Yes this drivile is disturbing when we dont see our regional news reported any more except if you are an auckland resident eh?
HB/Gisborne does not even have a RNZ reporter after two years now so we are largely ignored down here, and this is so very disturbing when now we have a labour lead government who needs to get the issues outnthere to sell their new ‘regional policies’ and why our rail is now so vitial to our regions export potential else we will just conitue to wither and die.
Come on Labour!!!!!!!!! – bring back a ‘true regional TV seven type channel’ “publc affairs” media for the public benefits of having a voice finally again.
Many thanks to Shane Jones for his idea of work for the dole. I would rename it as that is not a appealing name and the goal is to make this idea appealing to our youth for this to work. Yes there will be training need I say have a career map for these people driving licence right up to class 5 digger operators ECT and a pathway to the forestry harvesting as these jobs in forestry are hard work and one does not want to be doing these jobs when the gray hair STARTS to show I don’t think that punishing our youth who can work is the right way to make this successfull. What will make this successful will be to make it appealing to our youth so they all want to join this venture. Getting to work in the forestry one gets picked up and dropped of at ones house. If it is really successful no other government will scrap it. As what has happened in the past pep scheme.
Happy birthday Hillary. Ka pai
Is this like Golriz Ghahramen, where unless every statement about employment specifically condemns wage-slavery, the author must be a wage-slavery denier?
In the SME where I do some part time hours, alongside my boss, who gets paid less than me (I know this because I do the accounts), I’m quite happy to do a bit of work for someone else.
Meanwhile, the point about work-for-the-dole was what again?
Presumably you endorse the idea of people being coerced into work if a wage is paid. I don’t.
In the interview given by Jacinda Ardern she was pretty clear (in spite of her general penchant to waffle herself away from making any definitive statements) that WINZ sanctions would remain in place and apply to those presented with the scheme.
At present, if you are claiming unemployment benefit and turn down work that WINZ deems “suitable”, you are sanctioned (ie – you lose money). Those sanctions will remain and apply to those who are offered placement on the “Ready for Work” (or whatever it’s called) scheme.
Ditching the sanction that kicked in around unnamed fathers isn’t in any way related to work readiness sanctions.
Sure. If the “very serious changes that are going to be made to the principles of the Social Security Act” are inadequate or discriminatory (and hey, it’s the NZLP so I think that’s ‘possible’), then I intend to beat Labour about the head with them.
I’m still not going to jump to conclusions on the say-so of Guyon Espiner and Shane Jones.
The PM (not Jones or Espinar) made a pretty clear indication that those sanctions that already exist will remain and be applied.
If they were removed, there would be much, much less to prevent workers exercising a bit of power and walking away from bullshit employers to live on the dole until they found a decent employer.
The principle (ie – “mission statement”) can change all it wants. But will that likely amount to much more than “feel good” twattery? Probably not.
Hey. We’ll see. But I have a good collection of 2x4s and you can borrow one when the time comes.
so is the tax payer now responsible to pay the wages for private industry in order to entice private industry to hire?
Also, what if the work place one is placed is an abusive work place? Can you leave or will your dole sanctioned? If your work for the dole is a pick up and drop of at your home place job and your boss is abusive how could you leave and get a way? Or do you just have to put up with a bit of abuse, sexual harrasment (as i witnessed this week at a Countdown where a bloke berated a young girl collecting funds for the SPCA until my partner, two security guards and I stepped in and ended up calling the Police!) until your driver comes to get you home? What if your driver is the one who abuses the ‘worker for the dole”.
Also, what if a work place fires their employees – McDo, KFC, etc come to mind – to hire the tax payer funded crew – cause nothing is cheaper then a worker who can’t complain lest he / she ‘gets sanctioned’.
IS that really the only thing this country can come up with to find work places for their young ones, or is this again just another way to show some that you don’t count, and if you complain we ‘take away your ‘dole’.
There is so much wrong with this scheme its not funny anymore. How about making sure that private businesses start training again for their own needs? Heck in Europe they call this ‘Apprentice program’ not working for the dole. OH, its in the too hard basket. Lets just bash some young people for not having a job rather then bash businesses for not hiring young ones and training them.
If I was government….I’d levy a specific tax on large employers and use it to fund dole payments. How long then before unemployment levels “miraculously” hit 5/8ths of f.a. I wonder?
And with full employment, all that power accruing to employees again. What’s not to like about that? 😉
but yeah, lets provide a tax payer funded workforce to our large employers who otherwise would not hire as it would affect the share holders value or other such bullshit.
PM Ardern clarifies.
“If it goes ahead, the scheme will differ to past ‘work-for-the-dole’ programmes says Ms Ardern, because participants will actually get paid at least the minimum wage.
“The fact there will be a legal wage attached to it distinguishes it from some of those schemes in the past,” she told The AM Show on Monday.”
The release press from Shane Jones announcing the four schemes stated “at least the minimum wage.” Critics missed this.
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
Hopefully connected will be the Labour commitment to increasing the minimum wage to being a living wage.
Details are needed, but this sounds a lot better than having young people hike around all day leaving their CV’s with employers who wouldn’t hire them anyway.
So now we are funding the employers to hire the people they don’t want to hire cause they would have to pay wages?
Great, how much more taxes can you afford to pay in higher taxes to pay the wages for the local McDo to hire these ‘slaves for the dole”? And of course the dole will be taxed, so the poor slaves fund their own slavery program. Whats not to like ey?
btw, there are a lot of ‘non’ young people that are on the dole. This program will then apply to these too. I am so looking forward to getting served by some 64 year old at the local fast food joint, working for the dole until retirement hits. Yei! Us!
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones wants welfare payments to be cut if beneficiaries refuse to take part in his new Government work programme, which will look to plant trees and build up a railway network for tourists.
I cannot see how Labour and the Greens could agree with this, it’s the complete opposite of what Labour and the Greens are all about.
The fact the NZ First knows this and is still pushing a compulsory work for the dole scheme does rather demonstrate where all the power lies in this government.
There are plenty of Labour people who would support it.
We are at below 5% in overall unemployment, and we need all hands on deck if we are going to see trees planted.
Government choking off immigration is also going to bring rest home workers into very high demand.
Personally I want to see overall unemployment come down to 3%, and immigration choked, so that employers are forced to pay higher wages. So high that that there’s a much clearer step from benefit to wage and abatement triggers are less needed.
My only caveat to Jones’ policy idea is that I would want both worker and employer to commit to 6 months minimum employment, with an option for a further 6 month rollover.
“below 5% in overall unemployment” – is that with, or without, the government’s massaging of unemployment figures to ignore people who aren’t looking for work, people who have insecure casual work, or are otherwise unemployed without being in the official numbers?
None of the global entities like the World Bank, OECD, etc use unemployment figures from countries as a measure of unemployment anymore due to the high level of inaccuracy from using erroneous methodology.
Are you mis-representing the facts yet again here eh BM,
mac1
2.4
4 December 2017
Maci said on 2.4. this;
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
Just listening to Guyon Espiner interviewing Jacinda. Oh. My. God. By the look of things, the next three years is going to consist of the media spending the entire length of every interview trying to foot trip Jacinda Ardern on a matter of semantics in relation to the coalition so they can triumphantly scream “DIVISION IN THE GOVERNMENT!”
It is a depressing. A cynical obsession with horse racing politics and it seems to be one shared by both the MSM and the National party.
Espiner spent nine years constantly saying “the minister declined our invitation…” Now he can get to talk to the PM, instead of the obsequious toadying we got whenever he interviewed Key we get a hectoring bully splitting hairs over taxonomy. White male syndrome strikes again.
In six months, Espiner will again be droning saying “the minister declined our invitation…” and he’ll probably wonder why.
The reason why will be Jacinda will get sick of lazy yellow journalism playing desperate word games to try and trump up divisions in the government. All we want is an informed journalist politely but firmly asking relevant questions about the pertinent issues of the day.
That seems all to hard for the MSM in NZ these days.
I saw this also on TV3 with the “hypoventilating” Duncan Garner!!!!
A discussing display he showed with our new PM Jacinda!!!!
It was disturbing also, as Garner was gunning at the last part of the inverview on “The AM show” as garner was hammering the issue of the so called “33 page agreement between Labour and NZF” as he kept saying; are you lying’, are you lying, are you lying” until Jacinda settled him down from having a potential heart attack.
Hi Cleangreen (4.1) … Acting on a complaint (not hard to guess from who that might be), the Ombudsman has been called in, re the release of the Labour/NZF 33 page coalition negotiation agreement.
So it seems when a vindictive, bitter political party is unable to accept it lost the election and get its own way in the future, it will run to a higher power! That particular political party has now resorted to tittle tattling …. scum politics at its worst!
I hope that same political party is forced to release details of its own negotiations!
Well said Sanctuary.
Espiner is more interested in petty point scoring than in providing listeners with what should be a more balanced view of the subject. I’m not sure whether his rude, argumentative, interruptive and totally unethical mode is due to strongly political bias or sheer incompetence. Maybe it’s sexist but, as you so rightly say, more time was spent trying to trip Jacinda up rather than on eliciting information.
His interview ( ? ) with the Prime Minister of New Zealand this morning was an absolute disgrace by any standard.
PM Jacinda Adern handled the interview well so Guyon will need to be better prepared if he wishes to ruffle her going by that performance….it appears that the strategy for dealing with opposition promoted dissent within the coalition is to allow a range of views but control the policy…and I think those outside the ‘beltway’ are accepting of that provided it causes no major issues…if they are taking any notice at all, after all its only 20 days until xmas.
