Open mike 04/03/2014

130 comments on “Open mike 04/03/2014 ”

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1. Morrissey 1

   4 March 2014 at 7:08 am

   Britain’s state broadcaster doesn’t even pretend to be impartial or fair;
   Parrots British government line; refrains from asking the obvious question

   Bridget Kendall, BBC ‘diplomatic’ correspondent, had a segment on BBC Weekend News on BBC One last night in which William Hague said:

   ‘We have to recognise the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine has been violated, and this cannot be a way to conduct international affairs.’

   For a senior BBC reporter not to make any reference to Iraq, or to point out the sheer hypocrisy of Hague’s statement, tells you all you need to know about the BBC’s propaganda role.

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03w65x1/BBC_Weekend_News_02_03_2014/

   (At about 6:55)

   http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1393837629.html
2. phillip ure 2

   4 March 2014 at 7:21 am

   accurate comment on ukraine-crisis..

   ..’the eu flag is just a rag in the wind’…

   phillip ure..
   • phillip ure 2.1

     4 March 2014 at 7:49 am

     this could be the first ‘economic-war’…

     ..in that economic-boycotting/sanctions/expulsion from g8 etc.are the only tools to hand to stop/oppose putin..

     ..aside from the horrors of a full-scale invasion/war..

     ..so i’m picking we will see just how powerful that eu economic-muscle is..as a tool of war..

     ..and that merkel will be taking the role usually assigned to the american president..

     ..with obama/america reduced to spear-carrier/waving impotently from the sidelines..

     ..phillip ure..
     • Aww 2.1.1

       4 March 2014 at 9:13 am

       The first economic war began years ago, China vs USA. China has won the war but the USA is distributing mass propaganda in an effort to convince the masses and the rest of the world that everything is as it was….

       And the masses chanted, “U S A! U S A! U S A ! ……..”
       • phillip ure 2.1.1.1

         4 March 2014 at 9:31 am

         and of course boycotts etc have been used..previously..

         ..(with the oil-blockade on japan by america..leaving them with just three weeks fuel left when they attacked pearl harbour..as perhaps the least known/most-unsung uses of that tool..)

         ..what i am saying..is that for the first time..in a major european conflict..

         ..economic weapons are all the west really has to hand..

         ..so what we will see..is just how effective this weapon of bloodless-war will be..

         ..i am picking it will be quite effective..

         ..i’m not saying the russians will withdraw from crimea..

         ..but if europe/america put their minds to it..

         ..they can d real da,mage to putin/russia..

         .without rattling a sabre/firing a shot..

         ..phillip ure..
       • Populuxe1 2.1.1.2

         4 March 2014 at 5:30 pm

         If you had to choose between the two, where would you rather live?
3. Ennui 3

   4 March 2014 at 7:39 am

   If you ever wanted proof of what we already knew, that we are a loyal client state of the US, you had to go no further than watch the news last night. There the man from Merrill Lynch (whom we might remind people produce nothing) apeing his American masters in roundly condemning Russia for doing what the US routinely does in places like Iraq (i.e destabilize then invade on some spurious pretense). And the local “sovereign government” of NZ calling in the Russian diplomats for the ritual toweling.

   It used to be where Britain went, New Zealand follows. And quite naturally for half a century where the US went we too followed (we were after all in their debt over their defense of the Pacific versus Imperial Japan). Now where to? The US has displayed a remarkable similarity to ancient Rome when the Republic morphed into a perverted and corrupt Empire then imploded as it over reached its capacity.

   I would suggest we are now deeply in the shit if we follow the US lead so blindly, there are emerging super powers in China and India, there is a resurgent Russia and the emergence of Brazil as an economic player. All of these states wont thank NZ in diplomatic and trade terms for being a US acolyte. This may be the lasting legacy of Shonkey, a man with no sense of history but blind faith in his outdated world view, a New Zealand with a tattered reputation for being an unprincipled lackey. Who will want to do business with us?

   Can Labour and he Left do better? Given that the propaganda war for the minds of the voters is predetermined in favour of the US it would probably pay to stay quiet on this one. Any neutrality based, or anti US / Euro position would probably be taken by the voters as negatively as pro Russian. A principled stand can wait till post election when the .propaganda war can be reversed from above.
   • Tim 3.1

     4 March 2014 at 8:46 am

     +1
     At least stay quiet until a little more is known. (E.g. the impending referendum in Crimea – if it happens). You’re correct – the philistine may well be leading us to being deeply in the shit.
     Key sees it as just another ‘trade’
   • karol 3.2

     4 March 2014 at 8:47 am

     My thoughts exactly when I saw Key on the news with his big US of A government suck-up.
   • Tracey 3.3

     4 March 2014 at 10:21 am

     It must be important cos merrill says it might stop a FTA… that’s money folks, so Merrill must mean business.
4. Pasupial 4

   4 March 2014 at 8:09 am

   Leg-irons from our own 2 Years a Slave history to be sold at auction:

   “Maori prisoners were taken from Taranaki and forced to labour in Dunedin between 1869 and 1871 and helped build the Andersons Bay causeway and road. It was unknown if Maori political prisoners were restrained with leg irons in Dunedin caves.There is evidence they were in the caves… held, without trial, in places like that so it is a bit insensitive to be selling them without giving the opportunity to be purchased and housed in the country.”

   http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/293800/leg-irons-removed-cave-auction
   • McFlock 4.1

     4 March 2014 at 1:45 pm

     Not his to sell, surely?
     • Pasupial 4.1.1

       4 March 2014 at 2:35 pm

       McFlock

       They wouldn’t now exist if not preserved by the finder:

       “He and his late brother had used a hacksaw to remove the hand-forged leg irons from a cave in Portobello Rd in the early 1970s. The cave had at that time housed many wrist and foot shackles but the rest had ”rotted away”. Mr McCormack said he had worked at the Hillside Engineering Workshops and used its furnace to preserve the leg irons, which appeared to date from the early 1800s.”

