so the police are commenting on the increase of time spent dealing with citizens with mental health issues.
they seem to view this time as wasted.
when will they apply the same approach (grizzling about the waste of time and resources) to cannibis law enforcement.
btw i would like to see an increase in funding and a higher priority placed on mental health.
and yet so many more suicides despite all the work from police and increasing numbers of people seen by Mental Health Services? could it be that society is affected by the ever decreasing resources and jobs? Do the police and the public have to keep expecting that Mental Health Services can make people feel better about the disintegration of society? Getting people to blame MHS is distracting from the causes, and loading up people with a formal psychiatric diagnosis doesn’t always help either?
Authenticity matters to anyone who has a functioning BS detector.
Although true no one actually has such a detector:
People are pretty lousy lie detectors. In ordinary social interactions, when all we have to go by is what the other persons are saying and how they are saying it, our judgments of whether someone is lying or telling the truth are correct only a little more often than chance. My colleague Charlie Bond and I discovered that when we summarized the results (link is external) of all of the studies that had ever been done on the topic, in which more than 24,000 people had participated. By chance, accuracy would have been 50 percent; the average accuracy across all of the studies was 54 percent.
Basically, humans are really bad at detecting when they’re being lied to.
Now that the world cup is over maybe JK will leave Richie MCaw (Peace be upon him) alone and next week divert his attention to gaining vicarious glory from Charles and D… Sorry -Camilla. (peace on them too) .
Hey JK…How about a knighthood for Prince Charles? Now there’s a vote catcher.
This article by Chris Hedges about Sheldon Wolin is excellent reading.
Inverted totalitarianism is different from classical forms of totalitarianism. It does not find its expression in a demagogue or charismatic leader but in the faceless anonymity of the corporate state. Our inverted totalitarianism pays outward fealty to the facade of electoral politics, the Constitution, civil liberties, freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary, and the iconography, traditions and language of American patriotism, but it has effectively seized all of the mechanisms of power to render the citizen impotent.
“Unlike the Nazis, who made life uncertain for the wealthy and privileged while providing social programs for the working class and poor, inverted totalitarianism exploits the poor, reducing or weakening health programs and social services, regimenting mass education for an insecure workforce threatened by the importation of low-wage workers,” Wolin writes. ” http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/02/sheldon-wolin-and-inverted-totalitarianism.”
….
“Political campaigns rarely discuss substantive issues. They center on manufactured political personalities, empty rhetoric, sophisticated public relations, slick advertising, propaganda and the constant use of focus groups and opinion polls to loop back to voters what they want to hear. ”
The whole article is well worth reading as I have just picked a couple of aspects out of it.
The workforce threatened by worldwide supplies of imported low wage/no wage labour. Bad enough and a no-win situation for those involved in job allocation. But worse, and we shouldn’t forget this, is the trend to automate.
Humans are destroying themselves, losing their souls, putting money, objects, pleasure and advantage ahead of accepting themselves and others as amazing beings with potential for wisdom that most will never reach out for. And making that their goal.
Eventually the flame of soul will be lost. Already we are watching television and films playing with ideas that are negative to the beauty of the human spirit and it is not the way that intelligent beings should behave. We are being pressured by soulless people, and never finding the fullness of our lives and the joys of our wonderful world. Grey, black, are our colours – money is our god. Distaste is felt for the poor and untidy. The mask of smooth, clever, appearance suitability and superiority passes as the real being.
Sorry but this has been turning over in my head as I watch the daily parade of events that advance and recede continuously with no improvement for we people, who are confused as to what to do to turn this around, if that can be done.
Certainly raises many questions about ‘who and what we are’
Harmful energy dominates, but it wont remain so
Change will come but it requires active participation. There are ever greater numbers realising the threat to existence is real, and non discriminating and must be removed
Keep the faith, and focus on those you can spread light onto
Things are looking up for kim Dotcom, his defence has made a few good hits yesterday bringing more crown dishonesty to light and it looks like the intenet party is waking up again with an AGM this saturday
ah yes… but not til Richie officially retires… it’s almost like Key has pulled off the biggest double bluff in the history of the world… he always wanted to KEEP our flag 😉
Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that All Black skipper Richie McCaw will be offered a knighthood after leading New Zealand to two Rugby World Cup wins, describing him as “truly one of the all-time greats of the game”.