FFS, stop with the knee-jerk racism and sexism. Every time a person happens to be white and male, this bullshit gets spouted without thought.
You’ve got shit dribbling down your chin sanctuary
[“Every time a person happens to be white and male”. No, it’s when behaviours associated with the dominant class are observed they get named (whether that gets over used or not is another matter). Your hyperbole is inflammatory. Please rethink how to express your points here – weka]
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate 🙂
Haven’t seen that personally. Can you please link to an example?
As for “racist”, I’ve seen Bill advance that argument, and make a pretty good case for it. I’m not sure when his view was declared “approved and pure” though.
Nice strawman but. Will you be beating it up yourself or will you let vto have a go too?
Yeah it’s quite an interesting argument, if I recall it correctly. I actually lean towards it, but not to the point of being absolutely convinced, if you know what I mean.
I lean towards it just enough to STFU whenever I feel the urge to yelp “help, help, I’m being oppressed”. Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.
“Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.”
Well put.
Some groups in our society have a much longer history of oppression than others. Some imagine they are oppressed but confuse it with angry or disappoindte that things are not how they used to be for them.
not sure what you are meaning by doxing there but it’s rare for people here to try and out other commenter’s RL IDs, including around gender. It happens occasionally and gets moderated.
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate
You said on October 16,
And out of respect for my fellow authors and moderators, and because this topic clearly causes far too much disruption … I commit to absolutely never saying anything on any gendered topic ever again.
One day you will have equality mate. Keep up the good fight. Equal pay, pay for voluntary care work, even an honorary seat at the council table is just around the corner for white men.
You do not need to rise above it, anyone in the category of white male has had residence in the privileged towers looming over us all for thousands of years. The residence hasn’t changed it’s just people are knocking on the door asking to be let in rather than staying silent as the dogs are loosed.
I didn’t hear the interview and probably won’t listen to it.
Truth be told, almost all political interviews these days are a dance performed by true believers. They may disagree on the exact steps or the precision of the moves, but both interviewer and interviewee are dancing to the exact same tune.
No-one questions ‘Why this music?’, ‘Why this dance?’ ‘What are we doing this for?’
When political ideology becomes as crystalline as it is now, there is nothing much left to discuss or debate. And so we are subjected to word games and opinions on what clothes are worn – all passed off as critical analysis and measures of accountability or what not.
It’s when the crystal shatters under the stress of its own internal forces – that’s when things get interesting. And the crystal always shatters.
When someone is being as evasive as Jacinda Ardern is in that interview, what would you have an interviewer do Sanctuary? Accept ambiguity and avoidance as upfront and informative responses?
Many thanks to all the Maori organisation joining together to give us a better say in our future. And To hold the government’s accountable for there actions that have oppressed Maori. We need positive news about Maori we need positive Maori leaders and role models. I bet that if I had the money I could find and shape some one into a Maori superstar music artist. Be proud of OUR Maori culture and heritage. Kia kaha
“He’s either being deliberately provocative or ignorant, but probably both.”
Well that’s all he’s got left in life really.
I’ll be sending him dead flowers, but I’m sure HdPA won’t forget to put roses on his rotting corpse
Eugenie Sage will be very pleased.
Nick Smith has now seen the desirability of something that the Green Party has been proposing. https://home.greens.org.nz/bills/kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-establishment-bill
I expect that Nick’s bill will be very close to the Green Party proposal.
With a combination of the Green Party votes and those of the National Party we should see the sanctuary implemented when Nick’s bill gets drawn and passed.
Let us hope it comes up very quickly in the ballot.
We have been waiting far to long.
It’s a smart wedge from Smith, and good pressure on Sage to crack a deal.
The 9 year Key-English government was the worst for conservation in generations, with no new national parks formed, catastrophic biosecurity hits, and spectacular falls in wildlife populations whether tree, sea or airborne.
Sage needs to deliver real goods on conservation, and now she gets to draft her own bill on the Kermadecs and pull the rug on Smith by guilting him into supproting the government on his own concept.
It was always National policy. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm-announces-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary
Easy-peasy. Just pass the bill with National and Green support.
If Sage thinks she can do it with her own bill she will have to get Winston to agree and that is not likely to be forthcoming.
He doesn’t have any control over a Private member’s bill though.
too sad that Nick Smith would not dare to come up with it when National was in power. Cause surely, if it would have protected the environemnt the Greens would have even then supported the policy. OH, but this is not about the environment?
That is no longer a problem of course so that National can go back to do what they had always wanted.
I’m sure that the Green Party will support it. We have been told that they have the ability to support things they are strongly for without being affected by anything like Cabinet collective responsibility as they don’t have any Cabinet members.
Won’t be any problem there then and there needn’t be any problems like National had.
The problem they had was that they couldn’t get Maori Party support…
They couldn’t get Maori Party support for unilaterally removing part of a Treaty settlement? Gosh, I wonder why that was? What could the Maori Party have had against it? I guess it’s a mystery that will outlast humanity’s time on earth. Those damn Maori!
Tame and Faitaua: Language Enforcers on the Job!
TVNZ1 Breakfast, Monday 4 December 2017, 8:05 a.m.
The sports news features a remarkable clip of an Italian goalie rushing up during a corner kick and heading in the winner. The goal engenders delight and approval in the studio. Then this happens….
HILLARY BARRY:[enthusiastically] I LOVE soccer when it’s like that!
DANIEL FAITAUA:[playfully stern] Football.
JACK TAME:[smiling, apologetic] Football.
Hillary Barry, bullied into silence, obviously wants to respond but thinks better of it.
…The programme limps on in its uninspired way….
Now, you could safely bet Bill O’Reilly’s monthly whoring budget that neither Faitaua nor Tame actually calls soccer “football” in their normal off-camera conversations, and you could also safely bet that virtually none of their acquaintances does either. Yet this enforced charade continues on TVNZ, the result of a management decree from 2005 that soccer must henceforth be called “football”, in spite of what the plebs in the audience think. This decree is being increasingly abandoned and disrespected—for example, nearly all RNZ National commentators, including newsreaders, call it “soccer” in line with common usage when they are not actually required to read from a script. As Jim Mora complained in 2010: “Do we HAVE to call it ‘football’ now?”
Of one thing we can all be certain: during his time as a U.S. correspondent based in New York, Tame never, ever, ever admonished (playfully or otherwise) any of his American colleagues for saying “soccer”. And you can bet he dutifully called that game “played” with helmets, where most “players” are not allowed to kick the ball, or indeed even TOUCH it, “football”.
Could be a major issue for the National Party to beat her with. I note they have nothing else in their armoury, other than attacking young defence lawyers for actually doing their job, and constantly repeating that Jacinda looks like a horse….
I like how its the United States Soccer Federation and that how it’s always soccer there.
I like how in Australia their national soccer team is called the Socceroos.
I like it how when I call that sport “soccer” some people get angsty and want me to call it football. If it was such a foreign word they would’t even know what I was talking about.
I’m still waiting for me to say soccer and the upset listener to fall on the ground and roll around clutching their leg appealing for a penalty!
When Hilary was growing up, and my generation it was soccer. Why? Because Rugby was what people thought of as football and footy, so maybe the youngsters could get a bit of context and a smidge of humility
The Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA; French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association).
In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). In 1892, after charges of professionalism (compensation of team members) were made against some clubs for paying players for missing work, the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union (NU), was formed. The existing rugby union authorities responded by issuing sanctions against the clubs, players, and officials involved in the new organization. After the schism, the separate clubs were named “rugby league” and “rugby union”.
Ultimately where there is another football code that is dominant e.g. NZ, Ireland, South Africa, Australia then soccer will be used. Where association football is the dominant football game then football will be used.
I suspect that some of the push to convince NZer’s and Australians to use football is based partly around an anti-rugby sentiment, partly around snobbery and anti-Americanism and partly around traditional soccer connotations of being “poofters” etc. The first and second not a good reason, the third I think highly pertinent – changing language can change responses and values.
Alternatively you could just wait for the generations who made such negative connotations about soccer to die off.
The comments about the PM on RNZ and the Garner show point to something to recognise.
Every week the PM ‘has to’ appear in as many media spots as possible. She is there to be visible, to be held to account, to be seen to be available and accessible. The world has got to that stage, it’s what the people demand.
Things of import to be discussed of course. What’s of importance? Everything, now it is everything.
Here is the news: I do not need the Prime Minister in my home every day. I learned to turn the radio off when John Key came on zb and Radiosport. He came on so he could be ordinary John in our house, be one of the mates, be reassuring, bat away gentle questions about significant issues and not have to face a grilling about significant contentious issues. I never once heard anyone suggest he was a liar.
He came onto RNZ when it was to his advantage. When it wasn’t, he was ‘unavailable.’
Hosking was Key’s mate. Ardern is not. Ardern is Hosking’s enemy. As much as he was there to make Key look good, he is there to make Ardern look bad. Same as the Richardson fellow (Dick is it?) on Garner’s thing.
But she has to appear, that is New Zealand the Way We Want it.
We’ve had years of lying scumbags, we’ve the spectacle now of those like Simon Bridges being even less rational now than when he was a minister but know they’re all sitting at their tvs and radios hoping for the leg trips and any morsel they can use.
We definately need TVNZ channel even back again now seriously if Labour coalition is to sell its policies to the electorate.
Heres why; National lied then about the lack of popularity of TVNZ Seven then.