       Hope they go to the Museum.
       • McFlock 4.1.1.1

         4 March 2014 at 2:53 pm

         maybe so.
         Still not his, though.
       • Murray Olsen 4.1.1.2

         5 March 2014 at 2:23 am

         I think it’s quite possible they are fakes. There is a comment about that with the ODT article. In any case, they should go to the descendents of the Parihaka Maori to decide what to do with them.
5. travellerev 5

   4 March 2014 at 8:10 am

   War in the Ukraine, NATO And New Zealand. Yes, They Are Connected.
   • Populuxe1 5.1

     4 March 2014 at 6:20 pm

     By chemtrails and misplaced sympathy for Vlad the Impaler?
6. bad12 6

   4 March 2014 at 8:36 am

   Dita De Boni, a Herald business columnist must have struck a chord among the ‘wing-nuts’ with a recent column advocating the State should build its own supermarket chain so as to provide ‘real competition’ judging from what She says the reaction was in comments to that piece,

   To be found buried in the pages of the Herald online, first click on ‘business’ and then ‘economy’ in the menu box, Her reply to the flood of abuse She received is a wee bit of giggle,

   Totally agree with Her about the best means of providing ‘real competition’ among the current duopoly comfortably run by the big two being a Government owned supermarket chain,

   You all can bet, should such a competitor be established with a mission to provide us all with lower prices across the board, the ‘wing-nuts’ abusing De Boni over Her advocacy of the Government doing this would all be shopping there en masse…
   • Draco T Bastard 6.1

     4 March 2014 at 3:44 pm

     While complaining that the government shouldn’t run a business.
7. travellerev 7

   4 March 2014 at 8:52 am

   So why is Jewish John Key Supporting A Neo-Nazi Anti-Semite Unelected Oligarchy?

   Reports from Kiev confirm that the Jewish community is the target of the Right Sector and the Neo-Nazi Svoboda party, which is supported and financed through various channels by Washington and Brussels:

   “Ukrainian Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman asked Kiev Jews to leave the city and, if possible, the country, due to fears that Jews might be targeted [by Svoboda Brown Shirts] in the ongoing chaos. … Some Jewish shops have been vandalized and other threats to the Jewish community have been received.”
   • Te Reo Putake 7.1

     4 March 2014 at 10:45 am

     Coz the religious background of a non-practising Jew is completely irrelevant? And coz he’s not supporting “A Neo-Nazi Anti-Semite Unelected Oligarchy?” anyway, coz it doesn’t exist?
     • Ennui 7.1.1

       4 March 2014 at 12:04 pm

       Yeah, that might explain an event that left me in spitting rage at Keys hypocrisy. It was in Sri Lanka where some Tamils fleeing for their life begged Key for refugee status in NZ. He deftly sidestepped the issue, he looked concerned for the camera, but we were not fooled. He did not care.

       That from a man whose own Jewish mother gained shelter from the N*zi ethnic cleansers, who if refuge in NZ had not been extended would most likely have ended up dead. I have only contempt for that heartless monster.
       • Tim 7.1.1.1

         4 March 2014 at 12:25 pm

         Unfortunately Ennui, that hypocrisy and double standard won’t even have dawned on him.
       • Tim 7.1.1.2

         4 March 2014 at 12:25 pm

         Unfortunately Ennui, that hypocrisy and double standard won’t even have dawned on him.
     • Ad 7.1.2

       4 March 2014 at 12:14 pm

       Salon is sympathetic here.

       http://www.salon.com/2014/03/03/just_dont_mention_the_wars_john_kerrys_stunning_hypocrisy_over_ukraine/

       Question in my mind is why the EU is playing such a “come here, come here, go away” courtship. Have they discovered the size of the bailout either they or the IMF will have to fork to keep the Ukraine from going to Russia to solve its rapidly-arriving economic disaster?
   • Populuxe1 7.2

     4 March 2014 at 6:24 pm

     Ah good. I always suspected you were a raving anti-semitic lunatic. Glad it’s all out in the open now.
     Interestingly the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a forgery concocted by Russian Secret Police (Pootie’s spiritual collegues) between 1897 and 1903.
     • Morrissey 7.2.1

       4 March 2014 at 8:20 pm

       Good to see you speaking out against evil and deluded propagandists, my friend! Even though, unlike the ones you recently supported, they are all well and truly dead and buried.

       Back when you were participating in the official campaign of canards aimed at Julian Assange and other truth-tellers, you were one of the most assiduous, not to mention brutally shameless, purveyors of scurrilous lies. It’s encouraging to see you now speaking out so plainly against that earlier official fantasy. No matter that your observations are plainly redundant; it’s the thought that counts.

       Even if the observations are banal truisms about something that happened more than a century ago, your conversion really is good news. I have always felt that, had you been living in Russia one hundred and ten years or so ago, you would have promoted the Protocols as cynically as you promoted the crude concoctions of those fantasists in the British and Swedish security establishment.

       But your impassioned posting shows that perhaps there is hope for you yet. Vinceremos!
     • felix 7.2.2

       4 March 2014 at 9:49 pm

       Hi Pop. Where’s the anti-semitism in travellerev’s comment?
       • Populuxe1 7.2.2.1

         5 March 2014 at 4:57 pm

         If someone doesn’t identify as Jewish, to make an issue of their Jewishness is antisemitic.
         Ev’s ravings about a Rothschild-controlled global banking conspiracy, of which Key is supposedly part, also stinks of antisemitism rather than good old-fashioned greed and corruption. Key’s “Jewishness” is totally irrellevant.

         Though perhaps Ev might like to explain why Brussels and Washington, which according to her are controlled by Jewish banking conspiracies, would be funding neo-Nazis to attack Jews. Svoboda is bad, but most of it comes from homegrown Eastern European nationalist/populist antisemitism.
       • Morrissey 7.2.2.2

         5 March 2014 at 5:34 pm

         Where’s the anti-semitism in travellerev’s comment?

         The Rev has a go at the Prime Minister, who he labels as “Jewish John Key”.

         You can see nothing provocative or unpleasant about that? You really are utterly clueless.
8. bad12 8

   4 March 2014 at 9:03 am

   Simon Bridges is overseas and unable to comment, a spokesperson for His office replying to Green Party claims that power prices are out of control said,”competition is the best means of providing lower prices in the electricity market, today there is more competition in the market than there has ever been”,

   my first thought on hearing that was ‘do they have many of them staffing offices downtown at the Parliament, Robots that is,???,

   Obviously, if there is more competition in the electricity market than there has ever been and prices are still going up when according to the spokesperson from Bridges office the reverse MUST be the case, then the only conclusion to be reached is that we are not suffering under free market pricing we are suffering under Cartel fixed pricing of electricity,

   The free market model for electricity supply is obviously not only BROKEN at the point of sale from the Generators, the free market model is also obviously BROKEN at the point of sale from the retailers,

   This can be fixed, a Labour/Green Government has already indicated that there will be a ‘single desk’ buyer of wholesale electricity run by that Labour/Green Government, good move,

   My opinion tho says that to provide ‘real competition’ across the market the Labour/Green Government MUST establish an electricity retailer as a matter of urgency, along with the establishment of the single desk wholesale buyer…
   • David H 8.1

     4 March 2014 at 9:44 am

     And you can tell that Genesis is on the block as out comes an immediate price increase Fuck them and the horse they rode in on. Genesis used to be good but time to bail methinks. Anyone know of a good (reputable) NZ owned power company to change to? Oh and don’t say use the whatsmynumber crud site I prefer to go on word of mouth.
     • bad12 8.1.1

