There is nothing people like Hosking would like more than for Green MPs to be hobbled and ineffective in order to avoid bogus and shabby accusations of hypocrisy.
Couldn’t agree more with Mike on this one. I’m sure when Lucy Lawless protested against Shell in New Plymouth she burnt up a fair bit of fuel driving there. Or did she ride her bike ?
Be James.
Get up bright and early and read Hoskings column.
Think to yourself, those lefties on the Standard will be interested to hear this!
Post up the link (First!) and wait for the excited responses.
What’s this? These lefties don’t like this rightwing opinion?! And then someone insults you? This really is the living end! Who could have guessed such terrible behaviour would come from the caring left.
You let them know you see it and that it obviously this means they can’t discuss a point. The point you posted.
Did you do it to get this reaction?
Who cares, you pwned them.
You smile knowing that you’ve started your day off well.
I’m fairly sure Hosking won’t acknowledge global warming until his fabulous house is on fire and his face resembles a melted candle. Actually, with all the hair product he uses, it’ll probably just explode showering anyone nearby in blood and bone fragments.
Yes, a real green party like Sustainable New Zealand would bundle up all their emissions and put them on a rocket to mars. Only if the business case stacked up of course.
To follow his views makes you a puppet of a muppet.
And truth be told, he doesn’t give a shit what he’s saying he just lubes up on whale oil and delivers his daily bukkake theatre to the masses. No kissing, takes the money from the bedside and leaves.
I can’t think of a more sad, disheveled person then Mike Hoskins to whinge about other peoples travel. This man, who essentially still lives in the late 90.s the last time he was young (if ever he was ) , who travels by maserati in a country with notoriously bad roads, and a 100 km speed limit is not fit to read the morals to anyone.
Not on marriage, not on child raising, not on affording children and certainly not on environmentally friendly travel.
He is slowly but surely turning into that old coot that shakes his limp fist at the sky and yells at kids to stay of the lawn.
Just goes to show that you can have a good live and still be the most miserable fuck there is.
i just cant understand why he puts so much effort into emulating the people he despises. holey jeans was grunge last century i think . Maybe he thinks will make him hip.
Does it really matter what James Shaw says or does? He is so irrelevant…needs a woman to tell him what to say or do. Openly supports benefit fraud and use of the “C” word in front of children. He lost all credibility a long time ago. Needs to step aside and let Chloe take over as sole leader.
Mind you …..I think Winston likes toying with him so he probably likes having him there.
I’m no fan of Hosking. I think Larry Williams is ok though. But James Shaw needs a spine for a shiver to run down.
IMO Chloe is clearly the future of the Green Party and the sooner she is promoted the better.
I believe Simon Bridges is learning from Muhammed Ali with his ‘rope a dope’ ploy. It is defined as “a strategy to appear weak to convince an opponent to attack and fall into a trap.”
Well, he’s succeeding with the first part of the strategy.
Well, sheesh. I cruised past TS on my usual am perambulation and thought whoah!!! All those comment so early…must be something really, really earthshatteringly important.
Meanwhile…seriously dodgy shit going on up at Richpricksville.
Boundary pegs???? Hah! We scoff at such restrictions…
I miss felix. And thank r0b for dropping by now and then.
But Rosemary’s story about the millionaire and the commons is educational. How to appear to be concerned about the rules, but watch that they don’t get the inkling of implicit agreement to the plans of the squatter when you think you are making a small concession. Note the comment from the Environment Court Judge. I think we need the process tightened up. These wealthy types are running rings around us.
“To protect that native planting from users of the Wildlife Refuge, including those employing motorised vehicles, a standard rural post and batten fence was installed. This was agreed with and supported by DOC. That standard farm fence sits within the edge of the planting and is now largely hidden within it.”
HOW THE FENCE GOT THERE
Among the many resource consents the developers applied for was for the earthworks and water required to turn a sandy pine forest into a grassed golf course.
Environment Court Judge Jeff Smith noted in his ruling several resource consent applications had been made: “The piecemeal approach of the applicant seems to be designed to avoid making an application which requires notification, and therefore the prospect of the entire consent being subject to scrutiny.”
Among the conditions in the decision was requirement, subject to agreement with DoC, for a fence to be placed on the northern boundary of the property and for a 60m-wide strip of planting to be a corridor between a wetland and the beach.
The ruling said the planting could take place on either side of the boundary.
Initially the discussion between Tara Iti Holdings and a community liaison group discussed whether a fence could be used to control predators, said Rogan. As a representative of the Fairy Tern Charitable Trust, she was keen the endangered fairy tern in the reserve would get as much protection as possible.
“The plan we jointly agreed with the developers was for an ordinary fence, but the lower parts of it would have a kind of a mesh that would corral predators to certain places where you put traps and would stop them getting to the wildlife refuge.”
The fence built to stop people walking over planted and weeded areas. There are no signs on the fence indicating it’s not a boundary, or suggesting people don’t walk in the area.
Photo:
The fence built to stop people walking over planted and weeded areas. There are no signs on the fence indicating it’s not a boundary, or suggesting people don’t walk in the area.
According to Rogan and others at the meeting there was talk about the placement of the fence, and the possibility of the fence deviating from the actual boundary line due to topography. Its final placement came as a shock.
“If it was just a little bit of a wave here and there, sure. You would obviously put a fence in the best position but it’s quite a long way inside the wildlife refuge.”
Rogan is also disappointed at the lack of the predator mesh on the bottom half of the fence.
Was Ed any more of a ‘loss leader’ than James @1 ?
Many of Ed’s viewpoints seemed progressive (to me), and they posted links of interest (to me.)
In time, perhaps I’ll come to recognise James’ redeeming features, although tbh there’s probably about as much chance of that as there is that I’ll understand why Ed attracted so much ridicule left and right.
Thanks Sacha, I had to Google ‘sockpuppet'(eers). Assumed that it was a simple term of abuse used by the usual suspects, so had never bothered to pursue it further, but now I see I was wrong. Would love to know the back story, but maybe too much like “washing your dirty linen in public”?
Fair enough – my impression was that often Ed’s heart was in the right place (not sure the same can be said for James, who seems mostly to be out to cause as much ‘damage’ as possible).
Sometimes Ed presented views on climate change and other topics they were ‘passionate’ about in stark terms, more starkly for sure than climate change being (in Ardern’s words) “my generation’s nuclear-free moment“.
Maybe Ed’s extreme points of view do more harm than good in the cause to slow the global warming juggernaut. With any luck history will be the judge of that.
I think we should be very concerned about climate change.
Scientists are now telling us we’ve 12 years left.
Shouldn’t we all be passionate about that?
Indeed, is there an issue more important?
Ed is an authoritarian pure and simple. It was not just CC that he held such views about. That doesn’t put his heart in the right place, it makes him an arsehole.
Strongly support your view that authoritarians are (generally) arseholes. But (for your own safety) softly softly, aye – there may be some closet authoritarians reading.
Ed regularly swamped post with his pronouncements. It’s not his soapbox. But he tended to want to dominate it. And put up short sharp comments too often, when it is meant to be a place of discussion. And was pushing out NZ stuff with foreign muck. I treasure TS for a place to discuss mostly, NZ muck and pass on some high points that are positive when I see them. I don’t want somebody taking over the whole discussion and filling up people’s brains and time with what he has decided will rule. It ain’t democratic. You just get left with a tic. I am surprised other people haven’t noticed his pushy ways.
“Wanting to have people sent to labour camps because they deny climate change is not progressive.”
It’s ironic how easy the centre-left labels anyone they don’t like hearing from as a “fascist” and then do their utmost to make sure those people are silenced.