Quote; “This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman”
TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to launch two additional channels.[2] The channel went to air just after 10am on 25 March 2008 with a looped preview reel. The channel was officially launched at noon on 30 March 2008 with a special “kingmaker” political debate held within the Parliament building and featuring most of the elected minor party leaders. The channel went off air at midnight on 30 June 2012 to the Goodnight Kiwi.
It featured TVNZ News Now updates every hour from 6 am–11 pm, with a specialised rolling 10-minute bulletin ‘zone’ between 8 am and 9 am, throughout which six bulletins were aired. TVNZ 7 also featured an hour-long bulletin, TVNZ News at 8, at 8 pm each night. It was hosted on weeknights by Greg Boyed and on weekends by Miriama Kamo.
While it was originally reported to be a ‘rolling news channel’, similar to Sky News and CNN Headline News, Eric Kearley, head of TVNZ’s Digital Launch team, stated about 70% of the schedule would be “factual variety” programming – a mix of local and overseas documentaries, and programmes that discuss current events and sport, with the remaining 30% being the news updates. A full schedule was released on 28 February 2008.
The channel was relaunched on 1 March 2011, taking some programming from TVNZ 6, another Freeview-based digital channel, when TVNZ decided to transform into an interactive broadcast station TVNZ U.
On 6 April 2011, it was officially announced that TVNZ 7 cease broadcast in June 2012.
This was confirmed when Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman stated on behalf of the government that they would not extend further funding for the channel due to low ratings.[3] This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman.[4] In March 2012, Television New Zealand confirmed this decision and announced there would be no eleventh-hour reprieve for TVNZ7.[5]
TVNZ 7 was replaced on 1 July 2012 by TV One Plus 1, a timeshift channel of TV One.
You are right, Steven Joyce is NZ equivilent to a dicator who likes to contol the media voices of ‘alternatuive views’.
Other countries like Turkey, China and other free press repressive counties often get bad rap by shutting down public media that questions governments.
But in our case NZ was not challenged by shutting down of the popular TVNZ 7 channel sadly.
So Labour please bring back TVNZ 7 again – for your political platform, and our collective benefit too please.
I wonder what is happening in Turkey as lovely keen experienced determined journalist’s death is being investigated. Yasmine Ryan 34. News says that it is not thought that her death was suspicious. It was a stressful job that she had, someone that does such stuff needs a haven I think to take a break and retreat for a while.
A GiveALittle page set up by Jacinta Forde, who works at the University of Waikato with Ryan’s father Tom, said he had “left on the first plane to Turkey last night to bring her back home to New Zealand”.
So far more than $11,000 has been raised. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952232
The sad thing is, we have jobs that need filling but society and private businesses don’t want to pay for.
Our infrastructure needs updating, our hospitals need nurses, nurse aids and other carers, same for our elderly homes, our berms need mowing, our streets need cleaning etc etc etc..
We have a severe lack of tradies of all sorts. Instead of throwing out incentives for Businesses to hire apprentices – and pay them a little – we are again putting the blame on unemployed for not finding a job in a society that refuses to hire, train and pay an honest day wage for an honest day of work.
Yeah, let Shane Jones pass judgment on people who are at the lowest step of our society for not finding a job in this ‘rock star’ economy of ours.
URGENT ATTENTION ALL ANTI-TPPA ACTIVISTS
By Prof Jane Kelsey
“We discovered less than a week ago that MFAT is hosting ‘consultations’ around the country, with David Parker, this week on the TPPA-11. It appeared to be a last-minute decision to do something before Xmas, and somehow they forgot to send invitations to critics who have attended previous ‘consultations’. Presumably the business sector was given priority notice. There is no information on the MFAT website, but we know at least about these:
Dunedin: Monday 4 December, 5:15pm – 7:15pm, Otago Southland Employers Association, 16 McBride Street, South Dunedin: Register now
Auckland: Tuesday 5 December, 6.00 to 7.30pm, Europe House, Auckland University of Technology, 56 Wakefield Street – Register now
Tauranga: Wednesday 6 December, 8:45am – 10:45am: Smart Business Centre, Bay Central Shopping Centre, 65 Chapel Street Register now
Hamilton: Thursday 7 December, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, PWC Building, Level 4, 109 Ward Street Register now
The obvious reaction is WTF? There’s no urgency to do this, as the ministers are apparently not now going to meet during the Buenos Aires WTO ministerial on 10-13 December. That suggests the government has been running focus groups or polling which tells them that people are not buying their spin on the old/new TPPA-11 (please let’s NOT call it the CPTPP). Or that they still hope to get a deal they can settle the remaining four issues and sign in February or March. Consulting now would mean the government could do this, claiming it has consulted, and not try to rush something over January which would create more of an outcry. Then they will have the proper ‘consultation’, when it’s too late to do anything.
No wonder business leaders see themselves as messiahs and critics like Kelsey as pariahs… and now the new govt is feeding the same bullshit. Great news everyone. Business as usual but with a smile and an empathetic nod and donation.
Thanks savenz, ; so they are holding secret meetings to get their support to rush the TPP11 (or whatever it’s called for now) WTF @#$%^&*()_
Bloody irresponsible of them to go behind our backs when they said & promised after comming back from Veitnam, they would take time to get the public input!!!!!!!
No No No they lied there!!!!
So start the ball rollimg, we need some finger pointing here now starting with David Parker. Shit they just had the water tax thing blow up in their faces and still are rushing to sign the blooody thing.@#$%^&*(()
Never trust politicians we learned that today here.
Good to see that the 33 pages of a “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development” and “directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”. (according to the depuity PM)
or “notes” according to the PM
has been seen by the Ombudsman and he has written to Jacinda. A response is due in 5 days.
No idea what he said of course – but if he recommends it being released – its going to be a very bad look not to do so.
I’d like to see those Nat notes; they’d show how ethical and honest the Party may or may not be. It’d be a great thing if they released their notes, you know, in the spirit of transparency and honesty. National are both of those things, aren’t they? Shouldn’t they show the people of New Zealand just how straight is the bat they play with? Hmmmmm?
‘Cause National are such honest folk, James? Wouldn’t “forget, misremember, accidentally erase, refuse to speak etc, etc, etc?
You’re right, of course, honest as the day is long, Key’s crew! And Bill! Taken up John’s torch! Protected Toddy the way Key protected him – that’s National; for you – Team All NZ Black (Inc), bro!
As I remember, Billshit when asked if he would release such documents refused to do so because of a confidentiality agreement that applied to all parties negotiating. Strangely enough, Double Dipper Billshit now seems to have forgotten about that confidentiality.
James (14) … and I take it National will also release its negotiation details with Winston Peters/NZF. You know, good enough for one, good enough for the other, even more so if the complaint has come from National.
Why? National isn’t in government, those notes aren’t worth jack.
On the other hand, the NZFirst/Labour notes are because they are in government and what’s in them should be known to the NZ public as they will no doubt be on the receiving end of whatever arrangments are within these notes.
You do realise that this is an awful look for the government and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
For a government that proclaimed they are going to be the most transparent government ever this is just bullshit and undermines their credibility terribly.
Thing is the media won’t let this go, they smell something dodgy and will keep digging away until they get what they want.
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
tl;dr: David Farrar is so full of shit it’s overflowed into BM.
Official Information Act S9(2)g:
Other reasons for withholding official information:
(g)
maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through—
(i)
the free and frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation or officers and employees of any department or organisation in the course of their duty; or
(ii)
the protection of such Ministers, members of organisations, officers, and employees from improper pressure or harassment.
BM (14.3.1) …
Ah but the Natz were government during the negotiations with Winston Peters weren’t they? So as such, they have some responsibility for releasing their negotiations with NZF. Don’t you think?
You know that National do not have to – as they are not ministers you see. The whole good for one is good for the other dosnt work – the government have a whole lot of things that they have to abide my that opposition does not.
Of course that may also be the view of the Ombudsman regarding Labour – time will tell.
BUT if it says they are to be released – Will Jacinda? – or will she go against him.
Yes, of course we made notes during the course of those discussions including further areas that we may undertake some work…some issues will see the light of day and at that point we’ll make sure that people are absolutely clear that that was part of our conversation with NZ First but others may not.
Which ties in with what Boshier says about ‘provocative’ advice and ‘blue sky’ discussions: once an idea becomes a policy commitment and then legislation, that is the appropriate time for public scrutiny and comment.
I love how you correct me for something I didn’t say. I never said he could order them.
You sill making shit up person you. I can only assume in your hurry to be clever – you just had to make shit up.
As for your second lie about National always ignoring it – he states in the link already provided “It’s very rare that my decision is not complied with.”
So I guess it’s all made up.
But hey if he says release it and if labour don’t – then they will deserve the pasting they will get.
Personally how rabid some on here are about it – I reckon you guys are scared about what’s in it.
Did you forget to take Matty H’s instructions today @James?.
I think the RNZ still has a podcast up.
It was Matty H that pointed out (as DtB has above) that Bling and Choice were actually government Ministers at the time of negotiations (and leading them), and as such there is more of an onus on them (if not an equal one) to produce their ‘minutes’
Those docs must not be too flattering given even Hooten is saying the new Govt should not need to release what is effectively a political negotiating document not a public interest one… strange bedfellows on this one.
If pre agreement negotiations are to be released as public interest, the TPP negotiation discussiondocuments must be due soon too?
