‘Much easier to spook the sheeple with just ‘climate change.’
‘This is just as effective in shutting down your opponents as labelling them racists or homophobes and so on.
OH I am sorry those comments were meant as intelligent discussion about a serous issue.
The fact that you are asking a question to which you claim to already know the answer demonstrates that you are not interested in a genuine discussion.
So I could talk about how AGW is a type of CC, but really you don’t give a shit. Because you’re a moron.
BTW, I don’t personally attack everyone I disagree with. Just fucking morons whose egos write cheques that their braincell can’t cash.
Hi McFlock,
You are right, I do know the answer to that question.
The reason that I asked it was to see if you or dv or Iprent knew the
answer.
So, according to you, I don’t give a shit, I’m a fucking moron, and a bit of extra abuse regarding my ego and braincell thrown in for extra emphasis.
Charming, You seem to be a real prince.
PS. I’ve never ever personally abused anyone on this blog.
I did suggest to weka that the term anthropogenic global warming had
been replaced by climate change and got abused by you and abused and threatened by Iprent for my trouble.
Can any of you answer the question or not ?
No you don’t. That’s obvious from ignorant comments and I’m not going to bother to try and enlighten you as it’s obvious that you’ll continue denying reality because it goes against your beliefs.
I never said you knew the answer to your question.
If you think treating everybody like fucking morons (by making idiot statements and wanking with passive-aggressive questions that you believe you know the answer to) gives you the moral or intellectual advantage over someone honest enough to point out precisely why you are a fucking idiot and which specific comments you wrote demonstrate that you are patently uninterested in good-faith discussion of an issue, then your compass is broken.
If you want an answer to simple questions, then why don’t you try wikipedia.
Start here AGW
What you should be looking at is timescales. Most background climate change is done on long time scales.
For instance with the houndreds of millions of years ofcontinental drift of Antarctica into the southern polar region from the Cretaceous to the Quaternary that lead to the formation of the southern polar icecap and the circumAntarticia ocean and atmospheric currents that keep it as a fridge for the globe. Or the Milankovitch orbital cycles that operate over 10s-100s or thousands of years and which appear to be closely related to Quarternary glaciation cycles.
But these are all pretty long cycles. There are shorter climate change events related to plume events from the earths radioactive core causing larger sustained volcanic events (like the Deccan traps).
Similarly short unsustained volcanic events around subduction zones causing ash triggered climate changes, which rarely persist for more than teeny numbers of years – typically 3-4 years.
Of the various very short-term (decades) and long term (hundreds of millions of years) solar cycles.
But AGW refers to climate change that is both short-term and sustained which is highly abnormal in the geological record and typically associated with large diebacks in the biotic parts of the climate system (large meteorite impacts mostly).
For instance the slow cooling of the northern hemisphere in the initial industrial era due to dust (approx 1850-1950) that cause regional effects.
But in less than 150 years we have seen some marked changes in the whole earth’s heat balance that are on the scale of the interglacial changes (they’re warming the entire earth’s oceans) but are happening in a fraction of the usual geological process times. These are (>95% confidence) attributed to changes in the composition of the earth’s atmosphere with the human introduction of greenhouse gases.
So having given you this extremely basic primer for a moron, could you please look down the links and get your useless brain aware of geological timescales. Then it might be worth training you to up to primary school level.
Now, far be it from me to resort to the same level of nasty personal abuse and threats that i have copped from Iprent and others on this site today so…
excuse me if I ask……
Did Tim Barnet OK your 9.49 effort yet Iprent ?
You may have to withdraw it if Tim doesn’t like it.
You still can’t resist calling me a ‘moron’ and referring to my ‘useless brain’
You just can’t help yourself can you.
Quite sad.
What’s sad is that you keep coming back to make moronic statements and snide innuendo.
Cricko: Thats fine, but why do you need attack me personally ? and PS. I’ve never ever personally abused anyone on this blog.
Cricko’s subsequent personal attacks on others:
Thinned skinned
Childish
Sad
Beholden to a Labour party puppet master
etc.
I gotta go,
G’nite all.
I leave it to all readers of the above to make up their own minds.
PS I do give Iprent a tick for not banning me forever from this site in spite of his threat.
Onya Iprent 4 that.
Just because he is not able to debate the issue without resorting to personal invective does not mean that he may not have a cogent point. Duh! What !
Thing is, based on the above exchanges…….
What is his point ?
The question was always quite simple.
He will be seeking wise counsel from Tim Barnet for some guidence.
We await a decision from Tim.
We’re not the ones being muzzled by Labour. Good being their lapdog eh? Sure your brain can get around that.
Nope it just expresses what I think about you. It was quite pointed abuse
That you are quite stupid and and obviously quite ignorant on earth sciences is to me perfectly obvious. No more and no less.
I even thanked you for reminding me that I have a role in helping to educate those unfortunates who don’t understand the science. When I read your comment I could the weight of unfulfilled duty from my earth science degree calling to me to clear the weight of your ignorance.
BTW: I’d suggest you read the policy on the site about what is permissible and expected before I get around to doing a moderating sweep. My moderating personality tends to get irritated about people telling other people how they should behave on this site. That is the moderators job.
Hi Draco T Bastard, hope you are having a nice evening.
So, you too jump on the personal abuse wagon and accuse me of ignorance.
And, in your mind I am denying reality . How so ?
Are all the correspondents on this site incapable of discussion ?
I suggested that the term AGW had been superseeded by the term climate change.
Is that wrong ?
Look at the vituperate reaction that has provoked on this blogsite.
It’s staggering.
You join in with glee and tell me what I think and that you wont bother to reply to what you think I think. Jeez.
