The Shearer bid has the backing of a powerful faction within caucus, including outgoing leader Phil Goff and deputy Annette King, and party strategist Trevor Mallard.
But that team may also be counselling Mr Robertson – seen by many in the party as a future leader – to hold back from announcing his intentions until the largely untested Mr Shearer vies with Mr Cunliffe in a series of television debates. Later, they will hit the hustings at meetings with Labour rank and file.
Mr Robertson could still emerge as a contender if Mr Shearer’s bid falls over. However, his rival seemed to gain momentum on Thursday after Mr Parker’s shock withdrawal.
But Camp Cunliffe were back on an even keel yesterday and are understood to have spent the day crafting a direct pitch to grassroots members about a radical plan for change after Labour’s election thumping.
That will pit them against the party’s old guard, whom they will paint as no longer representing the new generation of activists.
It seems to me that if Cunliffe gets to lead Labour, by countering the media, astroturfer and centrist/right-leaning campaign against them, he is well on the way to mounting a credible challenge for a Labour-led government in 2014.
Good move to characterise the apparent “newness” of Shearer, as a new face for the old guard. And to indicate an inclusive, non-factionalist party by signalling a front bench role for Shearer in a Cunliffe-led Labour caucus.
That will pit them against the party’s old guard, whom they will paint as no longer representing the new generation of activists.
Anyway in an MMP environment would that really be a bad thing?.
I know nobody here will agree but NZ needs to have it’s two main parties just on either side of central you can’t have the country lurching one way or the other every three,six, nine years.
The wastage is immense, the people hate it and the country never moves forward because we are in a constant state of change all the time.
This is why Shearer must lead the Labour party as he will pull Labour back to the center where the majority of the votes are.
Cunliffe should take the activists, the union delegates and form his own party, then he could form a coalition with the Labour lead Shearer party.
That would make a pretty powerful block.
It is extremely hard to be clear about what people mean by the term “centre” and in fact they tend to mean different things. Key & his cronies tend to mean assuaging fears while continuing with the neoliberal project, and pulling back where there is danger of losing popularity. Dunne seems to define it as some sort of golden mean, while supporting Key’s policies.
When a Labour person is described as “more centrist” I often have no idea as to whether this means that they have little time for identity politics (as seems to be the case with Damian O’Connor) or whether they think that our best bet is to find some accommodation with neoliberal economics, perhaps at the expense of the already poor. Or something else again.
Colloquially the term often simply means “me” – as in those fatter than me are fat, those older than me are old, etc. Someone mentioned a few days ago (I cannot remember who) that NZers tend to see themselves as middle class, often against the evidence, which adds another layer of occlusion to the term.
To me being centrist doesn’t mean always having middle of the road views and always supporting middle of the road policies. Rather, it’s a starting point where I hope I’ll look properly at both sides of an issue and decide what I think is best from there.
Being centrist means I can still support social policies and I can still support capitalist policies instead of feeling bound to lean one way or the other.
I try to pick the best of whatever policies are proposed, and look for the best ways of implementing them.
This approach can be fair to those in need of assistance, and fair to those who work harder.
PG you have defended Nationals policies at all costs during the campaign now you are defending the ever reducing popularity of the one man band Unbalanced Follicles you have no principles so nothing to defend boring people to death.Your 160 odd and i mean ODD votes in Dunedin North they must have been so fed up with you harassing them they gave you their vote to get rid of you . I don’t imagine you have that many family or friends.
I haven’t defended National policies at all costs.
Most candidates of both Dunedin electorates (there were 16) and all MPs I talked to (3/4) indicated support for what I’m initiating in Dunedin.
The fact that I get abused by a handful of off-topic posters here is no reflection on what sort of reception I have got elsewhere, especially around Dunedin.
Why the ignorant speculation on family and friends? Do you them to be put off Labour for good as well? I’m surprised how much nastiness there is on political blogs, doesn’t seem to be a great way to attract support.
Yes, but the terms “centre” tells me nothing about the criterion on which you base your idea of what is best. Nothing about the position from which you determine what is in the balance.
Dunne seems to define it as some sort of golden mean…
Dunne and the rest of UF have fallen into what I call the Myth of the Middle
These people who have so fallen take two positions, label them extremes and then say that the answer to all our woes is in the middle. These are the people who have taking the truism Everything in moderation – even moderation to heart (although they seem to have missed the warning at the end) and will oppose doing anything that they see as radical.
The thing is that they can claim any position as radical and what they want as the “middle”. Of course, if you need a radical change plotting a middle course doesn’t help either and we need radical change. Continuing with failed capitalism isn’t doing us any favours.
Are give you a clue mate – its the electorate which decides whether or not Labour is a main party. And having done signficantly better than Bill English’s 20.9% I suggest that Labour still has a broad base to rebuild from.
If the party goes the way you want it to, I doubt Labour would be able to scrape together 10%.
Your political views probably represent about 5% of the population.
If they went radical left I suspect that they’d be able to pick the majority of the people who didn’t vote. They may lose a few centrists and neo-liberals but, IMO, they’d actually have more votes (and probably members) after.
Brett, at best your political views only represent 1% of the population – the top 1% who want to rule us all in a dictatorship. You just don’t realise it.
sorry cv but i disagree – centre on the voter identifier matrix is defined by a ever shifting double peak extremely wide and flat bell curve. people base there vote and identity on a wide range of aspects not just left right centre..and more importnantly the double dip centre if not really in the middle but a dynamic flux situation with outliers, and falloff tails to the right and left.
then each electrorate is different as well that why its importnant the local labour candiate go after both perosnal and party vote based on the elctrorate bias i.e damian oconnor,grant robertson.
Brett you know the left block came within a whisker of vicTory and with special votes low majorities in some seats the left may still win though unlikely with up to five seats hanging by a thread it could cause an over hang.
Brett you are obviously a Tory and one of your main weapons through out hisTory has been to divide and conquer with any means possible
Can’t wait for Winnie to have his cup of tea under parliamentary privilege The thin Teflon will be worn somewhat more and the yellow press will be exposed some what more
Brett this is MMP and its left block verses right the right has less versatility now National has all the power.
The wastage is immense, the people hate it and the country never moves forward because we are in a constant state of change all the time.
Although I don’t agree with the premise of your argument that Shearer is more centrist than Cunliffe, you make a good point about the financial cost of our political process whereby one party makes huge changes that the other party will simply change back when they gain power. Both National and Labour are guilty of this dysfunction. However it is more to do with our hierarchical structuring and an outdated mode of representation.
The solution is to allow the public to vote directly on policy with parties being advocates for their respective policies. The stability of the general public is preferable to the combative and wasteful political process that is clearly failing to engage many New Zealander’s in decision making.
That would be a terrible thing – there’s no upside to it! I keep hearing that it would be oh-so-secure, linked to everyone’s online banking etc – but not everyone does online banking (it took me years to decide that it was probably safe.) My son just told me about a colleague of his who has – along with her husband, just been wiped out by a hacker – $50 000… Luckily their bank is reimbursing them. But safe is relative! I just watched last night, the curiously passionless documentary ‘Hacking Democracy’, about Diebold and the 2004 election – although Kerry had proof that the Bushites stole the election with the connivance of Diebold, he caved, and whilst some of his supporters were angry, most Americans shrugged and said “meh’, which is what I mean about passionless. If Americans won’t stick up for themselves, it’s absolutely true that New Zealanders won’t. On-line voting would see us more completely fried than we already are.
perception perception and more perception – just give me an honest leader someone not so tied up in party spin and poli speak and i will give you one million voters
Perhaps we could have some basics explained here.
Brett, you could start by telling us what
“…the country never moves forward …” actually means.
Are you suggesting that every enactment of every piece of legislation is taking the country forward. In whose perspective, and where or what is this future exactly?
We already had that a few years ago. Labour held the centre, and the Alliance held the more socialist left. Then both Anderton and McCarten got too stubborn for their own good, and look where we are now.
If the Alliance had held itself together, the period of 2002-08 would have seen a lot more left policies than there actually was. Remember: Kiwibank was an Alliance initiative and now has support across the political spectrum (I think even Don Brash was lukewarm on selling it). Same with paid perental leave.
