The truth is that for every child that makes the paper or even makes it to the emergency department there are many more that suffer in silence behind closed doors with nobody to help them.
We also need be clear that, regardless of what measure a government or a community can take, the final responsibility rests with the individuals who abuse these children and the families that allow abuse to be hidden.
Preventing child abuse and neglect requires not only a response from government but also requires a social change which can only happen with the help of all New Zealanders.
Some of these issues are complex, but we have turned around damning social problems like drink driving before. It requires political will, intelligent policy, but most of all a strong commitment by all New Zealanders to say at every opportunity that it is NOT ok.
Jacinda Ardern
There are some things we don’t need to be told; we just know. Shamefully for all New Zealanders, our appalling child abuse rates is one of those things. Surely then, it’s time to stop all the chat, the lamenting, the writing of discussion documents. Surely, it’s time to act?
I am under no illusion that there is a quick fix to ridding New Zealand of child abuse and neglect and just as many of the answers and solutions as to how we can protect our children will come from within communities as they will from parliament. But we cannot ignore our responsibility to act. That’s why, ultimately, I am glad that the Government has released a Green Paper for Vulnerable Children.
We will offer to work with the Government again on this issue. Because now is not the time for more words- it’s time to act.
We need all politicians and all parties to talk together and to act together so we can improve things for our most vulnerable children. No party politics and no election should get in the way of this.
It won’t just help children now, it will help them for life, and it will help their children.
No party politics and no election should get in the way of this.
Easier said than done. Because poverty is the strongest indicator of abuse and to deal with poverty you have to deal with the distribution of resources. WFF or “communism by stealth” as Key calls it pulled many working families out of poverty. It has to remain and relief for the poorest on beneficiaries needs to be put in place. But this requires the wealthy to pay more tax.
That entrenched starting point for any issue is a major impediment to our country’s progress.
It shouldn’t be “our party must win this argument”, it should be “what’s best for the kids”. The obsession with “poverty” is simplistic posturing, problems with kids are far more complex than that. Poverty is just one symptom of the problems, not a cause.
It is not an entrenched starting point, it is a statement of reality.
Debate the specifics PG
1. Is poverty an indicator of child abuse?
2. If so is the taxation system the means of redistributing wealth to ensure that minimum standards of living are available to all.
I agree that abuse happens in all sectors but the correlation between poverty and abuse is mind numbingly significant.
I am not in the least bit interested in party politics determining an approach to child poverty. The solution itself drives my politics.
This is what you don’t understand PeteG. Lefties do not advocate for redistribution of wealth to score political points, we advocate for redistribution of wealth because it is the right thing to do, whether for dealing with child abuse of any other of a myriad of problems.
I agree that abuse happens in all sectors but the correlation between poverty and abuse is mind numbingly significant.
I’m pretty sure that the link between financial stress and domestic violence has been proven to a high probability. It’s not just correlation any more.
Agreed – poverty is the immediate common cause of many conditions that kill our kids.
There are causes closer to the condition (e.g. violence causing injuries), and causes less proximal (alienation of citizens in our modern industrial-capitalist society creating a malaise that enables the wealthy to ignore others’ hardship), but poverty is a fundamental cause to many conditions, and we can reduce it dramatically with very little effort.
communism by stealth, as opposed to the rank stench of proto fascism where mainstream politicians dole out such remarks as ‘dream lifestyle’, ‘shouldn’t breed’ and might as well claim everyone whose poor is a waste of space and should crawl into a corner eat the damn cockroaches already. Key is told to spin, and what to spin, and the left is now a growing source of solutions, how that must unsettle our proto fascist elites.
Remind us, who was it who said Working for Families is communism by stealth… and yesterday was praising it up? Who had a similar attitude towards KiwiSaver?
First teaser of the journey i’ll be joining next year. I feel so privileged as it encompasses everything i believe to be true. From Pasifikans as One People One Culture, Tangata o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa separated by the sea, but belonging more to it than we think any land belongs to us, to ‘dead zones’ of ocean degradation created through increased CO2 emissions, to extinction of species by over fishing, to pollution by plastics and noise…
If there’s one thing to be learnt it’s that sacrifice outweighs desire. The needs of the many over the wants of a few.
Looks to be an awesome project to be involved with pwog, are you one of the fortunate few who gets to crew one of the canoes, on the movie crew or both?.
Watched the vids you’ve posted so I assume you’re one of the novices who’s off, next week?, on the adventure of a lifetime, lucky lucky man.
I’m wondering if the 21st century bling that I could see on the vessel in the “Our Blue Canoe” trailer will have the bells and whistles to run an online diary because I’d love to follow your adventure.
Lucky sod, wont speak too quickly as I have been out on the ocean and its big and wet and cold…and it keeps moving.
Listened to a guy talk about Polynesian navigation skills, absolutely amazing skills based upon being able to mind matrix wave lengths, water colours, cloud types. birds etc etc, heaps of information stored in the navigators mind to analyse. Human computers doing impossible trips to and from small points on an enormous ocean to other small points on that ocean. No maps, compasses, atrolabes etc yet so long as they knew where they were coming from they knew where they were in relative terms. Well before we Euro “discovered” and mapped the Pacific.