He indicated coach Steve Hansen was also likely to be offered a knighthood when he retires from coaching.
Labour leader Andrew Little concurred with both suggestions.
which is disrespectful to one of our national games and the people who play , coahc and volunteer., which was my point. It;s why I won’t support Key’s giddiness at taxpayers expense until he understands that leadership is more than just doing the stuff he likes.
More people play netball than Rugby on one survey condcted by Sport NZ
It is our National mens sport PR, otherwise your favourite leader would attend Black Fern games, and have conferred Damehoods on Anna Richards and Farrar Palmer, right?
Nope. You consider Mens Rugby the National Game because you and some people you know think that. You are ocnfusing national Game with “the game I like, and that has to be mens cos I don’t really value or rate womens sport”
Well, if shits like Talley can have one, I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be distributed to professional sports players. Knighthoods can’t really get any more debased than they are.
Given his apparent total lack of interest in things Rugby in 1981, on what grounds does Key base his judgement of “Richie as one the greatest All Blacks of all time…”
The Nash drama has become even more enlightening to his personality and views on voters – he’s just responded and attacking people calling them EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN a selection of his insults….. Little needs to get him a minder.
no – that’s far left nutbags like Ure. Living under a rock. Be careful, occasionally the ground that a rock rests on collapses…
(FAR LEFT NUTBAGS LIVING UNDER A ROCK??)
As for getting real… you have no idea. About anything.
(UNBELIEVABLE COMMENT!)
Hami,
Goodness me – where to start…
First of all who the hell are you to comment on Walter? I bet you haven’t even read Sinclair’s great book. And no, vote splitting didn’t deliver me the seat of Napier: I got back into parliament because I raised a shit load of money, worked bloody hard and concentrated on the issues that were important to the good hard working people of Napier. Now that may seem an anathema to you and your lot, but that is how one wins. Not sitting around whining and whinging about everything under the sun.
We actually DO know what Kiwis want, and we work extremely hard to make sure we deliver.
(If Labour did KNOW WHAT KIWIS WANT Labour would have won the ELECTION!)
I knew exactly what I was doing when I wrote this post (so don’t insult my intelligence), but I just wanted to once again confirm that there still exists a far-left fringe who are so divorced from political reality that they really don’t want to win the treasury benches. Ever.
(I just wanted to once again confirm that there still exists a far-left fringe who are so divorced from political reality…. THEY ARE CALLED VOTERS)
You don’t pay my salary and I am not your servant. I am very proud to serve those Kiwis who are aspirational for the future and who love our country with the passion I do. If you think I represent your brand of whinging negativity, then you are sorely mistaken. Because I don’t and I never ever will.
(ONLY INTERESTED IN TALKING TO ASPIRATIONAL KIWIS – I GUESS IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOB, OR HAVE A PROBLEM YOU ARE JUST WHINGING NEGATIVITY – GOOD LUCK GETTING HELP FROM HIM).
Yes, who knew that humble little me had their very own “lot”!! LOL – I’m still trying to work out who and where my “lot” are! I’m very far away from far left! Most members and supporters are not extremists, they just want the MPs to express THEIR thoughts and opinions and not just the MPs private views – aren’t they supposed to be OUR representatives? So you would think they would be keen to express OUR position in Parliament – that’s what they are there for, or is it?? Nash doesn’t seem to think so, he thinks we are good enough to deliver and fold pamphlets and the rest of the time should be seen and not heard like children of the Victorian Age or something!
It’s rather funny to announce that comments must not be made about Walter Nash, a former Prime Minister , Labour Leader and a public figure. But apparently one must only comment after reading a certain book. Stuart Nash was 10 months old when his adoptive grandfather Walter Nash died, so I can’t imagine how Stuart Nash can be a fountain of first-hand knowledge regarding Walter Nash’s career and public life in NZ! Really great people like Walter Nash, Michael Joseph Savage and Edmund Hillary don’t ever feel the need to trumpet their achievements, they are apparent for all to see without personal preening!