In addition, the Greens would have been able to focus on environmental issues, rather than try and be a socialist party as well.
Ever so funny, ha ha ha. If politics is just another RWC circus for the right, then it makes sense that we’re only aspiring to muddle through. That’s why prison building, more motorways and National Standards are apparently all the political outcomes we need. Dinemic. Dig more coal.
Labour has always aired its dirty linen in public . Thats good democracy at work ,not like National Act who do nearly all their dirty deal behind closed doors.Unfortunately Act has done its dirty dealings in public recently and has now been absorbed back into National.
A prickly subject as Cacti Kate would say.
Anyway, righties, I’d be far more worried about who will lead National than Labour at the moment. Key has already asked party leaders if he can step down (closed door meeting, Marie Quinn and others in attendance). Who will replace him. I’m delighted that Labour has a bevy of potential leaders. Far better than National who literally have nobody palatable.
@Tigger-when/where did you hear about Key possibly stepping down?
And you are correct, it is a real plus that Labour is spoilt for choice as regards potential leaders, whereas National is definitely ‘leader lite.’
Early on in his term as PM I thought I’d read his CV to see how long he typically stayed in roles. It’s one of the things I look at when I interview people, because their past behaviour indicates how long they might stay in the role they are being interviewed for.
From what I could see most of John Key’s roles have lasted two or three years, and his longest in any role is about five years. If he does two full terms as PM it will be the longest he has ever stuck at one role, so on this basis I think it is unlikely he will be leader of the National Party for an election in late 2014.
Given that righties play on emotional voters how is Cunliffe going to help Labour, he’ll make an excellent Finance Minister but to beat the right the Labour party need to grab voters by their emotional tails.
Goff had trouble with putting gst off, cgt on, threshold free into any emotional terms.
Universal tax cut, healthy fairer tax system.
Well who the hell are you to comment on the Labour Party.It appears to me that every damm Tory ,rightwing nutter and those Right-wing
columnists /Bloggers like Holmes .Garner ,Farrar and all the rest of the of the Right -Wing neo fascists know better than the Labour Party itself . My message to this cunning lot is piss of look after your own sleazy party .Labour is well able to manage its own affairs.
I mentioned a few days back that Garner said there was going to be a blood bath over the leadership .he is looking a bit green ,Because the leadership is being run very well and involving grass roots members . Its certainly run more democratically than the Nats BRT dominated Leader elections. Remember “No Brash no Money ‘ a couple of elections ago
I don’t. Hiding everything from view is normal behaviour of the RWNJs in their attempt to create a dictatorship with them in control. Actually involving everybody else is how you build a community that governs itself.
So let me understand this. Long ago Maori sold their assets cheap to foreigners.
Now MSM believe that Maori Party will survive politically by working with National in any shape or form?
I thought Maori had more integrity, but no, they still want to work with National.
which is perplexing since shoring up National only makes the inevitable collapse worse for Maori.
well my opinion is it is ttrime to get rid of leighton smith from newstalk zb.
this monster is a cretin of the first order.
all last week he used his position to denigrate the candidates for the NZLP leader.
then he got stuck into Helen Clarke, the United Nations and last but not least the president of the unites states Barack Obama.
there is nothing nice about this person but yet he keeps spewing his filth and ignorance all over us daily.
no wonder kiwis are so messed up. on one hand they are told they are wonderful people because they won the world cup but on the other this fountain of bile runs rampant every day.
time to make some radical changes in this country starting with the pinheads in the media.
Goebells Smith finished me with ZB talkback.
Right wing (virtually Fascist) slants on everything.
Laws finished me with the other talkback lot.
Why is the Labour leadership battle being fought so publicly when the only media coverage is certainly prejudiced against the left?
And why are the National groupies all favouring Shearer?
This is what I think, it publicly airs the winners and losers and if anything build future stories about factionalism in Labour.
Not to mention, yet once again, the focus is all on Labour for the wrong reasons, and National just gets to cruise along without any scrutiny – you would think last term would have taught them something.
The “TV debates” were pure hubris, they should have kept it at a grass roots level and then come from that with unity or at least the perception of it.
I think, for a Labour leadership team to be successful, they have to find a way of dealing with, or operating successfully inspite of, the right wing MSM and astroturfers. These right wingers will try to undermine Labour and their leader, however they go about things.
So the leadership contest is a kind of baptism of fire.
“And why are the National groupies all favouring Shearer?”
At a guess I would say that because his efforts have sought the complete opposite end of theirs, they consider his achievements to be totally worthless, so he too is totally worthless. At the centre of their thinking is the rule that anything not like them is wrong and worthless – the sneers follow from there.
I am merely a spectator to the LP leadership process, but I would like to emphasise that just because National want Shearer, it should have no bearing at all on the decision of the LP and it’s members to choose as they see fit.
Every Thursday since October 13 I’ve driven 20 minutes up the highway with my Rolleiflex camera and a handful of film and asked the activists at Occupy Los Angeles their greatest hope for a positive outcome in this global movement toward change
WOW! Terrific idea and commitment.
Thank you Joe for something wonderful that I would not have seen or ‘heard’ if it were not for you. Thanks too to all the occupiers for sharing their hopes and occupying for change.
‘Blowing the whistle’ on Transparency International’s 2011 ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – where NZ is ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt country in the world.
In my considered opinion, as a GENUINE ‘anti-corruption’ campaigner – if NZ is perceived to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’ then Transparency International’s ‘Corruption Perception Index’ is not worth the paper upon which it is written.
As a delegate – I personally distributed about 400 copies of the following ‘NZ Corruption Reality Checklist’ amongst the 1200 delegates from 135 countries who were represented at the 2010 Transparency International 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference which I attended in Bangkok last year.
(Funded by donations received from fellow concerned citizens who support the work I am doing as an ‘anti-corruption’ campaigner.)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
CORRUPTION REALITY CHECKLIST – NEW ZEALAND
1. Has NZ ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption? ……… NO
2. Does NZ have an independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption? ……. NO
3. Do NZ’s laws ensure transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central government level? …………………. NO
4. Do NZ Members of Parliament have a ‘Code of Conduct’? NO
5. Do NZ Local Govt elected reps have a ‘Code of Conduct’? ……. YES
6. Is it an offence for NZ Local Govt elected reps to breach the ‘Code of Conduct’? NO
7. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt elected reps? …………………NO
8. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Govt staff responsible for procurement? ……………… NO
9. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt staff responsible for procurement? ………. NO
10. Is there a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Govt Public Sector, and Local Govt (Council) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny?……. NO
11. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
12. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Local Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
13. Does NZ have a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary? ……NO
14. Are all NZ Court proceedings recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them?……………NO
15. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’? …. NO
16. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ at Central Govt Ministerial level? ………… NO
17. Is there a legal requirement at NZ Central and Local Govt level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine ‘ period’ from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector?………………NO
18. Is it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central Govt or Local Govt level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships? …………………. NO
19. Is it unlawful in NZ for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level? …………………………. NO
20. Do NZ laws promote and protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local govt level and within the judiciary? ……………………………. NO
Transparency International is a global civil society coalition leading the fight against corruption. It compiles a number of measures of different aspects of corruption including the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Global Corruption Barometer, and the Bribe Payers Index. Information on Transparency International can be found at http://www.transparency.org and detailed information on the Corruption Perceptions Index can be found at http://www.transparency.org/cpi
Transparency International New Zealand is the local chapter of Transparency International and is an independent registered charity. Information on TI-NZ, including New Zealand’s performance in the Global Corruption Barometer and the As Good As We Are Perceived? report can be found at http://www.transparency.org.nz
The Convention entered into force on 14 December 2005, in accordance with its article 68 (1). For each new State or regional economic integration organization becoming a party to the Convention, the Convention enters into force on the thirtieth day after the date of deposit by such State or organization of the relevant instrument.
Status: Signatories: 140 ,Parties: 154.
Authoritative status information on treaties deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption, is available on the United Nations Treaty Collection.