I won’t be navigating at all B. I don’t even know how to sail or if i’m prone to seas sickness but i’m gonna find out and learn things the hard way 🙂
Hopefully by the end of it, or at least mid way through, I’ll have a basic understanding of the concepts surrounding celestial navigation, be able to read the predominant swells and the reflections of distant islands and semi-predict weather patterns as well.
I’m quite lucky in that I’ll be joining the second leg from San Diego to the Solomons. From what i understand, it’s pretty much a straight run following the sun as it tracks across the sky east to west with all the good winds and currents boosting us along in fine spirits.
Hardly the test of seamanship and courage the crews faced in the roaring 40’s on leaving NZ in May , combined with the other tricky bits of navigation…reading stars, currents and wind patterns as they switched from the southern hemisphere to the northern on their way to Hawaii.
Now, having arrived in San Francisco they get to chill a bit before meandering down to San Diego over the next month where they will lay up for 3 months over hurricane season before embarking on the second leg in January next year.
On the whole it should take about 8-9 months including stops for reprovisioning and reconnecting with islands from Galapagos to Marquesas, Tahiti, Samoa ,Fiji… finishing in the Solomons for the 2012 Pacific Arts Festival, though the exact sail plan hasn’t been finalised.
Oh man, I just can’t wait…
BTW here’s a good read on how much the elders got around back in the day
Looks amazing mr polly. I spend way too much time in the ocean, though never crossed an ocean. Just watch out or it will get into your blood and everything else will fall to one side. Bon voyage!
I also had the opportunity to go on the first leg. I travelled to Auckland in April for some training and to meet the captain and crew and only planned on being there 3 days. Ended up being there 3 weeks, and painted the sails.
Though when the time came, i couldn’t just bail on my family here on a whim and a prayer, to leave the house unprepared over winter with no one to look after them, as I’m the stay at home parent while my lady works.
Now, it’s a case of getting their heads around me being gone for most of next year and me getting my head around the enormity of the challenge.
I’ve heard how tough it is for spouses of sailors with the pull of the sea in their veins. From the looks of it, it’s gonna be my next obsession and probably life mission.
When the time comes the diary/blog will become a book i hope to inspire kids with, but written in the style of old Pasifikan myths and legends using the magic jawbone.
In the beginning was the word. The word was of IO and it was IO. Neither good nor evil is IO, but all that was good was in the word of it and all that was not was in the nothing. Then as now, IO is the one and the nothing, the I and the O to which all knowledge springs and flows and from which all that is and will ever be, is.
At first the word boomed across the nothing, shattering it, tearing from it the light, and as the light grew faster than the wind could carry the word, so did it echo amongst the heavens as they formed to become the 9. From thence until the time of man, time passed slowly.
Fire, never one to move slow, unless tamed, raged through the 9 as the spirit of the word settled to become embodied in the houses of the gods of old. From them was formed the cool waters and the dusts of the earth. All that people it came later, as the spirit of IO was once again moved to speak, this time across the tides of the waters.
Man upon his earthly arrival saw that this was good, the truth of which he still remembers in stories written of in the heavens, reflected in the waters and carried on the winds for those who walk the earth and sail its seas. Those chosen few still blessed in their ability to hear IO in the quiet of time, to see its signs in nature and to speak of the word with Maui’s magic jawbone. For nature is aught but the word of IO.
Many were the Pasifika men and women of old gifted with the godspeak by which the magic jawbone echoed their words across time. The jawbone gave meaning and understanding unto their children, wisdom and counsel to the enlightened as they sat around the fires, attuned to the spirits, sharing of the word that sang the fire of the wind of the stars to the waters and in turn, the waters to the earth.
With time on their side, the spirits of the gods of earth, wind, fire and water grew stronger. For some, the dark side of their nature held sway and colluded to hide from man the word of IO and IO itself. To keep sacred the secret of it, that man may not learn to become as the gods, but destined to remain in awe of the spirit of them and thus, in worship of the old ways.
So the restless tides ebbed and flowed in the lives of man and older did those gifted with the magic jawbone become. Less and less the word was told, where it became fewer and fewer of the children of Maui that could hear the godspeak of old. But for the undying spirit of IO hiding in plain sight, it would have come to pass that all man become blind to the vision of what may be and the promise to some of what surely in time they might become in spirit and flesh, gods.
————————————————————————–
btw I’m also about to take up rock painting in the old Waitaha stylez. Being a rigger/rope dangler i’m looking to eventually hang off cliffs and paint big ass old looking stuff using traditional inks.
Though i’ll start with something more acessible and prominent. Lovin the idea of old school rural graffitti 🙂
my old rugby coach Jim Whaanga always said when hitting the ruck, “make your presence felt” – you are doing that – your presence is felt and I can’t wait to get a copy of your book. Go hard!
What I plan to do is, in the spirit of the shared Pasifikan cultural heritage regarding myths and early heroes/exploits, get some chapters translated into different languages, then translated again back into English by a third party so i’m removed from the literal process.
The story then becomes as it might have been when our traditions were passed on orally and subtly changed with the passing of time, language and geography.