So why post anything ?
Why waste your time.
Do you know the answer to the question ?
Are you able to address the question without resorting to childish personal abuse simply because I had the temerity to pose it ?
Here is your chance to show you have something about you.
You have the Open mike. Go for it.
That is because we have seen far too many idiots like yourself coming through who haven’t bothered to examine the evidence. Instead you seem to think that your close examination of your pubic hairs whilst wanking is as important as being less self-indulgent and bothering to learn enough to make intelligent conversation.
Are you getting the point yet? We have heard all this before from other morons. You appear to be both stupid and ignorant. It simply isn’t worth the effort of explaining how and why you are.
Please check out my primer that I carefully wrote and linked for you. Then ask some intelligent questions rather than sending the blood to the wrong organ.
One last observation.
Read your risible effort @ 9,54 again.
You cite.
“idiots like you”
“other morons”
“examinine your pubic hairs” and
“wanking”
“You appear stupid and ignorant”
” It simply is not worth the effort explaining”
and yet you can’t help explaining.
Then you call for “intelligent questions”
Just silly.
Maybe a huge intellect like, say, Drako T Bastard
can explain your point for you.
Go Drako………………eh!
[proceeds to list half a dozen examples of personal opinion, not a single example of citation to be seen]
I love it when idiots try to fake intelligence by using words bigger than they are. And then accuse others of being silly.
Who needs Drako when you have McFlock ?
See 12.41 am
Gee, McFlock great post, you can really sting. Not.
What was that old saying about comming unarmed to a battle of wits ?
I had great fun tonight,
hope you did too.
(and guess what. I did not need to resort to personal invective once to do you like a dogs dinner.)
Calling names….call me an idiot….that the best you have ?
That your argument ?
Pathetic.
The best I have? Nah.
But the unadorned truth is sufficient.
Btw, you might want to avoid pwned statements. Even if they are performance-art tributes to the great Surrealists.
“..It’s not what you eat, it’s how it’s grown that makes the difference..”
bullshit..!..complete and utter self-defending/justifying bullshit..
..did you even read the link..?
..another ‘green’ totally relaxed about both animal-exploitation/cruelty..
..and the burning of the planet..
..just so they can chew on animal-flesh and/or bye-products…
..can’t interfere with that..!
..their ‘green’ doesn’t go quite as far as that..
..i wonder just how..in their own minds..
..they can consider themselves ‘green’ in any way..
..animal-eating-green:..the walking-oxymoron..
I was listening to the Kathryn Ryan interview with Robbie Deans yesterday, Ive always been a Dean’s fan since the 80’s when he competed with Alan Hewson (who couldn’t tackle to save himself).
Deans reckoned that the critics affect the family/partners the hardest because they have no control, which brought me back to Karen Price’s enlightening tweets on the internal workings of the Labour Party.
But is David Cunliffe the Robbie Deans of NZ politics. Steve Tew (ABD perhaps) is to Robbie Deans what the ABC’s are to David Cunliffe.
Just a thought.
Naughty Colonial Viper!
Upsetting Clare Curran! Butter wouldn’t melt on her mouth.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/318024/curran-alleges-dirty-politics#comment-63063
Will Tim Barnett haul her in for a bollicking for washing clean linen in public?
This abuse of Twitter by the leading light of Robertson’s team will bring the party into disrepute.
Good to see someone standing up and doing something, thanks CV.
”This is dirty tricks and dirty politics in Dunedin South,” she told the Otago Daily Times this week.
Ok, so now ‘dirty politics’ is any time a political opponent opposes you in ways you disapprove of? Thanks Clare, we really needed a career politician on the left to render the concept of Dirty Politics that much less relevant 🙄
Not wanting to stae the obvious but its things like this that reinforce the notion that Labour are nowhere near ready to lead the country
You’d think an MP would realise that
+100 weka
Every time I have seen anything from Curran, she has been shooting Labour in the foot. When we actually have an investigative journalist who actually has uncovered real dirty politics, and NAct has tried to change the definition away from their organised filth, why is a Labour MP giving credibility to the NAct story?
Go get her CV. Time for a team that cares about more than their seats in parliament.
Aha… thanks NaPSS. Guyon Espinor mentioned it this morning.
Clare Curran has yet another “moaning, whining, public tanty”.
There’s a clear pattern developing here. The moaners and attackers bellowing to the media are former ABCers. What does it mean? Is someone coordinating them, or are they merely copying the ‘Dirty Politics’ meme – that is, accuse those who you attack… of doing the attacking!
Giving it back double.
We should all write to the Gen Sec asking that she gets some form of “counselling”. Perhaps she should be asked to pay Tat’s Labour membership fees for the next ten years?
As a well intentioned Labour Party member with a history of effective community activism…yup…get in touch and count me as ‘in’ Tat. Cheers.
Ditto.
Will do.
Good luck CV, always a struggle swimming against the Curran
Poor Clare is getting a trouncing on-line at the OTD (Otago Daily times).
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/318024/curran-alleges-dirty-politics#comment-63063
I wonder if she is calling on the Editor of the OTD to practice the same type of leadership that she exercised when in control (with Grant R) of the Red Alert?
There is a very sexy picture of Tat there also. A real vote catching photo!
@ Not a PS Staffer
That’s interesting. Oh good new people joining up to the Party. Ooh the Party in Dunedin didn’t know if they really wanted them. Joining up like that theywould presumably have also been able to vote for the leader. Tat Loo definitely has a good head for strategy and policy. Not one to stay sitting on the whoopee cushion, though he might play a trick with it on one of the other sitting MPs.