We don’t do too well on the ‘corruption reality’ check list do we ? Perhaps we are a banana republic after all?
Thanks for all your ‘watchdogging’ Penny. You are one brave,principled lady.
Rethink opposing asset sales and a Capital Gains Tax, welfare reform, National Standards.
Apparently, in Armstrongs world, voters don’t care about asset sales and parents like National Standards. Polls on the issues suggest otherwise.
A CGT isn’t necessary and looking at ways of alleviating poverty (anything other than make/compel people to be work ready in the absence of jobs) is unpopular.
Labour also has some ‘1/2 baked ideas’ amongst its policies.
I guess there is a difference between mimicing the ‘do nothing’ ‘grab bag’ of ideas run by the current Government, in order to be elected short term, and actually doing some hard thinking about the countries future needs.
What Armstrong hasn’t bothered to factor in are the economic, social and environmental turmoil we are going to experience in the next 10 years. Doing nothing may have been most popular this year but won’t do much to help NZ in 5 years time. If Armstrong thinks that things are going to quickly default to pre 2008 conditions and be benign enough for a do nothing neo-liberalism to remain popular, I suggest he is deluded.
Rather than lurch toward the brand of neo-liberal ‘grab bag’ politics, Labour needs to continue doing thinking about appropriate long term answers to the questions now being posed. The 2011 election manifesto was a good start.
Mister Armstrong can no doubt continue to be a cheer leader for brand ‘do nothing’.
Well, well, why so silent during the election campaign Brian Gaynor? What a disgrace!
How many would have voted for JokyHen if they had seen this sort of commentary?
“…Key and Finance Minister Bill English have a reputation for being prudent financial managers yet their three-year deficit of $35.5 billion
compares with a $35.6 billion surplus by the previous Labour Government
and a $5.7 billion surplus by the 1990 to 1999 National Government…”
“…But the best way to look at Government debt is as a percentage of GDP. The last two Labour Governments reduced Government debt as a percentage of GDP but only one of the three National Governments – the Bolger/Shipley Administration – has produced a similar result…”
In addition to various wild shootings in Wairoa amongst weekend activities, fires in the far north, asians being blown sky high in the Urerewas, …
There are without doubt incidents of rampant violence in the face of authority going on more and more. Has anybody else noticed this? And what does it mean? And should we all of us buy guns? Like the US government? Or even our government? Do we follow our leaders in declaring war? Or do we circle the wagons?
A bit of a wobble in Nelson guessing more than 4. Centred in Wellington I think – that place needs a shake-up. 5.7 40 km from Wellington towards Picton.
Like domestic assaults I suppose. Depends on the reporting. And we are much more aware since Ch CH. In the past I might have just noticed tonight’s earthquake but now I worry that it is a signal in Marlborough that might be a flow on effect from a more serious quake elsewhere.
On the TV One six O’clock news tonight, reporter Matt McLean informed us that the shellfish in Tauranga was safe to eat. However there’s still a Waikato District Health Board warning out for Tauranga and other areas saying the shellfish is toxic…
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Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
Last week, the ongoing democracy protests in Hong Kong saw a pro-Hong Kong student assaulted at the University of Auckland. The Chinese consulate in Auckland followed this up with a press release "express[ing] its appreciation to the students for their spontaneous patriotism" - effectively condoning the assault and inciting further ...
Only those who close their eyes and minds to the evidence can still be in any doubt that we are facing a climate change crisis. The evidence is conclusive that the world is not only getting inexorably hotter, but also that the rising temperatures are creating a number of other ...
Rural communities are wailing about forestry conversions "taking land out of production" and putting it into locking up carbon. Its driven purely by economics: there's more money and lower costs in carbon than in sheep or beef, and if carbon prices rise, there'll be more net money than dairy even. ...
This week, the government introduced its (underwhelming) Abortion Legislation Bill. And despite having negotiated the text of the bill through the coalition process, Winston Peters is now suggesting that he will demand a referendum on it:NZ First leader Winston Peters has hinted that his party may only support the Government's ...
Blowing-Up The House: Is Winston Peters planning to put himself at the head of all those New Zealanders who refuse to countenance the Coalition Government caving-in to the Ihumatao protesters? The most effective way of doing this would be to issue Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with an ultimatum. If she ...
Last night the police dramatically incresed their numbers at Ihumātao, shoving over protestors and threatening them with arrest. Despite police talk about the need to maintain "public order" and prevent a "breach of the peace", there appeared to be absolutely no justification for this: the protest camp is, was, and ...
A Cult, that many actors, politicians, and those with a low IQ are joining is sweeping across civilisation, with one main intention – ending humans reign on Earth. Starting as a well meaning though deeply flawed theory, that the Earth was warming due to mankind emitting greenhouse gasses, it was ...
Today's abortion reform announcement is just the latest in a long line of disappointing decisions or outright failures from the Labour government. The 90-day law. KiwiBuild. A capital gains tax. Climate change. Every time they make one of those decisions, we hope for better next time. No repeal of the ...
The Greens used their party conference over the weekend to push for a rent-to-own scheme, where people would be able to work towards home ownership by renting from the government. Its a sensible policy, and one which could make a real difference to home ownership rates. But its also basicly ...
by Daphna Whitmore Over the past fortnight, thousands of people have come to the Ihumātao land protest in South Auckland. On 23 July police prepared to evict a few dozen people who had maintained the encampment at Ihumātao for the past three years. As hundreds of supporters arrived the ...
The following article is translated from an article in Lutte de Classe (Class Struggle), the magazine of the French revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle). The United States’ blacklisting of the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, which took shape in Google’s ban on Huawei using its systems on its phones, marks a ...
There is a military phrase: “Full spectrum dominance”. It refers to the all-encompassing policy to dominate across all spheres of war. Lately, that has come to include the internet – in other words, cyberwarfare initiatives. That is in addition to land, sea, air and the like. Now, if ...
The IMF issued a Report on the state of the Economy as it is at present. Some of it points out significant issues that certainly warrant attention, but that we know already exist. Some of it is very much tied to the very obvious context of global concerns, that everyone ...
I'm glad to see the Lib Dems won.I had a moment of terror yesterday thinking that the Conservatives might cling on, due to a combination of Johnson's elevation to the premiership, the apparent uselessness of the Lib Dem candidate (who had failed to be elected in other constituencies) and the ...
. . Current Leader of the National Party, Simon Bridges gave the usual rah-rah speech to the Loyal & Faithful in Christchurch today (27 July). With National’s party polling and his own personal popularity sliding steadily in the polls, Mr Bridges has not much left to reverse his fortunes. ...
Those concerned for Langridge’s wellbeing say they hope he’ll change his mind when he sees the ocean coming. The protester who has vowed to stand outside Parliament every day until the Government announces a climate emergency says he accepts that his quest will most likely end in drowning. Ollie Langridge, ...
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...
Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the report of the Small Business Council will help maintain the momentum for innovation and improvements in the sector. Mr Nash has thanked the members of the Small Business Council (SBC) who this week handed over their report, Empowering small businesses to aspire, succeed ...
Extra Police officers are being deployed from Northland to Southland with the graduation of a new wing of recruits from the Royal New Zealand Police College. “The graduation of 78 constables today means that 1524 new constables have been deployed since the government took office,” says Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Ongoing drug-test sanctions contradicts Government’s rhetoric on drugs Reports that two-thirds of beneficiaries who fail drug tests are still having their benefit sanctioned contradicts the Government’s so-called health approach to drugs. Auckland ...
An Auckland Homelessness Collective is optimistic extra government support for sustaining tenancies signals a commitment to a multi-pronged approach to tackling homelessness. ...
Wanaka-based trust ONE New Zealand will be hosting six days of talks, workshops and hands-on activities with local and national experts to educate, inspire and enable grassroots action towards a sustainable future. ...
In last week’s episode of Politics in Full Sentences, David, Brooke and Ruwan discussed why Jacinda Ardern has been lecturing our friends overseas, why Andrew Little called ACT's three strikes law “fascism”, whether he will give prisoners the right to ...
“Community safety must be the paramount consideration when releasing an offender, and the only way for that to be achieved is for the offender to acknowledge their crimes.” ...