I want to see if the ‘magic jawbone’ still keeps the essence of the core truths hidden in the story when told by different authors and still makes it coherent for kids to understand when read to them as bedtime stories.
The book itself won’t be linear cos i’m not :). It will jump all over the place and be disconnected in feel so that in essence it could be from another place or time and be read as individual stand alone chapters imperceptible from traditional stories transliterated from original tellings.
Before the journey started, and in telling the crew in Auckland that i was going to deify them and turn them into gods, they laughed disbelievingly. The thing is, now more than ever, we as Pasifikans need to remind ourselves, and the world, of who we truly are, where we came from, where we’re headed and how we fit in the general scheme of things.
We need something to believe in rather than the constant lies of us being a violent, good for nothing but breeding for business underclass still hypocritically hung up on some christian ideal of a white god with a big stick looking to punish the unworthy.
Earth, wind, fire and water
Out of the darkness came the light and though the gods were born of the light of the word, they had within a spirit of darkness that could, and did, sometimes govern their actions. Forcing their godly selves to split and recreate themselves in their dark images.
So it was that the gods of fire, wind, earth and water became, and so it was that Man in many cultures chose, in various times, to follow and hold in highest esteem certain gods. The men of the east, north and west chose mostly to follow the dark gods of fire, earth and wind. Those from Pasifika chose mostly the gods of water, in both their spirits, dark and light, accepting of the dual nature of the gods that giveth, so too do they take away. For such is the ultimate nature of IO.
The dark gods, in exchange for unbridled worship, gave up the power that could be generated by the fire and wind of the earth and by the churning and heating of the waters to warm and sustain Man. For them that controlled this power, the high priests, was gifted untold riches. For a time, the fires of the earth burned abundantly, and from the power of heat was man able to change the elements and bend them to his will. As he did, the power and riches of the high priests grew. Their influence became consuming and obsessive. Paranoia reigned as the high priests, mirroring the gods became distrustful of each other
In their arrogance, the priests had assumed the power of gods. Many great things were they able to do in our own name. Many false wonders did they perform and many marvellous idols were they able to construct to the amazement of simple folk who wished for nothing more than a simple life as of old and but one god in nature which to marvel at.
Balancing the greed of Man by converting much of the unclean winds from the burning of the fires of earth, to the clean wind of air, that man may still live and breathe, took its toll on the gods of earth, wind, fire and water who were still dedicated to the light of the word of IO. And in his greed Man consumed more than could be balanced.
Slowly the life sustaining waters were becoming poisoned, as too the fields of the earth and the winds of the air. The trees, used for the boats of old to travel the waters, became thin on the ground. The fish that were once plentiful, told stories of the water becoming as fire, burning all that it touches and of places of death, where the winds cannot pass through from the heavens to become clean. Burning water also rained from the skies. The spirits of the dark gods echoed in the sounds of man as it tore through the waters and sought to overwhelm the fishes with the sheer volume of it.
In this time, unwanted aspects generated from the burning of the fires of the earth became plentiful in the water, threatening to kill all who inhabit it. The peoples of Pasifika knew from old that when the waters die, so too does the earth and those who rely on it.
Though it appeared that Man in general, didn’t seem to care. Little thought was given to the generations of the future who would pay a high price for their foolish ancestor’s lustful greed and worship of the dark gods. The gods themselves had become powerless in their control as the ignorance of Man assumed godliness without the cleanliness of godly responsibility.
Okeanos, the Ancient One from which all waters flowed, as he was known in the tongue of the men from the north, chose the Dietermined Man to act in his name and invoke Te Mana o te Moana, to gather the 7 sisters of the sea and once again spread the word of IO that was lost in the nature of what man and the gods had become…blind with lust and greed, reckless with endangerment.
————————————————————————–
..and don’t worry B. You’ll all be with me in spirit 🙂
I can recommend a fascinating book I’m reading, Tuwharetoa by John Te Herekiekie Grace, and I’ve almost finished the first part which covers the construction, preparation and the voyage of the Arawa canoe. It’s been hard work though because of the multitude of characters, their relationship to the other characters, the mile long names and the million and one details but thoroughly enjoyable.
I was talking to a Te Arawa voyager on one of the waka and was interested to note that their tribal lands are laid out in the shape of a canoe 🙂
Have you read Vaka – Tom Davis. It’s a bloody good read too. Spanning 300 years in the life of a canoe as it voyages, changes name and ownership through a number of generations to become the famed Takitimu
Here’s the opening paragraph:
“The police’s handling of a man with Asperger’s syndrome caught looting after the Christchurch earthquake has been described as “cruel and obscene” by people calling for the case to be dropped.”
Here’s the last line:
“Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said police had “extensive experience” in dealing with people with mental health issues or who had an intellectual impairment.”
I have to wonder if this “extensive experience” comes from dealing with their own staff.
mongrel mob have extensive experience in criminal investigations
taito phillip field has extensive experience in fraud investigations
US defence forces have extensive experience in dealing with people subjected to bombing campaigns
What a crock. But I am glad that this case is not disappearing and that many people are following it through to the bitter end to ensure justice. Does anyone know if the police officer who gave the lad a black eye has been charged with assault yet?