I wonder how many have left the Party after reading Nash’s little article? I have never met him and don’t think I want to. The arrogance and overkill trumpeting of his so-called “win” and all this ME ME ME stuff reminds me of a certain Mr Gilmore!
Yes, who are ‘your lot’ is he referring too ‘people who want a functioning health, welfare and society??? or anyone who is not an oil donor giving him ‘shitloads of money’ for his ‘hard work’?
I would consider myself a centrist and not hard left too! Maybe it is the centre, they are trying to alienate? Have voted Labour the most over the years but only gave my Labour my electoral vote last election.
What Labour don’t seem to realise is that people still bothering complaining about them are their current or ex voters telling them why they are not winning!!!!
Nash should read how to ‘lose friends and alienate people’.
gnasher ain’t here to make friends – they diminish and get in the way of SUCCESS and WINNING the goal we should ALL have – getting gnasher to the top – come on people let’s work as a team and do it his way
World famous for inequality
Until the 1980s, New Zealand used to be one of the most equal countries in the world (although that equality didn’t extend to all groups). But in the two decades from the mid-1980s on, the gap between the rich and the rest increased faster than anywhere else in the developed world.
Unequal societies are less functional, less cohesive and less economically sound than their more equal counterparts. Wide income gaps weaken trust, and divide communities, making it harder to get things done. They encourage competition and consumption, and lead to a more stressful, less healthy society. They stifle opportunity and ability. And they weaken the economy by depriving it of the full range of talents. These weaknesses affect every one of us.
inequality strengthens us by weeding out the weak – look at dogs – are they equal? No! there is alpha and then the rest. Animals aren’t equal – birds have wings for instance – sure some don’t fly but they have wings so therefore are not equal to non-winged animals, they are better – sure insects have wings too but they don’t have beaks so the birds still win.
This argument can be mapped onto the political environment in the Bay.
SaveNZ, it’s almost impossible to make sense of you comment without lots of backwards and forwards between here and teh TDB thread because you haven’t made it clear which are your words and which are Nash’s.
I’m just so shocked at his public attitude. If you look above at Hami Shearlie, one of the people he attacked sounds like a Labour supporter/volunteer too!
Ha ha Stuart Nash comes across as a tosser with an out of balance ego.
He also comes cross as a shallow person with little depth, as seen in his very first line… “Let’s be clear about one thing: politics is about winning”
What a simpleton
What a fool
What silliness
Politics is many many things to every person on the planet. It is about achieving what society needs, about the art of the possible. It is about negotiation and cooperation, boldness and striking out alone. It is about human relations, it is about how we talk and negotiate and agree ways forward. It is about many many things, all to do with the interaction of people.
I think if you asked most people what “politics is …” they would certainly not say “politics is about winning”
Nash is simply wrong in his very first sentence.
…….
further… he is clearly in the wrong party … evidence one: “… is about winning”. Isn’t that Key’s mantra? Key is a winner /sarc. evidence two: “aspirational” – isn’t that Keys slogan too?
Stuart Nash should bugger off to the right wing parties
Interesting interview on electricity usage with Kathryn Ryan this morning. Interviewee, keen young man, wants to help consumers make the most cost effective choices. Choice remark – if people instal solar systems they are not paying their share to the electricity companies! Sounds like he and they are wanting to maintain their hold on the cash cow of electricity provision. (The Greens are such a brake on rising profits and monopoly of necessities.)
How it works is if not enough people are using electricity then there isn’t enough cash going in for managing and building infrastructure. Under a profit system, then the standard of supply would then go down for those without solar. Oh dear. Why did we turn it into a profit business instead of running it in a businesslike way as a not-for-profit, which would set prices at necessary levels, not levels nice to have (for those selling back to us what we originally built for all.)