       4 March 2014 at 10:39 am

       Have a look at PowerShop, its an online seller and while they raised prices yesterday i will stick with them as they offer a range of specials which keeps my costs down, there’s a monthly special on the first of every month and by having a quick look every afternoon there are irregular specials that you can hook into,

       You can choose to have your meter read once a year and i give them two readings via internet every week,

       The 2 cent rise in my power price yesterday might simply be a reflection of my usage which has dropped recently as i have switched to being fully vege/fish as the diet which means no more yummy roasts but less power usage,

       Their current cheapest rate for power packs is 30 odd cents a unit which includes the GST and lines charges which should give you an idea if switching to them would be cost effective for you…
9. Bob 9

   4 March 2014 at 9:09 am

   Is there a reason that the graph showing the number of A-Bombs accummulated in the climate on this site shows almost 1,000,000,000 more than the graph on the http://www.skepticalscience.com/ site that I seem to be directed too quite often by commentators here? Or is the science just not settled on this?

   [lprent: Obvious that you’ll never be particularly good at real science. The pseudoscience of the unobservant and unthinking “skeptics” definitely seems to be your style.

   Please look at the date. When I put it on our site I chose to start from when I started my earth sciences degree in 1979 rather than the default starting year. The one at SkS starts from some other date. I’m surprised that you didn’t pick up that clear statement “…since 1979.”, or the years on the X scale. It isn’t like it was hidden. You appear to be just another silly “skeptic” who was unable to read scales on graphs. Next thing I know you’ll be wandering off creating a new myth and calling it “science”.

   BTW: Talking about unobservant. Haven’t you noticed that I tend to double up bans on people who cause me work while banned. I’m tired of killing your moronic assertions out of spam. Consider this your warning and count yourself lucky that I didn’t just add +4 weeks, +8 weeks for your two comments today. ]
10. bad12 10

    4 March 2014 at 9:10 am

    The Green Party’s Dr Russell Norman is being interviewed on RadioNZ Nine to Noon, about now…
    • Ron 10.1

      4 March 2014 at 9:56 am

      Fine interview. It’s time someone stated clearly what living in a Democratic Society should be.
      As stated before if Dr. Norman requires funds to fight a defamation case I will be more than willing to contribute and LPRENT as stated he will do something on this site to enable people to contribute should it be needed.
      Hopefully everyone that comments on here would feel inclined to contribute regardless of your political allegiances.
    • Aww 10.2

      4 March 2014 at 10:03 am

      Link now up:

      http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20140304-0909-russel_norman-048.mp3
      • Ant 10.2.1

        4 March 2014 at 10:29 am

        Cripes, what’s with the constant questioning on coalitions and trying to provoke a ruling in/ruling out gotcha? What a useless interview…
        • phillip ure 10.2.1.1

          4 March 2014 at 11:30 am

          “..What a useless interview…”

          aye..!

          ..i find it quite astonishing how you can walk away from an interview from the likes of ryan/gower..

          ..with the sum of yr human-knowledge increased not a whit..

          phillip ure..
      • xtasy 10.2.2

        4 March 2014 at 12:35 pm

        Aww – Sorry, I did not see this, I put another audio link up further down, also for the other, earlier interviews with David Cunliffe and John Key.
11. phillip ure 11

    4 March 2014 at 9:10 am

    longform interview of russel norman..on nat-rad..now..

    ..phillip ure..
12. travellerev 12

    4 March 2014 at 9:36 am

    Fuck Europe Plus $ 5 Billion And John Key Wants Putin To Back Off?
    • David H 12.1

      4 March 2014 at 9:46 am

      As if Putin is going to listen to Obama’s favourite arse kisser and Lapdog.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11213328
      What a tosser, and notice the Dead eyed photo?
      • travellerev 12.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 9:56 am

        And bankster 😆
      • Tracey 12.1.2

        4 March 2014 at 10:26 am

        Kevin Spacey in House of Cards has the dead eye and charm down pat… I watch it and apart from the non mangled diction it could be our leader.
13. Scott 13

    4 March 2014 at 10:10 am

    The brilliant Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years a Slave has won this year’s Oscar, but how many of the Kiwis going to see the film realise that slavery was endemic in the nineteenth century Pacific, as well as in America, and that ni-Vanuatu slaves were once put to work in the flax mills of Auckland? I posted some research notes and links to historical sources on this subject a couple of years back: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/new-zealands-slaving-history.html
    It’d be good if the interest in slavery occasioned by McQueen’s film was reflected in increased awareness of the Pacific slave trade of the 19th C…
    • Tracey 13.1

      4 March 2014 at 10:27 am

      or that there are many ways to be a slave and not all chains are visible… working 36 hours a week on $14.50 is just one of them.
      • Draco T Bastard 13.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 3:56 pm

        +1

        When you have no option but to work for someone else then working is slavery.
    • Molly 13.2

      4 March 2014 at 10:47 am

      Visited your link, and as always enjoyed the post.

      Disappointed to say I have heard of the use of the word Nigger to refer to Maori in just the last six months.

      Not in a drunken tirade against the world, but in a professional local government context by a submitter. It always surprises me how casual some hateful prejudices are.
    • vto 13.3

      4 March 2014 at 10:50 am

      ” how many of the Kiwis going to see the film realise that slavery was endemic in the nineteenth century Pacific”

      Virtually none I would surmise. One branch of our own ancestry had involvement in this – still hidden / ignored today. Curiously, another branch of our ancestry suffered on the other end of the slavery stick. And yet another suffered similar oppressive acts in another part of the planet.

      New Zealand needs to stand up and acknowledge this. I am sure the communities in the southwest pacific will still be keenly aware of what was done to them.

      And of course not much has changed today in NZ as it is cheaper to pay the minimum wage than to keep a slave.

      New Zealand – a slave-keepers nation.
    • phillip ure 13.4

      4 March 2014 at 11:32 am

      thanks 4 that scott..

      ..i didn’t know that..

      ..phillip ure..
14. Tracey 14

    4 March 2014 at 10:25 am

    Why don’t opposition take National’s memes and turn them back on them using them as often and as meaninglessly to dilute them.

    I suggest there are many ways one can work “tricky” into a question about anything to do with Key, Brownlee, Joyce, Parata, Collins or anything at all.

    Second question

    How much does a full page in the Herald cost?

    What about rasing money for a full page headed up.

    Are you a Fool?

    Take this test to see if you are fool or genius

    and do a piece using selected parts of BLiP’s work in two columns…

    NO ONE will resist reading it…

    Finish with

    Fool you once shame on Key, fool you twice, vote him OUT.
    • Molly 14.1

      4 March 2014 at 10:58 am

      The use of the word “tricky” – obviously selected for it’s connotations of shadiness, rather than actual accusations – seems a peculiar one for National to promote.