Police may have be hamstrung by the no tolerance law that forced them to treat this individual like any other. Secondly, likely people with disabilities are aware of their disability and so can innoculate themselves to wrong doing. When for instance does it become okay to treat someone with a compulsive disorder seriously? Was stealing lightbulbs during a mass social disruption event like the Earthquake justified that some nuance to policing be over looked due to the high level of social stress, new crime problems, and other new pressures on police. Was it likely that someone who knows they have a problem, justifiably incensed by something that usually would not have led to police action and with a lower iq might have provoked (alledegly) matters.
So no. I think this incidient is a timely reminder that disasters throwup unintended consequences and everyone should just get some cold water and throw it over themselves. I do not believe the disabled community would want to make out that this is some case because there was a Earthquake, how often does that happen. If anyone is responsible its legislators who make laws up for disasters that invoke the zero tolerance proto fascism theory of government, pushing
unstable people into the hands of overstretched, stressed, policing.
Yes another nutting sentencing unsensible trust help the victims and so create more victims, a young
man who could not help it and maybe police officers now worried about their jobs. Thanks again the SST clueless arrogance wins threw.
“Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said police had “extensive experience” in dealing with people with mental health issues or who had an intellectual impairment.”
Like that poor sod they managed to kill in the back of a patrol car some years ago?
FFS Grant Ogilvie, Arie was held in police custody for 11 days. Murders can be bailed within a day or two. People detained under the mental health act can only initially be detained for 5 days. Did anyone from the police consult a psychologist in 11 days? (The police usually employ at least one organisational psychologist, but they probably need about five).
Petrol abuse in outback Australia is a noted problem. Known to cause anti-social behavior amongst the poorest. Strange how our petrol heads often spend countless hours in the area of car exhausts and our neighborhoods become noise magnets as a result. Could we soon see petrol added to alcohol and drugs as yet another addiction warrenting time off work? If petrol fumes cause brain damage could employers sack people for high levels of the exhaust residues in employees blood?
Not so smart after all to get a second hand part that destorys the ability of your engine to remain quiet and keep the suspension from destroy the road surfaces, add to brain damage to the list.
Photos of the anthropocene. The captions are of course couched in denialist terms like “In this century the world’s supply may plummet.” when talking about an old oil field.
“The document was given to right wing blogger Whaleoil today by the SIS, which refused a Fairfax request several days ago for the briefing note to be released immediately.”
This doesn’t seem kosher to me? A supposedly un-partisan organisation giving a document to a partisan blogger after denying the same priveledges to the (again supposedly) neutral media….
Like who applied first? Who applied correctly? Is it normal for someone to queue jump by demanding immediate release? There are many possibilities.
Goff is making major accusations based on backing his memory 100% that he remembers specifically NOT seeing one document? How many documents does he look at? He remembers ALL of them?
He’s on a hiding to nothing blowing this up into far more than it could and should have been.
In the same comment you have questioned Goff’s veracity and Fairfax Media’s competence both in favour of the Government and without the slightest shred of proof. Perhaps we should wait for answers to the first questions.
I’m not questioning Fairfax’s competence. They didn’t get an immediate release, but that could mean anything. Fairfax haven’t accused Whale or the SIS of anything. Whale may have applied first, it could be as simple as that (if not then I’m sure Fairfax will ask more questions).
Goff’s situation is different. He said:
“I was not shown that document. I never read that document. Warren Tucker is wrong.”
(A notation on the document by Tucker said it was shown to Goff during one of his regular meetings with the opposition leader.)
That’s a clear accusation that Tucker is wrong, in effect that he has incorrectly notated the document and is now lying about it. That’s serious – isn’t it?
That’s a clear accusation that Tucker is wrong, in effect that he has incorrectly notated the document and is now lying about it. That’s serious – isn’t it?
Even though the predictable 3 News take on it, is that it’s another point against Goff!
This amounts to a document signed off as part of standard procedure versus Goff saying his memory is infallible. He can’t prove he hasn’t seen or read it. He’s already struggling for credibility. It’s going to be very tough for him to be convincing.
Seems like Goff is the one acting troll-like here to be honest CV. He seems intent on shouting down anyone on this and removing any possiblity that he may be wrong. That’s highly risky if the documents show anything like a discussion taking place. I think Tucker is teaching him a bureaucratic lesson.
Not content with besmirching the reputation of a senior civil servant who has an impeccable record, now Goff’s blaming some vast right-wing conspiracy for Tucker releasing docs under the OIA to Whaleoil…
As for Pagani’s views? … break out the tinfoil hats once again!
For a security document, there are layers, mountainous layers of clearance to go through to release a document. Someone has expedited this document for politics.
If the SIS took a political decision to collaborate with an agent of the National Party, it is treasonous.
Needs a full investigation ASAP. Won’t get one out of this government though as they’ll need to cover their corruption.
No No – It’s called the Official Information Act and anybody can use it to get Official Information released to them provided certain criteria, spelled out in the Act, are met.
I guess Mr Slater’s request met the requirements so he got what he asked for.
Mr Tucker is not answering questions, but then he releases official information which can be misinterpreted and it tells me nothing except that Tucker’s judgement is lacking.
Did someone else other than Tucker give consent for Slater to recieve info which is being disputed?