Can you not access George Galloway yourself Milly? It doesn’t pay to be too dependent on others – the spirit of enquiry can take a person away into that place where you don’t know what you don’t know. There are more bits of info than there are galaxies in space. Fascinating, have a dig and pass on the link and tell us about it.
The commentator I miss most from those of the past is Lanthanide. His comments were always worth reading and you could always hold a civil debate with him.
Did he just give up in the end as the debate became ever more polarized or was he banned?
Lanthanide never came back after getting a one week ban that I thought was OTT. It was in the midst of a mod-fight and the temperature was pretty raised…
For addressing the content of my post, and offering a perfectly acceptable potential solution ….in the absence of any action from local or central government.
Typical that these rich foreign pricks are still coming in in droves’ to tread all over our “natural environment’ as I in 1993 saw the same thing from Atlantic beach in Virginia to the Florida cost line as i drove south.
The whole coastline has virtually been fenced to keep others out now!!!!!
So Tangata whenua; – you had better guard the coastline here, as the yanks are coming with their roughshod rules on taking over sensitive coastal areas. .
Interesting the timing of your post and this today, with public land being lost to protect the privacy of Ric Kayne, an American Billionaires house.
“Go for a stroll in the reserve and it’s unlikely you’ll realise you could get within eyeballing distance of a bathing billionaire. A sturdy, eight-string fence built by Tara Iti Holdings, extends – in places – up to 90m into the public reserve.”
Also the ability of planners to circumnavigate “the system”
“Environment Court Judge Jeff Smith noted in his ruling several resource consent applications had been made: “The piecemeal approach of the applicant seems to be designed to avoid making an application which requires notification, and therefore the prospect of the entire consent being subject to scrutiny.” https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/110998405/us-billionaire-ric-kayne-builds-fence-on-mangawhai-wildlife-reserve
Rosemary put that link up at 3 before we wandered off about Ed, and I replied up there so have put the same thing you have done Herodotus. I didn’t know you were down here.
Outstanding to see such comprehensive thought entertained by (local) government bodies.
It annoys that all the community groups are based in facebook. A lot of people wont go to them including me. It is a lazy cheap ass way to make a website and feeds into a highly corrupt tax-dodging business.
Yeah. FB is like oil to me in some regards: we’ve become dependant on a thing that is bad for us. The attraction of both is not lost on me. The problems with both clearly apparent.
Like oil, we need to wean ourselves off FB. An artificial social construct posing as (and replacing) real community. It’s not the model so much as the management. TS works, FB is corporate, not community, it is a poser. Divide into groups, polarise, manipulate, sell…. what a shitty place to hold a community meeting, or any meeting really.
The insidious nature of it made my skin crawl. talk about a thing in a pm, get a targeted ad or political meme… arrrrgh!
This bullshit aobut facebook seriously ist getting tired.
You can use facebook, you can put up as much or as little information you want, you can give as much or as little informaiton you want, and that is that.
It is a tool. If you use a W. T. Bleeple as your name it will be accepted, if you give no information i.e. birth day, town etc it will be accepted, yo udon’t have to read stuff you don’t like, you don’t have to like stuff you dont’ like . Etc etc etc.
essentially it is a tool. Use it for your purposes and ignore the rest.
Thanks for the confirmation FB is a tool. A tool of corporate design.
Congressional hearings… nothing to see here.
FB had nothing to do with Trump, and besides, hasn’t he improved the world anyway.
This BS where people wont support huge corporations all because they’re inhuman assholes is getting tired. Especially picking on poor tax dodging billionaire sack of shit corporations.
Shill? seriously?
A hammer is always only a hammer. No matter if you use it for a nail or to bash someones head in. The tool is simply that a tool.
Facebook is a tool. For people to connect. For people like me that have a lof of friends oversees to chat. For people with small businesses to sell their wares. For people who live away from family to easily update etc.
It is a tool for these guys here, Community Fruit Harvesting – a local non profit that collects surplus fruit and makes it into Jams, Cordial, Fruit leather etc that then gets distributed among NZ Food banks, schools, old folks homes etc. It is a tool for Community Fruit n Vegetable stands -local stands on private grounds for people to drop of surplus from their gardens and jams/chutneys, seedlings, tins of food for those that don’t have enough – Motto, leave what you can, take what you need.
It is a tool for gardeners to meet, discuss growing of produce, advice new comers, swap seeds, share recipes etc – NZ Veggie Growers.
I know, nefarious businesses all of them and I am happily shilling for these guys, each and everyone of them.
Short it is a tool, and it is up to you as to how much you use it, how you use it, how much information you give or not, it is not the demon personified, no more then is Apply, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and the likes.
I mean, personally i prefer Carrier Pigeons, i am however being told that it was not a viable way of connecting in our days.
Actually Facebook is apparently all you say Sabine and when I get it
sorted and know how to work it well I am sure I will find it useful.
But it keeps wanting to get my photo, my details etc. very annoying. And in the absence of getting information it puts up things picked up from my family. Most of the profile is false but I didn’t put that up. Don’t believe everything you read on Fbook. But because it is up and in public if people like one’s employer saw stuff on it they might think it had been put up deliberately to deceive.
Don’t diss carrier pigeons will you. They may be the in thing at the end of the day.
There are plenty of free online tools that allow you to communicate with others, including blogging sites that can be customised with a fairly cheap domain name.
The problem is not the availability of alternatives, it is just that many are familiar with Facebook and go with the tool they know.
I loved that Jacinda said she wanted to hear from people about the tax payers working group who weren’t Herald columnists…………………….Yes, yes yes. We’ve heard from Barry, Heather and Mikey to name but a few. Why their opinions are elevated to being worthy of publication is beyond me.
The fish wraps front page with two articles one on Bennett with a photo that looks like it was taken at a Tupperware party being “happy, healthy and proud” the other on Bridges being a “dirty little street fighter” posing with his family. Then an attack on the Greens co leader by the Hosk. No wonder Nationals little poodles get exited.
I really wasn’t complaining about you by the way.
It was Cleangreen being inconsistent in his complaining.
Personally I think that people get far to precious about the word. It doesn’t imply complete inclusion of the whole population.
q. Employers cry out for more staff. Why? It’s the market, the employees would rather work in oz than here. Why? Well neolibs are lazy and stupid, coz they won’t stop big govt interference in the market. Seems your average employee would rather get paid more, also pay less income taxand pay a CGT in OZ. Seems the media can’t explain that to kiwis, that the reasons for high OZ Bank profits out of NZ, the risk premium on interest, the low productivity, the sad selling of companies early so we don’t grow more medium to big companies that shrinks the stock market offerings… …the list is extensive. 0% CGT means kiwi employees pay higher income taxes to fund employer CGT contrabutions, whereas Oz employers do. So kiwi employers are advantaged against their competitors and are carried by their employees. Now you’d think that given how many employees their are compared to owners, you’d expect the masses to be kick up holy dirt, but no.
Yet strangely there is a way to rectify matters, employers could offer employees a share in the business. In fact, govt should legally force all business to provide 10% of their company shareholding to their employees. No need for a CGT. Balance the books.
Repetitive trolling by James. Predictable. If change can’t happen to assist the flow of intelligent, probing, quality discussion on this blog, then its value to thinking and preparedness for our future is compromised. At present change is happening fast outside in the world and keeping up with it difficult.
The tenets that TS was set up on seem to allow and even enable timewasters like James to come here. It results in that people argue on behalf of their presence them because they are amusing, they put up something worthwhile, they try to argue their points; these attitudes are so laid-back last century stuff.