      For me, it has an innate vulnerability in that is contains the “Key” that has been used continuously over the last five years:
      I’m a Key person, The Key points on this debate etc. The Herald has headlined the word Key continuously since John Key became PM.

      Surely a better wordsmith than me can find someway to flip this back to National – showing John Key being the one tric-key pony that he is.

      … see what I mean about needing help?
      • Ant 14.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 4:06 pm

        Tricky seems a bit too clunky to ever stick properly, they’ll still try to force that meme until the cows come home but I don’t think it’s much for Labour to worry about.

        It’s just not in most New Zealander’s vernacular.
15. bad12 15

    4 March 2014 at 10:27 am

    ”Pig-Headed”, so says Herald Economic’s Editor Brian Fallow on Slippery the Prime Minister’s refusal to entertain raising the age of entitlement for Superannuation,

    Fallow, thankfully usually buried amid the Economis news in the Herald online, if there were to be an award for being the dullest bulb in the chandelier of Herald commenters and writers, would provide in my opinion strong competition to the more widely read John Armstrong infamous for what appears to be an ability to write copy for the Herald while being in a legally verifiable comatose state,

    i hate to agree with Slippery the PM on anything, but, on the age of entitlement debate i find i have no other option, while not for a minute do i see Slippery’s reluctance to address this question as a matter of having arrived at this decision via a careful consideration of the economic issues, what Slippery sees, as i do, is that should He touch the entitlement age the cohort of staunch ‘Blue Rinser’s’ would depart National taking Slippery’s majority with them,

    i know we have given the Superannuation issue quite a thrashing here at the Standard in recent weeks, but, in my mind this is the one issue that will probably determine whether there is a Labour/Green government after the 2014 election, so i am going to be ‘bad’ and give this another airing,

    Here’s ACTS,(and i assume Labour’s), ‘reasoning’ for wanting to raise the age of entitlement,and, below it the numbers that say it is all Bullshit, simple unadultered Bullshit,

    ”Since 1980 the number of people over the age of 65 has doubled. StatisticsNZ predicts this age group will double again by 2036. In that time the cost of NZ Super is projected to increase from 9 billion dollars a year to 20 billion dollars a year”
    http://www.act.org.nz/q=posts/topic/supernnuation

    Scary right,???all this doubling of numbers and doubling of costs, how the hell will we ever manage,???

    i repeat,Bullshit, simply unadultered Bullshit, here’s the GDP numbers, and, all the while ask yourself ”if the numbers and therefor the cost doubled between 1980 and today, then how did we afford that”???,

    GDP in 1980 =$22,976 millions, GDP in 2012 =$208,688 millions, that’s a GDP growth of approx $186,000 millions in the 32 years since 1980,

    Add that $186,000 millions of growth as the only rational GDP growth projection we have as a data set to the 32 years going forward to 2034 and we reach GDP of approx $394,500 millions in the year 2034,

    Is Superannuation affordable today, as i havn’t seen anyone crying that it is not affordable then i must conclude that Yes superannuation is affordable today just as it will be in 2034 because as you see across the ‘Whole of Government spend’ the numbers simply double, so while the numbers of those aged 65 will have doubled by 2034 and the spend on them for Super will have also doubled, along with that GDP will have doubled and the Government revenue from that GDP will have doubled,

    Crisis, what Crisis, anyone with an eye for numbers will see that my figures do not quite show that doubling of GDP between 2012 and 2034, there is in fact a ‘gap’ of some $14,000 million dollars across that 32 year time frame, remember that $14,000 million gap in the GDP forecast from which we are calculating is an all of GDP gap,

    The Government share of that gap across 32 years equates to roughly 30% of it or a total of $4.6 billion dollars spread across the whole of Government spend over a 32 year period, included in that of course is a miniscule shortfall in what would be needed to fund Super payments across 32 years,(i could piss more into a bucket in ten seconds than what that amounts to,

    And then along come the Cullen super fund,at a current worth of 24 billion dollars it more than plugs the shortfall in the ‘whole of Government spend’ across that 32 year period based upon projected GDP figures…
    • Ad 15.1

      4 March 2014 at 12:36 pm

      The principle reason I don’t support raising the NZSuper age of entitlement again – at least for a good while – is that the current age threshold serves the poor the most. Those with lower lifespans tend in New Zealand to be poor, chronically sick, and are over-represented as Maori.
      Superannuation is social welfare. It should serve those who need it the most.
      • bad12 15.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 8:16 pm

        Yep Ad, you address the societal issues as i have addressed the monetary one in the above comment, the Politics of this policy also make it look totally DUMB,

        Phill Goff campaigned on raising the age of entitlement in 2011, should Labour have been in a position to form the Government after that election the result as we know would have had to have been a Labour/Green/NZFirst Government, would Winston Peters have allowed Labour to raise the age of entitlement, Hell i suggest, would freeze over first,

        Labour in 2011 gained no traction form this policy and i would suggest that this policy was the difference between winning and losing the 2011 contest, 2% of the vote,

        i again would suggest that should Labour continue with this bizarre policy at the 2014 election they will again fail to find traction and a probable 2–5% of the vote that would be likely to come Labour’s way without their advocacy of raising the age of entitlement simply wont…
16. logie97 16

    4 March 2014 at 10:33 am

    Vote National and you get ACT.

    Charter Schools.
    Three Strikes.
    Reduced rights/influence of worker organisations…

    You might like to add to the list.

    (I recall the meme coming from the RWNJ’s that “MMP gives us the tail wagging the dog”.)
    • Molly 16.1

      4 March 2014 at 10:59 am

      Changes to Local Government Act and the RMA,
      Aspire Scholarships
      • logie97 16.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 11:48 am

        …not a bad tally for one “electorate” MP.
    • chris73 16.2

      4 March 2014 at 6:55 pm

      Thats quite a good list of achievements, well done Act
      • felix 16.2.1

        4 March 2014 at 7:04 pm

        Thanks for being honest about your views on workers’ rights.
        • chris73 16.2.1.1

          4 March 2014 at 7:25 pm

          Pretty sure I’ve always been honest about my views (more honest then Cunliffe anyway 😉 )
          • felix 16.2.1.1.1

            4 March 2014 at 8:42 pm

            Examples please re: Cunliffe’s views.
            • chris73 16.2.1.1.1.1

              4 March 2014 at 8:59 pm

              http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/03/rolling-list-david-cunliffes-gaffes-stuff-ups-mistakes/

              Take your pick
              • felix …

                4 March 2014 at 9:28 pm

                Nothing in there about Cunliffe being dishonest about his views.