The job of the SIS is to protect MPs not cause a rift with the leader of a political party.
When it comes to the oia there is no requirement to worry about the reputation of the leader of the opposition – and rightly so. Do you actually realize what kind of world you are wanting to encourage treetop? It’s the kind of world the oia was created to prevent.
I have no problem with the OIA except when information gets released to a right wing blogger who then plays politics with it and will milk it to the max when so much information is blacked out. Slater may end up being charged with slander and where will this leave Tucker?
So information that is politically damaging can not be released to bloggers? or only right wing bloggers? Who makes the judgement call as to what is politically damaging?
Slander? where did you get your bush lawyers degree? I would be asking for a refund.
Who makes the judgement call to what is politically damaging?
Depends which government department is involved, who its minister is and that transparency is seen.
So are you saying that the oia is ok as long as it works for people you like? Did you know that opposition parties make oia requests all the time and make selective use of that information purely for political purposes. No right turn does similar to slater. Sounds like your real issue is that ‘your guy’ got caught out and is wearing the consequences, and it is embarrassing for you. Change your leader not the law if that’s the case
OFGS. It’s not the SIS to blame here, they did what they are legally obligated to do. They did not “cause” anything. It’s Phil Goff fudging the truth, & bumbling handling of the matter.
I guess Mr Slater’s request met the requirements so he got what he asked for.
The information holder can also withhold the information when:
Making the information available would be contrary to a specific Act, or would be contempt of Court or contempt of Parliament, or in some sensitive cases (for example, information about terrorism), the existence of the information can be neither confirmed or denied, or the request is frivolous or vexatious or the information is trivial.
Looks like the judgement call of the SIS is out of whack again.
I think Pagani may be onto something. OIAs often take a long time to review and process, even uncontroversial ones. My instant thought is that this has moved very quickly. He only sent it in on the 26th. I think that reflects Tucker’s annoyance at Goff’s public criticism so this is very nice “Yes MInister” payback. They are doing things by the book, hence Fairfax is having to go through the same process Slater did.
The answer is now clear the Whale asked for the documentation that Phil Goff had seen the document, not the document itself, which is what Fairfax had demanded.
Are you kidding Andrei, you actually believe what Cameron Slater says over Phil Goff? Slater has zero credibility. It appears that Warren Tucker took the document with him but Phil Goff did not see it. I fail to see what the big deal is there.
I really hope that Slater keeps digging though, as the initial scandal of possible Mosad agents attaining false passports from New Zealand again needs a lot more sunlight. More questions need to be asked of John Key.
Why the F did a Right-wing blogger get given the documentation by the SIS, which refused a Fairfax request several days ago for the briefing note? Could this have anything to do with the huge increase in funding the SIS has got under National?
I know that on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 12:41 pm Phil Goff released this press statement and I thought this looks like it is a fairly unwise thing to be saying.
And then a few hours later Cameron Slater released a document which shows unambiguously that Mr Goff’s statements in his press release are, shall we say charitably, incorrect.
Those less charitable than myself might use another word that begins with L to describe Mr Goff’s words.
” you actually believe what Cameron Slater says over Phil Goff? Slater has zero credibility. ” Jackal, you must be getting dizzy with all the spinning you are trying with that comment. This is not a case of Slater vs Goff, it is a matter of what was actually discussed between Goff and Tucker… Slater is just a messenger.
Slater is an agent of disinformation and has gained documents previously not released, even when requested using the same procedure. This is a case of John Key and Warren Tucker abusing their positions to undertake a smear campaign on Phil Goff. When it smells and looks like a bullshit, chances are it is. However this discussion now has its own thread.
That’s my feeling, Anne. Curious that they keep attacking Goff and saying he’s lame…. and yet, they must fear him to spend so much times to smear him, one way or another.
Also I suspect it was given to the slippery one so that National front benchers and Shonkey have their hands clean and can keep spinning that they don’t use negative attack politics.
…. and yet, they must fear him to spend so much times to smear him, one way or another.
Phil Goff has far more knowledge and experience than Key (and Joyce) when it comes to matters concerning Defence and Foreign Affairs. Key knows it. What I don’t understand is why Dr. Warren Tucker is refusing to accept that he didn’t show the document to Goff because that is seemingly what happened. It was probably no more than an oversight – he may have been under pressure at the time? So why didn’t he just accept Goff’s word that he hadn’t seen the document(s) and apologised to him. I’m sure Goff would have accepted his apology unequivocally and that would have been the end of the matter.
Instead a right-wing slimeball is provided by someone in the SIS with the documentation. That’s where the big smell lies!
micky is right. Questions need to be asked; like where any politician gets off publicly besmirching the reputation of a senior civil servant, particularly one with an exemplary record?
This practice has to stop, regardless of political affiliation.
Am I going bonkers or am I just reading the wrong papers and forms of news.
Now every day I hear of jobs going and mass unemployment. Yet the radio news tells me unemployment has been reduced. Now every day I read that Key is Super-Man in disguise, yet everyone I speak too hates the guy.
Same with the present government every paper tell me the Nats will win by a huge majority .However all the people I speak say “We must get rid of this government.. So what’s going on ? Bye the way Im almost a non- drinker and I do not smoke or take drugs, Answers please !
