Open mike 04/04/2025
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6:00 am, April 4th, 2025 - 60 comments
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I have a personal opinion about why Phil is running off at the mouth.
I think that he realised that his time in London was running out and that nothing else was going to be offered. He therefor decided that he would do a Miles Franklin and write a book with a working title of "My Brilliant Career". However, while trying to come up with a publisher he discovered that hardly anyone remembered, or cared, about someone who was simply yesterdays man. Who really wants to read about what happened 20+ years ago?
Kicking up a fuss would appear to be his only chance of anyone remembering who he was and of making him vaguely interesting and relevant in today's world.
Does anyone know whether he has ever shown any interest in writing a book?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I have a personal opinion about why alwyn is running off at the mouth. Political trolling is fun.
I guess the alternative is that you really do think the worst of people, or at least left wing people eh.
btw, given you have three moderation warnings already this year for trolling (now four), you might want to consider that your time on TS is running out. – weka]
Your cynical conspiracy/fantasy falls over when you consider that what he said about Churchill…was pretty innocuous…
Whereas my cynical response is that having been Mr neoliberal incrementalist since the 1980's..
…that he was leaving it a bit late in the game to slap his chaps on..(gunfighter reference)…about anything..
..so..good on him..!…but y'know..in comparison to everything he has done that has so harmed our country/culture…
He has been in all that…boots and all (rugby reference)..so..y'know..!
I moved alwyn's comment, feel free to re-comment on the post (unfortunately we can't move comments back to posts)
This is weird!
Alwyn’s comment disappeared off my radar after you’d moved it to OM. Turns out the date of the comment got changed to 03/04/2025!? It’s now at the top of OM 04/04/2025 because it’s the ‘oldest’. You have true Magic
sshh, don't tell everyone
No worries, all eyes are on Trump anyway and nobody will notice.
mod note
I'm sorry that you see this as trolling. I have a number, sadly diminishing as we age, of friends who had careers in MFAT and have expressed their amazement that Goff could possibly expect his comments to be acceptable in his role as a diplomat. They, like me, wondered why he had done it. None expressed my opinion though, which was all my own.
I apologise for causing you the bother of moving it to OM.
sure, and if you had made that kind of political point instead of just doing lazy character assassination, there wouldn't have been a problem.
As someone who has worked closely with Phil Goff when he was Mayor, I can at least vouch for his record in office there. Unlike the current lot, he actually delivered stuff. If you are ever in Auckland, go have a stroll from the ferry building along Quay Street, over the raising footbridge, and over to Quay Park.
In coming years you will see a massive new shoreline park taking over the whole of Wynyard Park – which the 2021 America's Cup works cleared off the oil tanks and made ready.
No one had opened the entire waterfront up like that before. It was multiple projects. You want to see the value of leadership, go check what they delivered afterwards.
In Goff's case it's substantial.
It would be difficult for him not to have done some good…in 40 odd years…and all you cite is good..
But it does not detract from the fact that goff is neoliberal incrementalism writ large ..
..and it is that poxy ideology that has got us into the mess we are…
Its also the long term value of the Americas cup… without it evrything from the viaduct towards wynyadd and beyond probably wouldnt have happend.
Well not satisfied with wrecking Health and the RMA, now it is Public Housings turn to be scuppered. Kaiinga ora is losing nearly 500 staff. Many long standing staff.
Chris Bishop has been rebuked both privately and publicly by Peter Boshier the outgoing Ombudsman, but like every other check and balance of our democracy, largely ignored truncated or perverted to suit these National Party Plonkers.
Vote wisely in 2026, as the damage to our democracy is huge and ongoing, while ""reporting" dwells on Trump and the Green Party. To those losing your jobs, be ready to join the protest through the tears.
Bishop is dangerous because he is further to the right of Luxon and, unlike Luxon, can actually string a few words together when speaking live.
Bishops an accomplished dirty politics player connected to big tobacco etc with zero empathy.
Not so much lurking in the shadows now.
Doing the necessary work for the hollowmen backers. Its why he's a fast tracking cowboy minister IMO.
Dont think luxon could touch him, hes not in control just a figurehead manager with the warmth of a fridge.
WELL SAID PHIL GOFF-5 minutes ago on Morning Report (RNZ).
A must listen-listen to the end it gets better and better.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018981800/phil-goff-doubles-down-on-comments-that-led-to-sacking-as-high-commissioner
Post up now on Goff's principled stance.
https://thestandard.org.nz/go-phil/
Agree. says the emperor has no clothes, well done Phil.
Nick's Korero is spot on today-see sidebar. For instance:
Now, instead of having a highly skilled surgeon, the sole spine surgeon in the region, without time to perform operations, no one is available to carry out these surgeries – so tough luck if you need one.
Our health system is falling apart, and we cynically suggest that the government is allowing it to fail on purpose so they can privatise it.
I've said it before I know, but I truly believe that a Wealth Tax where the proceeds are ring-fenced to fix the public health system, would be well received by most of the electorate.