But like I said we used an Ombudsman in a case and he awarded in our case but the government said they didnt agree with the ombudsmans views and ignored his advise and the ombudsman wrote and said his rulinng is not binding it is only advisory.
Same thinf with Commissioners like the Parliamentary commissioer for the Environment, he ruled in our case but the government ignored his ruling too.
This is national playing games just to spook us and dont take the bait.
When will Bill English release the text messages he sent to Glenys Dickson around the Todd Barclay “debarcle” and those he received from her? Not presenting them for scrutiny is a very bad look, don’t you think, James?
Hi Robert
While you are looking at TS perhaps you would let me know if you ever got a copy of the Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig that was talked about earlier this year? It is a great story, a turn-around on the status quo, by Eugene Trivizas, and inspiring to read to one’s grandkids. I’m interested if you managed to get hold of it.
Hi greywarshark -= thanks for the reminder. I just read it online and enjoyed it for sure. I was reminded of the story of Ferdinand the Bull – do you know it? Flowers feature there too, and peacefulness 🙂 This link is to the 1938 Disney version which is very good, imo.
As this is such an important issue to you, the transparency of government formation agreements and prior negotiations, can you post a link to the previous 3 coalition notes of negotiations involving the Nats and their coalition parties. I have looked and cannot find them anywhere. Thank you in advance.
Ah but Key also promised greater transparency and honest than the Clark government… there is a recording on youtube of his interview in 2008 with Henry. he probably was lying though, which, apparently, is ok.
Just Water CEO Tony Falkenstein says job hunters failing to show.
“We just cannot get people to even turn up for jobs, let alone apply,” he said.
I understand his feelings. Can he understand the feelings of people who put their heart and soul into applying for job, dream of getting it and how it will change their life then not even hear back from the employer when their application is unsuccessful in their application?
I didn’t hear the interview with Leighton Smith. Since it was with Smith I wouldn’t be surprised if the tenor was one of “lazy a’hole unemployed.” And would be surprised there was any “lazy, unprofessional, a’hole employers.”
Unfortunately Leighton Smith is not retiring until the end of next year (2018) not this year/month. Kerre McIvor will be taking over from him in 2019 under current plans.
God that is awful. You wonder what possesses people to do these things sometimes. I know life in Somalia is no garden of eden existence – and brutality is almost everywhere – but even so.
We need to ignore all the side issues like Ombudsman crap, and the bulllshit press stuff.
We need to concentrate on our task to assist labour to make the right desisions here, and now we need to tell them to rush their good policies for us through under urgency.
We need to strongly tell labour we are not interested in their TPP 11 (or whatever it is called for now) – and tell them not sign that abortion right now until we all agree to the terms that benefit us and our rights first.
And even that is a mere tickle to an itchy scratch on the surface.
As you said @JC yesterday: INZ need a rocket.
I’m holding my breathe because I’m hoping Iain Lees-Galloway is up to it.
So far I think he is, and I’m hoping he’s aware of the potential for his ‘officials’ to spin and bullshit like never before – and that some of them have become so used to it, they’ll do it straight-faced.
‘This piece is about one of the biggest taboos of our times. About a truth that is seldom acknowledged, and yet – on reflection – cannot be denied. The truth that we are living in an inverse welfare state.
These days, politicians from the left to the right assume that most wealth is created at the top. By the visionaries, by the job creators, and by the people who have “made it”. By the go-getters oozing talent and entrepreneurialism that are helping to advance the whole world…..’
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
‘Why does the media give these voices so much air’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/345304/why-does-the-media-give-these-voices-so-much-air
Good Morning Ed,
Yes this drivile is disturbing when we dont see our regional news reported any more except if you are an auckland resident eh?
HB/Gisborne does not even have a RNZ reporter after two years now so we are largely ignored down here, and this is so very disturbing when now we have a labour lead government who needs to get the issues outnthere to sell their new ‘regional policies’ and why our rail is now so vitial to our regions export potential else we will just conitue to wither and die.
Come on Labour!!!!!!!!! – bring back a ‘true regional TV seven type channel’ “publc affairs” media for the public benefits of having a voice finally again.
Many thanks to Shane Jones for his idea of work for the dole. I would rename it as that is not a appealing name and the goal is to make this idea appealing to our youth for this to work. Yes there will be training need I say have a career map for these people driving licence right up to class 5 digger operators ECT and a pathway to the forestry harvesting as these jobs in forestry are hard work and one does not want to be doing these jobs when the gray hair STARTS to show I don’t think that punishing our youth who can work is the right way to make this successfull. What will make this successful will be to make it appealing to our youth so they all want to join this venture. Getting to work in the forestry one gets picked up and dropped of at ones house. If it is really successful no other government will scrap it. As what has happened in the past pep scheme.
Happy birthday Hillary. Ka pai
100% eco maori;
Spot on there.
Nothing wrong with work for wages.
Yes there is. It’s called wage slavery and is an affront to human dignity.
Is this like Golriz Ghahramen, where unless every statement about employment specifically condemns wage-slavery, the author must be a wage-slavery denier?
In the SME where I do some part time hours, alongside my boss, who gets paid less than me (I know this because I do the accounts), I’m quite happy to do a bit of work for someone else.
Meanwhile, the point about work-for-the-dole was what again?
Presumably you endorse the idea of people being coerced into work if a wage is paid. I don’t.
In the interview given by Jacinda Ardern she was pretty clear (in spite of her general penchant to waffle herself away from making any definitive statements) that WINZ sanctions would remain in place and apply to those presented with the scheme.
edit – (from about 2:58 through 3:06) http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018624024
I endorse no such thing. When in doubt, ask.
Carmel Sepuloni has specific responsibility for that portfolio:
Labour to ditch sanctions that ‘punished’ mothers…
But Shane Jones runs his mouth therefore the NZLP and Minister Sepuloni must do as he says? Pfft.
At present, if you are claiming unemployment benefit and turn down work that WINZ deems “suitable”, you are sanctioned (ie – you lose money). Those sanctions will remain and apply to those who are offered placement on the “Ready for Work” (or whatever it’s called) scheme.
Ditching the sanction that kicked in around unnamed fathers isn’t in any way related to work readiness sanctions.
Sure. If the “very serious changes that are going to be made to the principles of the Social Security Act” are inadequate or discriminatory (and hey, it’s the NZLP so I think that’s ‘possible’), then I intend to beat Labour about the head with them.
I’m still not going to jump to conclusions on the say-so of Guyon Espiner and Shane Jones.
The PM (not Jones or Espinar) made a pretty clear indication that those sanctions that already exist will remain and be applied.
If they were removed, there would be much, much less to prevent workers exercising a bit of power and walking away from bullshit employers to live on the dole until they found a decent employer.
The principle (ie – “mission statement”) can change all it wants. But will that likely amount to much more than “feel good” twattery? Probably not.
Hey. We’ll see. But I have a good collection of 2x4s and you can borrow one when the time comes.
another nail in the coffin there.
so is the tax payer now responsible to pay the wages for private industry in order to entice private industry to hire?
Also, what if the work place one is placed is an abusive work place? Can you leave or will your dole sanctioned? If your work for the dole is a pick up and drop of at your home place job and your boss is abusive how could you leave and get a way? Or do you just have to put up with a bit of abuse, sexual harrasment (as i witnessed this week at a Countdown where a bloke berated a young girl collecting funds for the SPCA until my partner, two security guards and I stepped in and ended up calling the Police!) until your driver comes to get you home? What if your driver is the one who abuses the ‘worker for the dole”.
Also, what if a work place fires their employees – McDo, KFC, etc come to mind – to hire the tax payer funded crew – cause nothing is cheaper then a worker who can’t complain lest he / she ‘gets sanctioned’.
IS that really the only thing this country can come up with to find work places for their young ones, or is this again just another way to show some that you don’t count, and if you complain we ‘take away your ‘dole’.
There is so much wrong with this scheme its not funny anymore. How about making sure that private businesses start training again for their own needs? Heck in Europe they call this ‘Apprentice program’ not working for the dole. OH, its in the too hard basket. Lets just bash some young people for not having a job rather then bash businesses for not hiring young ones and training them.
Right.
The inner details of Shane Jones’ “thoughts” aren’t worth the effort. Wait and see what changes the government proposes to the Social Security Act.
That will either provide reassurance or solid ammunition.
If I was government….I’d levy a specific tax on large employers and use it to fund dole payments. How long then before unemployment levels “miraculously” hit 5/8ths of f.a. I wonder?
And with full employment, all that power accruing to employees again. What’s not to like about that? 😉
i like your idea. This could actually work.
but yeah, lets provide a tax payer funded workforce to our large employers who otherwise would not hire as it would affect the share holders value or other such bullshit.
I think it’s not an idea that will be getting discussed at “the cabinet table” any time soon 😉
Far easier to keep on throwing society into the chopping blades of commerce for the benefit of the few. It’s a fine arrangement to be sure.
i enjoy working for my wages , cant be bothered running a buiseness and hate being poor
Thank you for pointing that one out.
The dole is for people who can not work due to unemployment, sickness, care for parents/children etc.
Wages are for people who work.
Punishing people for not working comes from the age old (and wrong) idea that people need to be forced to work.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/12/work-for-the-dole-plans-actually-work-for-minimum-wage-ardern.html
PM Ardern clarifies.
“If it goes ahead, the scheme will differ to past ‘work-for-the-dole’ programmes says Ms Ardern, because participants will actually get paid at least the minimum wage.