Doublespeak is a long running machine they have practised with and tuned and now just throw it into gear any time they choose. Vigilance of your own reality is all you can hope for.
Recently it was revealed that Tourism NZ paid the PR frim Hill & Knowlton $10,000, to get John Key on the David Letterman show. They engaged the PR firm because after at least six months of lobbying, Letterman was uninterested in having John Key on his show…
No – Tourism NZ pay Hill & Knowlton to promote New Zealand.
As part of their brief they conceived the idea of our prime minister making an appearance on Letterman and set it up.
Mr Key himself was paid US $250 for this appearance, this being to meet Actors equity union requirements that all those who appear on TV shows get paid. This money, I understand, was donated to charity.
I am listening now to 3 News lying their fat faces off about the latest unemployment figures. Petulant Bean taking credit for the ‘drop’ that only 3News can see… and a whine about ‘yoof’ from someone else. Having just been turned down yet again, today, on the grounds of my age, I didn’t need to see an old lady of 70+ talking about how happy she was to have gone back to work… Nice if you can do that, but some of us can’t even get a job to go back to!
Ditto for me – 60 applicants for the 2nd to last job I applied for in my field, to his credit the employer personally read all the cv’s and cover letters – no interview. Last job applied for the reply even stated that I had many of the skills that they were looking for – still no interview.
WTF.
Spoke to a guy at work today, he been in business for years, never had any trouble finding clients but in the last six months the works has dried up and now he is going ‘door knocking’ looking to drum up business, or to work for someone else.
National must go, the one thing that this country most certainly cannot afford is to dump a whole chunk of the population on the scrapheap through the policies of neglect and indifference.
Statistics New Zealand’s Household Labour Force Survey shows the number of people out of work remained at 154,000 in the three months to June, unchanged from the previous quarter.
While 1000 new jobs were created in the quarter, that was only enough to keep up with the rise in the numbers looking for work. That leaves the official unemployment rate unchanged at 6.5%, according to the survey.
Employment increased for women and decreased for men in the June quarter.
Great! 🙁
But Business New Zealand says a big increase in the number of hours worked in the past three months indicate a stronger pick-up in employment is around the corner.
I’ve been hearing this “just around the corner” for 2 years now
Everything from Nactional politicians.and supporters……..is ‘just around the corner.’
Everything English, Key and Co. promise is ‘soon ‘.. in 2012 etc. i.e ‘the future looks good after the election.’ Hey! NOW is bad for a lot of people who are losing jobs and losing under inflation. I suggest they concentrate on the here and now rather than their contrived mythical future.
Keep up the good work folks. Read most of comments. To mac1 hot air balloon rode over cappadoccia turkey at sunrise magnificent. Down amongst the valleys and hills. Wow!
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nuurrianti Jalli, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies College of Arts and Sciences Department of Languages, Literature, and Communication Studies, Northern State University Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asian governments not only have to deal with the virus but also with the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Murakami Wood, Professor of Critical Surveillance and Securities Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa The skyline of Riyadh, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.(Shutterstock) There is a long history of planned city building by both governments ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment of ...
The Boil Up’s Lucinda Bennett considers the oyster – from freshness to pearls to the joy of shucking your own. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. In Carmen Maria Machado’s short story ‘Eight Bites’, a woman begins her last supper before bariatric surgery with “a cavalcade ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
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Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
National’s Nikki Kaye and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern have their say in the Herald: Broadsides: Preventing child abuse. Summarising:
We need all politicians and all parties to talk together and to act together so we can improve things for our most vulnerable children. No party politics and no election should get in the way of this.
It won’t just help children now, it will help them for life, and it will help their children.
No party politics and no election should get in the way of this.
Easier said than done. Because poverty is the strongest indicator of abuse and to deal with poverty you have to deal with the distribution of resources. WFF or “communism by stealth” as Key calls it pulled many working families out of poverty. It has to remain and relief for the poorest on beneficiaries needs to be put in place. But this requires the wealthy to pay more tax.
Party politics has everything to do with it.
Party politics has everything to do with it.
That entrenched starting point for any issue is a major impediment to our country’s progress.
It shouldn’t be “our party must win this argument”, it should be “what’s best for the kids”. The obsession with “poverty” is simplistic posturing, problems with kids are far more complex than that. Poverty is just one symptom of the problems, not a cause.
It is not an entrenched starting point, it is a statement of reality.
Debate the specifics PG
1. Is poverty an indicator of child abuse?
2. If so is the taxation system the means of redistributing wealth to ensure that minimum standards of living are available to all.
I agree that abuse happens in all sectors but the correlation between poverty and abuse is mind numbingly significant.
I am not in the least bit interested in party politics determining an approach to child poverty. The solution itself drives my politics.
This is what you don’t understand PeteG. Lefties do not advocate for redistribution of wealth to score political points, we advocate for redistribution of wealth because it is the right thing to do, whether for dealing with child abuse of any other of a myriad of problems.
I’m pretty sure that the link between financial stress and domestic violence has been proven to a high probability. It’s not just correlation any more.
High deprivation index children have a rate of assault/neglect/maltreatment hospitalisation seven times higher than the least deprived.