                And what a surprise that this list of Key’s that you referred to was a list of Jason Ede’s.
                • felix …

                  4 March 2014 at 9:36 pm

                  ps While we’re doing lists, let’s put your list of Cunliffes gaffes up against BLiP’s List of John Key’s Out-And-Out Lies.
                  • chris73 …

                    4 March 2014 at 9:47 pm

                    Its not what list you or I can come up with, its what the voting public believe and its not looking good for Tricky David Cunliffe
                    • felix …

                      4 March 2014 at 10:05 pm

                      I disagree. And so does John Key. (And so do you, truth be known)
17. Scott 17

    4 March 2014 at 11:16 am

    I wouldn’t go so far as to call NZ a ‘slavekeepers’ nation’: we participated in the Pacific slave trade, getting thoroughly bloody hands, and on at least one occasion imported slaves from Vanuatu, but slavery never became economically important here, in the way it was in the US South (the only exception to this rule might be the Chathams between 1835 and 1862). There are historical reasons for this, which I mention in the post I linked to above.

    It’s certainly true, though, that our involvement in buying and selling slaves for the plantations of Queensland, Fiji and Chile is virtually unknown by the general public. The Pacific societies that were the targets of slavers aren’t so forgetful. Last year Vanuatu marked the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the slave trade: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/219642/vanuatu-marks-150-years-since-end-of-blackbirding

    On the outer Tongan island of ‘Eua I discovered keen memories of an 1863 raid by a mixed crew of Pakeha and Maori slavers: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2013/12/from-academy-to-ata.html
    • vto 17.1

      4 March 2014 at 11:39 am

      Thanks Scott, presumably you are replying to my reply to you above. I have been meaning to start searching for information on this subject and see your blog has several links and pointers to where such can be found. Thanks. Any other pointers appreciated.
18. greywarbler 18

    4 March 2014 at 11:31 am

    Child Poverty – Bryce Edwards has corralled some excellent cartoons and news pieces looking at this issue. http://liberation.typepad.com/liberation/2013/12/the-politics-of-poverty-in-new-zealand-images-.html
    • phillip ure 18.1

      4 March 2014 at 11:57 am

      curse you warbler…!..you have made me do something i have resisted ’till now..

      ..linking to anything from edwards-the-younger..

      ..but his round-o[ of cartoons is worth a look..

      ..my favourite is the ‘maybe we should have moved further left’ one..

      ..right on the mark/money..

      ..that one..

      ..and it should be required-viewing for all the clarkists still in labour..

      ..which is most of them..

      ..(and the ‘throwing money at it won’t help!’ apologists for doing anything that meaningful..

      ..a frighteningly high number of those clarkists being amongst those ‘apologists’..)

      …phillip ure..
      • phillip ure 18.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 12:14 pm

        ‘nothing’..instead of ‘anything;..

        phillip ure..
        • phillip ure 18.1.1.1

          4 March 2014 at 12:39 pm

          ..and that graph is a shocker..

          ..showing the effects of/from the twofer of rogernomics/ruthenasia..

          ..and also how labour also missed the boat..

          ..but even in the best of times..we still had 10% of nz children living in poverty..

          ..and that doesn’t come within a bulls’-roar of being good enough..

          ..which is why we ned a universal basic income + guaranteed-support for all children..

          ..we are a rich country..

          ..we shouldn’t have children living in poverty..not 10%..and not the horrific numbers here/now..

          ..it is all just a matter of political/popular will..

          ..totally do-able..

          ..phillip ure..
19. Scott 19

    4 March 2014 at 11:55 am

    Hi vto,

    Henry Maude’s Slavers in Paradise: The Peruvian Slave Trade in Polynesia, 1862-1864 is the definitive study of the first, brief period of the slave trade. The transport of Pacific Islanders to Queensland and their transformation over time into the group now known as South Sea Islanders has been dealt with in quite a few books and articles: if you’re at a uni and can get past the firewall, this Doug Munro essay summarises the literature: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3788467?uid=3738776&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21103580165957

    An African American scholar named Gerald Horne recently published a book called the White Pacific, which used US archives to give startling new details about the way old Confederates attempted to rebuild slave societies in the Pacific after losing the Civil War, and about the extent of the Ku Klux Klan’s involvement in Fijian politics during the 1870s.

    As far as American slavery goes, there’s a huge stir around a new book by Walter Johnson called River of Dark Dreams, which uses concepts coined by the Marxist geographer David Harvey to radically reinterpret American history. Here’s an excellent review of the book: http://nplusonemag.com/slave-capitalism Johnson’s argument that, far from being some antediluvian pre-capitalist place, the south, and especially the Mississippi river valley frontier, was a ruthlessly modern and ruthlessly capitalist society has implications for the way we see 19th C rural NZ. Historians like Judith Binney have already suggested treating colonial NZ as a revolutionary bourgeois society, set on a ruthless modernisation programme…
20. Penny Bright 20

    4 March 2014 at 12:14 pm

    FYI

    http://gpjanz.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/protest-planned-gi-eviction-thurs-6pm/

    Tamaki Housing Group

    On March 7 a family are to be evicted from their Housing New Zealand home of 33 years in Glen Innes. They will be resisting this unjust eviction and require support. There will be a protest march commencing at 16 Taniwha Street Glen Innes to the home at 8 Melling Street, at 6pm on Thursday 6th March.

    The family are being evicted as part of the ‘redevelopment’ of the area. Although the eviction was originally due for next year, HNZ are evicting her family for alleged “anti-social behaviour”. The mother of the family, Betty, is a known opponent to the ‘redevelopment’ of her community and we believe this to be the reason her eviction date has been moved forward.

    Betty has lived in GI all her life. She is a postal worker, cleaner, and EPMU member as well as a Glen Innes Primary walking school bus volunteer. Betty has only recently left hospital where she underwent a procedure for breast cancer, and is tired and unwell.

    Late last year Betty’s sister Mat and her family were evicted from the house Betty and Mat’s parents moved into 54 years ago. This was an incredibly hard time for the family. Betty and her family have been intimidated and their concerns dismissed by HNZ, as was Mat and her family and many other families in Glen Innes.

    The Family has decided to fight the eviction, and their right to remain in their home.

    We believe that the ‘housing crisis’ is not addressed by the current Housing New Zealand policy of eviction and demonising low socio-economic families. The emphasis placed on relocating and redeveloping low socio-economic areas around the area including Glen Innes as well as Pomare, Wellington and Maraenui, Hawkes Bay is a distraction. The current housing policies have led to empty houses and caused severe emotional stress in these communities. The fracturing of communities through evictions leads to unsafe neighbourhoods and increasing vulnerability.