“The fact there will be a legal wage attached to it distinguishes it from some of those schemes in the past,” she told The AM Show on Monday.”
The release press from Shane Jones announcing the four schemes stated “at least the minimum wage.” Critics missed this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952429
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
Hopefully connected will be the Labour commitment to increasing the minimum wage to being a living wage.
So the Taxpayer will pay the full minimum wage for the staff that private businesses refuse to hire otherwise?
Can we call it ‘getting the dole for not hiring’ ?
Details are needed, but this sounds a lot better than having young people hike around all day leaving their CV’s with employers who wouldn’t hire them anyway.
So now we are funding the employers to hire the people they don’t want to hire cause they would have to pay wages?
Great, how much more taxes can you afford to pay in higher taxes to pay the wages for the local McDo to hire these ‘slaves for the dole”? And of course the dole will be taxed, so the poor slaves fund their own slavery program. Whats not to like ey?
btw, there are a lot of ‘non’ young people that are on the dole. This program will then apply to these too. I am so looking forward to getting served by some 64 year old at the local fast food joint, working for the dole until retirement hits. Yei! Us!
So, um, given that Shane Jones says that in his “thoughts” they’ll be working for at least minimum wage…?
“Yes there will be training need I say have a career map for these people driving licence right up to class 5 digger operators ….”
Like this….?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952639
I don’t normally watch the videos…but this one is seriously worth it.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones wants welfare payments to be cut if beneficiaries refuse to take part in his new Government work programme, which will look to plant trees and build up a railway network for tourists.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952429
I cannot see how Labour and the Greens could agree with this, it’s the complete opposite of what Labour and the Greens are all about.
The fact the NZ First knows this and is still pushing a compulsory work for the dole scheme does rather demonstrate where all the power lies in this government.
Jones stressed that his preference of removing welfare entitlement still needed to be endorsed by Cabinet.
Which demonstrates where all the power lies, and also that BM lies.
Rubber stamping more like.
This compulsory work for the dole scheme no doubt makes up part of that 33-page document of dead rats Ardern refuses to release.
We’ll see. When we do, it will turn out that you have been lying.
BM = always lies.
BM=BuM
Thanks Nick;
In this tense time, you made me laugh thanks for that.
There are plenty of Labour people who would support it.
We are at below 5% in overall unemployment, and we need all hands on deck if we are going to see trees planted.
Government choking off immigration is also going to bring rest home workers into very high demand.
Personally I want to see overall unemployment come down to 3%, and immigration choked, so that employers are forced to pay higher wages. So high that that there’s a much clearer step from benefit to wage and abatement triggers are less needed.
My only caveat to Jones’ policy idea is that I would want both worker and employer to commit to 6 months minimum employment, with an option for a further 6 month rollover.
Unemployment down, NEET numbers down, wages up, security up. productivity up. Yes.
And to train up NZers skills rather than relying upon importing them.
“below 5% in overall unemployment” – is that with, or without, the government’s massaging of unemployment figures to ignore people who aren’t looking for work, people who have insecure casual work, or are otherwise unemployed without being in the official numbers?
Yeah, true that. 0-3% of regular unemployment is pretty much job churn, but with 1hr a week or month counting as “employed”? Who knows.
None of the global entities like the World Bank, OECD, etc use unemployment figures from countries as a measure of unemployment anymore due to the high level of inaccuracy from using erroneous methodology.
BM,
Are you mis-representing the facts yet again here eh BM,
mac1
2.4
4 December 2017
Maci said on 2.4. this;
“Jones will take four projects to Cabinet for his Working For Your Country scheme before Christmas, which will give beneficiaries a chance to work for at least the minimum wage in industries such as tree planting, riparian planting or regional railway development.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952429
So you misrepresented him. as saying ” build up a railway network for tourists.”
So why did you deliberately signal only ‘rail for tourists’ and not freight?
Mac1 said nothing about just for tourists’.
Do you represent the road freight industry?
Suspiously sounds like it.
Just listening to Guyon Espiner interviewing Jacinda. Oh. My. God. By the look of things, the next three years is going to consist of the media spending the entire length of every interview trying to foot trip Jacinda Ardern on a matter of semantics in relation to the coalition so they can triumphantly scream “DIVISION IN THE GOVERNMENT!”
It is a depressing. A cynical obsession with horse racing politics and it seems to be one shared by both the MSM and the National party.
Espiner spent nine years constantly saying “the minister declined our invitation…” Now he can get to talk to the PM, instead of the obsequious toadying we got whenever he interviewed Key we get a hectoring bully splitting hairs over taxonomy. White male syndrome strikes again.
In six months, Espiner will again be droning saying “the minister declined our invitation…” and he’ll probably wonder why.
The reason why will be Jacinda will get sick of lazy yellow journalism playing desperate word games to try and trump up divisions in the government. All we want is an informed journalist politely but firmly asking relevant questions about the pertinent issues of the day.
That seems all to hard for the MSM in NZ these days.
Yes Sancuary,
I saw this also on TV3 with the “hypoventilating” Duncan Garner!!!!
A discussing display he showed with our new PM Jacinda!!!!
It was disturbing also, as Garner was gunning at the last part of the inverview on “The AM show” as garner was hammering the issue of the so called “33 page agreement between Labour and NZF” as he kept saying; are you lying’, are you lying, are you lying” until Jacinda settled him down from having a potential heart attack.
“Give it up Michael” (credit to Vogel bread ad)
Are these ‘anchors’ on drugs or someting?
Reminds me,Vogels bread special today,28c for every second loaf.You buy the first one.
Hi Cleangreen (4.1) … Acting on a complaint (not hard to guess from who that might be), the Ombudsman has been called in, re the release of the Labour/NZF 33 page coalition negotiation agreement.
So it seems when a vindictive, bitter political party is unable to accept it lost the election and get its own way in the future, it will run to a higher power! That particular political party has now resorted to tittle tattling …. scum politics at its worst!
I hope that same political party is forced to release details of its own negotiations!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952737
SO when will the NATZ release their negotiation paper then?
100% mary-a.
Yes nationals agreements with NZF and ACT also it would be fun to see what they signed up to eh?
I think these ‘anchors’ are probably on something called ‘National Party pills’ .
Well said Sanctuary.
Espiner is more interested in petty point scoring than in providing listeners with what should be a more balanced view of the subject. I’m not sure whether his rude, argumentative, interruptive and totally unethical mode is due to strongly political bias or sheer incompetence. Maybe it’s sexist but, as you so rightly say, more time was spent trying to trip Jacinda up rather than on eliciting information.
His interview ( ? ) with the Prime Minister of New Zealand this morning was an absolute disgrace by any standard.
PM Jacinda Adern handled the interview well so Guyon will need to be better prepared if he wishes to ruffle her going by that performance….it appears that the strategy for dealing with opposition promoted dissent within the coalition is to allow a range of views but control the policy…and I think those outside the ‘beltway’ are accepting of that provided it causes no major issues…if they are taking any notice at all, after all its only 20 days until xmas.
“White male syndrome strikes again”
FFS, stop with the knee-jerk racism and sexism. Every time a person happens to be white and male, this bullshit gets spouted without thought.
You’ve got shit dribbling down your chin sanctuary
[“Every time a person happens to be white and male”. No, it’s when behaviours associated with the dominant class are observed they get named (whether that gets over used or not is another matter). Your hyperbole is inflammatory. Please rethink how to express your points here – weka]
What? Are you offended by it? Stop being so PC.
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate 🙂
or sexist
Haven’t seen that personally. Can you please link to an example?
As for “racist”, I’ve seen Bill advance that argument, and make a pretty good case for it. I’m not sure when his view was declared “approved and pure” though.
Nice strawman but. Will you be beating it up yourself or will you let vto have a go too?
Yeah it’s quite an interesting argument, if I recall it correctly. I actually lean towards it, but not to the point of being absolutely convinced, if you know what I mean.
I lean towards it just enough to STFU whenever I feel the urge to yelp “help, help, I’m being oppressed”. Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.
“Because really, my “feeling oppressed” is almost always little more than my expectations, assumptions, and unjustifiable preferences being challenged.”
Well put.
Some groups in our society have a much longer history of oppression than others. Some imagine they are oppressed but confuse it with angry or disappoindte that things are not how they used to be for them.
+100
Plenty here try doxxing by framing commenters as CIS-dominant or white male.
And of course, to show examples of that is to reverse doxx.
Better rather if people make sure they have really good citations before making sweeping group-identity comments, of any kind.
not sure what you are meaning by doxing there but it’s rare for people here to try and out other commenter’s RL IDs, including around gender. It happens occasionally and gets moderated.
Lots of words but fuck all meaning.
@RedLogix,
You’ve said today,
According to the approved and pure ideologies around here vto, only white males can be racist or sexist.
So when you read slightly tedious stuff like ‘white male syndrome’ you just have to harden up and get a sense of humour. Besides it’s what I think is best called a ‘first-world problem’; suck it up mate
You said on October 16,
And out of respect for my fellow authors and moderators, and because this topic clearly causes far too much disruption … I commit to absolutely never saying anything on any gendered topic ever again.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16102017/#comment-1400748
You also reiterated this in the back end on October 16.
weka
You probably misunderstood what RL meant. I have had that problem before, apparently.
+ 1
One day you will have equality mate. Keep up the good fight. Equal pay, pay for voluntary care work, even an honorary seat at the council table is just around the corner for white men.
lol
Touche
VTO, keep standing up against the hypocrisy..
None of it is necessary..