“District Health Boards are failing to foster a culture of distributed clinical leadership, despite its demonstrated benefits to the sector,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). ...
Ratepayers around Auckland were spitting out their morning coffees listening to Phil Goff’s incredible claims on breakfast radio today that this election is about ‘honesty’ and that Aucklanders can trust him on his promises. Auckland Ratepayers’ ...
The Hōkai Rangi plan for reducing Māori reoffending announced today fails to fulfil the Waitangi Tribunal’s recommendations, says justice organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. Minister Kelvin Davis announced the plan this morning, which aims ...
Waatea News at the invitation of the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency will exclusively broadcast the next Māori-led Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki starting today at 1pm. ...
Staff at the Ministry of Social Development say they are enthusiastic about the government’s $54 million investment in housing the homeless, with many describing it as a welcome change. ...
Today posters have gone up outside ANZ branches across New Zealand to expose ANZ’s sponsorship of an exclusive oil industry group, ‘The Petroleum Club’. The satirical posters play on ANZ’s recent ad campaigns, replacing the banks’ tagline ‘healthy ...
Imagine a country where children look forward to walking or cycling to school, parents arrive home safely, and the journeys we take for work or pleasure do more than leave us alive or uninjured, they also improve our lives. This is happening now in countries ...
Sunday, 18 August, 2019 - Environmental groups and well known New Zealanders are preparing to deliver a 55,000 strong petition to the steps of Parliament tomorrow, calling on the Government to protect the world’s smallest dolphin. ...
The Government’s proposed rescue plan must be strengthened because it is the last chance to save Māui dolphins from extinction and secure the future for Hector’s dolphins, Forest & Bird says. ...
Simon Shepherd: Roads, schools, hospitals, prisons, the building blocks that keep society functioning. And we don't have enough. It's called the infrastructure deficit and will be the focus of a major conference this coming week. The man charged with ...
New Zealand has been issued a stark challenge from Pacific leaders to dramatically upscale its action to address climate breakdown, Oxfam says, after a clear rallying cry from nations at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum. ...
Support for Recreational Dope Going ‘Up in Smoke’ Family First NZ is welcoming yet another poll showing plummeting support for legalising cannabis in New Zealand. The Horizon Research poll shows support for legalising has plummeted from 60% last ...
The prospect of ending wider cannabis prohibition looks increasingly unlikely. Over the last nine months, the percentage of New Zealanders who would vote for legalising the personal use of cannabis has declined at a near linear rate of around 10% per ...
“It’s disappointing that news out of the United States of hospitalisations linked to illegal street drugs is somehow seen as relevant to the New Zealand vaping scene,” says Ben Pryor, Director of Alt New Zealand – the largest Kiwi-owned vaping company. ...
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) welcomes the successful passing of Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill through parliament, by the New Zealand Government. ...
Today’s news from the Electoral Commission has provided the party with the clarity it was seeking around use of the word “Coalition” being used as the brand name of the party. ...
A recently released Otago University study has provided further evidence that low-quality housing is a significant problem in Aotearoa. This has prompted the Chief Executive of the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACENZ) Paul Evans to question “why ...
With the BNZ-Business NZ PMI signaling manufacturing is contracting , the Government needs to seriously consider tax relief, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . ...
The New Zealand Maori Council has called for an overhaul of the Public Services executive ranks as the Corrections debacle shows mis-management and incompetence at the highest level. Matthew Tukaki, Executive Director of the New Zealand Maori Council has said ...
Findings from the 2018 New Zealand Consumer Survey have been released and the results are in; 48 per cent of respondents consider their purchases based on how ethically employees are treated. ...
The responsibility for the fact that Westland Milk Products is now in the hands of an overseas conglomerate 25% owned by the Chinese government can be laid fair and square at our government's doorstep. ...
As Fonterra is projecting multi million dollar losses for the second year in a row, it is clear the writing is on the wall for dairy as more and more Kiwis turn to plant milks. 22nd August is International Plant Milk Day and there is now a different plant ...
The $65,000 granted to Interislander so it can install electric vehicle chargers on its ferries is the most absurd waste of money yet to be delivered by the “Low Emissions” vehicle fund, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. ...
Wellingtonians will have the chance to hear international child rights experts from Ireland, Scotland and Samoa speak at the Making Child Rights Real in Aotearoa New Zealand seminar to be held in the city on Wednesday 21 August. ...
Paul Evans, Chief Executive of the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACENZ), is advocating a balanced approach to the development of productive land. ...
CPAG (Child Poverty Action Group) says that new research from the University of Otago provides a solid foundation for why the Government must not delay instating a comprehensive Warrant of Fitness for tenanted homes in Aotearoa-New Zealand, and ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that an officer drove carelessly during a pursuit and that this was the primary cause of a collision with a motorcycle that injured the rider. ...
Responding to the Prime Minister’s commitment of $150 million in funding for climate change response in the Pacific, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “It is no secret that many Pacific nations lack serious oversight when it ...
AUT research not only shows an increase in political affiliation, but that candidates affiliated to a central political party are more likely to win seats in Auckland local government. ...
On the 23rd of August School Strike NZ will join Ollie Langridge in his 100th day of sitting outside of New Zealand Parliament calling for the government to declare a climate emergency. School Strike 4 Climate NZ also demand that Parliament acknowledge ...
You have stood up for what is fair, and I am sure you will speak for over 7 million people who have been muted and rendered voiceless in Indian occupied Kashmir for more than a 10 days now. I am writing to bring to your notice the plight of Kashmiri ...
In the last 10 months alone, 11 petitions have been delivered to Parliament calling for medicines to be funded by Pharmac. Today, another nine petitions have been launched by Patient Voice Aotearoa (PVA) members asking that life changing, saving and extending ...
When we were first working to get Miscanthus approved for import into New Zealand, the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) waived the fee for their work because they thought that having Miscanthus in New Zealand was so very much in the ...
PHARMAC’s recent decision to fund two additional drugs from December this year has been widely welcomed by patients and the general public alike. The drugs, Kadcyla and Ibrance, are used in the treatment of advanced lung and breast cancers and will ...
Animal rights organisation SAFE is urging the Government to include experts and advocates from outside the agriculture industry on its newly announced winter crop grazing taskforce. ...
The Government’s plans to prohibit housing on ‘productive’ farmland will serve as yet another regulatory tax on housing, and is a shameful breach of Jacinda Ardern’s promise to fix housing supply, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . ...
The latest round of the Ethnic Communities Development Fund opens today, supporting projects that grow the leadership and capability of ethnic groups, improve cultural understanding, and ensure our ethnic communities are a vibrant and celebrated part ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is warning of the dangers of hiking excise tax, in response to calls from a former Prime Minister for stronger action on alcohol harm. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “It seems inevitable ...
The new joint from the team behind one of Wellington’s favourite craft beer bars is dedicated to minimal-intervention, organic wine – and more exciting things are coming to the heritage building it’s housed in.Before the Cadbury factory opened in Dunedin in 1930, New Zealanders ate Cadbury chocolate made in England. ...
Alex Casey chats to Bree Tomasel about hosting Celebrity Treasure Island NZ, farting in the ZM studio and going viral on the regular. The most important thing you need to know about Bree Tomasel is not the fact that she peed her pants during Celebrity Treasure Island NZ, but the glee ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsAnalysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – The election race is on. The nominations process for local government positions has now closed, and the political campaign is officially underway. But does the public care? Will many of us even vote for any of the various mayoral or council ...
At Eden Park on Saturday night, the Wallabies were on the receiving end of a ruthless players’ revenge, writes Scotty StevensonThe rain came. It always seems to at Eden Park, just as the Wallabies warm up on the pitch, dreaming of ending a drought. It came from the west, the ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Michael Fallow (Stuff): Your council – what’s its job description? Dileepa Fonseka and ...