Spare a fellow feeling for sloths – like all of us they are under threat from change and depredation. In NZ we should be able to understand them, our traits being so close to theirs. But we don’t want to look at us, rather the US, Venezuela; or the menu showing the troubled Country du Jour gets wise opinionated know-alls on their case. It is so sad that wise people are wasting away here when international calls should be made begging them to come and bring their Dr Strangelove superior intellects to assist.
Here, an opinionated person on NZ from past Labour is Phil Quin. I can’t work out whether he is mired in past century thinking and trying to roast Labour for where they have failed, or is looking at the NZ situation objectively and just stating the facts. His latest piece points out that local government can’t keep up with infrastructure from growth, and rates are rising fast. Who ya gonna call, ghostbusters? Or call out the Labour Coalition?
He goes on to quote Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta fom a recent Cabinet paper, that rates are rising faster than inflation with the greatest likely to occur in the next three years. The Minister refers to “optimal services and achieving good outcomes”. But isn’t that BAU for NZ at present, no surprise. He sounds as if he is waiting for the Financial Tooth Fairy to collect its austerity teeth and leave a gold coin under our pillow. The Labour Coalition as a magical be-ing.
“For former prisoner Awatea Mita, the Electoral Strengthening Democracy member’s bill is a welcome addition to the political debate, and any change can not come soon enough.
Not being able to participate in shaping a better future for herself and her family was humiliating and dehumanising, she said.”
How was it not dehumanising and humiliating for being convicted and sentanced for committing a crime? Was the future better shaped for herself and family by conducting the act of committing a crime?
She is a former prisoner. The object should be to include all people in a society that acts in a fair way from cradle to grave. We don’t have that and some people have to make tremendous adjustments trying to cope in this situation.
There are people in prison who would be better dealt with in other ways, there are people outside prison who should be in there even for short periods, and there are people outside who haven’t been caught yet who deserve a good prison sentence. So life isn’t black and white as your simple-minded questions imply
indi-anna.
That would be no Gobby. They cost 100k per year to keep the bastards.
It’s funny how these poor wee petals feel hurt but don’t give a fat rats arse about their victims.
Naki man
What do you do for the victims? And what do you do for the criminals to help turn their ideas and get a moral outlook on life so they feel empathy for others in society. Oh they are all just bastards says thoughtful Naki man.
Always easy to blame someone else.
“He was such a nice person, just got mixed up with the wrong crowd”
I wonder if Graeme Burton is a nice guy? I guess society failed him. And that Bell bloke?
I wonder about Jimmy. When did he learn to be such a sadsack? Always thinking of the worst case scenario -so fearful that he thinks the worst will happen whever he lets his guard down, and got so unhappy and scared that he couldn’t leave his house. /sarc
The majority of prisoners
Fetal alcohol syndrome, Neurological disorders, drug addiction, below average intelligence, State foster care, illiterate, etc.
Sounds like early help, would have avoided a lot of crime occurring.
Unless you want to continually increase the number of “crime university graduates, after the harm is done?
That is the sad part. People in the know have stated that early help in a child’s life can make all the difference. But the government is so uninterested either in the kids or the future costs to the country that they just turn away from providing the help and paying the lesser costs now. After all it is a mental uplift for the wealthy to have people to moan about and feel superior to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sian_Elias#The_Blameless_Babes_speech
“n July 2009 Elias caused controversy with her remarks in the annual Shirley Smith address, organised by the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Law Society’s Women-in-Law committee. The annual lecture is given in honour of noted criminal defence lawyer, Shirley Smith. The speech was entitled “Blameless Babes” after a quote from Smith, who wrote “[providing] a prison at the bottom of the cliff is not a solution”.
My guess is most people in prison never voted prior to going to prison .
So one would think that getting them enrolled and voting and teaching them about their civic duty would be part of the rehabilitation.
Making them feel they have a voice might just help .
But na your type would rather just hate and punish a??
Since Jeremy Corbyn first ran for the Labour leadership in the summer of 2015, the party has faced an unrelenting witch hunt targeting the left and Palestine solidarity activists.
The NCC* functions as the party’s internal trial court, sending accused members charge sheets and legalistic bundles of documents. But it is a highly politicized body.
Up until September, it was still controlled by Maggie Cosin, a member of Labour’s right wing once described as the party’s “witchfinder general.”
The new chair, Anna Dyer, has promised to bring change, after a pro-Corbyn majority was elected to the NCC at the Labour Party conference in September.
* National Constitutional Committee, or NCC, Labour’s disciplinary body.
I looked further on the site and came up weith this interesting summary of an apparently implacable Corbyn hater, Joan Ryan. This from 20 February 2019. Lawmaker Joan Ryan quit Labour on Tuesday, citing party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s supposed “demonization and delegitimization” of Israel.
Ryan is the leading member of Parliament in Labour Friends of Israel – an Israeli embassy front group.
She notoriously fabricated a charge of anti-Semitism against Labour member Jean Fitzpatrick at the UK opposition party’s 2016 annual conference.
Labour Friends of Israel was defiant on Tuesday night, insisting that Ryan would “remain in her position as our parliamentary chair” despite her departure from the Labour Party.
In her resignation statement, Ryan claimed Corbyn is responsible for a “culture of anti-Jewish racism and hatred for Israel” and a government led by him “would be an existential threat” to the Jewish community.
With friends like this in the same Party, who needs enemies? Incidentally I think I saw that the Friends of Israel are getting behind the Independents from Brexit.
On the same blog.
I have talked about water a bit. How to drought and flood proof landscapes using earthworks and swale systems. I have presented evidence for the drought proofing ability of such systems but until now have not seen a ‘100 year flood’ hit one.
And if you watch the one about Greening the Desert – it’s not just about trees.
This is providing humans with gardens in the driest conditions, and it shows how we all could utilise this clever management. Water is for conserving, not for giving away to $-balls for them to get money from so they can afford a seat on a rocket to space or a harem of poor young women for pleasure.
Too much money is bad for us apparently – it doesn’t turn us into comfortable, better, generous people. I’d settle for reliable enough with a bit extra for funsies.
By itself, it won’t matter if the Senate votes that there’s no emergency. Because it needs the satsuma stubbyfingers to sign it, but he’ll just veto it. And there’s not enough votes in either the senate or the house for a veto over-ride.
Where it will make a big difference is in the courts. The Constitution gives the power of the purse entirely to Congress. So if a majority of both the House and the Senate votes to say no to spending money on a wall, that should hold a lot of weight in any argument the prez is illegally violating the constitution by trying to spend on something that Congress has explicitly told him “no”.
Trump’s tactic of reallocating from a variety of DoD workstreams should protect him from Congress investigating Federal law budgetary breaches, so long as he doesnt cut too hard against the Antideficiency Act.
Its his best funding shot.
But then comes detailed design and procurement. Coupla years.
Big picture to keep in mind through all this is Don of the Deadbrains doesn’t actually care about a wall, he just wants to keep his wallnuts onside. A long drawn out fight is just as good for that as actually building anything. Maybe better.
The Warehouse is New Zealand’s Walmart.
It has destroyed small businesses in the country in the 1990s and 2000s.
It has ruined small towns.
It replaced good jobs with McJobs.
It uses kids to get free labour.
It brought in tonnes of plastic low quality from overseas.
If Tindall has run a sustainable business, I could sell you a bridge….
I disagree. I just think we should be a bit more honest about the societal cost of big box retail.
And I don’t think the owners should be honoured for the damage they did.
I read a book – can’t remember what’s it called now- about this couple from the Bay of Plenty, who had their business destroyed by the Red Sheds.
The more I read about them, the more they sound like Walmart.