You will likely get abused for standing up and pointing it out
Rise above it..thus showing the way to the hypocrites..
You do not need to rise above it, anyone in the category of white male has had residence in the privileged towers looming over us all for thousands of years. The residence hasn’t changed it’s just people are knocking on the door asking to be let in rather than staying silent as the dogs are loosed.
Nice one.
I didn’t hear the interview and probably won’t listen to it.
Truth be told, almost all political interviews these days are a dance performed by true believers. They may disagree on the exact steps or the precision of the moves, but both interviewer and interviewee are dancing to the exact same tune.
No-one questions ‘Why this music?’, ‘Why this dance?’ ‘What are we doing this for?’
When political ideology becomes as crystalline as it is now, there is nothing much left to discuss or debate. And so we are subjected to word games and opinions on what clothes are worn – all passed off as critical analysis and measures of accountability or what not.
It’s when the crystal shatters under the stress of its own internal forces – that’s when things get interesting. And the crystal always shatters.
And that’s particularly well expressed Bill!
It’s a bit like watching all five days of a test match, absorbing, diverting and sometimes dramatic … but don’t ask ‘what does it all mean’?
Thank you Red. I should probably only ever comment over morning coffee. Things degenerate from here on out 🙂
Bill,
Change of topic, but this one got my attention big time. Look at those crazy sea temp anomalies. Six degC on the West Coast.
What this may suggest is the deep cold oceanic current that surfaces along the Coast may have shut down. That could have big consequences …
Yes Bill that was sheer brilliance expressed there.
So well expressed. Thank you.
Okay. I listened to it.
When someone is being as evasive as Jacinda Ardern is in that interview, what would you have an interviewer do Sanctuary? Accept ambiguity and avoidance as upfront and informative responses?
Many thanks to all the Maori organisation joining together to give us a better say in our future. And To hold the government’s accountable for there actions that have oppressed Maori. We need positive news about Maori we need positive Maori leaders and role models. I bet that if I had the money I could find and shape some one into a Maori superstar music artist. Be proud of OUR Maori culture and heritage. Kia kaha
Barely Sober calls Winston Peters ‘white’ in his latest shock-jock piece.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952064
He’s either being deliberately provocative or ignorant, but probably both.
Barfly soaker.
“He’s either being deliberately provocative or ignorant, but probably both.”
Well that’s all he’s got left in life really.
I’ll be sending him dead flowers, but I’m sure HdPA won’t forget to put roses on his rotting corpse
Eugenie Sage will be very pleased.
Nick Smith has now seen the desirability of something that the Green Party has been proposing.
https://home.greens.org.nz/bills/kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-establishment-bill
I expect that Nick’s bill will be very close to the Green Party proposal.
With a combination of the Green Party votes and those of the National Party we should see the sanctuary implemented when Nick’s bill gets drawn and passed.
Let us hope it comes up very quickly in the ballot.
We have been waiting far to long.
Your concern for the environment is heartwarming. As for Smith’s mischief-making ….
It’s a smart wedge from Smith, and good pressure on Sage to crack a deal.
The 9 year Key-English government was the worst for conservation in generations, with no new national parks formed, catastrophic biosecurity hits, and spectacular falls in wildlife populations whether tree, sea or airborne.
Sage needs to deliver real goods on conservation, and now she gets to draft her own bill on the Kermadecs and pull the rug on Smith by guilting him into supproting the government on his own concept.
It was always National policy.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm-announces-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary
Easy-peasy. Just pass the bill with National and Green support.
If Sage thinks she can do it with her own bill she will have to get Winston to agree and that is not likely to be forthcoming.
He doesn’t have any control over a Private member’s bill though.
Yeah – they were just too arrogant in their implementation of it, and so stuffed it up bigly.
Alwyn – strange how easy-peasy rhymes with sleazy.
And greasy.
Hi Ad, nick smith doesn’t do guilt. He only does Bullshit.
too sad that Nick Smith would not dare to come up with it when National was in power. Cause surely, if it would have protected the environemnt the Greens would have even then supported the policy. OH, but this is not about the environment?
It was always National Party policy.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm-announces-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary
The problem they had was that they couldn’t get Maori Party support and that made it impractical as it would have disrupted the Government.
That is no longer a problem of course so that National can go back to do what they had always wanted.
I’m sure that the Green Party will support it. We have been told that they have the ability to support things they are strongly for without being affected by anything like Cabinet collective responsibility as they don’t have any Cabinet members.
Won’t be any problem there then and there needn’t be any problems like National had.
The problem they had was that they couldn’t get Maori Party support…
They couldn’t get Maori Party support for unilaterally removing part of a Treaty settlement? Gosh, I wonder why that was? What could the Maori Party have had against it? I guess it’s a mystery that will outlast humanity’s time on earth. Those damn Maori!
LOL
There’s such a long distance between National Party policy and Nick Smith’s capacity to deliver anything though, isn’t there Alwyn?
Sage as a fly will not be tempted into Smith’s web .
I’m sure you don’t have to be reminded of the spectacular mess that Smith made of Key’s United Nations grandstanding proposal three years ago?
Sage need only read out loud in Parliament Smith’s record on the matter, for his initiative to be seen for the mere game that it is.
oh my goodness, they could not get their partner to work with them?
bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha National, useless at working with its “partners”.
National, really good at excuses for not getting anything done.
I must be really getting at there egos A they are swarming me with marked cars like water off a ducks back now Ana to kai
Tame and Faitaua: Language Enforcers on the Job!
TVNZ1 Breakfast, Monday 4 December 2017, 8:05 a.m.
The sports news features a remarkable clip of an Italian goalie rushing up during a corner kick and heading in the winner. The goal engenders delight and approval in the studio. Then this happens….
HILLARY BARRY: [enthusiastically] I LOVE soccer when it’s like that!
DANIEL FAITAUA: [playfully stern] Football.
JACK TAME: [smiling, apologetic] Football.
Hillary Barry, bullied into silence, obviously wants to respond but thinks better of it.
…The programme limps on in its uninspired way….
Now, you could safely bet Bill O’Reilly’s monthly whoring budget that neither Faitaua nor Tame actually calls soccer “football” in their normal off-camera conversations, and you could also safely bet that virtually none of their acquaintances does either. Yet this enforced charade continues on TVNZ, the result of a management decree from 2005 that soccer must henceforth be called “football”, in spite of what the plebs in the audience think. This decree is being increasingly abandoned and disrespected—for example, nearly all RNZ National commentators, including newsreaders, call it “soccer” in line with common usage when they are not actually required to read from a script. As Jim Mora complained in 2010: “Do we HAVE to call it ‘football’ now?”
Of one thing we can all be certain: during his time as a U.S. correspondent based in New York, Tame never, ever, ever admonished (playfully or otherwise) any of his American colleagues for saying “soccer”. And you can bet he dutifully called that game “played” with helmets, where most “players” are not allowed to kick the ball, or indeed even TOUCH it, “football”.
More Jack Tame idiocy…
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26082015/#comment-1062913
And Daniel Faitaua, that vacuous lump, should be doing some reading instead of badgering Hillary Barry about nothing….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13102016/#comment-1244029
Has anyone contacted the PM for her thoughts on this important issue?
Could be a major issue for the National Party to beat her with. I note they have nothing else in their armoury, other than attacking young defence lawyers for actually doing their job, and constantly repeating that Jacinda looks like a horse….
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_4_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2091710
I like how its the United States Soccer Federation and that how it’s always soccer there.
I like how in Australia their national soccer team is called the Socceroos.
I like it how when I call that sport “soccer” some people get angsty and want me to call it football. If it was such a foreign word they would’t even know what I was talking about.
I’m still waiting for me to say soccer and the upset listener to fall on the ground and roll around clutching their leg appealing for a penalty!
When Hilary was growing up, and my generation it was soccer. Why? Because Rugby was what people thought of as football and footy, so maybe the youngsters could get a bit of context and a smidge of humility
Both rugby and soccer are football.
Rugby football and Association football.
Rugby and soccer.
Not rocket science.
Doesn’t make your brain hurt.
Wikipedia references explain thus:
The Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA; French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association).
In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). In 1892, after charges of professionalism (compensation of team members) were made against some clubs for paying players for missing work, the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union (NU), was formed. The existing rugby union authorities responded by issuing sanctions against the clubs, players, and officials involved in the new organization. After the schism, the separate clubs were named “rugby league” and “rugby union”.
Ultimately where there is another football code that is dominant e.g. NZ, Ireland, South Africa, Australia then soccer will be used. Where association football is the dominant football game then football will be used.
I suspect that some of the push to convince NZer’s and Australians to use football is based partly around an anti-rugby sentiment, partly around snobbery and anti-Americanism and partly around traditional soccer connotations of being “poofters” etc. The first and second not a good reason, the third I think highly pertinent – changing language can change responses and values.
Alternatively you could just wait for the generations who made such negative connotations about soccer to die off.
Tame is awful.
The comments about the PM on RNZ and the Garner show point to something to recognise.
Every week the PM ‘has to’ appear in as many media spots as possible. She is there to be visible, to be held to account, to be seen to be available and accessible. The world has got to that stage, it’s what the people demand.
Things of import to be discussed of course. What’s of importance? Everything, now it is everything.
Here is the news: I do not need the Prime Minister in my home every day. I learned to turn the radio off when John Key came on zb and Radiosport. He came on so he could be ordinary John in our house, be one of the mates, be reassuring, bat away gentle questions about significant issues and not have to face a grilling about significant contentious issues. I never once heard anyone suggest he was a liar.