Protesters occupying land at Ihumātao will begin a four-hour hikoi to Mt Albert on Thursday to present a petition calling on the Prime Minister to visit the land. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jamie Walvisch, Lecturer, Monash University This morning an Extinction Rebellion protester was arrested after hanging from a rope over the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane, blocking all lanes to peak hour traffic. And earlier this month in Brisbane, more than 70 climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Jobson, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Monash University Many of us enjoy writing in a diary, reading autobiographies or nostalgically reflecting with others about past times. Why is remembering our past so important? Are there downsides? And what can we do ...
Roll Red Roll is a brutal, painfully illuminating documentary on the Steubenville High School rape case, a shocking crime that made headlines worldwide. Emily Writes reviews. This review discusses rape and sexual violenceAugust 11, 2012: two teenage boys rape an unconscious teenage girl as two of their peers watch and ...
By RNZ Pacific Tuvalu’s Prime Minister has condemned the Australian Prime Minister’s conduct at last week’s Pacific Islands Forum, calling Scott Morrison’s attitude “unfortunate” and “neo-colonial,” and questioning Australia’s future in the 18-member body. In an interview with RNZ on Sunday, Enele Sopoaga also threatened to pull Tuvaluan labour from ...
The second hui of the Māori-led inquiry into Oranga Tamariki takes place in Hamilton today. Newsroom, in partnership with Radio Waatea, are broadcasting it live from 1pm. ...
Prolific, award-winning Palmerston North poet Paula Harris somehow manages to be stroppy and properly vulnerable all at once. Here, she writes about her first slam competition – and why she cried all the way home. I am old enough to have given birth to most of the people here.Sure, there’s a ...
High speed rail links between cities could play a massive role in revitalising regional New Zealand, says a visiting transport infrastructure expert. Professor Andrew McNaughton spoke to Alex Braae. Imagine commuting from Hamilton to Auckland, and it only taking an hour to get there. It’s a vision of how the right ...
On the good days, riding a bike is the best. But in Auckland there aren’t nearly enough of those days, and unless decision makers take urgent action, that’s not going to change.This piece originally appeared on Bike AucklandMy first bike crash in central Auckland happened on Symonds Street. I was ...
It's not since 1989 that a mayoralty campaign in the southern city has been so unpredictable - a record 14 candidates have put their names forward. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Mills, Hon Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney On the morning of the last Monday in April, 2019, federal election officials opened the doors of more than 500 pre-poll voting centres around Australia, and waited for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Veronica Alfano, Research Fellow, Australian Catholic University Memorising poetry was once common in classrooms. But it has, for the most part, gone out of style. There are good reasons for this. Memorisation can clash with creativity and analytical thought. Rote learning can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Paul Fisher, Head of Directing, Department of Film, Screen and Creative Media, Bond University What do J.J. Abrams, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Shonda Rhimes, David Lynch, Aaron Sorkin, Donald Glover, Jenji Kohan, Jordan Peele, Tina Fey, and Joss Whedon have in common? They ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Mayors launch bids to return in Auckland and Wellington, Hamilton’s skyline could change significantly, and support for cannabis legalisation plummets in poll.Two incumbent mayors have launched their re-election campaigns over the weekend, with a bigger fight on their hands than ...
MediaWorks has been lobbying the Government to turn TVNZ 1 into a non-commercial channel to help stem its own financial bleeding. Frustrated, and getting nowhere, it’s decided to change tack. ...
Customs has cracked down on a GST rort, leaving Trade Me to pay back thousands of dollars to customers who had new cameras and smartphones seized at the border. ...
The 37-8 result meant the Black Ferns finished with a handy 5-1 record for the year, suggesting they are tracking well enough towards a successful defence of the 2021 World Cup. ...
New Zealand has long been the world’s imagined lifeboat – and increasingly for something more than just escape, writes Elle Hunt.One Friday morning in January 1847, Charles Dickens wrote to his friend John Forster that he was “disposed to go to New Zealand and start a magazine”. The quote was ...
New Zealand is one of only two developed countries, along with the US, that permits direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines, and it needs to stop, writes Dr David Menkes. It’s been a long time coming: a new Consumer report makes it clear that most New Zealanders want to see a ban ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has a sharp lecture for bureaucrats about their KPIs, in a comprehensive speech laying down how he expects the Australian Public Service to operate under his government. Morrison stresses the service must be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has issued a timetable for the government’s dealing with the recommendations from the royal commission into banking, superannuation and financial services, which aims to have all measures needing legislation introduced by the ...
By Ghinan Salman in Surabaya As many as 43 Papuan students were taken to the district police headquarters after Indonesian police fired teargas and forced their way into a student dormitory in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya at the weekend. The Papuan students were forcibly removed from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Senior Associate, Grattan Institute Each new generation of Australians since Federation has enjoyed a better standard of living than the one that came before it. Until now. Today’s young Australians are in danger of falling behind. A new Grattan Institute ...
Jamie Wall reviews Jonah, the two-part Three telefeature that follows the life of our most famous All Black, and finds it an effective but mixed retelling of the legend.Honestly, it’s a wee bit disappointing that the only notable on-screen dramatisation of the All Blacks in recent years was centred on replacement ...
We love it battered and served with chips, but tarakihi stocks aren’t doing well and another big cut to commercial catch limits is in the works. Ah yes, terrakee, that’s a fish, right?Well, first things first, let’s say it correctly. Pronounce every syllable, remember the Māori vowel sounds (A-E-I-O-U), roll the ...
Open mike 03/12/2011 
by Philip Ferguson This weekend just past marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the most famous of the great 1960s music festivals. It was held over the weekend (Friday-Monday) of August 15-18, 1969. Woodstock was a highpoint of the US ‘counter-culture’, and also the beginning of its end. When exploring the ...5 hours ago
Last week, Australia sabotaged the Pacific Forum by opposing action on climate change. Their Deputy Prime Minister followed that up by saying that Pacific Peoples could always pick Australian fruit - just as they had done in the era of blackbirding. And now, that arrogant, tone-deaf approach has drawn a ...5 hours ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...1 day ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...1 day ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...3 days ago
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Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...3 days ago
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...5 days ago
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...5 days ago
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...5 days ago
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...5 days ago
Most economists agree that a currently slowing economy could do with some stimulus – and they would also agree that there is no shortage of infrastructure projects which could be brought to productive fruition with help from that stimulus. In view of the current practice of sub-contracting economic policy decisions ...5 days ago
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...5 days ago
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ... 5 days ago
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...6 days ago
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...1 week ago
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...1 week ago
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...1 week ago
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...2 weeks ago
Blowing-Up The House: Is Winston Peters planning to put himself at the head of all those New Zealanders who refuse to countenance the Coalition Government caving-in to the Ihumatao protesters? The most effective way of doing this would be to issue Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with an ultimatum. If she ...2 weeks ago
A Cult, that many actors, politicians, and those with a low IQ are joining is sweeping across civilisation, with one main intention – ending humans reign on Earth. Starting as a well meaning though deeply flawed theory, that the Earth was warming due to mankind emitting greenhouse gasses, it was ...2 weeks ago
There is a military phrase: “Full spectrum dominance”. It refers to the all-encompassing policy to dominate across all spheres of war. Lately, that has come to include the internet – in other words, cyberwarfare initiatives. That is in addition to land, sea, air and the like. Now, if ...2 weeks ago
The IMF issued a Report on the state of the Economy as it is at present. Some of it points out significant issues that certainly warrant attention, but that we know already exist. Some of it is very much tied to the very obvious context of global concerns, that everyone ...2 weeks ago
I'm glad to see the Lib Dems won.I had a moment of terror yesterday thinking that the Conservatives might cling on, due to a combination of Johnson's elevation to the premiership, the apparent uselessness of the Lib Dem candidate (who had failed to be elected in other constituencies) and the ...2 weeks ago
. . Current Leader of the National Party, Simon Bridges gave the usual rah-rah speech to the Loyal & Faithful in Christchurch today (27 July). With National’s party polling and his own personal popularity sliding steadily in the polls, Mr Bridges has not much left to reverse his fortunes. ...2 weeks ago
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Team Cunliffe is staging a fight back.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6079460/Cunliffe-cleanout-needed-now
It seems to me that if Cunliffe gets to lead Labour, by countering the media, astroturfer and centrist/right-leaning campaign against them, he is well on the way to mounting a credible challenge for a Labour-led government in 2014.