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Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
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Hosking starts the day off well regarding the hypocrisy of James “air miles” Shaw
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12209121
I agree, Green MPs should only be allowed to travel by lime scooter or not at all.
There is nothing people like Hosking would like more than for Green MPs to be hobbled and ineffective in order to avoid bogus and shabby accusations of hypocrisy.
Couldn’t agree more with Mike on this one. I’m sure when Lucy Lawless protested against Shell in New Plymouth she burnt up a fair bit of fuel driving there. Or did she ride her bike ?
What do you call a Green who’s not hugging a tree at that very moment? A hypocritical eco-socialist.
They only hug trees when there is a TV camera there.
Zen. When a Green hugs a tree and there’s no camera to bear witness to it, does it make a sound?
I don’t think that’s true – I can think of a Green transport spokesperson who goes out of their way to minimize their carbon footprint.
I wonder how the new ‘stainable party’s gonna cope with this one Baz?
left forward;
The Sustainable New Zealand Party was on the AM show today saying we need sustainable policies.
But Vernon Tava of ‘sustainable NZ never spoke a word about sustainable transport?????
Why didn’t he talk about rail as being the best ‘low emissions’ transport for slowing climate change??
Does he only support the trucking of freight around NZ, and does this represent “sustainable” policy?????
The Koch Brothers and big oil will love him for this.
Rail uses five to eight times LESS oil than trucks USE, to move each tonne each kilometre.
Now that would be a sustainable policy = to use rail.
Wake up ‘ex Green Party member’ – Vernon Tava of ‘sustainable NZ’ !!!!!
Green party is strong on rail, so why aren’t you also Vernon?
I am a NZ First voter and they have the best rail policy now.
Funny how political Parties change ‘hats’ isn’t it?i
Because he had other topics to cover other than your obsession on trains.
What’s your obsession James? It seems to be to disagree and sneer at any change a leftie may wish to discuss.
Oh, that’s just one of our James‘ ‘obsessions’.
“The Sustainable New Zealand Party”
is not even registered yet.
You and Horeskin on the same page on this are you Boozza? Reading from the same script? On message?
Good point, maybe I should change my name, I have been on the piss since 7.00 am this morning
But that’s Shell’s doing Boozza. No Shell, no protest.
Broomstick, actually.
Burn her? CO2 CO2 CO2 ….
“…Hosking starts the day off well…”
Oxymoron from a moron.
An Oxymoronmoron may well be a new word to describe trolls like James.
Ahh first insult of the day from the caring left.
The petty bullying is pathetic.
Hosking has a good point here.
I agree, again, James. You started OM so well today.
Wah wah wah! Quick, someone call James a wambulance, someone insulted him and his hero the Hosk, and he ain’t standing for it!
Just pointing out your behaviour this morning. Own it.
But I notice you do this when you are unable to discuss a point.
Zen. What is the sound of James discussing a point?
Oxymoron. James discussing a point.
Moron. James.
Try not to overuse ‘moron’ when replying to James – he owns that word.
Be James.
Get up bright and early and read Hoskings column.
Think to yourself, those lefties on the Standard will be interested to hear this!
Post up the link (First!) and wait for the excited responses.
What’s this? These lefties don’t like this rightwing opinion?! And then someone insults you? This really is the living end! Who could have guessed such terrible behaviour would come from the caring left.
You let them know you see it and that it obviously this means they can’t discuss a point. The point you posted.
Did you do it to get this reaction?
Who cares, you pwned them.
You smile knowing that you’ve started your day off well.
Hosking is a right wing parrot.
Who had an original thought, once, maybe in his life.
See the similarity, James?
Note: to self, exercise restraint and don’t call him a lying ignorant arsehole.
Ahh – First insult of the day from the non-caring Natz.
‘Except, of course, it isn’t, hasn’t and most likely probably won’t be.’
Hosk wisdom on global warming.
I’m fairly sure Hosking won’t acknowledge global warming until his fabulous house is on fire and his face resembles a melted candle. Actually, with all the hair product he uses, it’ll probably just explode showering anyone nearby in blood and bone fragments.
Wensleydale; – yes I think Hosking’s has been captured by the Koch Brothers and big oil; – as other right wingers here also have been.
Maybe Koch and their anti-climate change ‘disciples’ of oil will huddle in their own
‘elite survival bunkers in New Zealand’ and elsewhere soon?
Panicked Elite Buying Bomb-Proof Luxury Survival Bunkers to Escape Civil Unrest, Disasters
http://robinwestenra.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-elite-building-survival-bunkers-in.html
Yes, a real green party like Sustainable New Zealand would bundle up all their emissions and put them on a rocket to mars. Only if the business case stacked up of course.
I’m sure the Good James will leap on board the first available solar powered airliner with alacrity jimbo.
Hosking is an unmitigated **** for cash.
To follow his views makes you a puppet of a muppet.
And truth be told, he doesn’t give a shit what he’s saying he just lubes up on whale oil and delivers his daily bukkake theatre to the masses. No kissing, takes the money from the bedside and leaves.
[Edited for sweariness. TRP]
WeTheBleeple -I agree entirely.
Thse “muppets are just trolls.” Useless time wasted talking sense to them.
Why?
Oh is Hoskins getting his marching orders from the US?
Cause there they just attached AOC for ‘traveling by UBer’! Gasp, shock, clutches pearls, faints!
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1102021054363586561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1102021054363586561&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F3%2F3%2F1839039%2F-AOC-fires-back-at-report-that-Uber-usage-makes-her-a-hypocrite-says-she-s-living-in-the-world
I can’t think of a more sad, disheveled person then Mike Hoskins to whinge about other peoples travel. This man, who essentially still lives in the late 90.s the last time he was young (if ever he was ) , who travels by maserati in a country with notoriously bad roads, and a 100 km speed limit is not fit to read the morals to anyone.
Not on marriage, not on child raising, not on affording children and certainly not on environmentally friendly travel.
He is slowly but surely turning into that old coot that shakes his limp fist at the sky and yells at kids to stay of the lawn.
Just goes to show that you can have a good live and still be the most miserable fuck there is.
i just cant understand why he puts so much effort into emulating the people he despises. holey jeans was grunge last century i think . Maybe he thinks will make him hip.
Does it really matter what James Shaw says or does? He is so irrelevant…needs a woman to tell him what to say or do. Openly supports benefit fraud and use of the “C” word in front of children. He lost all credibility a long time ago. Needs to step aside and let Chloe take over as sole leader.
Mind you …..I think Winston likes toying with him so he probably likes having him there.
Are you more or less credirelevantible than Horeskin jimbo?
I’m no fan of Hosking. I think Larry Williams is ok though. But James Shaw needs a spine for a shiver to run down.
IMO Chloe is clearly the future of the Green Party and the sooner she is promoted the better.
The parrots attack.
poorly aimed guano
Dead Parrots Society.
needs a women to tell him what to do and say?
Oh boy. Is that like Simon, never daring to go out without Paula Benefits?
He’s just protecting her, being a dirty streetfighter and all. Such soft hands.
Espiner had Bridges on the ropes..
Bridges is on the ropes so often these days, he may as well just stay there and try to make it look as nonchalant as possible.
Wensleydale, lol lol ha ha!! Good one.. Simon, slightly punch drunk… in the wrong division??
I believe Simon Bridges is learning from Muhammed Ali with his ‘rope a dope’ ploy. It is defined as “a strategy to appear weak to convince an opponent to attack and fall into a trap.”
Well, he’s succeeding with the first part of the strategy.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Haha – excellent mac.
Well, sheesh. I cruised past TS on my usual am perambulation and thought whoah!!! All those comment so early…must be something really, really earthshatteringly important.