I hope that some of you will enjoy this awesome lecture from John Perkins about the secret history of American Empire. John Perkins wrote “Confessions of an economic hitman” and in this lecture given at the Marlboro College in 2009 he tells his student audience about the history of the World Bank and the IMF and how they perform their “Duties”. It is part of my series about the Washington consensus and how John Key and ex-World Bank second in command Graeme Wheeler fit into the system and also how it connects with the policies put into place here in New Zealand.
The Washington Consensus, A Backgrounder And Yes, It Is Being Implemented In New Zealand Right Now http://wp.me/p638n-4w8
+1 Ev
Lets be honest. The Robertson and Cunliffe debate is simply personality politics. Call it for what it is, and vote accordingly.
It’s really nothing to do with “left” and “centrist” and “core values” and “neo-liberal” and “traitorous”. And I can confidently assert this, because the debate is all about these labels and not about policy substance.
6@ boldsirbrian………….
I am not sure there is anything simple about the situation Labour is currently finding itself in in terms of Labour’s caucus.
Likely there is a component of “personality politics.
What I have been reminded of is how powerful the phenomena of “group think” is. How people feel uncomfortable when they don’t concur with the dominant opinion that a group appears to hold.
And given the issues that some in the Labour caucus are so vocal about I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t what is going on around DC.
A personal anecdote to illustrate. Some twenty years ago or so I was the leader of a smallish team in a work place of 30. I had to select a small group of colleagues to attend a conference. We travelled to the conference and all bar one of them bunked off virtually for the whole event. I expressed my displeasure to one on the plane going home. When I next went into work (I was part time) out of the staff of 30 (ish) only two people spoke to me.
They then sabotage everything I tried to do. It was a very unpleasant experience. Fortunately I left and when on to a much, much better job and career wise I have never looked back.
I hope people on this site will forgive me for a personal anecdote, but I can’t help beut wonder (and it is only speculation) that a similar thing hasn’t happened to DC.
.
@anker (6.1)
I am not sure there is anything simple about the situation Labour is currently finding itself in in terms of Labour’s caucus.
and ……. What I have been reminded of is how powerful the phenomena of “group think” is
Yes. Great post; Relevant anecdote
However, looking at the above quotes together ………
Labour Caucus. It’s easy to throw stones there
Bloggers at the Standard. It’s harder to self reflect here
“It’s really nothing to do with “left” and “centrist” and “core values” and “neo-liberal” and “traitorous”. And I can confidently assert this, because the debate is all about these labels and not about policy substance.”
Do you mean the debate here? Because there was been lots around left vs neoliberal. Or do you mean between DC and GR?
It’s unfortunate that most of the MSM seem focussed on the invidivuals rather than what this represents in terms of left and neoliberal.
I guess the time is coming for DC to stand up and declare where he really intends to head (if he wins). Second chance won’t become a third one. Make or break time.
6@ boldsirbrian………….
I am not sure there is anything simple about the situation Labour is currently finding itself in in terms of Labour’s caucus.
Likely there is a component of “personality politics.
What I have been reminded of is how powerful the phenomena of “group think” is. How people feel uncomfortable when they don’t concur with the dominant opinion that a group appears to hold.
And given the issues that some in the Labour caucus are so vocal about I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t what is going on around DC.
A personal anecdote to illustrate. Some twenty years ago or so I was the leader of a smallish team in a work place of 30. I had to select a small group of colleagues to attend a conference. We travelled to the conference and all bar one of them bunked off virtually for the whole event. I expressed my displeasure to one on the plane going home. When I next went into work (I was part time) out of the staff of 30 (ish) only two people spoke to me.
They then sabotaged everything I tried to do. It was a very unpleasant experience. Fortunately I left and went on to a much, much better job and career wise I have never looked back.
I hope people on this site will forgive me for a personal anecdote, but I can’t help beut wonder (and it is only speculation) that a similar thing hasn’t happened to DC.
I have always been aware of how “group think” operates and I speak up and resist it everytime I get a sniff of it.
I think that most are buying into a presidential like system as promoted by the main stream media. David Cunliffe did in my opinion do a reasonable job during the election campaign, as would have any of the other candidates for labour leadership in the last few years. There does how ever seem to be a disconnect between the labour party hierarchy and the caucus. Before we deal with the more important issues of party structures and personnel, this leadership issue needs to be resolved to get the media to change focus.
@ Jim (6.2.1)
That’s a really good point Jim.
Why do political parties (and I’m talking all of them here) buy into the “Presidential” system that suits the MSM?
For some parties there is no alternative (WinstonFirst, DunneFirst, ActFirst and ConservyLoons). Another Party (DirtyJohn) has one orator who outshines everybody else in the caucus, and they gain advantage in keeping the less able away from public scrutiny.
But Labour , could, if it so chose, set it’s own path during an election. Refuse to make the Leader the sole spokesperson. Refuse to participate in Leader’s debates, if these are the only Air time available (They actually told us nothing, apart from the fact that Cunliffe is a very good debater, and Key is lovable or hateable depending on your political views.)
Bring out, and emphasise the team. Less convenient for MSM, but make that their problem. Bring out the Shadow Minister of Health to talk health issues, Education to talk Education issues, and the Finance spokesperson to provide the “gotcha” details on Fringe Benefit Tax. Show the Leader of the Party as exactly that …..somebody who can lead a competent team. Rather than someone simply selected as the best debater.
I suggest that this may work well for either Cunliffe or Robertson, or actually any other leader.
It’s an idea anyway?
you are wrong brave-brian..
..it is entirely about the battle for the direction of the labour party..
..does it..under robertson..continue to cling to the neo-liberal policies of the last 30 yrs..
..or does it..under cunnliffe..