Good move to characterise the apparent “newness” of Shearer, as a new face for the old guard. And to indicate an inclusive, non-factionalist party by signalling a front bench role for Shearer in a Cunliffe-led Labour caucus.
Good. Seriously exploring radical plans for change are probably more important than who heads the eventual changes.
Good move to characterise the apparent “newness” of Shearer, as a new face for the old guard.
That’s an interesting (and valid) twist.
The Labour party is going to split in two.
Old Labour vs New Labour.
I don’t think so but post vote behaviour will be important. Cunliffe has offered Shearer a front bench position, Shearer so far has not done the same.
Along what grounds Brett?
Anyway in an MMP environment would that really be a bad thing?.
I know nobody here will agree but NZ needs to have it’s two main parties just on either side of central you can’t have the country lurching one way or the other every three,six, nine years.
The wastage is immense, the people hate it and the country never moves forward because we are in a constant state of change all the time.
This is why Shearer must lead the Labour party as he will pull Labour back to the center where the majority of the votes are.
Cunliffe should take the activists, the union delegates and form his own party, then he could form a coalition with the Labour lead Shearer party.
That would make a pretty powerful block.
More like the Nats should get rid of the neo-libs so they’re more centrist. The centre has moved way to right in the last decade or so
It is extremely hard to be clear about what people mean by the term “centre” and in fact they tend to mean different things. Key & his cronies tend to mean assuaging fears while continuing with the neoliberal project, and pulling back where there is danger of losing popularity. Dunne seems to define it as some sort of golden mean, while supporting Key’s policies.
When a Labour person is described as “more centrist” I often have no idea as to whether this means that they have little time for identity politics (as seems to be the case with Damian O’Connor) or whether they think that our best bet is to find some accommodation with neoliberal economics, perhaps at the expense of the already poor. Or something else again.
Colloquially the term often simply means “me” – as in those fatter than me are fat, those older than me are old, etc. Someone mentioned a few days ago (I cannot remember who) that NZers tend to see themselves as middle class, often against the evidence, which adds another layer of occlusion to the term.
To me being centrist doesn’t mean always having middle of the road views and always supporting middle of the road policies. Rather, it’s a starting point where I hope I’ll look properly at both sides of an issue and decide what I think is best from there.
Being centrist means I can still support social policies and I can still support capitalist policies instead of feeling bound to lean one way or the other.
I try to pick the best of whatever policies are proposed, and look for the best ways of implementing them.
This approach can be fair to those in need of assistance, and fair to those who work harder.
PG you have defended Nationals policies at all costs during the campaign now you are defending the ever reducing popularity of the one man band Unbalanced Follicles you have no principles so nothing to defend boring people to death.Your 160 odd and i mean ODD votes in Dunedin North they must have been so fed up with you harassing them they gave you their vote to get rid of you . I don’t imagine you have that many family or friends.
I haven’t defended National policies at all costs.
Most candidates of both Dunedin electorates (there were 16) and all MPs I talked to (3/4) indicated support for what I’m initiating in Dunedin.
The fact that I get abused by a handful of off-topic posters here is no reflection on what sort of reception I have got elsewhere, especially around Dunedin.
Why the ignorant speculation on family and friends? Do you them to be put off Labour for good as well? I’m surprised how much nastiness there is on political blogs, doesn’t seem to be a great way to attract support.
Wait for Peter Dunne to vote for National’s policies at all costs.
Pete G when are you going to come out and take a principled stance as a United First candidate against asset sales.
Yes, but the terms “centre” tells me nothing about the criterion on which you base your idea of what is best. Nothing about the position from which you determine what is in the balance.
It depends entirely on the issue.
In reality I think most people vote more on personality and perceived trust than they do on some theoretical claimed ideological position.
I always thought a centrist was someone who could not make up their mind!
I always thought you didn’t understand.
I always knew you did not have a sense of humor.
He who walks in the centre of the road gets knocked down.Late Nye Bevin .1946
Dunne and the rest of UF have fallen into what I call the Myth of the Middle
The thing is that they can claim any position as radical and what they want as the “middle”. Of course, if you need a radical change plotting a middle course doesn’t help either and we need radical change. Continuing with failed capitalism isn’t doing us any favours.
Especially when it is a crony cartel capitalism driven by financial fraud.
+1 Couldn’t have put it better myself.
lololololol
you have no understanding of the Labour Party.
Chasing votes in the centre is someone else’s job, not Labour’s.
Then they shouldn’t be a main party.
Says who? Says you? And on what basis?
Are give you a clue mate – its the electorate which decides whether or not Labour is a main party. And having done signficantly better than Bill English’s 20.9% I suggest that Labour still has a broad base to rebuild from.
If the party goes the way you want it to, I doubt Labour would be able to scrape together 10%.
Your political views probably represent about 5% of the population.
If they went radical left I suspect that they’d be able to pick the majority of the people who didn’t vote. They may lose a few centrists and neo-liberals but, IMO, they’d actually have more votes (and probably members) after.
Brett, at best your political views only represent 1% of the population – the top 1% who want to rule us all in a dictatorship. You just don’t realise it.
sorry cv but i disagree – centre on the voter identifier matrix is defined by a ever shifting double peak extremely wide and flat bell curve. people base there vote and identity on a wide range of aspects not just left right centre..and more importnantly the double dip centre if not really in the middle but a dynamic flux situation with outliers, and falloff tails to the right and left.
then each electrorate is different as well that why its importnant the local labour candiate go after both perosnal and party vote based on the elctrorate bias i.e damian oconnor,grant robertson.
Brett you know the left block came within a whisker of vicTory and with special votes low majorities in some seats the left may still win though unlikely with up to five seats hanging by a thread it could cause an over hang.
Brett you are obviously a Tory and one of your main weapons through out hisTory has been to divide and conquer with any means possible
Can’t wait for Winnie to have his cup of tea under parliamentary privilege The thin Teflon will be worn somewhat more and the yellow press will be exposed some what more
Brett this is MMP and its left block verses right the right has less versatility now National has all the power.
Exactly. Labour up 2% on 29% and National down 2% on 46% and Key would have been toast.
with 1 million non voters what 1/3 not voting – hardly a represenation of the electrorate
Brett
Although I don’t agree with the premise of your argument that Shearer is more centrist than Cunliffe, you make a good point about the financial cost of our political process whereby one party makes huge changes that the other party will simply change back when they gain power. Both National and Labour are guilty of this dysfunction. However it is more to do with our hierarchical structuring and an outdated mode of representation.
The solution is to allow the public to vote directly on policy with parties being advocates for their respective policies. The stability of the general public is preferable to the combative and wasteful political process that is clearly failing to engage many New Zealander’s in decision making.
+1
That’s why I’m so in favour of online voting. It’d make it easy to have the discussion and vote on policies.
That would be a terrible thing – there’s no upside to it! I keep hearing that it would be oh-so-secure, linked to everyone’s online banking etc – but not everyone does online banking (it took me years to decide that it was probably safe.) My son just told me about a colleague of his who has – along with her husband, just been wiped out by a hacker – $50 000… Luckily their bank is reimbursing them. But safe is relative! I just watched last night, the curiously passionless documentary ‘Hacking Democracy’, about Diebold and the 2004 election – although Kerry had proof that the Bushites stole the election with the connivance of Diebold, he caved, and whilst some of his supporters were angry, most Americans shrugged and said “meh’, which is what I mean about passionless. If Americans won’t stick up for themselves, it’s absolutely true that New Zealanders won’t. On-line voting would see us more completely fried than we already are.
perception perception and more perception – just give me an honest leader someone not so tied up in party spin and poli speak and i will give you one million voters
Perhaps we could have some basics explained here.
Brett, you could start by telling us what
“…the country never moves forward …” actually means.
Are you suggesting that every enactment of every piece of legislation is taking the country forward. In whose perspective, and where or what is this future exactly?
We already had that a few years ago. Labour held the centre, and the Alliance held the more socialist left. Then both Anderton and McCarten got too stubborn for their own good, and look where we are now.