Meanwhile…seriously dodgy shit going on up at Richpricksville.
Boundary pegs???? Hah! We scoff at such restrictions…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/110998405/us-billionaire-ric-kayne-builds-fence-on-mangawhai-wildlife-reserve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG6UllZwj9c
SSDD
Sadly the UK Labour Party has been hi jacked by Tom Watson and his motley crew.
Another motley crew derails the Standard daily.
I miss Bill and Ed.
Instead we have rwnjs dictating the tenor of this blog.
Er, you are Ed, Jinx. Did you forget which sockpuppet you were using this morning?
Oh dear what a fail lol
Suffering from a Mozzy bite perhaps ?
Sad to have this jinx tongue in cheek playing the system and with that pathetic mix of bluster and self-pity.
Thank you Jinx, another fine commentator has joined this blog.
And yes we all miss Ed.
We really don’t.
Ad you may not!!!!- but do miss Ed.
Please don’t use ‘we’ !!!!
As that assumes I am part of your ‘we and I am not..
Another royal ‘we’ from Ad.
I miss Bill where is the cantankerous old Scot? Is he OK?
I miss felix. And thank r0b for dropping by now and then.
But Rosemary’s story about the millionaire and the commons is educational. How to appear to be concerned about the rules, but watch that they don’t get the inkling of implicit agreement to the plans of the squatter when you think you are making a small concession. Note the comment from the Environment Court Judge. I think we need the process tightened up. These wealthy types are running rings around us.
“To protect that native planting from users of the Wildlife Refuge, including those employing motorised vehicles, a standard rural post and batten fence was installed. This was agreed with and supported by DOC. That standard farm fence sits within the edge of the planting and is now largely hidden within it.”
HOW THE FENCE GOT THERE
Among the many resource consents the developers applied for was for the earthworks and water required to turn a sandy pine forest into a grassed golf course.
Environment Court Judge Jeff Smith noted in his ruling several resource consent applications had been made: “The piecemeal approach of the applicant seems to be designed to avoid making an application which requires notification, and therefore the prospect of the entire consent being subject to scrutiny.”
Among the conditions in the decision was requirement, subject to agreement with DoC, for a fence to be placed on the northern boundary of the property and for a 60m-wide strip of planting to be a corridor between a wetland and the beach.
The ruling said the planting could take place on either side of the boundary.
Initially the discussion between Tara Iti Holdings and a community liaison group discussed whether a fence could be used to control predators, said Rogan. As a representative of the Fairy Tern Charitable Trust, she was keen the endangered fairy tern in the reserve would get as much protection as possible.
“The plan we jointly agreed with the developers was for an ordinary fence, but the lower parts of it would have a kind of a mesh that would corral predators to certain places where you put traps and would stop them getting to the wildlife refuge.”
The fence built to stop people walking over planted and weeded areas. There are no signs on the fence indicating it’s not a boundary, or suggesting people don’t walk in the area.
Photo:
The fence built to stop people walking over planted and weeded areas. There are no signs on the fence indicating it’s not a boundary, or suggesting people don’t walk in the area.
According to Rogan and others at the meeting there was talk about the placement of the fence, and the possibility of the fence deviating from the actual boundary line due to topography. Its final placement came as a shock.
“If it was just a little bit of a wave here and there, sure. You would obviously put a fence in the best position but it’s quite a long way inside the wildlife refuge.”
Rogan is also disappointed at the lack of the predator mesh on the bottom half of the fence.
The chap should have to take the fence down, now.
The radical socialist left and ecological activists are being silenced on this site.
Ed me old mate your back as Jinx Horrah daily entertainment returns
And yes we all miss Ed.
I guess like in the sense that i “miss” the wart i had on my thumb when a child.
Was Ed any more of a ‘loss leader’ than James @1 ?
Many of Ed’s viewpoints seemed progressive (to me), and they posted links of interest (to me.)
In time, perhaps I’ll come to recognise James’ redeeming features, although tbh there’s probably about as much chance of that as there is that I’ll understand why Ed attracted so much ridicule left and right.
Never much love for sockpuppeteers (save for some mutual admiration prehaps).
Prehaps, prehaps (sic)…
Thanks Sacha, I had to Google ‘sockpuppet'(eers). Assumed that it was a simple term of abuse used by the usual suspects, so had never bothered to pursue it further, but now I see I was wrong. Would love to know the back story, but maybe too much like “washing your dirty linen in public”?
Wanting to have people sent to labour camps because they deny climate change is not progressive.
Fair enough – my impression was that often Ed’s heart was in the right place (not sure the same can be said for James, who seems mostly to be out to cause as much ‘damage’ as possible).
Sometimes Ed presented views on climate change and other topics they were ‘passionate’ about in stark terms, more starkly for sure than climate change being (in Ardern’s words) “my generation’s nuclear-free moment“.
Maybe Ed’s extreme points of view do more harm than good in the cause to slow the global warming juggernaut. With any luck history will be the judge of that.
I think we should be very concerned about climate change.
Scientists are now telling us we’ve 12 years left.
Shouldn’t we all be passionate about that?
Indeed, is there an issue more important?
There is no issue important enough to warrant labour camps for thought crimes.
Ed is an authoritarian pure and simple. It was not just CC that he held such views about. That doesn’t put his heart in the right place, it makes him an arsehole.
Strongly support your view that authoritarians are (generally) arseholes. But (for your own safety) softly softly, aye – there may be some closet authoritarians reading.
Ed regularly swamped post with his pronouncements. It’s not his soapbox. But he tended to want to dominate it. And put up short sharp comments too often, when it is meant to be a place of discussion. And was pushing out NZ stuff with foreign muck. I treasure TS for a place to discuss mostly, NZ muck and pass on some high points that are positive when I see them. I don’t want somebody taking over the whole discussion and filling up people’s brains and time with what he has decided will rule. It ain’t democratic. You just get left with a tic. I am surprised other people haven’t noticed his pushy ways.
“Wanting to have people sent to labour camps because they deny climate change is not progressive.”
It’s ironic how easy the centre-left labels anyone they don’t like hearing from as a “fascist” and then do their utmost to make sure those people are silenced.
I haven’t labelled him fascist. I’ve just said what he said.
So ironic you saying this given how many times Ed called me a Neoliberal.
At least you continue to connect us to George Galloway and other brave, independent spokespeople from the left.
Thanks Maui.
Can you not access George Galloway yourself Milly? It doesn’t pay to be too dependent on others – the spirit of enquiry can take a person away into that place where you don’t know what you don’t know. There are more bits of info than there are galaxies in space. Fascinating, have a dig and pass on the link and tell us about it.
Will do, greywarshark !
Also as a cat loving country Ed also introduces us to other cat lovers in the Uk
Cats, you say? George Galloway nails it …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8crwU7CB_A
Even a broken watch is right twice a day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfh-YY465HA
We all miss us. The missus misses us. We are miserable missing the missus missing us. It gives us misty eyes and near misses.
Nailed it?
The commentator I miss most from those of the past is Lanthanide. His comments were always worth reading and you could always hold a civil debate with him.
Did he just give up in the end as the debate became ever more polarized or was he banned?
No ban that I’m aware of. People do come and go (you wanna see the authors list!).
Lanthanide never came back after getting a one week ban that I thought was OTT. It was in the midst of a mod-fight and the temperature was pretty raised…
We can hope for tidal inundation in some cases…
Thank you WTB.
For addressing the content of my post, and offering a perfectly acceptable potential solution ….in the absence of any action from local or central government.
SSDD
We could just eat Kayne, although I’m sure he would taste smug – which would leave your tongue with that furry feeling.