And one of the ideas is to get cheaper electricity by having batteries drawing it off in off peak times, and then using that when demand pushes price up. That sounds a bit like the ripple controls for the water heaters and hall heaters we had, a lot lower than the usual at one time, now about 1 cent cheaper.
The best thing for people to do is to go completely off grid if they can. Because the daily electricity charges are so high because the electricity companies are anticipating less power being used in the future but still want to maintain their profits! If you are completely separate you are completely independent.
That would be the best thing under a capitalist system of profits before people, i.e, the present system.
But the actual best system is a nation wide smart grid owned by the state and run at cost. This smart grid includes solar power on housing/buildings, wind generators (both on and offshore) and hydro. The hydro would effectively be the batteries needed because of the variability of renewable systems although having the generation distributed across the country would decrease that to some degree.
In the middle of installing solar electrical panels. The insignificant buyback of 8cents per kw is not really on our radar. Increase daytime use of solar power to heat all of the hot water. Maybe time-switch fridge etc.
Telsa are bringing upgraded storage batteries so that eventually the night time use could come off daytime excess. Most other countries have Government subsidy of some sort. Not here. Market rules don’t you know?
“Here’s a map from BNEF of sunshine vs grid electricity rates. Countries above the 2015 line have cheaper solar electricity than grid electricity today. But a number of those countries, including Australia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Brazil have no or severely limited ability for solar home owners to sell extra power back to the grid. In those sunny, policy-light countries, Tesla’s batteries make economic sense today, and will help drive rooftop solar. ”
NZ is not on the graph but I’m sure we would be close to the line too
Like solar the price of electricity storage is dropping fast, so unless power companies wish people go off-grid they had better keep their prices down and the amount their generation buyback price up.
Also, Newsweek reported on Monday night that Anonymous has denied responsibility for the link published by a Twitter user identified as “Amped Attacks.” The online activist group did, however, say it would release its own list of Klan members on Thursday.)
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Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
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A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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so the police are commenting on the increase of time spent dealing with citizens with mental health issues.
they seem to view this time as wasted.
when will they apply the same approach (grizzling about the waste of time and resources) to cannibis law enforcement.
btw i would like to see an increase in funding and a higher priority placed on mental health.
and yet so many more suicides despite all the work from police and increasing numbers of people seen by Mental Health Services? could it be that society is affected by the ever decreasing resources and jobs? Do the police and the public have to keep expecting that Mental Health Services can make people feel better about the disintegration of society? Getting people to blame MHS is distracting from the causes, and loading up people with a formal psychiatric diagnosis doesn’t always help either?
Glenn Greenwald twitter “Yanis Varoufakis on why demand all politicians be “centrist” is so anti-democratic: UK context but widely applicable ”
“Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a “conviction politician” like Margaret Thatcher was.
He said anti-austerity and anti-war MP Mr Corbyn is someone viewed as extreme but who could shift the political scenery like the former Conservative prime minister.
http://news.sky.com/story/1551836/varoufakis-why-corbyn-is-like-thatcher”
Authenticity matters to anyone who has a functioning BS detector.
Although true no one actually has such a detector:
Basically, humans are really bad at detecting when they’re being lied to.
Good point, DTB.
It is important to question everything, research and THINK rationally.
Some images https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=BS+detector&rlz=1C1PQHA_enNZ564NZ575&espv=2&biw=854&bih=486&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBoQsARqFQoTCNasstLo8sgCFcQopgod27wIpQ
Most are lying to themselves repeatedly which has rendered their innate detection systems, useless
Human beings are born lie detectors
Now that the world cup is over maybe JK will leave Richie MCaw (Peace be upon him) alone and next week divert his attention to gaining vicarious glory from Charles and D… Sorry -Camilla. (peace on them too) .
Hey JK…How about a knighthood for Prince Charles? Now there’s a vote catcher.
Hmmm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitaki_(New_Zealand_electorate)
Yaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnning
This article by Chris Hedges about Sheldon Wolin is excellent reading.