If the Alliance had held itself together, the period of 2002-08 would have seen a lot more left policies than there actually was. Remember: Kiwibank was an Alliance initiative and now has support across the political spectrum (I think even Don Brash was lukewarm on selling it). Same with paid perental leave.
In addition, the Greens would have been able to focus on environmental issues, rather than try and be a socialist party as well.
For the brief duration of this scrap, maybe. But its one of those necessary things.
Yes but more importantly its hugely entertaining to watch
Ever so funny, ha ha ha. If politics is just another RWC circus for the right, then it makes sense that we’re only aspiring to muddle through. That’s why prison building, more motorways and National Standards are apparently all the political outcomes we need. Dinemic. Dig more coal.
Just say no especially this early
Labour has always aired its dirty linen in public . Thats good democracy at work ,not like National Act who do nearly all their dirty deal behind closed doors.Unfortunately Act has done its dirty dealings in public recently and has now been absorbed back into National.
A prickly subject as Cacti Kate would say.
Exactly. Labour need to do this.
Anyway, righties, I’d be far more worried about who will lead National than Labour at the moment. Key has already asked party leaders if he can step down (closed door meeting, Marie Quinn and others in attendance). Who will replace him. I’m delighted that Labour has a bevy of potential leaders. Far better than National who literally have nobody palatable.
@Tigger-when/where did you hear about Key possibly stepping down?
And you are correct, it is a real plus that Labour is spoilt for choice as regards potential leaders, whereas National is definitely ‘leader lite.’
“Key has already asked party leaders if he can step down (closed door meeting, Marie Quinn and others in attendance)”
Got any links for this, or is this from personal sources?
Early on in his term as PM I thought I’d read his CV to see how long he typically stayed in roles. It’s one of the things I look at when I interview people, because their past behaviour indicates how long they might stay in the role they are being interviewed for.
From what I could see most of John Key’s roles have lasted two or three years, and his longest in any role is about five years. If he does two full terms as PM it will be the longest he has ever stuck at one role, so on this basis I think it is unlikely he will be leader of the National Party for an election in late 2014.
Given that righties play on emotional voters how is Cunliffe going to help Labour, he’ll make an excellent Finance Minister but to beat the right the Labour party need to grab voters by their emotional tails.
Goff had trouble with putting gst off, cgt on, threshold free into any emotional terms.
Universal tax cut, healthy fairer tax system.
Well who the hell are you to comment on the Labour Party.It appears to me that every damm Tory ,rightwing nutter and those Right-wing
columnists /Bloggers like Holmes .Garner ,Farrar and all the rest of the of the Right -Wing neo fascists know better than the Labour Party itself . My message to this cunning lot is piss of look after your own sleazy party .Labour is well able to manage its own affairs.
I mentioned a few days back that Garner said there was going to be a blood bath over the leadership .he is looking a bit green ,Because the leadership is being run very well and involving grass roots members . Its certainly run more democratically than the Nats BRT dominated Leader elections. Remember “No Brash no Money ‘ a couple of elections ago
@ Carol 6.49am
Good comment Carol. Agree with all your points. Thought the same myself when I read this article earlier.
I was really heartened by Cunliffe’s intelligent ‘fightback’, as well as Nanaia Mahuta’s pertinent shut down of Tamihere’s ignorant remarks yesterday.
Cunliffe and Mahuta could be a formidable team. Just what Labour needs.
Shearer >>> foreign affairs…FTW!!!
Excellent idea pollyw.
I find it very odd that the prospective leaders are being drawn into televised debates, something National and their ministers avoided at all costs.
I don’t. Hiding everything from view is normal behaviour of the RWNJs in their attempt to create a dictatorship with them in control. Actually involving everybody else is how you build a community that governs itself.
Getting to know the other David Labour MP – David Clark.
So let me understand this. Long ago Maori sold their assets cheap to foreigners.
Now MSM believe that Maori Party will survive politically by working with National in any shape or form?
I thought Maori had more integrity, but no, they still want to work with National.
which is perplexing since shoring up National only makes the inevitable collapse worse for Maori.
well my opinion is it is ttrime to get rid of leighton smith from newstalk zb.
this monster is a cretin of the first order.
all last week he used his position to denigrate the candidates for the NZLP leader.
then he got stuck into Helen Clarke, the United Nations and last but not least the president of the unites states Barack Obama.
there is nothing nice about this person but yet he keeps spewing his filth and ignorance all over us daily.
no wonder kiwis are so messed up. on one hand they are told they are wonderful people because they won the world cup but on the other this fountain of bile runs rampant every day.
time to make some radical changes in this country starting with the pinheads in the media.
I refuse to listen to Newstalk ZB – it is offensive all the time!
I tried to make a comment on air once. I got started and then he hung up on me the rude pratt!
me too – twice
This.
National’s privatization dreamland
Despite the National party only gaining 23% of the populations vote, John Key believes National has a mandate to sell off our best performing SOE’s…
NOAA: Arctic settles into new phase – warmer, greener, and less ice.
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/press_conf/ARC2011_finalvisuals.pdf
Goebells Smith finished me with ZB talkback.
Right wing (virtually Fascist) slants on everything.
Laws finished me with the other talkback lot.
Why is the Labour leadership battle being fought so publicly when the only media coverage is certainly prejudiced against the left?
And why are the National groupies all favouring Shearer?
This is what I think, it publicly airs the winners and losers and if anything build future stories about factionalism in Labour.
Not to mention, yet once again, the focus is all on Labour for the wrong reasons, and National just gets to cruise along without any scrutiny – you would think last term would have taught them something.
The “TV debates” were pure hubris, they should have kept it at a grass roots level and then come from that with unity or at least the perception of it.
I think, for a Labour leadership team to be successful, they have to find a way of dealing with, or operating successfully inspite of, the right wing MSM and astroturfers. These right wingers will try to undermine Labour and their leader, however they go about things.
So the leadership contest is a kind of baptism of fire.
“And why are the National groupies all favouring Shearer?”
At a guess I would say that because his efforts have sought the complete opposite end of theirs, they consider his achievements to be totally worthless, so he too is totally worthless. At the centre of their thinking is the rule that anything not like them is wrong and worthless – the sneers follow from there.
I am merely a spectator to the LP leadership process, but I would like to emphasise that just because National want Shearer, it should have no bearing at all on the decision of the LP and it’s members to choose as they see fit.
http://annieappelphotography.blogspot.com/
Every Thursday since October 13 I’ve driven 20 minutes up the highway with my Rolleiflex camera and a handful of film and asked the activists at Occupy Los Angeles their greatest hope for a positive outcome in this global movement toward change
WOW! Terrific idea and commitment.
Thank you Joe for something wonderful that I would not have seen or ‘heard’ if it were not for you. Thanks too to all the occupiers for sharing their hopes and occupying for change.
3 December 2011
‘Blowing the whistle’ on Transparency International’s 2011 ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – where NZ is ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt country in the world.
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/
WHAT UTTER GARBAGE IS THIS??
In my considered opinion, as a GENUINE ‘anti-corruption’ campaigner – if NZ is perceived to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’ then Transparency International’s ‘Corruption Perception Index’ is not worth the paper upon which it is written.
As a delegate – I personally distributed about 400 copies of the following ‘NZ Corruption Reality Checklist’ amongst the 1200 delegates from 135 countries who were represented at the 2010 Transparency International 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference which I attended in Bangkok last year.