Shades of Mr pulp and paper repaying all our tax payer subsidies, by out lawyering the Waiheke council, over access to a public road.
Rosemary,
Typical that these rich foreign pricks are still coming in in droves’ to tread all over our “natural environment’ as I in 1993 saw the same thing from Atlantic beach in Virginia to the Florida cost line as i drove south.
The whole coastline has virtually been fenced to keep others out now!!!!!
So Tangata whenua; – you had better guard the coastline here, as the yanks are coming with their roughshod rules on taking over sensitive coastal areas. .
I’ve had personal experience of that.
Never been stopped from going on Maori land, you just have to ask.
Same with most Kiwi farmers.
However I’ve had dogs set on us, using a public beach below the HWL, by the German owner.
And had an officious representative of a rich yank trying to tell me i couldn’t land on their beach. Despite there being a public ROW, to said beach.
Interesting the timing of your post and this today, with public land being lost to protect the privacy of Ric Kayne, an American Billionaires house.
“Go for a stroll in the reserve and it’s unlikely you’ll realise you could get within eyeballing distance of a bathing billionaire. A sturdy, eight-string fence built by Tara Iti Holdings, extends – in places – up to 90m into the public reserve.”
Also the ability of planners to circumnavigate “the system”
“Environment Court Judge Jeff Smith noted in his ruling several resource consent applications had been made: “The piecemeal approach of the applicant seems to be designed to avoid making an application which requires notification, and therefore the prospect of the entire consent being subject to scrutiny.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/110998405/us-billionaire-ric-kayne-builds-fence-on-mangawhai-wildlife-reserve
He sure didn’t sneak it past you Rosemary. Thank you for that. Do we comment to the Mangawhai Council/ Eugene/ others??
Rosemary put that link up at 3 before we wandered off about Ed, and I replied up there so have put the same thing you have done Herodotus. I didn’t know you were down here.
Nandor Tanzcos wrote about climate change and the political response from Whakatane.
https://nandor.net.nz/2019/03/03/responding-to-climate-change-in-whakatane/
Outstanding to see such comprehensive thought entertained by (local) government bodies.
It annoys that all the community groups are based in facebook. A lot of people wont go to them including me. It is a lazy cheap ass way to make a website and feeds into a highly corrupt tax-dodging business.
Unfortunately, they have to be on Facebook to reach people.
Not all community groups can afford a website, advertising it, and hosting fees.
Yeah. FB is like oil to me in some regards: we’ve become dependant on a thing that is bad for us. The attraction of both is not lost on me. The problems with both clearly apparent.
Like oil, we need to wean ourselves off FB. An artificial social construct posing as (and replacing) real community. It’s not the model so much as the management. TS works, FB is corporate, not community, it is a poser. Divide into groups, polarise, manipulate, sell…. what a shitty place to hold a community meeting, or any meeting really.
The insidious nature of it made my skin crawl. talk about a thing in a pm, get a targeted ad or political meme… arrrrgh!
Not a fan, one might say.
This bullshit aobut facebook seriously ist getting tired.
You can use facebook, you can put up as much or as little information you want, you can give as much or as little informaiton you want, and that is that.
It is a tool. If you use a W. T. Bleeple as your name it will be accepted, if you give no information i.e. birth day, town etc it will be accepted, yo udon’t have to read stuff you don’t like, you don’t have to like stuff you dont’ like . Etc etc etc.
essentially it is a tool. Use it for your purposes and ignore the rest.
Thanks for the confirmation FB is a tool. A tool of corporate design.
Congressional hearings… nothing to see here.
FB had nothing to do with Trump, and besides, hasn’t he improved the world anyway.
This BS where people wont support huge corporations all because they’re inhuman assholes is getting tired. Especially picking on poor tax dodging billionaire sack of shit corporations.
Fuck FB and everything they stand for.
Shill.
Shill? seriously?
A hammer is always only a hammer. No matter if you use it for a nail or to bash someones head in. The tool is simply that a tool.
Facebook is a tool. For people to connect. For people like me that have a lof of friends oversees to chat. For people with small businesses to sell their wares. For people who live away from family to easily update etc.
It is a tool for these guys here, Community Fruit Harvesting – a local non profit that collects surplus fruit and makes it into Jams, Cordial, Fruit leather etc that then gets distributed among NZ Food banks, schools, old folks homes etc. It is a tool for Community Fruit n Vegetable stands -local stands on private grounds for people to drop of surplus from their gardens and jams/chutneys, seedlings, tins of food for those that don’t have enough – Motto, leave what you can, take what you need.
It is a tool for gardeners to meet, discuss growing of produce, advice new comers, swap seeds, share recipes etc – NZ Veggie Growers.
I know, nefarious businesses all of them and I am happily shilling for these guys, each and everyone of them.
Short it is a tool, and it is up to you as to how much you use it, how you use it, how much information you give or not, it is not the demon personified, no more then is Apply, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and the likes.
I mean, personally i prefer Carrier Pigeons, i am however being told that it was not a viable way of connecting in our days.
Actually Facebook is apparently all you say Sabine and when I get it
sorted and know how to work it well I am sure I will find it useful.
But it keeps wanting to get my photo, my details etc. very annoying. And in the absence of getting information it puts up things picked up from my family. Most of the profile is false but I didn’t put that up. Don’t believe everything you read on Fbook. But because it is up and in public if people like one’s employer saw stuff on it they might think it had been put up deliberately to deceive.
Don’t diss carrier pigeons will you. They may be the in thing at the end of the day.
There are plenty of free online tools that allow you to communicate with others, including blogging sites that can be customised with a fairly cheap domain name.
The problem is not the availability of alternatives, it is just that many are familiar with Facebook and go with the tool they know.
Pretty mean of Frontbum Tamihere to accuse Gfoffoloffle of only just discovering he’d like to be mayor. Is he willing to sell his soul for the job?
Question. Why does John Tamihere have to be such a dick?
He’s afflicted by Gareth Morgan Syndrome?
I don’t think he has to be. I think he just enjoys it.
Some of the comments about Mike Hosking are a tad unfair. I saw his headline which said “full of hot air.”
It’s clearly his field of expertise, for goodness sake, leave the man alone!
Ha, ha ha Peter.
I loved that Jacinda said she wanted to hear from people about the tax payers working group who weren’t Herald columnists…………………….Yes, yes yes. We’ve heard from Barry, Heather and Mikey to name but a few. Why their opinions are elevated to being worthy of publication is beyond me.
The fish wraps front page with two articles one on Bennett with a photo that looks like it was taken at a Tupperware party being “happy, healthy and proud” the other on Bridges being a “dirty little street fighter” posing with his family. Then an attack on the Greens co leader by the Hosk. No wonder Nationals little poodles get exited.
While we are being nice to each other, i think it will be useful, to remind everyone about dishonest debating tactics.
Usually used by those whose argument is weak.
Like Hosking quoted above.
Needling. Repetition and False equivalence, spring to mind
http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html
Robert – Thanks for the link to Nandor’s blogspot.
I may contribute to it now also. It has a “old green Party feel” of ‘common sense’ about it as NZ First has.
So Nandor may do well here.
KJT.
Hoskings is an agent of the elitists; – nothing more.
Except he probably has more support from “mainstream” NZers than many Politicians claiming to speak for them.
No. We think he is an arse.
KJT Ageed 100%.
I suppose I should simply quote back to you your own reply to Ad at 3.1.2.1.
“‘KJT’ you may not!!!!- but do miss ‘Hoskings’
Please don’t use ‘we’ !!!!
As that assumes I am part of your ‘we and I am not..