Inverted totalitarianism is different from classical forms of totalitarianism. It does not find its expression in a demagogue or charismatic leader but in the faceless anonymity of the corporate state. Our inverted totalitarianism pays outward fealty to the facade of electoral politics, the Constitution, civil liberties, freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary, and the iconography, traditions and language of American patriotism, but it has effectively seized all of the mechanisms of power to render the citizen impotent.
“Unlike the Nazis, who made life uncertain for the wealthy and privileged while providing social programs for the working class and poor, inverted totalitarianism exploits the poor, reducing or weakening health programs and social services, regimenting mass education for an insecure workforce threatened by the importation of low-wage workers,” Wolin writes. ”
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/02/sheldon-wolin-and-inverted-totalitarianism.”
….
“Political campaigns rarely discuss substantive issues. They center on manufactured political personalities, empty rhetoric, sophisticated public relations, slick advertising, propaganda and the constant use of focus groups and opinion polls to loop back to voters what they want to hear. ”
The whole article is well worth reading as I have just picked a couple of aspects out of it.
The workforce threatened by worldwide supplies of imported low wage/no wage labour. Bad enough and a no-win situation for those involved in job allocation. But worse, and we shouldn’t forget this, is the trend to automate.
Humans are destroying themselves, losing their souls, putting money, objects, pleasure and advantage ahead of accepting themselves and others as amazing beings with potential for wisdom that most will never reach out for. And making that their goal.
Eventually the flame of soul will be lost. Already we are watching television and films playing with ideas that are negative to the beauty of the human spirit and it is not the way that intelligent beings should behave. We are being pressured by soulless people, and never finding the fullness of our lives and the joys of our wonderful world. Grey, black, are our colours – money is our god. Distaste is felt for the poor and untidy. The mask of smooth, clever, appearance suitability and superiority passes as the real being.
Sorry but this has been turning over in my head as I watch the daily parade of events that advance and recede continuously with no improvement for we people, who are confused as to what to do to turn this around, if that can be done.
sigh
Certainly raises many questions about ‘who and what we are’
Harmful energy dominates, but it wont remain so
Change will come but it requires active participation. There are ever greater numbers realising the threat to existence is real, and non discriminating and must be removed
Keep the faith, and focus on those you can spread light onto
Things are looking up for kim Dotcom, his defence has made a few good hits yesterday bringing more crown dishonesty to light and it looks like the intenet party is waking up again with an AGM this saturday
Thats brought a smile to my face 🙂
Like Pucker-up & smile?
+100 – justice hopefully…
Australia is abolishing Knighthoods and Damehoods. We are hosting the Prince of Wales just in time for the Flag Referendum…
Don’t forget Sir Steve and Sir Richard 😉
ah yes… but not til Richie officially retires… it’s almost like Key has pulled off the biggest double bluff in the history of the world… he always wanted to KEEP our flag 😉
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11538536
Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that All Black skipper Richie McCaw will be offered a knighthood after leading New Zealand to two Rugby World Cup wins, describing him as “truly one of the all-time greats of the game”.
He indicated coach Steve Hansen was also likely to be offered a knighthood when he retires from coaching.
Labour leader Andrew Little concurred with both suggestions.
John Keys a smart guy all right 🙂
Did he mention Helen Kelly? 😉
Irene Van Dyke?
Helen who? No disrespect to netball or the people that play but its not rugby 😉
which is disrespectful to one of our national games and the people who play , coahc and volunteer., which was my point. It;s why I won’t support Key’s giddiness at taxpayers expense until he understands that leadership is more than just doing the stuff he likes.
More people play netball than Rugby on one survey condcted by Sport NZ
http://www.sportnz.org.nz/assets/Uploads/attachments/managing-sport/research/Sport-and-Active-Recreation-in-the-lives-of-New-Zealand-Adults.pdf
page 25
I agree with you, Netball is a fine sport and is played by more people but Rugby is NZs national sport
It is our National mens sport PR, otherwise your favourite leader would attend Black Fern games, and have conferred Damehoods on Anna Richards and Farrar Palmer, right?