..embrace progressive-polices focusing on poverty-busting etc..
..the personality stuff is just a distraction..
..and the right/corporate-media know what a crossroads this is..
..(hence their vicious-firestorm of a hate-campaign against cunnlife..
..they are terrified of the idea of a real labour party..
..one shed of its’ neo-liberal aberrations..)
..and they also know what they want..
..and that is robertson..and neo-lib..
..and just that fact should be enough to disqualify robertson..
..(and i have figured out why a joke like nash is there..he is there to make robertson look less neo-lib than he is..)
.
@ phillip ure (6.3)
Thank you for your post, for you provide an excellent example of what the debate is unfortunately about. And which leaves me to conclude it’s not really of substance and more about the personalities of the contenders.
I’ll look further into your statements. Full of emotion, but basically a lot of hot air. I assume, suspect, you’ve got some ideas of substance lurking underneath, but until Labour activists start articulating what those are, instead of throwing around labels, the movement is doomed to not achieve what is possible.
~~~~
..it is entirely about the battle for the direction of the labour party.. ..does it..under robertson..continue to cling to the neo-liberal policies of the last 30 yrs..
..or does it..under cunnliffe…embrace progressive-polices focusing on poverty-busting etc..
“clinging to” emotive bullshit
“neo-liberal policies of the last 30 years” meaningless claptrap, needing substance
“embrace progressive policies” emotive bullshit
“focussing on poverty-busting” Wow. The nearest we have come to something of substance. But still absolutely no details. No evidence of what your hero has done, or said he will do, that your villain will not also do.
I personally think that inequality and doing something about poverty are issues that are of the highest priority. The very highest. But if anybody is trying to persuade me that one candidate is better than another on the basis of one being good (“embraces progressive”) and not bad (“clinging to neo-liberal”) I’d suggest a course in Sales 101. It’s not that your answer is necessarily wrong. It’s just the justification that is absent. Totally missing in action.
~~~~
..the personality stuff is just a distraction…….and the right/corporate-media know what a crossroads this is………(hence their vicious-firestorm of a hate-campaign against cunnlife………they are terrified of the idea of a real labour party……
..one shed of its’ neo-liberal aberrations..)………and they also know what they want………and that is robertson..and neo-lib……….and just that fact should be enough to disqualify robertson..
Please just read this again, and again, and again. It’s absolute nonsense. At it’s very best, it’s drivel. It’s easier to say nothing with blank lines. It’s like a TV advertisement for hair shampoo. Trying to convey something?? by repetition. But repetition of a pile of crap, simply makes a bigger pile.
If these are reasons why you have a hero, and the other one is a villain, I suggest you change shampoos. Or preferably work at a shampoo factory for a week, to get the real detail on the ingredients in each shampoo.
~~~~
….(and i have figured out why a joke like nash is there..he is there to make robertson look less neo-lib than he is..)
When two people sit around, and have a common understanding of a problem, it’s ok to chew the fat, and say what you think. But all I understand from this statement (and I understand it well) is that you dislike Nash (intently). And that gets us where, precisely? Is this meant to be another argument that your hero should be elected, and your villain not be elected? I don’t think so.
Re my earlier comment about group think and the “personality issues”. I think this is (ie. group think) probably a factor, but just one factor.
I think the other issues are, Who will best represent the party? Who is geniune and capable about reversing policies that have hurt so many NZders, particularly Labour constitutiuants? Rogernomics or call it what you will has been so damaging for so many in NZ. My vote will go to someone who I believe has the will, the determination and knowledge to reverse this.
At the leadership campaign meeting I went to last year when the candidates were asked what they would like to be known for, DC that was what he wanted to be known for, i.e reversing Rogernomics.
@anker (6.3.1.1)
Thoughtful comment.
Another significant issue is of course “Who will best achieve election success for the Party?” (Although your “Who will best represent the Party?” possibly covers this.)
My concern is that the leader may represent the party’s objectives very well, but his (or her) personal characteristics may turn voters off. I’m not thinking homosexuality here as much as perceptions of sincerity, drive, arrogance, empathy etc. These are all valid concerns along with the issues that you have raised.
And I appreciate your reference to policies.
A reference to a NZ Herald article, by Dita de Boni, has already been made – Time for Labour to embrace the left
Dita starts off with frustrating references to “progressive” values. (Everybody in the Labour Party probably has a reasonable understanding of the term, in their own heads at least. The label may even mean the same thing to most in the Party, but possibly not. But outside the Party in Voter-land, it probably means little.)
But then Dita immediately redeems herself, and actually starts specifying what progressive means. She picks issues such as “free basic education, a fairer tax system, protecting our ecosystem, better workers and human rights, and a strong health system that does not discriminate between rich and poor”
These are the things that will appeal to potential voters. They are not detailed policies, but they are a clear vision… She promotes a path: “In following the path of defining a set of core values and sticking with them even when the prevailing conservative chorus is decrying them” She gives good specific advice on how to work with other parties who have specific policies in common.
Good stuff. Worth reading the full article.
shit..!..bold-brian..
..apologies for not presenting a full poverty-busting poverty-program..
..but hey..!..a financial transaction tax on the banksters wd be a good start..
..to get that poverty-busting (’emotive’ i know..but there you go..!..)..to get that underway..
…heard of that..?
..can i suggest you google ‘neo-liberal-‘…?..(that may help enlighten you there..)
..’shampoo-references pass me by..
..i am part of the shampoo-free movement..
..haven’t piled that muck on my hair for years..
(and yes..thick/luxuriant/shiny enough to make dunne turn green with envy..)
..and seeing as you ask..