(Funded by donations received from fellow concerned citizens who support the work I am doing as an ‘anti-corruption’ campaigner.)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
CORRUPTION REALITY CHECKLIST – NEW ZEALAND
1. Has NZ ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption? ……… NO
2. Does NZ have an independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption? ……. NO
3. Do NZ’s laws ensure transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central government level? …………………. NO
4. Do NZ Members of Parliament have a ‘Code of Conduct’? NO
5. Do NZ Local Govt elected reps have a ‘Code of Conduct’? ……. YES
6. Is it an offence for NZ Local Govt elected reps to breach the ‘Code of Conduct’? NO
7. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt elected reps? …………………NO
8. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Govt staff responsible for procurement? ……………… NO
9. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt staff responsible for procurement? ………. NO
10. Is there a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Govt Public Sector, and Local Govt (Council) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny?……. NO
11. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
12. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Local Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
13. Does NZ have a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary? ……NO
14. Are all NZ Court proceedings recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them?……………NO
15. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’? …. NO
16. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ at Central Govt Ministerial level? ………… NO
17. Is there a legal requirement at NZ Central and Local Govt level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine ‘ period’ from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector?………………NO
18. Is it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central Govt or Local Govt level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships? …………………. NO
19. Is it unlawful in NZ for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level? …………………………. NO
20. Do NZ laws promote and protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local govt level and within the judiciary? ……………………………. NO
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1112/S00005/new-zealand-tops-latest-global-anti-corruption-index.htm
Transparency International is a global civil society coalition leading the fight against corruption. It compiles a number of measures of different aspects of corruption including the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Global Corruption Barometer, and the Bribe Payers Index. Information on Transparency International can be found at http://www.transparency.org and detailed information on the Corruption Perceptions Index can be found at http://www.transparency.org/cpi
Transparency International New Zealand is the local chapter of Transparency International and is an independent registered charity. Information on TI-NZ, including New Zealand’s performance in the Global Corruption Barometer and the As Good As We Are Perceived? report can be found at http://www.transparency.org.nz
The Office of the Auditor General’s report Cleanest public sector in the world: Keeping fraud at bay can be found at http://www.oag.govt.nz/2011/public-sector-fraud/docs/overview-report.pdf
Information on the UN Convention Against Corruption can be found at http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/
http://www.oag.govt.nz/whats-new/2011/corruption-perceptions-index-2011
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/
I-42146 United Nations Convention against C…
See Details 31/10/2003 14/12/2005 Open Multilateral
Signature/ratification status
The Convention entered into force on 14 December 2005, in accordance with its article 68 (1). For each new State or regional economic integration organization becoming a party to the Convention, the Convention enters into force on the thirtieth day after the date of deposit by such State or organization of the relevant instrument.
Status: Signatories: 140 ,Parties: 154.
Authoritative status information on treaties deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption, is available on the United Nations Treaty Collection.
[Link to Full Status Page]
http://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=UNTSONLINE&tabid=2&mtdsg_no=XVIII-14&chapter=18&lang=en#Participants
Country
Signature Ratification, Acceptance (A), Approval (AA), Accession (a), Succession (d)
New Zealand 10 Dec 2003
_______________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
[email deleted]
We don’t do too well on the ‘corruption reality’ check list do we ? Perhaps we are a banana republic after all?
Thanks for all your ‘watchdogging’ Penny. You are one brave,principled lady.
Young Natz are boring
Six young natz show just how brain dead boring they are in a video negatively endorsing Cunliffe. I transcribed it because the audio is shite!
Yep young Labour would be embarassed if they made something this bad. As an example of how it is really done there is an example here.
For a bit of contrast, here’s the Young Greens video to try to get young people to vote.
W
Well at least they are sticking to the approved script for forcing a meme.
“Dishonesty, disloyalty, and arrogance”.
John Armstrong offers his opinion on some policy changes Labour needs to put in place in order to be electable
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10770511
Rethink opposing asset sales and a Capital Gains Tax, welfare reform, National Standards.
Apparently, in Armstrongs world, voters don’t care about asset sales and parents like National Standards. Polls on the issues suggest otherwise.
A CGT isn’t necessary and looking at ways of alleviating poverty (anything other than make/compel people to be work ready in the absence of jobs) is unpopular.
Labour also has some ‘1/2 baked ideas’ amongst its policies.
I guess there is a difference between mimicing the ‘do nothing’ ‘grab bag’ of ideas run by the current Government, in order to be elected short term, and actually doing some hard thinking about the countries future needs.
What Armstrong hasn’t bothered to factor in are the economic, social and environmental turmoil we are going to experience in the next 10 years. Doing nothing may have been most popular this year but won’t do much to help NZ in 5 years time. If Armstrong thinks that things are going to quickly default to pre 2008 conditions and be benign enough for a do nothing neo-liberalism to remain popular, I suggest he is deluded.
Rather than lurch toward the brand of neo-liberal ‘grab bag’ politics, Labour needs to continue doing thinking about appropriate long term answers to the questions now being posed. The 2011 election manifesto was a good start.
Mister Armstrong can no doubt continue to be a cheer leader for brand ‘do nothing’.
Wonder what Centre-bet odds are for Armstrong getting recognition in the New Years Honours Lists? What the category might be …
Well, well, why so silent during the election campaign Brian Gaynor? What a disgrace!
How many would have voted for JokyHen if they had seen this sort of commentary?
“…Key and Finance Minister Bill English have a reputation for being prudent financial managers yet their three-year deficit of $35.5 billion
compares with a $35.6 billion surplus by the previous Labour Government
and a $5.7 billion surplus by the 1990 to 1999 National Government…”
“…But the best way to look at Government debt is as a percentage of GDP. The last two Labour Governments reduced Government debt as a percentage of GDP but only one of the three National Governments – the Bolger/Shipley Administration – has produced a similar result…”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10770465
I wonder if the wild west is spreading its stench of contagion……
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6081514/Shooting-outside-Tokoroa-police-station
In addition to various wild shootings in Wairoa amongst weekend activities, fires in the far north, asians being blown sky high in the Urerewas, …
There are without doubt incidents of rampant violence in the face of authority going on more and more. Has anybody else noticed this? And what does it mean? And should we all of us buy guns? Like the US government? Or even our government? Do we follow our leaders in declaring war? Or do we circle the wagons?
A bit of a wobble in Nelson guessing more than 4. Centred in Wellington I think – that place needs a shake-up. 5.7 40 km from Wellington towards Picton.
Significant earthquake top of the South 7:20pm 10seconds approx. Hope it is not a more serious one further away?
There it is:
Reference Number: 3620927
NZDT: Sat, Dec 3 2011 7:19 pm
Magnitude: 5.7
Depth: 60 km
Details: 30 km east of Picton
That must be close to Wellington????
Phewee, at least it’s deep. Bloody hell. Are there more quakes or are we just more aware of them? That is )one of( the question.
Here’s the answer: Earthquakes on the Increase.
Like domestic assaults I suppose. Depends on the reporting. And we are much more aware since Ch CH. In the past I might have just noticed tonight’s earthquake but now I worry that it is a signal in Marlborough that might be a flow on effect from a more serious quake elsewhere.
NZ plates are slipping under Oz’s aren’t they? Hope that it is a nice deep quiet settling but sounds like it’s deep enough for plates to be moving.
prism.
Generally true but a little more complicated than that. one section of NZ is overriding he Aussie palte.
http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://modernsurvivalblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/new-zealand-plate-tectonics.jpg&imgrefurl=http://modernsurvivalblog.com/earthquakes/another-quake-rocks-christchurch-new-zealand/&usg=__kFRUj5jt35StouBsg3MgCaCspzQ=&h=342&w=600&sz=84&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&tbnid=zsLjwjSfLz03oM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=135&ei=_evZTsShDs_jmAWLw4DCCw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnz%2Bplate%2Btectonics%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D800%26bih%3D346%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Dimvns&itbs=1
Bullshit reporting from TV One
On the TV One six O’clock news tonight, reporter Matt McLean informed us that the shellfish in Tauranga was safe to eat. However there’s still a Waikato District Health Board warning out for Tauranga and other areas saying the shellfish is toxic…
Is it just me, or is the New Zealand cricket team completely and utterly useless?
Yeah it is. They’re bloody average, but you’re the useless one.
They won’t even let you carry the drinks 🙂
This map shows very clearly where to live and where not to live with respect to active fault lines.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/active-faults/1/1
Note that back in the mid-1800s NZers decided to move the capital to one of the worst possible places.
Christchurch looks pretty safe, eh?
felix.
Until you increase the magnification. And until you remember it was built on a swamp. And until you remember there was a volcano just over the hill.
So all those tiny fine grey lines…?