If it makes you feel better then sure
Nope. You consider Mens Rugby the National Game because you and some people you know think that. You are ocnfusing national Game with “the game I like, and that has to be mens cos I don’t really value or rate womens sport”
At least be honest about it.
Only according to a large minority. The rest of us really couldn’t give a shit about rugby.
Well as long as they’re ok with Sir Richie and Sir Steve its all good
Rugby is NZs national sport
We’ve got an official sport now? When did that happen? Was it part of this flag hoo-ha or something?
Well, if shits like Talley can have one, I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be distributed to professional sports players. Knighthoods can’t really get any more debased than they are.
Great point
True. It’s probably at the point where we should simply start gaoling anybody being given a knighthood.
Think of the money we can save on investigations
I started to think “What a silly comment”
Then I thought about “Sir” Michael Cullen and it began to seem a good idea.
Fay
Richwhite
Talley
Shipley
Douglas
All were knighted.
Sounds like a rogue’s gallery rather than honourable supporters of NZ’s community.
Agree that knighthoods have become a joke, exemplified by Key telling the world he is going to give one to McCaw
And further indicated by Australia’s dumping of them (and Key’s reinstatement of them while maintaining we need a new flag)
wtf?
Given his apparent total lack of interest in things Rugby in 1981, on what grounds does Key base his judgement of “Richie as one the greatest All Blacks of all time…”
Lets hope that Ritchie realises it’s just another JK photo op and publicity ploy, and tells him where to stick it.
The Nash drama has become even more enlightening to his personality and views on voters – he’s just responded and attacking people calling them EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN a selection of his insults….. Little needs to get him a minder.
no – that’s far left nutbags like Ure. Living under a rock. Be careful, occasionally the ground that a rock rests on collapses…
(FAR LEFT NUTBAGS LIVING UNDER A ROCK??)
As for getting real… you have no idea. About anything.
(UNBELIEVABLE COMMENT!)
Hami,
Goodness me – where to start…
First of all who the hell are you to comment on Walter? I bet you haven’t even read Sinclair’s great book. And no, vote splitting didn’t deliver me the seat of Napier: I got back into parliament because I raised a shit load of money, worked bloody hard and concentrated on the issues that were important to the good hard working people of Napier. Now that may seem an anathema to you and your lot, but that is how one wins. Not sitting around whining and whinging about everything under the sun.
We actually DO know what Kiwis want, and we work extremely hard to make sure we deliver.
(If Labour did KNOW WHAT KIWIS WANT Labour would have won the ELECTION!)
I knew exactly what I was doing when I wrote this post (so don’t insult my intelligence), but I just wanted to once again confirm that there still exists a far-left fringe who are so divorced from political reality that they really don’t want to win the treasury benches. Ever.
(I just wanted to once again confirm that there still exists a far-left fringe who are so divorced from political reality…. THEY ARE CALLED VOTERS)
You don’t pay my salary and I am not your servant. I am very proud to serve those Kiwis who are aspirational for the future and who love our country with the passion I do. If you think I represent your brand of whinging negativity, then you are sorely mistaken. Because I don’t and I never ever will.
(ONLY INTERESTED IN TALKING TO ASPIRATIONAL KIWIS – I GUESS IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOB, OR HAVE A PROBLEM YOU ARE JUST WHINGING NEGATIVITY – GOOD LUCK GETTING HELP FROM HIM).
Yes, who knew that humble little me had their very own “lot”!! LOL – I’m still trying to work out who and where my “lot” are! I’m very far away from far left! Most members and supporters are not extremists, they just want the MPs to express THEIR thoughts and opinions and not just the MPs private views – aren’t they supposed to be OUR representatives? So you would think they would be keen to express OUR position in Parliament – that’s what they are there for, or is it?? Nash doesn’t seem to think so, he thinks we are good enough to deliver and fold pamphlets and the rest of the time should be seen and not heard like children of the Victorian Age or something!