..and aide from nash being such good buddy/buddies with the denizens of the far-right..as in slater/lusk etc..
..(you quite relaxed about that..?..)
..there is the small fact that he is currently walking around trying to peddle the bullshit that he won the seat of napier because of his all-round skills..
..(going so fucken far as to offer to show other labour candidates ‘how’..(!)..)
..whereas the facts of the matter are that nash got no more votes in ’14 than he did in ’11..
..and the only reason he won napier..
..is because garth mcvicar stood for the conservatives..
..and hived over 4,500 votes from the national candidate..
..had he not done that..nash wd have lost..
..so yes..that he seems to be basing everything ‘good’ about him on what is a pile of stinking/steaming bullshit..
..i will yell out alarms about him..
..and point out what a joke he is..
@ phillip ure (6.3.1.1.1.1)
shit..!..bold-brian..
Would Mr. Botany (B.) be more politically correct?
~~~
..apologies for not presenting a full poverty-busting poverty-program…..
..but hey..!..a financial transaction tax on the banksters wd be a good start..
..to get that poverty-busting (‘emotive’ i know..but there you go..!..)..to get that underway..…heard of that..?..
I did not claim that “poverty-busting” was emotive. In fact I singled what you wrote there as the best part of your whole post. Seems like we (may) share a common vision of what we think has to be achieved?
~~~~
..and the only reason he (Nash) won napier….is because garth mcvicar stood for the conservatives….and hived over 4,500 votes from the national candidate….had he not done that..nash wd have lost….
Yes.
Cheers,
Mr. Botany (B.)
More lies from Key and Joyce around their Convention Centre deal… bet their own blind trusts are filled with Sky City shares … even Herald allows it to seem suspect as a hotel “slips” on to land for convention centre only …
The public purse ripped off by sale of TVNZ land for peanuts below commercial value; lovingly sponsored by Key and Joyce .. now the truth outs .. and it seems Joyce lied in the House as well … ho hum, just another day at the office …
Corrupt crims, all of them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11335925
A light at the end of the tunnel?
(Apologies if this has already been discussed) From yesterday’s Gordon Campbell article on Scoop:
“…………the chances of the TPP countries pulling a deal together in the next three years are slim. One chronic reason being, the Obama administration has no authority to conclude this deal even if member countries could agree on the content – which they don’t. The US currently lacks the Trade Promotion Authority for Obama to clinch the terms of the deal.”
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2014/10/01/gordon-campbell-on-the-last-rites-for-the-tpp/
So if the TPP is really on it’s last legs as the article suggests, we do at least have three years grace at best, with our pro TPP government sidelined perhaps?
yes great news Rosie!…i heard it the other day on the radio i think…and was relieved at the reprieve…but you can never rule them out pulling something out of the hat at any moment when you least expect it
@ Chooky (8.1)
I agree. Great news. (with your reservations).
Almost what I feared most from this Government.
The TPPA almost seemed to be the price “we” are being asked to pay, simply to permit another photo opportunity for Dirty John on the golf course.
It’s been on the rocks for at least the last 2 years. That hasn’t stopped various countries and governments from parroting on that they’re working towards the agreement, though.
Basically it just seems like a waste of taxpayer funds and an excuse to go on overseas trips.
I have heard such comment previously Lanthanide but was reluctant to focus too much energy on it, for the reason Chooky gives above:
“but you can never rule them out pulling something out of the hat at any moment when you least expect it”.
All those overseas trips you mention had to be justified so perhaps governments put on a brave fake face in an effort to avoid embarrassment. These are the cowboys of the wild new frontier of global corporate control, taking it further than ever before, they’ve got a reputation to protect. Just a thought.
Lots of airpoints and hotel reward points accummulated for those overseas jetsetting negotiations can now be used to take the family on holiday. Nice job if you can get it.
Wow, people really believe it’s off the table? 🙄
so what is their next move in your opinion?…is this just a pretend “off the table”…while they regroup covertly and present us all with a fait accompli ?
TPP won’t go away, and the accummulation of airports and hotel reward points won’t end.
TPP will keep coming back, again and again. And it must be opposed again and again. It was being pushed at us as the MAI more than ten years ago. Now, we are battling against the TPP and it won’t stop coming at us more strongly, with another acronym change if that is what it takes to try to dupe people again.
travellerev. There’s really no need for the rolly eyes. Truth is, I don’t really know what to “believe”.
I don’t think anyone can relax until it’s well and truly buried. I think if it does go then as Kiwiri suggests, it’s will come back again and again – just in a different format. I’m sure the global corporate powers have many masks and disguises for their intentions.
People can say what they like, just not under the banner of a Labour supporting site.
Reactionary posts are not supporting Labour, if anything they support National by dividing people……very convenient for National that the left do feel free to have robust debates, when done on Twitter or blogs too easy to misconstrue, escalate by MSM and cause fractures.
For people to suggest this is supression is worrying, almost looking for another battle, rather than focussing on issues that matter?
@ Whateva next? (9)
If a “Labour Supporting Site” is simply an extension of the official Labour Party site, it becomes simply a propaganda site. That’s fine, but contributions would quickly dry up
Robust debates are, or should be, the life blood of all political parties. The benefits far outweigh the possible concerns that others may misconstrue from such discussions. This is politics after all: Those on the other side of every fence are only too keen to misconstrue.
Ideas are born of robust debate. The strength of this site, that I quickly discovered, is the relative tolerance to such robustness (I’ve been labelled a troll on a couple of occasions here; a badge I’ll wear with pride, as it seems to me the unsupported labelling was more a reflection of the accuser than anything else)
The discussions here have substance …. and a common vision with intelligent disagreement can only be respected.