It is one of the causes! That’s common sense.
Agreed – poverty is the immediate common cause of many conditions that kill our kids.
There are causes closer to the condition (e.g. violence causing injuries), and causes less proximal (alienation of citizens in our modern industrial-capitalist society creating a malaise that enables the wealthy to ignore others’ hardship), but poverty is a fundamental cause to many conditions, and we can reduce it dramatically with very little effort.
Our government simply chooses not to.
communism by stealth, as opposed to the rank stench of proto fascism where mainstream politicians dole out such remarks as ‘dream lifestyle’, ‘shouldn’t breed’ and might as well claim everyone whose poor is a waste of space and should crawl into a corner eat the damn cockroaches already. Key is told to spin, and what to spin, and the left is now a growing source of solutions, how that must unsettle our proto fascist elites.
Remind us, who was it who said Working for Families is communism by stealth… and yesterday was praising it up? Who had a similar attitude towards KiwiSaver?
NewScientist: Dust and ice ages.
Our Blue Canoe
Move your paddle silently through the water.
First teaser of the journey i’ll be joining next year. I feel so privileged as it encompasses everything i believe to be true. From Pasifikans as One People One Culture, Tangata o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa separated by the sea, but belonging more to it than we think any land belongs to us, to ‘dead zones’ of ocean degradation created through increased CO2 emissions, to extinction of species by over fishing, to pollution by plastics and noise…
If there’s one thing to be learnt it’s that sacrifice outweighs desire. The needs of the many over the wants of a few.
Looks to be an awesome project to be involved with pwog, are you one of the fortunate few who gets to crew one of the canoes, on the movie crew or both?.
I’m one of the fortunate ones J90, and while crewing i’ll endeavour to get creative on the movie front also…
http://pollywannacracka.blogspot.com/2011/08/symbolic-savages-suffering-nobly.html
🙂
Watched the vids you’ve posted so I assume you’re one of the novices who’s off, next week?, on the adventure of a lifetime, lucky lucky man.
I’m wondering if the 21st century bling that I could see on the vessel in the “Our Blue Canoe” trailer will have the bells and whistles to run an online diary because I’d love to follow your adventure.
Lucky sod, wont speak too quickly as I have been out on the ocean and its big and wet and cold…and it keeps moving.
Listened to a guy talk about Polynesian navigation skills, absolutely amazing skills based upon being able to mind matrix wave lengths, water colours, cloud types. birds etc etc, heaps of information stored in the navigators mind to analyse. Human computers doing impossible trips to and from small points on an enormous ocean to other small points on that ocean. No maps, compasses, atrolabes etc yet so long as they knew where they were coming from they knew where they were in relative terms. Well before we Euro “discovered” and mapped the Pacific.
How are you going to navigate Polly?
I won’t be navigating at all B. I don’t even know how to sail or if i’m prone to seas sickness but i’m gonna find out and learn things the hard way 🙂
Hopefully by the end of it, or at least mid way through, I’ll have a basic understanding of the concepts surrounding celestial navigation, be able to read the predominant swells and the reflections of distant islands and semi-predict weather patterns as well.
I’m quite lucky in that I’ll be joining the second leg from San Diego to the Solomons. From what i understand, it’s pretty much a straight run following the sun as it tracks across the sky east to west with all the good winds and currents boosting us along in fine spirits.
Hardly the test of seamanship and courage the crews faced in the roaring 40’s on leaving NZ in May , combined with the other tricky bits of navigation…reading stars, currents and wind patterns as they switched from the southern hemisphere to the northern on their way to Hawaii.
Now, having arrived in San Francisco they get to chill a bit before meandering down to San Diego over the next month where they will lay up for 3 months over hurricane season before embarking on the second leg in January next year.
On the whole it should take about 8-9 months including stops for reprovisioning and reconnecting with islands from Galapagos to Marquesas, Tahiti, Samoa ,Fiji… finishing in the Solomons for the 2012 Pacific Arts Festival, though the exact sail plan hasn’t been finalised.
Oh man, I just can’t wait…
BTW here’s a good read on how much the elders got around back in the day
FLOATSAM AND JETSAM FROM THE GREAT OCEAN: OR, SUMMARY OF EARLY SAMOAN VOYAGES AND SETTLEMENT
Looks amazing mr polly. I spend way too much time in the ocean, though never crossed an ocean. Just watch out or it will get into your blood and everything else will fall to one side. Bon voyage!
thanks heaps…
I also had the opportunity to go on the first leg. I travelled to Auckland in April for some training and to meet the captain and crew and only planned on being there 3 days. Ended up being there 3 weeks, and painted the sails.
Though when the time came, i couldn’t just bail on my family here on a whim and a prayer, to leave the house unprepared over winter with no one to look after them, as I’m the stay at home parent while my lady works.
Now, it’s a case of getting their heads around me being gone for most of next year and me getting my head around the enormity of the challenge.
I’ve heard how tough it is for spouses of sailors with the pull of the sea in their veins. From the looks of it, it’s gonna be my next obsession and probably life mission.
good one polly – enjoy and keep a diary – your write ups will be awesome. kia kaha e hoa!
Chur bo !