How to
convinceget through to the voters who are affected? Of course the top feeders (the true 1%ers) already know they are best off…why they fight so hard.Our Left Opposition parties need to rethink their core messages, and shout them !
Otherwise NAct1 are going to stumble to victory..again.
@ bg..
Agree with the targeted both ways reform..wealth tax to fix our screwed/broken health system..
As you say it is easily understood by the electorate..
..and easy to build support for..
..we need both..so conjoin them…
According to Owen Jones today in the Guardian in the UK:
"Polls show overwhelming support for public ownership of services and utilities and that 78% of the public back a wealth tax."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/03/left-uk-slide-into-farageism-leader-leftwing
The visible cuts to front line services is the tip of the iceberg that reti/levy/brown and the usual helpers (pwc, Deloitte etc) have launched at kiwis.
Erica Stanford awards top marks!
Should we be worried ? Esp re Penny (
deftdeath touch) Simmonds…"Phenomenal" "Stellar".."Doing really well". Are these what is said before…another hatchet job?
Any adult who uses words like "phenomenal" and "stellar" has lost contact with reality. Like the rest of her government (Luxon especially) she's a salesperson, and the product she is touting is herself for having achieved such an apparently astonishing turnaround from 4/10 to 10/10 in a year .
Ironically, the correct word to describe an imaginary turnaround of this sort is not 'phenomenal' but 'noumenal', i.e. something that is self-evidently the case in itself without the requirement of empirical phenomena as evidence. Is a person this foolish fit to be an education minister?
Whatever happened to "awesome"? Used to be everywhere. Overworked and pensioned off, I guess – as will doubtless be the case, given time, with the other two hyperboles in AB's first line.
Hmmm…. is that an example of noumenal ?
I have certainly had the misfortune to work for companies and organisations who employed so called "Managers", with degrees in the useage of phenomenal , stellar and similar vocabulary. Also common to the inHuman Resources Dept.
They rarely get caught out…as they are also Masters of Self Interest.
Someone should serve Erica a few of those imported lunches her department pays for as a reward.
Imagine delivering it to her in a press conference, share them around the room yum yum….dreams are free.
Would be an interesting exercise. The Press shouldn't have to partake…but definitely those few (esp Seymour and Stanford) who are actually pushing the slop.
Can imagine the so fake smiles….then the quick rush to the door..
Bluuurgh
What do so many in the media not seem to be able to understand that our g.s.t….as far as trump is concerned…is a tariff against America….'cos it sits between American goods and customers here…
Just because it is called a different name…does not make it so…
What can most seemingly not understand about that..?
If NZ is looking to get in Trumps good books, sucking up has a much better track record than logic. Fortunately NZ has furnished itself in advance with a suitably invertibrate PM, we are in a naturally strong position.
our g.s.t….as far as trump is concerned…is a tariff against America
It's not quite the same since it doesn't give locally produced goods a competitive advantage, since they have to pay GST also. So I’m guessing Trump doesn’t understand the finer points of taxology.
And I'm guessing you haven't heard trump talking about this..
He has said that he views sales taxes against American exports as a tariff…and he cited vat in Britain at the time..and that he would be factoring them in in any tariff retaliations..
And I’m guessing trump couldn’t give a flying act of fornication if anyone else also pays that sales tax..
My concern is that the original figure against us of 20% is in fact what trump has planned for us…
We just haven't realized that yet..
And I'm guessing you haven't heard trump talking about this..
He has said that he views sales taxes against American exports as a tariff…and he cited vat in Britain at the time..and that he would be factoring them in in any tariff retaliations..
All I'm saying is that Trump is wrong. A 10% tariff against NZ imports gives American producers an "unfair" advantage. We are not giving local producers an advantage by charging GST.
This of course does not mean that a good case for abolishing GST cannot be made, on other grounds. Failing that however we should be entitled to restrict consumption by charging a tax if we deem it necessary on economic grounds, providing that in doing so we don't discriminate against importers.
Trying to parse this myself. Though it may take a while.
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/04/02/no-vat-isnt-a-tariff-but-the-us-would-benefit-from-adopting-it/
I speed read the above…
..and tho' not doubt academically accurate…
..trump has a simpler view of it..
..as in ..call it what you want..but it sits between American exporters and their customers…and therefore..in his mind/tariff calculating..is a target .
The Trumpian position is given formal proclamation here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/
The national emergency Trump has declared is framed here as the intersection of the economy with national security and sovereignty. It is a fundamental redefinition of the US state. It provides a basis in ethos for any enhancement of state powers to resolve the emergency. What the page does not address is why the bipartisan status quo became so toxic for the Americans. As a cure prescription, viability hinges on the historical track record of tariffs as tools. Investigation of that ought to become media focus.
The White House concludes their rationale with a hexad of bullet points, one of which cites Yellen as indicator of financial establishment support. Will the Fed declare against Trump? I suspect not. T could morph from deranged cowboy into state agent.
Which State?
The USA. If the Federal Reserve don't see his economic policy as a threat to the US economy, they will be seen to endorse it. If it spooks them, they will be likely to say so. Maybe not in public, if they are insufficiently alarmed. The markets are only down about 5% today – which is unlikely to spook the establishment.