If you want to reflect on alternatives, have a quick look at the drivel that takes place in the discussions on kiwiblog. Lots and lots of comments, but childish substance. Even Farrar is desperately trying to get more intelligent discussion by promoting extra “assistance” and saying that he will accept guest posts from those who disagree with him. (It will never work for Farrar, unless he actually relinquishes most of his personal power, and adopts a format more similar to the Standard)
“Ideas are born of robust debate” absobloodyluetely, in an environment that seeks to generate growth and meetings of minds, which social media is not, especially in a tribal climate generated and supported by a right wing MSM
@ whateva next? (9.1.1)
Lots of truth there. But social media is here, and to stay. I envisage that as time goes on, social media will become more mature and effective, as people learn what works best and what doesn’t.
Social media does provide an environment where there is “robust” discussion (One or three of my posts have been very blunt). Far more “robust” than in a face to face meeting would ever generate. I can see both advantages and disadvantages with that. It also allows for the participation of many more people with ideas
I wasn’t too sure about your comment on social media debate being influenced by a right wing MSM. The discussion here is very different than MSM news and opinion, and seems to have formed it’s own style reasonably independently?
xox
I used to give credibility to Dr Bryce Edwards blog but he seems to have lost his ‘ balance’ the closer he gets to the MSM. Funny that. Do others at TS feel the same?
in my time of observing edwards-the-younger he has said one thing only that made sense..
..he said that labour policy was national-lite..
..and that labour need to move more left..
..most of the time he is a craven apologist for the status quo..
..and one whose ambition to be a talking-head on media is palpable..
..it almost throbs…that ambition,.
Translation: Hes written something I don’t agree with
Yes he’s changed.
The job at the Herald has had an effect.
On the trail of active businesses keeping the NZ economy going and what sector, there is an Insight on Sunday on Radionz with Wallace Chapman on the thoroughbred industry. I heard a trailer this morning and I think they feel neglected, not taken seriously and they employ 33,000 people. Let’s hear it for the gee gees!
Sunday 5/10 at 8.12 a.m. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight
The heady days when horse racing was king, are gone.
People are discovering new ways to spent their entertainment dollar and the thoroughbred industry is now having to share the gambling pie with others like lotto and the casinos.
Racing, along with greyhounds and trotting, still manages turnover nearing two billion dollars and contributes to about one percent of the country’s gross domestic product, but many in the industry say it is getting harder to make a living.
Radio New Zealand’s Waikato reporter, Andrew McRae talks to all parts of the thoroughbred racing industry from trainers and owners, through to the breeders and jockeys about how it can try to keep pace with its competitors.
I tried to get some stats on employment in dairying but it’s hard to find for a newbie. There are more details from the dairy companies on cows, opportunities finance, yield of milk and money. Simple employment does not rate highly.
Some of the pdfs don’t convert to my old Firefox very well. There are all sorts of symbols in the headings.
Stats NZ is like following a will of the whisp. Every time I got into an area which I think could answer the simple? question of the annual count of employment in the dairy industry. I was directed to some program that would provide it if I pressed this button and spent 10 minutes reading about it.
And of course there is the proviso of how they changed the employment count in 2003 to give a broad brush over all employment presumably.
Until 2003, statistics used full-time equivalent (FTE) persons engaged as the business-size measure. From 2003 onwards, FTE was replaced by employee count (EC). Business demography statistics showing EC are available for 2000 onwards.
I think this means in reality, in use, that they can then count someone doing 1 paid hour per week in employment statistics, but that will require probably an hour’s study on how to use their tables and find definitions.
An interesting statistic from Min for Primary Industries: New Zealand dairy production has risen 77 percent over the past 20 years … Sources: Statistics New Zealand, DairyNZ, Fonterra Co-operative Group, and MPI. … The parties to the Accord agreed to work together to achieve clean healthy …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/10573887/Left-rendered-irrelevant
– A good, thought-provoking piece
I agree with everything he write.
The left is completely out of touch with middle NZ and there’s nothing any party on the left can do to remedy that.
The problems are far too systemic.
I suspect the problem has more to do with employment and earnings. When you look at the Labour MPs most of them would struggle to earn 70k a year let alone what an MP makes
So these MPs are making more money then they ever have before so its only natural that they want to protect the money because they know when they leave they won’t have the same power, unfluence or pay packet
I mean would T. Mallard or C. Curran get paid in the private market anything like they’re getting now?
I see the main issue with the left is that they’re creating policies that appeal to the party members not the public.
Great if you want to be a niche party, not so good if you want to be a major party.
I agree with you about the labour Mps, which is why they’re so hard to pry off the trough, politics is as good as it gets so they’re not going anywhere without a fight.
they’re creating policies that appeal to the party members not the public
hahaha. try again. your framing there is misleading, mischievous as well as malicious.
let’s see what those policies are that appeal to party members not the public? abandoning the call for GST to be removed from fresh fruit and vegetables? increasing the super age?
I wonder if maybe the answer is to dro the pay down to 70K for MPs and 150K for the PM
Take the money out of it and you’ll get people doing it for and staying in longer for the right reasons…maybe
Or give them the kind of National golden parachutes to kamikaze their parliamentary careers.
Who in all seriousness would take on on Labours dead wood? Goff maybe but thats about it
How much would Paula Bennett be able to earn? She’s pretty much as useless as Mallard or Curran, as are plenty of other Tories. The only way any of them make heaps is when they’re appointed to bullshit positions as a political reward.
warning..!.it is far-right foamer..du fresne…
‘
“Dear Matafele Peinem, we won’t let you down”
Just in
In a victory for local residents opposed to the mine and Auckland Coal Action, The proposed excavation of the Mangatangi coal mine by Glen Coal ltd. just south of the city, at Mangatawhiri has been put on indefinite hold.