    We are making a call out for support for the family to try and keep their home. A few suggestions are listed below; we will follow this initial letter up with a phone call.

    Public support for the family by way of a press release opposing HNZ and National’s treatment of the family.

    Sending donations to the Tamaki Housing Group bank account to help us continue our work in supporting the family 38-9014-0147012-00

    Attend our meetings at every Tuesday at 6pm a Glen Innes Primary, 40 Eastview Road, Glen Innes.

    Most importantly we ask for your presence at the Protest March in Glen Innes on March 6th, at 6pm, from 16 Taniwha Street, Glen Innes.

    Many thanks from the whānau,
    Tamaki Housing Group

    This is CRUNCH time folks!

    Who can be there?

    (I’ll be there after anti-TPPA organising meeting)

    Penny Bright
    • karol 20.1

      4 March 2014 at 12:17 pm

      Thanks for this notification, Penny.
    • bad12 20.2

      4 March 2014 at 8:35 pm

      Good comment Penny, puts the human face on the ‘asset sales program’ which is the real truth behind the National Government’s plan to sell off 20% of the States Housing stock,

      That’s 12,000 homes that those on low incomes will no longer have as shelter from the storm of house price over-inflation and as there are no plans to replace these 12,000 homes with anything but homes for the middle class to purchase its easy to see just how bad its going to get for anyone on a low income whether that be wages or a benefit…
    • One Anonymous Bloke 20.3

      4 March 2014 at 9:29 pm

      Sure Penny, but unfortunately for these people, a fucking idiot has latched onto their cause and will discredit it with her rabid drivel.
21. xtasy 21

    4 March 2014 at 12:25 pm

    Russel Norman did as Greens co-leader get a fair bit of a ‘grilling’ by Kathrin Ryan on Nine to Noon this morning, when she interviewed him as part of her election year interviews with party leaders. Strangely with Russel she asked him many questions about the Greens policies, like for instance on their policy to have one independent wholesale electricity buying agency (NZ Power), and how it would work. She also challenged Russel Norman on their fiscal policy (she threw in the term “money printing”), and what changes to the Reserve Bank Act the Greens may consider. Then there was more on energy generation, on the yet to be finalised ‘Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement’, and so forth.

    Towards the end he was asked about why he visited Kim Dotcom, what he discussed with the founder of the Internet Party, and whether he would “apologise” to Colin Craig for claims he made on the “Big Gay Out”.

    Kathryn was clearly drilling more into Russel Norman than she did into John Key and even David Cunliffe, so this was perhaps a bit “unfair” on one hand, but it gave Russel a good enough chance to come about with intelligent answers and explanations, which seem to have been a bit “challenging” for Kathryn Ryan at times. At least here it was POLICY that got the prime focus, which was not so much the case with the earlier interviews with Key and Cunliffe. Here is the audio from Radio NZ National:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2587729/russel-norman

    For comparison here are the audio tracks for the interviews with David Cunliffe and John Key (in earlier weeks):

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2586927/david-cunliffe-labour-party-leader

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2586259/election-year-interviews

    My worry for Russel Norman and the Greens is, that they have some rather smart and complex policies, which the sadly very poorly, superficially informed (and commercial media inundated) wider public may simply not sufficiently grasp and correctly understand – what their policies are about.

    One needs to fully understand what the challenges for our future are, and what policies and steps are needed to address these, to thus prepare for a sustainable and better future. And that is where the Greens need to present their policies for 2014 carefully, smartly and effectively (easier to understand for more voters).
    • Ad 21.1

      4 March 2014 at 12:46 pm

      From what I have seen you have little to worry about.

      My wife and I delivered and donated for both Labour and Greens last time, and the communicative and theme clarity of the Greens was far superior to Labour’s. They campaign exceedingly well leading up to polling day. I have every reason to expect that same quality to achieve voter cut-through this time.

      BTW anyone heard how Julie Ann Genter is doing on the Greens list ranking? Surely she has to do slightly better than 11th or whatever she is now. That list should be ready by now as I understand they have had their regional caucuses.
      • Colonial Viper 21.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 2:16 pm

        I think that members are filling in their list ranking forms as we speak. Very democratic process…
    • North 21.2

      4 March 2014 at 5:47 pm

      Heard the Norman interview with Ryan……..in my view Norman was excellent. Excitingly so.
22. Draco T Bastard 22

    4 March 2014 at 2:09 pm

    Oh, look at that. The IMF has found out that equality is better for growth as well as better for the society:

    For 30 years economic policy-makers thought that redistributing income was a bad idea. They thought raising taxes on the rich and giving money to the poor was like putting sand in the gears of the economy.

    They thought it discouraged people from striving to improve themselves and made the economy less efficient.

    It was this thinking that drove the movement towards a flat tax in the mid-1980s and powered the current Government’s big ‘tax switch’ in 2010 that cut income taxes for the highest earners and increased the GST rate to 15%.

    It turns out rising income inequality actually puts sand in the gears of the economy.

    When poor and middle income households find their incomes are flat or falling they compensate by borrowing more. Eventually they can’t borrow any more and some can’t afford to pay the interest on the debt they built up.

    Secondly, when those on higher incomes get an even bigger share of the national income they tend to save more of it rather than spend it.

    This ‘hoarding’ of cash often slows consumption growth and can make financial systems less stable, particularly when it’s sent across borders in ‘hot’ money flows that can disappear as fast as they arrive.

    The RWNJs are really under fire from reality.
    • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 22.1

      4 March 2014 at 5:14 pm

      Good stuff Draco – can’t you just wait till we NZers switch off to the rubbish propaganda we are being fed and actually start getting to grips with the facts … ….. …. I’m waiting…. in anticipation…….
23. Tracey 23

    4 March 2014 at 2:14 pm

    I agree ad. i have done pamphlet drops for the greens during the last two elections. they succinctly communicate their positions.
24. Cancerman 24

    4 March 2014 at 2:17 pm

    Looks like Greg Presland was accepting money from a high level American business man for David Cunliffe. National lite sounds like.
    • McFlock 24.1

      4 March 2014 at 2:51 pm

      looks like you can’t link for shit.
      • Populuxe1 24.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 6:32 pm

        There FIFY
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11213703
        • felix 24.1.1.1

          4 March 2014 at 7:03 pm

          Looks like an old friend/colleague gave him $1500.

          Now about the Waitemata Trust…
    • Murray Olsen 24.2

      5 March 2014 at 3:01 am

      How many million was it? These high level guys don’t usually make donations of less than a million.
25. phillip ure 25

    4 March 2014 at 3:31 pm

    commentary on q-time 2day…

    (excerpt..)

    (we start off with a new benchmark in impotence..murray mccully mouthing off @ russia/putin..

    ..shearer then displays total-amnesia over nz’s long history of being a spear-carrier for first british and them american empire building/defending..