Or is it different when everybody is assumed to agree with you?
Congratulations.
I should have added quotes around the “we” to make it even clearer what Gosman was doing.
However, many people, i talk to, think Hoskings is an arse. Even the ones that often agree with him.
I really wasn’t complaining about you by the way.
It was Cleangreen being inconsistent in his complaining.
Personally I think that people get far to precious about the word. It doesn’t imply complete inclusion of the whole population.
The 25000 who signed the petition did not like Mike H at all.
q. Employers cry out for more staff. Why? It’s the market, the employees would rather work in oz than here. Why? Well neolibs are lazy and stupid, coz they won’t stop big govt interference in the market. Seems your average employee would rather get paid more, also pay less income taxand pay a CGT in OZ. Seems the media can’t explain that to kiwis, that the reasons for high OZ Bank profits out of NZ, the risk premium on interest, the low productivity, the sad selling of companies early so we don’t grow more medium to big companies that shrinks the stock market offerings… …the list is extensive. 0% CGT means kiwi employees pay higher income taxes to fund employer CGT contrabutions, whereas Oz employers do. So kiwi employers are advantaged against their competitors and are carried by their employees. Now you’d think that given how many employees their are compared to owners, you’d expect the masses to be kick up holy dirt, but no.
Yet strangely there is a way to rectify matters, employers could offer employees a share in the business. In fact, govt should legally force all business to provide 10% of their company shareholding to their employees. No need for a CGT. Balance the books.
Repetitive trolling by James. Predictable. If change can’t happen to assist the flow of intelligent, probing, quality discussion on this blog, then its value to thinking and preparedness for our future is compromised. At present change is happening fast outside in the world and keeping up with it difficult.
The tenets that TS was set up on seem to allow and even enable timewasters like James to come here. It results in that people argue on behalf of their presence them because they are amusing, they put up something worthwhile, they try to argue their points; these attitudes are so laid-back last century stuff.
Spare a fellow feeling for sloths – like all of us they are under threat from change and depredation. In NZ we should be able to understand them, our traits being so close to theirs. But we don’t want to look at us, rather the US, Venezuela; or the menu showing the troubled Country du Jour gets wise opinionated know-alls on their case. It is so sad that wise people are wasting away here when international calls should be made begging them to come and bring their Dr Strangelove superior intellects to assist.
Here, an opinionated person on NZ from past Labour is Phil Quin. I can’t work out whether he is mired in past century thinking and trying to roast Labour for where they have failed, or is looking at the NZ situation objectively and just stating the facts. His latest piece points out that local government can’t keep up with infrastructure from growth, and rates are rising fast. Who ya gonna call, ghostbusters? Or call out the Labour Coalition?
In the absence of bold reforms that empower communities and overcome this financial crunch, councils will be forced to pursue yet more cost-cutting and corporatisation – as we’re seeing with water reforms.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-body-elections/110954401/undemocratic-and-uneconomic-local-government-is-in-a-bind
He goes on to quote Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta fom a recent Cabinet paper, that rates are rising faster than inflation with the greatest likely to occur in the next three years. The Minister refers to “optimal services and achieving good outcomes”. But isn’t that BAU for NZ at present, no surprise. He sounds as if he is waiting for the Financial Tooth Fairy to collect its austerity teeth and leave a gold coin under our pillow. The Labour Coalition as a magical be-ing.
This is a piece he wrote at the time of the last elections. Is he pro-Labour or contra? Is he objective, or inclined to put his boot in if National would like that?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/97185921/phil-quinn-inside-the-nationallabour-chasm
It is understandable that the time has come for taking a close look at the government’s performance analysing and assessing it. This on 1 March from Radionz Peter Wilson asks questions. There doesn’t appear to be audio – just text for you to read.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/383714/the-week-in-politics-transforming-nz-easier-said-than-done-the-government-is-finding-out
I hope that the Labour Coalition will have good answers and explanations about their progress and difficulties.
At least the Labour Greens NZ First parties are doing something. They haven’t wasted money on a flag a saudi or irrigation schemes.
Zen. If James leaves a comment in the middle of The Standard and nobody would read it and comment on it, would it make a sound?
“For former prisoner Awatea Mita, the Electoral Strengthening Democracy member’s bill is a welcome addition to the political debate, and any change can not come soon enough.
Not being able to participate in shaping a better future for herself and her family was humiliating and dehumanising, she said.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/110934374/greens-want-prisoners-voting-ban-overturned-to-strengthen-democracy
How was it not dehumanising and humiliating for being convicted and sentanced for committing a crime? Was the future better shaped for herself and family by conducting the act of committing a crime?
indinana do prisoners still pay taxes?
She is a former prisoner. The object should be to include all people in a society that acts in a fair way from cradle to grave. We don’t have that and some people have to make tremendous adjustments trying to cope in this situation.
There are people in prison who would be better dealt with in other ways, there are people outside prison who should be in there even for short periods, and there are people outside who haven’t been caught yet who deserve a good prison sentence. So life isn’t black and white as your simple-minded questions imply
indi-anna.
That would be no Gobby. They cost 100k per year to keep the bastards.
It’s funny how these poor wee petals feel hurt but don’t give a fat rats arse about their victims.
You mean they don’t buy stuff Nastiman? How about the ones on parole? Are they exempt from income tax if they’re working?
I assumed that you meant people who are locked up when you said prisoners,
not the few that are working just before being released.
Naki man
What do you do for the victims? And what do you do for the criminals to help turn their ideas and get a moral outlook on life so they feel empathy for others in society. Oh they are all just bastards says thoughtful Naki man.
If you look at the background of the majority of prisoners, it is society that failed them. In the first instance.
https://youtu.be/q5hjiV7u8XQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9jXnZS3ouU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ad4MH7fMLs
Always easy to blame someone else.
“He was such a nice person, just got mixed up with the wrong crowd”
I wonder if Graeme Burton is a nice guy? I guess society failed him. And that Bell bloke?
I wonder about Jimmy. When did he learn to be such a sadsack? Always thinking of the worst case scenario -so fearful that he thinks the worst will happen whever he lets his guard down, and got so unhappy and scared that he couldn’t leave his house. /sarc
The majority of prisoners
Fetal alcohol syndrome, Neurological disorders, drug addiction, below average intelligence, State foster care, illiterate, etc.
Sounds like early help, would have avoided a lot of crime occurring.
Unless you want to continually increase the number of “crime university graduates, after the harm is done?
That is the sad part. People in the know have stated that early help in a child’s life can make all the difference. But the government is so uninterested either in the kids or the future costs to the country that they just turn away from providing the help and paying the lesser costs now. After all it is a mental uplift for the wealthy to have people to moan about and feel superior to.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/columnists/nikki-gemmell/celia-lashlie-what-boys-want-more-than-anything-is-the-eyes-of-their-fathers-upon-them/news-story/0360fcf96fe6a9ac51efde54138e5118
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sian_Elias#The_Blameless_Babes_speech
“n July 2009 Elias caused controversy with her remarks in the annual Shirley Smith address, organised by the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Law Society’s Women-in-Law committee. The annual lecture is given in honour of noted criminal defence lawyer, Shirley Smith. The speech was entitled “Blameless Babes” after a quote from Smith, who wrote “[providing] a prison at the bottom of the cliff is not a solution”.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/netherlands-prisons-now-homes-for-refugees/
Why do we persist with imprisoning so many, when it is obviously not working?
My guess is most people in prison never voted prior to going to prison .
So one would think that getting them enrolled and voting and teaching them about their civic duty would be part of the rehabilitation.
Making them feel they have a voice might just help .