Excellent to hear some good news, thanks Pat.
Dita de Boni
‘Time for Labour to embrace the left.
Instead of trying to appeal to ‘middle New Zealand’, the party should proudly stand by progressive values…….
I am convinced that the Labour party of today has the same problem. And the advice from well-wishers and nefarious right-wing commentators alike – to “appeal to middle New Zealanders” – is, I believe, misguided.
The fact of the matter is that “middle New Zealand” currently prefers John Key. They want tax cuts, they want a prime minister they could have a beer with. God alone knows why, but their ideal female politician is Judith Collins, Hekia Parata and Maggie Barry (the “Hyacinth Bucket” model).
And they don’t care that dirty politics seeps out of every pore of the current administration.
So be it. Labour, at present, cannot sway these people and is not in good enough shape to take on the right-wing smear machine. But to my mind, it doesn’t have to – right now. It needs to reclaim and reaffirm that it stands for genuine left-wing values and ignore the critics – critics that are often non-voters, or non-Labour voters, egged on by opponents.’
Read the rest.
A great article.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11335076
Dita has absolutely nailed it.
@ paul..
..”Maggie Barry (the “Hyacinth Bucket” model)..”
(heh..!..)
John Key is the type of person I least like having a beer with. He would insist on being the centre of attention and make puerile wisecracks. He’s the sort of guy who would have been better off not drinking in a public bar when they had heavy glass jugs. Something has changed drastically with middle NZ, and I don’t like it. Some people say that social attitudes have changed for the better, but when you see the Rawshark emails and chats, you realise that for a lot of movers and shakers on the right, this is only lip service.
This is what victory looks like
http://aucklandcoalaction.org/
AN ALERT – Lecture coming up 15 October Auckland.
Wednesday 15 October, 6.30pm
Maidment Theatre
Alfred Street
The University of Auckland
The Maidment Bar will open from 5.30pm
The 2014 Bruce Jesson Lecture
Mike Joy – Paradise Squandered; New Zealand’s Environmental Asset Stripping
New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser.
The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks.
The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up.
Mike Joy MSc(Hons), PhD in Ecology is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Environmental Science at the Ecology Group-Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North. He has received a number of awards, including the Ecology in Action award from the New Zealand Ecological Society; an Old Blue award from the Royal Forest and Bird protection Society; Environmental New Zealander of the Year from North and South magazine and the Manawatu Evening Standard Person of the Year.
Presented by Politics and International Relations and the Bruce Jesson Foundation
Wednesday 15 October, 6.30pm
Maidment Theatre
Alfred Street
The University of Auckland
The Maidm
thanks greywarbler
ACT: another one bites the dust.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10576531/ACTs-Jamie-Whyte-quits-as-leader
Yep ACT got a poor result and the leader quits and doesn’t try to run again…theres a lesson there somewhere
Cool. In your world, 0.7% and being forced onto welfare is merely a “bad” result.
Its better then 10% and no MPs in government (and none in nearly 25 years since being formed)
Um, 10% gets you 12 or so MP’s. But that’s not going to be an issue for National’s Epsom franchise cum charity outreach program anytime soon 🙂
edit ; I see what you did there! Colour me green with envy at your sly wit.
Except that ACTs currently in power and has been in power previously whereas the Greens have never been in power, in fact they’re the only party that’ve never had an mp in government
Fact is the Greens are nothing less then a disapointment
Wow. Rimmer will now get an extra $155,700 as party leader, seeing as he has taken over. (Based on 2011 figures)
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2011/0410/latest/DLM4148103.html
Both him and Dunne were reported as being over the $500K mark on Campbell live once all their perks and bonus salaries were added up. Nice work if you can get it. Over a million dollars for one party that polled 0.22% and one that polled 0.7%.
You can get it, you just need enough people to think your party is worth voting for
In the case of Act and UF neither party got enough votes because no one thought that they were worth voting for but they still got it.
I’d say the Greens could learn something from them but I think they prefer to be martyrs rather then try to ackshully get something done for their voters
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/10576464/R-D-grants-stupid-taxpayer-subsidies-Sam-Morgan
– Morgan reiterated that profitable companies did not need grants, and if a company was not profitable, it had no prospect of paying tax.
But he then confessed his companies Xero, Sonar6 and Outsmart had also received grants.
“Maybe I should just shut-up.,” he tweeted.
“Seems like this grant lark is actually awesome for me.”
Or don’t accept the grants instead?
Or we could just be far more open about the fact that private success comes only with government subsidies.
He just seems like an ungreatful prat and as loopy as his old man…
Chris Trotter’s latest missive stopped me in my tracks. I felt like I could have written the article from start to finish. ( If I could write)
A brilliant summary of how people like me still haven’t forgiven or forgotten.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Trotters perceptive
Actual link
I wonder where Jason Ede and Cathy Odgers are? Have they eloped? Are they helping out at Whaleoil? Or the new “moderators” at kiwiblog? I hope their disappearance is not creating any sort of holdup on the inquiries that have started.
Mr. Botany (B.)
lol Jamie Whyte’s resigned.
I would say “good riddance”, but he was active for such a short time and had such little effect that nobody will really notice.
Yep, despite his strong appeal to the incest demographic, it turned out not to be all Whyte on the night.
+1 Te Reo Putake. Ouch, now my side hurts.
Fuck Russel Norman (I say that as a long time GP member and voter). “Crazies”? Really?