    ..and the fact that we have participated in the bleak farce that has been the invasion/occupation of afghanistan..

    ..then we get graham from the greens…

    ..peters..surprisingly..give the most knowledgable/history-referring/astute take on the issue..

    ..dunne has a particularly ridiculous bow-tie on especially for the occaison..his pompous-bullshit matches his tie..

    ..banks wakes up enough to mutter a few words..then goes straight back ‘on the nod’..

    ..(ed:..i mean..really..!..could this be more of an exercise in auto-eroticism..?.)

    http://whoar.co.nz/2014/new-zealand-parliament-list-of-questions-for-oral-answer-tuesday-4-march-2014/

    phillip ure..
26. phillip ure 26

    4 March 2014 at 3:46 pm

    steel yrslf there..morrissey..!

    ..i feel the passing bridge traffic will not be able to muffle yr screams..

    ..brian bell the cop..and pagani..

    ..are on ‘the panel’..

    ..phillip ure..
27. marty mars 27

    4 March 2014 at 4:06 pm

    I feel a bit sad about cunliffe and co having to seemingly defend this trust stuff. Key has got the evil in his eye over this one i expect him to go hard and often. Even dirtbanks is having a go – bloody hell! Hopefully it will all blow over soon.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11213703
    • McFlock 27.1

      4 March 2014 at 4:17 pm

      Yeah, it’s a bit of a clanger. Someone fixated on the leadership campaign and forgot about everything else, and this is what happens.

      Could be worse, though – but they need to put a lid on the problem sharpish.
      • Zorr 27.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 4:31 pm

        It just depresses me. I could care less regarding the donors at this point because every time Key opens his mouth I want out…

        This entire country is getting run down under his watch… I used to feel some pride in being a NZer, but no longer… I can’t hold my head high while this rich prick destroys our country and any remnants of our culture

        If he gets another term… I can’t even imagine the complete damage that will be done…
        • McFlock 27.1.1.1

          4 March 2014 at 4:42 pm

          I call it “fuckwit fatigue”.
          You’re not alone.

          Basically, the second-place hope is that the worse this gets, the bigger the backlash will be. Labour seem to have realised that they need to offer a genuine alternative, rather than just doing the same shit but trying to feel bad about it. It even looks like they might be beginning to start thinking outside the constraints of our 30-year failed experiment (although, as things like the retirement age suggest, they are merely at the beginning of that path).

          Chin up, we’ll be able to stick it to the bastards yet. Last time they had two disasters and a 3-way on their side, now they have a royal visit for the photo-ops but that’s about it so far.
          • Rosie 27.1.1.1.1

            4 March 2014 at 6:23 pm

            Amen to that Zorr and McFlock. Depressing alright and fuckwit fatigue has set in like rising damp.

            And it gets worse. Every night on 3news the is Anti Cunliffe, Anti Labour Propaganda Piece. Fucking sick of it. I’ve got a song for you supreme “tricksters”, Key, Crosby Textor, Gower and O’ Brien

            Key, the original and ultimate Trickster, this is a special song for you: It’s Tricky by Run DMC. Don’t skip the intro, Penn and Teller set the narrative for Key’s time in power:
        • BM 27.1.1.2

          4 March 2014 at 5:04 pm

          How are you going to feel if National gets an out right majority?

          Because let’s be honest it’s looking highly likely.

          The labour clown car vs the highly polished blue machine, it’s like the All Blacks playing Ruatoria..

          We’re looking at a hiding of epic proportions if labour doesn’t manage to get the wheels back on their car.
          • McFlock 27.1.1.2.1

            4 March 2014 at 5:31 pm

            Nah, What makes your comment bullshit is the fact that you make the comment in the first place.

            You jerkoffs never know when to exercise a little bit of restraint. It’s the “don’t you know who I am”, throat-slitting gestures at the opposition, twist the knife, pressure upset people into revealing intimate details for you to publish, genuine grade A fuckwittedness that always holds you guys back. You lot have no idea about judging people or being judged, so ally yourselves with criminals because nobody else will be your friends.

            You’re desperate for a nat majority, because even you know that it’s the only way they can stay in the government benches – what, a defrosted richard prebble will be any better for act than a defrosted roger douglas was in 2008? Closet Craig will get 5%? A nat majority is a slim hope, but it’s still your most likely chance.

            But you guys always let your arseholeness shine through just enough to fuck yourselves from total victory – you just can’t resist the urge to be a greasy shitbag.
            • BM 27.1.1.2.1.1

              4 March 2014 at 7:35 pm

              Lol, is that you Cunners?
              • chris73 …

                4 March 2014 at 8:11 pm

                🙂
                • McFlock …

                  4 March 2014 at 9:07 pm

                  now, if you two could get the reaction from lefties that you get from each other, then you’d be a problem for the left.
                  • Naki Man …

                    4 March 2014 at 9:27 pm

                    You have already reacted to BM rattling your cage McFlock.
                    You must have been still getting over the news at 6pm and Labours chances going down the toilet.
                    • McFlock …

                      4 March 2014 at 9:38 pm

                      But the reaction I have to BM is not the same reaction you or c73 have.
                      Try rereading my comment. It was only one sentence, sooner or later you might be able to understand the larger words it contains.
28. North 28

    4 March 2014 at 5:29 pm

    On Afternoons with Mora today – Graham Bell and Josie Pagani on the Maori king declining a 90 minute meeting with William, Kate and George. Following a quick puke, I paraphrase:

    ‘When will ‘the’ maori learn for God’s Sake ? (Bell, Pagani)

    Here they have a marvellous photo-op and they crudely turn up their noses (Pagani)

    ‘The’ maori have got to get with the times – we’ve all sat through those maori speeches yawn (Bell)

    ‘The’ maori would be soooooo globally advantaged if photographed with the royal guests (Pagani)

    When will ‘the’ maori learn for God’s Sake ? Tut Tut Tut …….Tut Tut Tut !” (Bell, Pagani)

    “Fuck up you patronising, (subliminally at the very least) racist pricks !” (North – verbatim)
    Apologies to Morrissey for this sow’s ear against his usual silk purse.
    • Saarbo 28.1

      4 March 2014 at 10:04 pm

      +1

      Bell has made some atrocious racial remarks against maori before…what the fuck is he still doing on RNZ. I have written to RNZ complaining but received nothing back.
    • Morrissey 28.2

      5 March 2014 at 5:55 pm

      I missed the programme, North, except for about two minutes at the end. It sounds horrific. You have done a fine job of transcribing the essence of their comments, by the way.

      Be warned, however, that there are witless cyber-trolls patrolling this board, itching to point out the most trivial error and pretend that it’s all “delusional crap” (McFlock) or that you are “making shit up” (Te Reo Putake).