It’s rather funny to announce that comments must not be made about Walter Nash, a former Prime Minister , Labour Leader and a public figure. But apparently one must only comment after reading a certain book. Stuart Nash was 10 months old when his adoptive grandfather Walter Nash died, so I can’t imagine how Stuart Nash can be a fountain of first-hand knowledge regarding Walter Nash’s career and public life in NZ! Really great people like Walter Nash, Michael Joseph Savage and Edmund Hillary don’t ever feel the need to trumpet their achievements, they are apparent for all to see without personal preening!
I wonder how many have left the Party after reading Nash’s little article? I have never met him and don’t think I want to. The arrogance and overkill trumpeting of his so-called “win” and all this ME ME ME stuff reminds me of a certain Mr Gilmore!
Yes, who are ‘your lot’ is he referring too ‘people who want a functioning health, welfare and society??? or anyone who is not an oil donor giving him ‘shitloads of money’ for his ‘hard work’?
I would consider myself a centrist and not hard left too! Maybe it is the centre, they are trying to alienate? Have voted Labour the most over the years but only gave my Labour my electoral vote last election.
What Labour don’t seem to realise is that people still bothering complaining about them are their current or ex voters telling them why they are not winning!!!!
Nash should read how to ‘lose friends and alienate people’.
gnasher ain’t here to make friends – they diminish and get in the way of SUCCESS and WINNING the goal we should ALL have – getting gnasher to the top – come on people let’s work as a team and do it his way
World famous for inequality
Until the 1980s, New Zealand used to be one of the most equal countries in the world (although that equality didn’t extend to all groups). But in the two decades from the mid-1980s on, the gap between the rich and the rest increased faster than anywhere else in the developed world.
Unequal societies are less functional, less cohesive and less economically sound than their more equal counterparts. Wide income gaps weaken trust, and divide communities, making it harder to get things done. They encourage competition and consumption, and lead to a more stressful, less healthy society. They stifle opportunity and ability. And they weaken the economy by depriving it of the full range of talents. These weaknesses affect every one of us.
http://www.inequality.org.nz/understand/
I probably should have put /sarc
but to continue the theme 🙂
inequality strengthens us by weeding out the weak – look at dogs – are they equal? No! there is alpha and then the rest. Animals aren’t equal – birds have wings for instance – sure some don’t fly but they have wings so therefore are not equal to non-winged animals, they are better – sure insects have wings too but they don’t have beaks so the birds still win.
This argument can be mapped onto the political environment in the Bay.
anyway enough sillyness…
Good parody though.
Someone should set up a twitter Nash parody account.
+1
Competition breaks society as we’ve seen time and time again and yet we still fall for the psychopaths need to get rich.
SaveNZ, it’s almost impossible to make sense of you comment without lots of backwards and forwards between here and teh TDB thread because you haven’t made it clear which are your words and which are Nash’s.
Sorry – here is link
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/31/tdb-guest-blog-project-stuart-nash-the-most-pressing-issue-in-nz-right-now/
I’m just so shocked at his public attitude. If you look above at Hami Shearlie, one of the people he attacked sounds like a Labour supporter/volunteer too!
yes, I have the link already, thanks. I’m suggesting that when you quote people that you make it clear which bit belongs to which person.
You should follow this guide:
http://thestandard.org.nz/faq/comment-formatting/#quoting
Ha ha Stuart Nash comes across as a tosser with an out of balance ego.
He also comes cross as a shallow person with little depth, as seen in his very first line… “Let’s be clear about one thing: politics is about winning”
What a simpleton
What a fool
What silliness
Politics is many many things to every person on the planet. It is about achieving what society needs, about the art of the possible. It is about negotiation and cooperation, boldness and striking out alone. It is about human relations, it is about how we talk and negotiate and agree ways forward. It is about many many things, all to do with the interaction of people.
I think if you asked most people what “politics is …” they would certainly not say “politics is about winning”
Nash is simply wrong in his very first sentence.
…….
further… he is clearly in the wrong party … evidence one: “… is about winning”. Isn’t that Key’s mantra? Key is a winner /sarc. evidence two: “aspirational” – isn’t that Keys slogan too?
Stuart Nash should bugger off to the right wing parties
he’s already in a right wing party
darklol.