“I mean we had enough trouble with John Key standing up every day telling all his nonsense about us and on the other had we had to deal with these crazies. Having them on the radio and tv all the time talking their nonsense, it was like ‘Oh god,’ it did make it incredibly difficult to change the Government at that point because a lot of people who might have voted for Labour went ‘Oh god, if a vote for Labour means a vote for Dotcom and Harre, I’m not going to do that,'” he says
http://www.waateanews.com/waateanews?story_id=ODAwNg%3D%3D
i think the Greens lost votes in the last week because it was said by a television reporter ( rightly or wrongly) that Norman was making overtures and was seeking a coalition with Nactional !
…Unconscionable!…people were confused and shocked…it seemed like an opportunistic betrayal by the Greens who were signalling Labour would not win in their opinion ,so they were ready to do deals with the Nactional which represents BIG BUSINESS and is the biggest violator of the environment!
+1
Good comment Chooky. Sometimes I think we the ordinary people here have a more honest and clearer view of things than some of these stupid ego driven smart arse dumb political ‘leaders’.
+1
You can take the boy out of Brisbane, but you can’t take Brisbane out of the boy. I have to wonder how much his growing up in a white supremacist monoculture made him unable to understand Maori at all. I can’t think why else he would call them crazies, especially when they have a similar political alignment to his party.
I also think he can go and fuck himself, and Metiria should speak for the Greens. I was going off Norman anyway, with all his talk of fiscal responsibility.
Advice from Starbucks veteran:
And this guy would know after having:
lol…Starbucks is disgusting
the one in dunedin gave away free coffees when it opened.
It lost a bunch of prospective customers that way.
lol….unfortunately for Starbucks New Zealanders have gotten used to good coffee….only young teenagers and Americans like Starbucks
my friend took me to Palm Beach and I was shocked to find only a Starbucks coffee shop….i refused to drink the coffee she bought me ….but bought her a cake with green icing …she refused to eat her cake….she reckoned the cakes were made from ingredients in rocketry (she looked up the listed ingredients of Starbucks cakes on her laptop and pronounced they were also used in rocket fuel or some such)….ONLY IN USA!
Just received via email:
PRIME TIME WITH SEAN PLUNKET
TONIGHT AT 10 30
With speculation mounting that he will contest Labour’s leadership, Napier MP STUART NASH will go one on one with Sean Plunket tonight.
PLEASE NOTE — TONIGHT’S SHOW WILL BE AT THE LATER TIME OF 10 30.
And we’re surrendering. Tonight we have pundits! BILL RALSTON and BRIAN EDWARDS to take an informed but light hearted look back at the campaign.
(And yes, we know Brian is a friend of David Cunliffe and a long time Labour advisor and supporter and we also know that Bill worked on the National campaign. That’s why we invited them!)
If Nash leads the Labour Party, it will have officially become a neoliberal party.
What makes you think it is not at present?
Fair point.
It most definitely is not!
Just take a look at their policies. Which of these do you honestly think are ‘neo liberal’ policies?
*100,000 new, affordable homes
*Free healthcare to under 13s, pregnant women and over 65s
*Raising the minimum wage to $16.25
*Ensure every rental is warm and dry
*Everything paid for, plus we’re in surplus
*Ensure all Kiwis under 20 are in work, education or training
*Best Start for Kiwi kids
*Reduce unemployment to 4% in our first term
*Lower class sizes
*Extend paid paternal leave to 26 weeks
*Ensure that all our rivers and lakes are clean
*Lowering power bills
*Convert the dole to apprenticeships
*Protecting our land from speculators
*Christchurch recovery policy
*Capital gains tax excluding family home
*Increase tax to 36c/$ for incomes above $150,000
* investments to upgrade regional economies and create jobs
*Auckland and Christchurch city Rail Link
*Public Service Television Station
*Ban shark finning , animal testing of cosmetics, synthetic highs.
* New ministry for children
*Restore Adult and community education
*Kiwi assure insurance
*Marine reserves
*Abolition of secondary tax
*Inquiry into wages and collective bargaining
*Review of spy laws.
Bryce Edwards confirms my suspicions: Like Labour, The Greens had a disastrous election result (along with Maori, Mana, and Internet parties).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11336457
I think it is time the Left recognized we need a single Left party. It will require a huge amount of compromise on policies and organization. Can we do it or do we individually prefer to remain in the political wilderness?
why bother with MMP then? A single left party would homogenise left wing politics and disenfranchise more people. It might win Labour the govt, but what would be the point?
Because the Right is doing it and burying us.
What a different election it would have been if instead of just National there was a farmers party, a small business party, and a real estate developers party.
with one monolithic left wing party we’d have a left version of National, locking NZ into a centrist/rightist govt long term. So again, what would be the point? Power at all costs?
Here’s another idea. How about Labour try being a left wing party and seeing if the non-vote comes out again. We’re running out of time though, because not voting will become a hard habit to break.
Today’s Leunig.
Seems appropriate with Australia entering the war in Syria and Iraq, and John Key trying to work out how we can get involved.
Leunig – Today’s Recipe: Cult Pie
The rich countries like these kinds of wars: defense companies get richer as expensive ordinance gets blown up. But no troops on the ground to come home in coffins.
Sorry, Key. We are cannon fodder so if you send our SAS, send body bags, too.
Hi folks!
Seen this?
FRIDAY, OCT 3, 2014 10:25 AM NZDT
The great charter school rip-off: Finally, the truth catches up to education “reform” phonies
Fraud, financial mismanagement, lousy results: Reports highlight awful charter schools and people are catching on
JEFF BRYANT
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/02/the_great_charter_school_rip_off_finally_the_truth_catches_up_to_education_reform_
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Penny Bright