      What they really mean, of course, is: I resent something you wrote three years ago, and I’m going to discredit you, dang-nab it!

      Welcome to the world of Transcription, buddy.
29. xtasy 29

    4 March 2014 at 6:09 pm

    FFS – what is true about that, what Paddy Gower just said on TV3 News? Is it true that Clare Curran (Labour MP) emailed notes about Labour’s confidential POLICY for this election to Amy Adams???

    If this is true, she deserves to get the f*** out of her job and Parliament, she has NO place for being there! Or is all this intended sabotage, do they now really NOT want to bother to win?

    I cannot believe this, please prove Gower is wrong or making shit up again!

    It is on, the challenge for the Greens, to take the lead role on the left and in opposition, and overtake Labour, there is no alternative to boosting and fully supporting them now, I feel!
    • karol 29.1

      4 March 2014 at 6:14 pm

      Ah, that’s why I’ve stopped watching TV3 News and am now watching One News.

      It was discussed earlier on the short memories thread. The general view is that Curran didn’t leak it. As yet the leaker is unknown.
      • Rosie 29.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 6:26 pm

        I really should take your lead karol and switch stations. My comment above was a bit of a last straw moment for lies and propaganda that tv3 spread.
        • BM 29.1.1.1

          4 March 2014 at 6:33 pm

          What lies?

          Couldn’t believe Cunliffe threw his wife under the bus, how bad is that.
      • xtasy 29.1.2

        4 March 2014 at 8:00 pm

        Sorry, but One News reported the same!!!

        There seems to be some truth to the story, and if Curran did not send it to Amy Adams (National Minister for IT, I understand), it must have been someone that works for Labour as staff or so.

        In any case, it does not look good, and the report on Judith Collins having been caught out, while visiting China on an official visit, and then also seeing business people there, promoting the products of a NZ company her partner manages, that is a “god send”, as it “balances” the bad news that were reported today.

        It is not a solution to simply change stations, perhaps it is better to be assertive and bombard the newsroom of TV3 with complaints about Gower and his conduct, and for serious cases bombard the Broadcasting Standards Authority with complaints.

        Walking away solves too little in this kind of scenario, I am afraid. ATTACK is the better solution to the appalling reporting by some on TV3. It seems that Paul Henry has been socialising too much with their editorial and news staff, so his views are “rubbing off” on them.
        • karol 29.1.2.1

          4 March 2014 at 8:06 pm

          Yes, One News wasn’t much better on this one.

          It’s depressing.
      • Murray Olsen 29.1.3

        5 March 2014 at 3:14 am

        If it was emailed, it’s not hard to find out which computer it came from, who has access, and who was logged in. Amy Adams would know who it’s from. Is there a way for Labour to access this information, perhaps by OIA request? If it was an honest mistake, National shouldn’t mind helping to clear it up. If it’s a Rogernome secretly hoping for a continuation of the ACT regime and helping NAct, they won’t want to give them up. If it’s something even more sinister, such as the masters of cyberspace, we probably won’t know until we are tipping their secret files into the street.

        In any case, it is not good and doesn’t help my small amount of confidence in Labour at all.
    • karol 29.2

      4 March 2014 at 6:21 pm

      Meanwhile Judith Collins has been questioned about a conflict of interest re- her husband’s business endeavour in China.
      • karol 29.2.1

        4 March 2014 at 6:59 pm

        So, the latest accusations of Collins conflicts of interest around her husband’s business activities, is not a first for her.

        Last year she was accused of an undisclosed conflict of interest re appointing a husband’s colleague to a job.

        The lawyer hand-picked by Minister of Justice Judith Collins for a top state service job is an old friend of her husband, says a private investigator who used to work for both men.

        A former scrutineer in Mrs Collins’ former Clevedon electorate, Clinton Bowerman, 49, said the minister knew Robert Kee through her husband David Wong-Tung before appointing him as the new director of human rights proceedings.

        But, Key is standing by her… so far…
30. captain hook 30

    4 March 2014 at 6:24 pm

    $8,000. What can you buy for that?
    Who gave shifty john key $90,000,000. He didnt produce anything so how did he get it?
31. floyd 31

    4 March 2014 at 6:59 pm

    Tranzrail Mr key. Hypocrite!!
32. chris73 32

    4 March 2014 at 7:06 pm

    Jeez I go away for a few days and everything turns to cack for labour 🙂 so how come Cunliffe (whos supposed to be quite intelligent) is doing and saying some really dumb things?

    I mean even the most hard core of lefties must be looking at Cunliffe and be thinking “have we been conned?”

    🙂
    • Adze 32.1

      4 March 2014 at 7:47 pm

      What? No mention of MickeySavage and his gigantic hypocrisy? 🙂
      • chris73 32.1.1

        4 March 2014 at 8:03 pm

        Well I’m still buzzing from seeing Springsteen so I must be in a good mood…which has only been heightened by the Labour brains trust 🙂
    • McFlock 32.2

      4 March 2014 at 9:05 pm

      the day you turfers realise that you damage your cause more than ours is the day that the nats might actually get 50% in an election.
    • Naki Man 32.3

      4 March 2014 at 9:09 pm

      This is Cunning CV,s third fuck up in three months, he is not looking so clever now.
33. joe90 33

    4 March 2014 at 9:05 pm

    Lotsa credibility here.
    /

    Finally, someone to clear up the confusion on the whole Ukrainian thing: pic.twitter.com/GgMjzmWMSO

    https://twitter.com/TerryGlavin/statuses/440708178288726016
34. Ad 34

    4 March 2014 at 10:16 pm

    Just in case anyone missed Matt McCarten first play:

    ABC club via Curran leak Cunliffe’s fundraising trust.

    Curran gets outed for leaking an early draft of the big speech to the Nats.

    Strike, counter-strike.

    ABC figures out Cunliffe’s office now has coherence.
    So just in case ABC are reading tonight, the message Matt’s hiring sends is this:

    Don’t Tread On Me.
    • Mike 34.1

      5 March 2014 at 6:02 am

      Huh, Curran didn’t send that paper to Adams – it was likely one of Cunliffe’s apparatchiks, given that he is the actual ICT spokesperson – she is just the associate
      • McFlock 34.1.1

        5 March 2014 at 3:38 pm

        so curran took responsibility for it instead of cunliffe’s office.

        Besides the entire “take the heat off the leader” thing, which the nats do with expertise, it also puts paid to the ABC&cunliffe afeudin’ concept. Unlees it was a cunning plan to leak that she was being noble and taking responsibility, which seems a bit too sophisticated a play for labour folk.
35. Ad 35

    4 March 2014 at 10:46 pm

    correction: ICT paper

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