But na your type would rather just hate and punish a??
bwagon, that is an extremely good point.
God Bless Jackie Walker
Looked up Jackie Walker – might be a large part of the constant cry of anti-semitism around Corbyn.
Here’s something about it.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/labour-expulsion-hearing-set-anti-zionist-jackie-walker
“I’m so pleased to have a date for my hearing,” Walker told The Electronic Intifada.
“Whatever the outcome, it’s been amazing to be part of an anti-racist, anti-Zionist left that has refused to be silenced by what has been the worst political witch hunt of our generation.”
Since Jeremy Corbyn first ran for the Labour leadership in the summer of 2015, the party has faced an unrelenting witch hunt targeting the left and Palestine solidarity activists.
The NCC* functions as the party’s internal trial court, sending accused members charge sheets and legalistic bundles of documents. But it is a highly politicized body.
Up until September, it was still controlled by Maggie Cosin, a member of Labour’s right wing once described as the party’s “witchfinder general.”
The new chair, Anna Dyer, has promised to bring change, after a pro-Corbyn majority was elected to the NCC at the Labour Party conference in September.
* National Constitutional Committee, or NCC, Labour’s disciplinary body.
I looked further on the site and came up weith this interesting summary of an apparently implacable Corbyn hater, Joan Ryan. This from 20 February 2019.
Lawmaker Joan Ryan quit Labour on Tuesday, citing party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s supposed “demonization and delegitimization” of Israel.
Ryan is the leading member of Parliament in Labour Friends of Israel – an Israeli embassy front group.
She notoriously fabricated a charge of anti-Semitism against Labour member Jean Fitzpatrick at the UK opposition party’s 2016 annual conference.
Labour Friends of Israel was defiant on Tuesday night, insisting that Ryan would “remain in her position as our parliamentary chair” despite her departure from the Labour Party.
In her resignation statement, Ryan claimed Corbyn is responsible for a “culture of anti-Jewish racism and hatred for Israel” and a government led by him “would be an existential threat” to the Jewish community.
Ryan has been a leading voice in the manufactured “Labour anti-Semitism” smear campaign over the last few years.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/joan-ryan-mp-who-fabricated-anti-semitism-quits-labour
With friends like this in the same Party, who needs enemies? Incidentally I think I saw that the Friends of Israel are getting behind the Independents from Brexit.
On the same blog.
I have talked about water a bit. How to drought and flood proof landscapes using earthworks and swale systems. I have presented evidence for the drought proofing ability of such systems but until now have not seen a ‘100 year flood’ hit one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytyQS6cyjA
Sweet as.
Great WtB. That Geoff Lawton is good.
And if you watch the one about Greening the Desert – it’s not just about trees.
This is providing humans with gardens in the driest conditions, and it shows how we all could utilise this clever management. Water is for conserving, not for giving away to $-balls for them to get money from so they can afford a seat on a rocket to space or a harem of poor young women for pleasure.
Too much money is bad for us apparently – it doesn’t turn us into comfortable, better, generous people. I’d settle for reliable enough with a bit extra for funsies.
It appears there’s now 4 Repug senators ready to vote against Donny Diaper’s wall emergency tantrum.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/senate-emergency-declaration-rand-paul.html?via=homepage_recirc_recent
By itself, it won’t matter if the Senate votes that there’s no emergency. Because it needs the satsuma stubbyfingers to sign it, but he’ll just veto it. And there’s not enough votes in either the senate or the house for a veto over-ride.
Where it will make a big difference is in the courts. The Constitution gives the power of the purse entirely to Congress. So if a majority of both the House and the Senate votes to say no to spending money on a wall, that should hold a lot of weight in any argument the prez is illegally violating the constitution by trying to spend on something that Congress has explicitly told him “no”.
Trump’s tactic of reallocating from a variety of DoD workstreams should protect him from Congress investigating Federal law budgetary breaches, so long as he doesnt cut too hard against the Antideficiency Act.
Its his best funding shot.
But then comes detailed design and procurement. Coupla years.
Big picture to keep in mind through all this is Don of the Deadbrains doesn’t actually care about a wall, he just wants to keep his wallnuts onside. A long drawn out fight is just as good for that as actually building anything. Maybe better.
Wallnut base will shrink as each commentator – like Coulter – sees through its gaming.
2020 not even a wheelbarrow moving: I cant see base growth in that.
He needs a fresh source of hate.
I can see test Rugby going the way of test Cricket if the US broadcasters pick up on the growing superiority of the US Sevens Rugby team:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12209181
Only five years ago were mortified if we lost to Fiji in a Sevens final.
Now we lose to the US in a semi-final, more often than not. We don’t even get to the finals as much, let alone win.
Mark Taylor spent five years with IS.
One of his regrets? Not being able to afford a Yazidi slave.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/383879/new-zealand-jihadist-mark-taylor-captured-in-syria-and-jailed-in-kurdish-prison
I believe there are positions going to help clear rats from the Auckland Islands.
He can enslave and behead as many rats as he likes, as well as doing good for New Zealand and the world.
I guess society failed him in the first instance too
Society failed you, they must have run out of empathy shots when you came along.
Big Read: Miners ready to re-enter Pike River mine to try … – NZ Herald
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12208132
Any Red Dwarf fans out there.? And Timothy Spall? Found this wee clip. Good.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qIkXfxyB-8
Just throwing it into the mix for the fans.
BREAKING….
Just heard via the wireless that ‘the ship’ is resigning from the board of the China Construction Bank.
I think she should resign her title of dame as well.
A few other knights and dames should have their titles removed.
Talley.
Key.
English.
Jones.
Birch.
Tindall.
L’Estrange Corbet.
Graham.
Hill.
Quite the roll of honour, isn’t it?
nah
Just repeal all titles and replace them with letters after the name. It’ll piss ’em all right off.
Great idea.
I think Tindall is the odd one out in that list. He is part of a Sustainable Businesses group I think, doing something fo NZ.
The Warehouse is New Zealand’s Walmart.
It has destroyed small businesses in the country in the 1990s and 2000s.
It has ruined small towns.
It replaced good jobs with McJobs.
It uses kids to get free labour.
It brought in tonnes of plastic low quality from overseas.
If Tindall has run a sustainable business, I could sell you a bridge….
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/08/06/the-warehouse-where-shareholders-get-a-bargain/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3517713
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3505998
https://www.planning.org.nz/Attachment?Action=Download&Attachment_id=3160
Tried for treason he should be. Sent to a camp hahmmm.
I disagree. I just think we should be a bit more honest about the societal cost of big box retail.
And I don’t think the owners should be honoured for the damage they did.
Tried by the people’s court he will be.
I don’t believe Tindall should be on that list. Reason???
OH I see……….. Child labour NO!!
Plastic Yes!! The rest… “think big” you know….it was the fashion. He has seen the light.
I read a book – can’t remember what’s it called now- about this couple from the Bay of Plenty, who had their business destroyed by the Red Sheds.
The more I read about them, the more they sound like Walmart.
Does that mean it’s going to go bust in two weeks?
Someone needs to check her pockets. Never saw anyone so like Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, of whom it was said:
“Many of his silver spoons mysteriously disappeared and were never accounted for.”
🙂
Scientists of NZ – stars for gazing at and learning from:
On Innovation in NZ –
http://www.press.auckland.ac.nz/en/browse-books/all-books/books-2013/Get-off-the-Grass-Kickstarting-New-Zealands-Innovation-Economy.html
Sir Paul Callaghan and Professor Shaun Hendy 2013 (Sir Paul died in 2012)
What we should be doing instead of low cost retailing (at least the Warehouse is NZ owned I think.)