And he wants to drag it further to the right.
Interesting interview on electricity usage with Kathryn Ryan this morning. Interviewee, keen young man, wants to help consumers make the most cost effective choices. Choice remark – if people instal solar systems they are not paying their share to the electricity companies! Sounds like he and they are wanting to maintain their hold on the cash cow of electricity provision. (The Greens are such a brake on rising profits and monopoly of necessities.)
How it works is if not enough people are using electricity then there isn’t enough cash going in for managing and building infrastructure. Under a profit system, then the standard of supply would then go down for those without solar. Oh dear. Why did we turn it into a profit business instead of running it in a businesslike way as a not-for-profit, which would set prices at necessary levels, not levels nice to have (for those selling back to us what we originally built for all.)
And one of the ideas is to get cheaper electricity by having batteries drawing it off in off peak times, and then using that when demand pushes price up. That sounds a bit like the ripple controls for the water heaters and hall heaters we had, a lot lower than the usual at one time, now about 1 cent cheaper.
Uuugh.
The best thing for people to do is to go completely off grid if they can. Because the daily electricity charges are so high because the electricity companies are anticipating less power being used in the future but still want to maintain their profits! If you are completely separate you are completely independent.
That would be the best thing under a capitalist system of profits before people, i.e, the present system.
But the actual best system is a nation wide smart grid owned by the state and run at cost. This smart grid includes solar power on housing/buildings, wind generators (both on and offshore) and hydro. The hydro would effectively be the batteries needed because of the variability of renewable systems although having the generation distributed across the country would decrease that to some degree.
In the middle of installing solar electrical panels. The insignificant buyback of 8cents per kw is not really on our radar. Increase daytime use of solar power to heat all of the hot water. Maybe time-switch fridge etc.
Telsa are bringing upgraded storage batteries so that eventually the night time use could come off daytime excess. Most other countries have Government subsidy of some sort. Not here. Market rules don’t you know?
Article about the economics of the ‘Tesla Power Wall’
http://rameznaam.com/2015/04/30/tesla-powerwall-battery-economics-almost-there/
“Here’s a map from BNEF of sunshine vs grid electricity rates. Countries above the 2015 line have cheaper solar electricity than grid electricity today. But a number of those countries, including Australia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Brazil have no or severely limited ability for solar home owners to sell extra power back to the grid. In those sunny, policy-light countries, Tesla’s batteries make economic sense today, and will help drive rooftop solar. ”
NZ is not on the graph but I’m sure we would be close to the line too
Like solar the price of electricity storage is dropping fast, so unless power companies wish people go off-grid they had better keep their prices down and the amount their generation buyback price up.
Here market drools!
.
Every five years or so the All Blacks team of the time gets called the greatest ever….
How does that work?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
it’s like climate change events, 100 year floods every few years 😉
Well the first team to win back to back world cup titles plus the comfortable manner in which they did it is a pretty good arguement
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/anonymous-begins-publishing-alleged-kkk-members-details/ US Senators & Mayors been outed at KKK members.
Here’s the denial.
Operation KKK
@Operation_KKK
This account has NOT YET released any information. We believe in due diligence and will NOT recklessly involve innocent individuals #OpKKK
https://twitter.com/Operation_KKK/status/661272341318471680
& then this http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/mayors-flatly-deny-klan-membership-after-anonymous-releases-names-online/
re Joe90’s comment above,
Also, Newsweek reported on Monday night that Anonymous has denied responsibility for the link published by a Twitter user identified as “Amped Attacks.” The online activist group did, however, say it would release its own list of Klan members on Thursday.)
Incidentally, back in about 2001/02 I was told that a high up member of the police force in New Plymouth had ties to the KKK.
Congratulations Michelle Payne, the first woman to ride a cup winner.
Didn’t take long.
CNBC Now @CNBCnow 5h5 hours ago
BREAKING: TransCanada requests suspension of U.S. permit for KeystoneXL pipeline; request could end pipeline bid for now, beyond 2016 – DJ
https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/661336295017455616/photo/1