So what I was getting at was his posturing as anti-establishment was to use the popular rebellion against the status quo to get elected, and now he's shifting the establishment into endorsing America First strategy. Thiel didn't want an official position this time around. He's working for T behind the scenes. Kushner same.
With all this tax talk, I thought I would group source a question.
If I import a motorcycle from Australia and pay the Aussie 10% GST on the bike and freight plus the 15%NZ GST, can I claim the Australian GST back?
If so how would I do that?
In Britain – as a tourist you can get a VAT refund on goods over a certain amount that you are taking home with you. We have never bothered to claim it for our 6 packs of M&S knickers and Manchester United T shirts – but you can do it.
I recall something similar from the 90s and yes we couldn't be arsed keeping receipts and claiming back.
This is, however, a 10,000 dollar motorbike….
Last time we tried to do that, it emerged that you had to produce the actual items to the folk issuing the refund, as proof they were being taken out of the country. And of course they were most if not all of them in the checked baggage …. which had to have been checked some time before you reached the GST refund people.
In other words, it's a rip-off. Don't fall for it.
When I do remote consulting services for Australian clients, my invoice for the Australian client does not include GST (zero-rated), so this part in your post is probably incorrect "and pay the Aussie 10% GST on the bike". My understanding:
If you're located here in NZ, you order the motorbike remotely, the vendor / seller will write you an invoice without Australian GST, because it's for export. NZ Customs will (probably) contact you regarding the NZ GST at time of import.
If you buy the motorbike on a visit in Australia, you pay the price + GST, you keep the receipt, and at the airport you go the ATO office to reclaim the GST… while they load your bike onto a plane. Okay, not sure how it works with a motorbike, because the ATO office at the airport usually wants to inspect the item you claim GST for.
When arriving in NZ, you might have to pay NZ GST, depending of the value exceeding a threshold (currently $1,000). See NZ Customs – Duty and Allowances
Thanks Satty.
All the correspondence so far has been via email and have sent through a quote which is structured as I outlined.
I will be having a conversation with them shortly before committing to the purchase and I will put what you have said to them.
i.e no Australian GST on the bike or freight and I will pay the New Zealand GST when customs receive the bike.
You might want to refer to the following website:
Ahh, thanks again.
Goodness, the more you know, the harder it gets.
I've been advised to get a Customs broker and an working through a obligation free quote at the moment.
The NZ Liberation League exposes NZ's new curriculum head, Elizabeth Rata, who believes pre-colonial NZ Māori were savages, and that teaching a more balanced non-colonial history romanticises the actions of pre-colonial and early colonial Māori.
"It's society without the wheel, it's cannibalism and warfare", her direct quote.
Ash Reborn questions the dirty politics of Doyle's accusers, none of which is focused on protection of the child. She points out that the process in a child abuse accusation should first to go to police, not be spread by Winston Peters. That identifying and posting pictures of the child on SM as part of the accusation chain is also a no-no.
following it from when Ani O'Brien first retweeted originally on Friday, my impression is they (the mob) just don't care. The point is to bring down BD and the Greens. Which is why they can run with such flimsy evidence. There's obviously not enough for a police investigation, but that's beside the point. They can run an online slur campaign anyway.
I'm seeing some tweets about the reposting the images of the child as a breach of the Harmful Digital Communications Act but I don't know enough about the Act, to have a sense of if that is true.
https://x.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1907794863673721074
Birdie: "OK, OK … just gimme time till the tenth leaf grows!!"
JV Last sums up the stupidity.
.
The American Age Is Over
Emergency Triad: The United States commits imperial suicide.
Jonathan V. Last
[…]
1. Canada
Fittingly, it was the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, who declared the official time of death.
https://www.youtube.com/live/6aaTA3zNixs?t=530s
And just like that, the age of American empire, the great Pax Americana, ended.
We cannot overstate what has just happened. It took just 71 days for Donald Trump to wreck the American economy, mortally wound NATO, and destroy the American-led world order.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-american-age-is-over?
I may have missed it, I haven't seen the full list, though I know the Heard and MacDonald Islands (uninhabited) received a 10% tariff. but I heard one commentator say Russia is not on the list!
If this is so – why?
What does this tell us about the Russian asset in the White House?
Google is my friend – just checked. Can't see Russia on the list!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ypxnnyg7jo
And North Korea!
I put something on DR last night about that. Here's the link: https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/donald-trump-us-reciprocal-tariffs-russia-sanctions-vladimir-putin-125040300153_1.html
If you read the White House emergency proclamation (see OM #7 today) you'll see that the rationale principle is reciprocity. Vlad the Bad is trying to avoid it currently, so it's a test of macho credibility for Trump. Z correctly called out Vlad's evasion the other day. T told the media he's "pissed off" at Vlad about that.
Meanwhile in the States opposition to the Trumpian / Musk chaos is growing and a nation wide protest is planned for this Saturday 5 April
https://handsoff2025.com