He came onto RNZ when it was to his advantage. When it wasn’t, he was ‘unavailable.’
Hosking was Key’s mate. Ardern is not. Ardern is Hosking’s enemy. As much as he was there to make Key look good, he is there to make Ardern look bad. Same as the Richardson fellow (Dick is it?) on Garner’s thing.
But she has to appear, that is New Zealand the Way We Want it.
We’ve had years of lying scumbags, we’ve the spectacle now of those like Simon Bridges being even less rational now than when he was a minister but know they’re all sitting at their tvs and radios hoping for the leg trips and any morsel they can use.
We definately need TVNZ channel even back again now seriously if Labour coalition is to sell its policies to the electorate.
Heres why; National lied then about the lack of popularity of TVNZ Seven then.
Quote; “This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVNZ_7
TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to launch two additional channels.[2] The channel went to air just after 10am on 25 March 2008 with a looped preview reel. The channel was officially launched at noon on 30 March 2008 with a special “kingmaker” political debate held within the Parliament building and featuring most of the elected minor party leaders. The channel went off air at midnight on 30 June 2012 to the Goodnight Kiwi.
It featured TVNZ News Now updates every hour from 6 am–11 pm, with a specialised rolling 10-minute bulletin ‘zone’ between 8 am and 9 am, throughout which six bulletins were aired. TVNZ 7 also featured an hour-long bulletin, TVNZ News at 8, at 8 pm each night. It was hosted on weeknights by Greg Boyed and on weekends by Miriama Kamo.
While it was originally reported to be a ‘rolling news channel’, similar to Sky News and CNN Headline News, Eric Kearley, head of TVNZ’s Digital Launch team, stated about 70% of the schedule would be “factual variety” programming – a mix of local and overseas documentaries, and programmes that discuss current events and sport, with the remaining 30% being the news updates. A full schedule was released on 28 February 2008.
The channel was relaunched on 1 March 2011, taking some programming from TVNZ 6, another Freeview-based digital channel, when TVNZ decided to transform into an interactive broadcast station TVNZ U.
On 6 April 2011, it was officially announced that TVNZ 7 cease broadcast in June 2012.
This was confirmed when Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman stated on behalf of the government that they would not extend further funding for the channel due to low ratings.[3] This was despite viewing figures that suggested half of all households with Freeview at the time were watching TVNZ7 – around 700,000 people – and not the 207,000 claimed by Coleman.[4] In March 2012, Television New Zealand confirmed this decision and announced there would be no eleventh-hour reprieve for TVNZ7.[5]
TVNZ 7 was replaced on 1 July 2012 by TV One Plus 1, a timeshift channel of TV One.
TVNZ7 was starting to get some momentum so of course National had to kill it off.
Yes Grey Area,
You are right, Steven Joyce is NZ equivilent to a dicator who likes to contol the media voices of ‘alternatuive views’.
Other countries like Turkey, China and other free press repressive counties often get bad rap by shutting down public media that questions governments.
But in our case NZ was not challenged by shutting down of the popular TVNZ 7 channel sadly.
So Labour please bring back TVNZ 7 again – for your political platform, and our collective benefit too please.
I wonder what is happening in Turkey as lovely keen experienced determined journalist’s death is being investigated. Yasmine Ryan 34. News says that it is not thought that her death was suspicious. It was a stressful job that she had, someone that does such stuff needs a haven I think to take a break and retreat for a while.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/99478813/memorials-held-for-kiwi-journalist-yasmine-ryan-after-her-death-in-turkey
A GiveALittle page set up by Jacinta Forde, who works at the University of Waikato with Ryan’s father Tom, said he had “left on the first plane to Turkey last night to bring her back home to New Zealand”.
So far more than $11,000 has been raised.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952232
https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/12/04/tribute-to-a-nz-media-mentor-how-yasmine-ryan-taught-me-how-to-write/
Incidentally there has been a memorial day started for journalists who lose their lives while doing their job – it is November 19 each year.
The sad thing is, we have jobs that need filling but society and private businesses don’t want to pay for.
Our infrastructure needs updating, our hospitals need nurses, nurse aids and other carers, same for our elderly homes, our berms need mowing, our streets need cleaning etc etc etc..
We have a severe lack of tradies of all sorts. Instead of throwing out incentives for Businesses to hire apprentices – and pay them a little – we are again putting the blame on unemployed for not finding a job in a society that refuses to hire, train and pay an honest day wage for an honest day of work.
Yeah, let Shane Jones pass judgment on people who are at the lowest step of our society for not finding a job in this ‘rock star’ economy of ours.
+++repost+++
URGENT ATTENTION ALL ANTI-TPPA ACTIVISTS
By Prof Jane Kelsey
“We discovered less than a week ago that MFAT is hosting ‘consultations’ around the country, with David Parker, this week on the TPPA-11. It appeared to be a last-minute decision to do something before Xmas, and somehow they forgot to send invitations to critics who have attended previous ‘consultations’. Presumably the business sector was given priority notice. There is no information on the MFAT website, but we know at least about these:
Dunedin: Monday 4 December, 5:15pm – 7:15pm, Otago Southland Employers Association, 16 McBride Street, South Dunedin: Register now
Auckland: Tuesday 5 December, 6.00 to 7.30pm, Europe House, Auckland University of Technology, 56 Wakefield Street – Register now
Tauranga: Wednesday 6 December, 8:45am – 10:45am: Smart Business Centre, Bay Central Shopping Centre, 65 Chapel Street Register now
Hamilton: Thursday 7 December, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, PWC Building, Level 4, 109 Ward Street Register now
The obvious reaction is WTF? There’s no urgency to do this, as the ministers are apparently not now going to meet during the Buenos Aires WTO ministerial on 10-13 December. That suggests the government has been running focus groups or polling which tells them that people are not buying their spin on the old/new TPPA-11 (please let’s NOT call it the CPTPP). Or that they still hope to get a deal they can settle the remaining four issues and sign in February or March. Consulting now would mean the government could do this, claiming it has consulted, and not try to rush something over January which would create more of an outcry. Then they will have the proper ‘consultation’, when it’s too late to do anything.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/04/urgent-attention-all-anti-tppa-activists/
No wonder business leaders see themselves as messiahs and critics like Kelsey as pariahs… and now the new govt is feeding the same bullshit. Great news everyone. Business as usual but with a smile and an empathetic nod and donation.
Thanks savenz, ; so they are holding secret meetings to get their support to rush the TPP11 (or whatever it’s called for now) WTF @#$%^&*()_
Bloody irresponsible of them to go behind our backs when they said & promised after comming back from Veitnam, they would take time to get the public input!!!!!!!
No No No they lied there!!!!
So start the ball rollimg, we need some finger pointing here now starting with David Parker. Shit they just had the water tax thing blow up in their faces and still are rushing to sign the blooody thing.@#$%^&*(()
Never trust politicians we learned that today here.
sign of the times…
Pollution stops play at Delhi Test match as bowlers struggle to breathe
Sri Lanka say conditions in smog-hit Indian capital left players vomiting, and some of them took to field wearing face masks….
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/pollution-stops-play-at-delhi-test-match-as-bowlers-struggle-to-breathe
Good to see that the 33 pages of a “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development” and “directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”. (according to the depuity PM)
or “notes” according to the PM
has been seen by the Ombudsman and he has written to Jacinda. A response is due in 5 days.
No idea what he said of course – but if he recommends it being released – its going to be a very bad look not to do so.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952737
Not a moment for coy embarrassment from Ardern doing a little defensive dance on semantics.
It can’t be part of the “full and frank” exclusions because they weren’t Ministers yet.
Get it out there.
So James the Natz will or have? released their negotiation notes?
They do need to – its pretty obvious that they are not ministers.
I’d like to see those Nat notes; they’d show how ethical and honest the Party may or may not be. It’d be a great thing if they released their notes, you know, in the spirit of transparency and honesty. National are both of those things, aren’t they? Shouldn’t they show the people of New Zealand just how straight is the bat they play with? Hmmmmm?
How about you write to the Ombudsman and ask him?
He will give a reply and advise – exactly the same as he did to Labour.
I’m confident if they were told to release they would – cannot say the same about Jacinda.
‘Cause National are such honest folk, James? Wouldn’t “forget, misremember, accidentally erase, refuse to speak etc, etc, etc?
You’re right, of course, honest as the day is long, Key’s crew! And Bill! Taken up John’s torch! Protected Toddy the way Key protected him – that’s National; for you – Team All NZ Black (Inc), bro!
As I remember, Billshit when asked if he would release such documents refused to do so because of a confidentiality agreement that applied to all parties negotiating. Strangely enough, Double Dipper Billshit now seems to have forgotten about that confidentiality.
James (14) … and I take it National will also release its negotiation details with Winston Peters/NZF. You know, good enough for one, good enough for the other, even more so if the complaint has come from National.
Why? National isn’t in government, those notes aren’t worth jack.
On the other hand, the NZFirst/Labour notes are because they are in government and what’s in them should be known to the NZ public as they will no doubt be on the receiving end of whatever arrangments are within these notes.
“National isn’t in government
Nor were Labour/greens either while negotiating.
You do realise that this is an awful look for the government and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
For a government that proclaimed they are going to be the most transparent government ever this is just bullshit and undermines their credibility terribly.
Thing is the media won’t let this go, they smell something dodgy and will keep digging away until they get what they want.
Best to release it even if it is embarrassing.
Nope.
They are notes!!!
So where are the NATZ note?
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
There fixed it BM
You say they are notes – But Winston peters calls them “directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”
Who do you think knows best?
Ok lets call them writing on paper!!
So where are the NATZ notes?
You do realise that this is a terrible look for the NATZ and just makes them look shady and that they’re trying to hide unpopular details from the people of NZ.
There fixed it BM
Sorry about double up.
Everything smells dodgy to the media, ‘cept John Key; even his manure smelled of roses, apparently!
tl;dr: David Farrar is so full of shit it’s overflowed into BM.
Official Information Act S9(2)g:
cf: what Boshier says about ‘provocative’ advice.
Thats not the argument that is being made.
I am!!
BM (14.3.1) …
Ah but the Natz were government during the negotiations with Winston Peters weren’t they? So as such, they have some responsibility for releasing their negotiations with NZF. Don’t you think?
In the interests of transparent government of course.
Actually, they’re worth the same as the coalition agreement between NZ1st and Labour and for the same reason.
We should know just what National were offering and why NZ1st said no.
BM “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” 1/ So what do you think?
2/ Is it o/k for James to say that National who want the 33 pages weren’t ministers?
“They do need to – its pretty obvious that they are not ministers.”
Doesn’t make any bloody sense!!!! Take your mate James off the drugs.
again – you seem to be confused.
You know that National do not have to – as they are not ministers you see. The whole good for one is good for the other dosnt work – the government have a whole lot of things that they have to abide my that opposition does not.
Of course that may also be the view of the Ombudsman regarding Labour – time will tell.
BUT if it says they are to be released – Will Jacinda? – or will she go against him.
Official Information Act S9(2)g as cited above. Boshier expands on this in his 9-noon interview.
Indeed. He may recommend that they are released – he may not.
time will tell. But if he does recommend that they are released – its not going to look good for labour if they refuse.
Whereas if he says they shouldn’t be released you will say it’s a bad look for the government.
no. If he says that they should not be released – I will agree that Jacinda was right and that they should not be.
What she actually said is:
Which ties in with what Boshier says about ‘provocative’ advice and ‘blue sky’ discussions: once an idea becomes a policy commitment and then legislation, that is the appropriate time for public scrutiny and comment.
Ans Winston said of the same ‘notes’ that it was a: “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development”
with
“directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”
But I guess its all moot – we just have to wait and see what happens.
But if he says it should be released – do you think that Jacinda should do so?
wrong again James,
Ombudsman cant order anything James only advise. Not a bidding order he has no legal powers silly man.
Labour should do what national always did!! just ignore his ‘advice.’
he was a National stool pigeon anyway.
he will say they should be released, so igniore the advice, & say ‘thanks but no thanks’ just as National always did. Done.
I love how you correct me for something I didn’t say. I never said he could order them.
You sill making shit up person you. I can only assume in your hurry to be clever – you just had to make shit up.
As for your second lie about National always ignoring it – he states in the link already provided “It’s very rare that my decision is not complied with.”
So I guess it’s all made up.
But hey if he says release it and if labour don’t – then they will deserve the pasting they will get.
Personally how rabid some on here are about it – I reckon you guys are scared about what’s in it.
They were ministers at the time that the negotiations happened.
Good point – perhaps you could make your own questions to get them released?
This would apply to National as well, James?
” Winston said of the same ‘notes’ that it was a: “document of precision on various areas of policy commitment and development”
with
“directives to ministers with accountability and media strategies”
My argument would be the same as would my answer.
If they are told to release them – then they should do so.
I can see why that’s hard for you to understand
No james you are without the smarts here.
Ombudsman decision is not binding silly fella.
They told us that the ombudsman is only offered as adviose not binding see the difference here.
Remember national saying “we dont always agree with the………….”
We have our own views.
Labour should say the same thing as this was only a fucking fishing experdition to stymie Labour so they should ignore the national; playing games .
Did you forget to take Matty H’s instructions today @James?.
I think the RNZ still has a podcast up.
It was Matty H that pointed out (as DtB has above) that Bling and Choice were actually government Ministers at the time of negotiations (and leading them), and as such there is more of an onus on them (if not an equal one) to produce their ‘minutes’
In your view.
And I said – if thats the case – they could make a complaint and see what the Ombudsman says about that.
If they are told to release them – then they should do so.
Can you say the same about Labour in this instance?
again, – I think a lot are scared about what is in these “notes”
What about from 2008, 2011 and 2014?
Those docs must not be too flattering given even Hooten is saying the new Govt should not need to release what is effectively a political negotiating document not a public interest one… strange bedfellows on this one.
If pre agreement negotiations are to be released as public interest, the TPP negotiation discussiondocuments must be due soon too?
Good point Tracey,
But like I said we used an Ombudsman in a case and he awarded in our case but the government said they didnt agree with the ombudsmans views and ignored his advise and the ombudsman wrote and said his rulinng is not binding it is only advisory.
Same thinf with Commissioners like the Parliamentary commissioer for the Environment, he ruled in our case but the government ignored his ruling too.
This is national playing games just to spook us and dont take the bait.
When will Bill English release the text messages he sent to Glenys Dickson around the Todd Barclay “debarcle” and those he received from her? Not presenting them for scrutiny is a very bad look, don’t you think, James?
Or the TPP negotiation notes and briefings… they must be released too?
Hi Robert
While you are looking at TS perhaps you would let me know if you ever got a copy of the Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig that was talked about earlier this year? It is a great story, a turn-around on the status quo, by Eugene Trivizas, and inspiring to read to one’s grandkids. I’m interested if you managed to get hold of it.
Hi greywarshark -= thanks for the reminder. I just read it online and enjoyed it for sure. I was reminded of the story of Ferdinand the Bull – do you know it? Flowers feature there too, and peacefulness 🙂 This link is to the 1938 Disney version which is very good, imo.
Dang I forgot everything is on line. Will have to go out and smell the flowers.
As this is such an important issue to you, the transparency of government formation agreements and prior negotiations, can you post a link to the previous 3 coalition notes of negotiations involving the Nats and their coalition parties. I have looked and cannot find them anywhere. Thank you in advance.
Cue cries of “Yeah but Labour promised transparency! It’s the hypocrisy I’m wringing my hands and concern-trolling you over…”
Ah but Key also promised greater transparency and honest than the Clark government… there is a recording on youtube of his interview in 2008 with Henry. he probably was lying though, which, apparently, is ok.
Hey, no-one ever accused right-wing trolls of having integrity…
tracey
I believe that your comment in 14.5 above is directed at James who began this thread at 14. Is that correct?
Yes, apologies for confusion
Just Water CEO Tony Falkenstein says job hunters failing to show.
“We just cannot get people to even turn up for jobs, let alone apply,” he said.
I understand his feelings. Can he understand the feelings of people who put their heart and soul into applying for job, dream of getting it and how it will change their life then not even hear back from the employer when their application is unsuccessful in their application?
I didn’t hear the interview with Leighton Smith. Since it was with Smith I wouldn’t be surprised if the tenor was one of “lazy a’hole unemployed.” And would be surprised there was any “lazy, unprofessional, a’hole employers.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11952703
Smith is retiring this month. A woman will take is place. Forgotten her name.
Unfortunately Leighton Smith is not retiring until the end of next year (2018) not this year/month. Kerre McIvor will be taking over from him in 2019 under current plans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11952746
Well, the swimming pool ain’t getting any deeper.
Hosking.
A rent a gob for fascist interests.
This is fucking awful. The death toll from the October truck bombings in Mogadishu has topped 500, with dozens of people still missing.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/02/567985077/mogadishu-truck-bombs-death-toll-now-tops-500-probe-committee-says?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
God that is awful. You wonder what possesses people to do these things sometimes. I know life in Somalia is no garden of eden existence – and brutality is almost everywhere – but even so.
I don’t think they are possessed but rather they’re lacking something …
We need to ignore all the side issues like Ombudsman crap, and the bulllshit press stuff.
We need to concentrate on our task to assist labour to make the right desisions here, and now we need to tell them to rush their good policies for us through under urgency.
We need to strongly tell labour we are not interested in their TPP 11 (or whatever it is called for now) – and tell them not sign that abortion right now until we all agree to the terms that benefit us and our rights first.
@The Chairman and @JC – because today’s open mike can so easily become yesterday’s fish and chip wrapper,
the conversation begun yesterday from here https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03-12-2017/#comment-1421812, down,
and with reference to the latest Newsroom/Stuff effort:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99530117/immigrants-like-slaves-under-broken-system
And even that is a mere tickle to an itchy scratch on the surface.
As you said @JC yesterday: INZ need a rocket.
I’m holding my breathe because I’m hoping Iain Lees-Galloway is up to it.
So far I think he is, and I’m hoping he’s aware of the potential for his ‘officials’ to spin and bullshit like never before – and that some of them have become so used to it, they’ll do it straight-faced.
Why Society’s Biggest Freeloaders Are at the Top
‘This piece is about one of the biggest taboos of our times. About a truth that is seldom acknowledged, and yet – on reflection – cannot be denied. The truth that we are living in an inverse welfare state.
These days, politicians from the left to the right assume that most wealth is created at the top. By the visionaries, by the job creators, and by the people who have “made it”. By the go-getters oozing talent and entrepreneurialism that are helping to advance the whole world…..’
http://evonomics.com/no-wealth-isnt-created-top-devoured-rutger-bregman/