When the time comes the diary/blog will become a book i hope to inspire kids with, but written in the style of old Pasifikan myths and legends using the magic jawbone.
here’s a taste.. in following on from this
Of time and tides
In the beginning was the word. The word was of IO and it was IO. Neither good nor evil is IO, but all that was good was in the word of it and all that was not was in the nothing. Then as now, IO is the one and the nothing, the I and the O to which all knowledge springs and flows and from which all that is and will ever be, is.
At first the word boomed across the nothing, shattering it, tearing from it the light, and as the light grew faster than the wind could carry the word, so did it echo amongst the heavens as they formed to become the 9. From thence until the time of man, time passed slowly.
Fire, never one to move slow, unless tamed, raged through the 9 as the spirit of the word settled to become embodied in the houses of the gods of old. From them was formed the cool waters and the dusts of the earth. All that people it came later, as the spirit of IO was once again moved to speak, this time across the tides of the waters.
Man upon his earthly arrival saw that this was good, the truth of which he still remembers in stories written of in the heavens, reflected in the waters and carried on the winds for those who walk the earth and sail its seas. Those chosen few still blessed in their ability to hear IO in the quiet of time, to see its signs in nature and to speak of the word with Maui’s magic jawbone. For nature is aught but the word of IO.
Many were the Pasifika men and women of old gifted with the godspeak by which the magic jawbone echoed their words across time. The jawbone gave meaning and understanding unto their children, wisdom and counsel to the enlightened as they sat around the fires, attuned to the spirits, sharing of the word that sang the fire of the wind of the stars to the waters and in turn, the waters to the earth.
With time on their side, the spirits of the gods of earth, wind, fire and water grew stronger. For some, the dark side of their nature held sway and colluded to hide from man the word of IO and IO itself. To keep sacred the secret of it, that man may not learn to become as the gods, but destined to remain in awe of the spirit of them and thus, in worship of the old ways.
So the restless tides ebbed and flowed in the lives of man and older did those gifted with the magic jawbone become. Less and less the word was told, where it became fewer and fewer of the children of Maui that could hear the godspeak of old. But for the undying spirit of IO hiding in plain sight, it would have come to pass that all man become blind to the vision of what may be and the promise to some of what surely in time they might become in spirit and flesh, gods.
————————————————————————–
btw I’m also about to take up rock painting in the old Waitaha stylez. Being a rigger/rope dangler i’m looking to eventually hang off cliffs and paint big ass old looking stuff using traditional inks.
Though i’ll start with something more acessible and prominent. Lovin the idea of old school rural graffitti 🙂
Nice…
my old rugby coach Jim Whaanga always said when hitting the ruck, “make your presence felt” – you are doing that – your presence is felt and I can’t wait to get a copy of your book. Go hard!
From one sea faring family to another who are about to become seafarers again, bon voyage! Wish I could come with you.
RE : the book
What I plan to do is, in the spirit of the shared Pasifikan cultural heritage regarding myths and early heroes/exploits, get some chapters translated into different languages, then translated again back into English by a third party so i’m removed from the literal process.
The story then becomes as it might have been when our traditions were passed on orally and subtly changed with the passing of time, language and geography.
I want to see if the ‘magic jawbone’ still keeps the essence of the core truths hidden in the story when told by different authors and still makes it coherent for kids to understand when read to them as bedtime stories.
The book itself won’t be linear cos i’m not :). It will jump all over the place and be disconnected in feel so that in essence it could be from another place or time and be read as individual stand alone chapters imperceptible from traditional stories transliterated from original tellings.
Before the journey started, and in telling the crew in Auckland that i was going to deify them and turn them into gods, they laughed disbelievingly. The thing is, now more than ever, we as Pasifikans need to remind ourselves, and the world, of who we truly are, where we came from, where we’re headed and how we fit in the general scheme of things.
We need something to believe in rather than the constant lies of us being a violent, good for nothing but breeding for business underclass still hypocritically hung up on some christian ideal of a white god with a big stick looking to punish the unworthy.
Earth, wind, fire and water
Out of the darkness came the light and though the gods were born of the light of the word, they had within a spirit of darkness that could, and did, sometimes govern their actions. Forcing their godly selves to split and recreate themselves in their dark images.
So it was that the gods of fire, wind, earth and water became, and so it was that Man in many cultures chose, in various times, to follow and hold in highest esteem certain gods. The men of the east, north and west chose mostly to follow the dark gods of fire, earth and wind. Those from Pasifika chose mostly the gods of water, in both their spirits, dark and light, accepting of the dual nature of the gods that giveth, so too do they take away. For such is the ultimate nature of IO.
The dark gods, in exchange for unbridled worship, gave up the power that could be generated by the fire and wind of the earth and by the churning and heating of the waters to warm and sustain Man. For them that controlled this power, the high priests, was gifted untold riches. For a time, the fires of the earth burned abundantly, and from the power of heat was man able to change the elements and bend them to his will. As he did, the power and riches of the high priests grew. Their influence became consuming and obsessive. Paranoia reigned as the high priests, mirroring the gods became distrustful of each other
In their arrogance, the priests had assumed the power of gods. Many great things were they able to do in our own name. Many false wonders did they perform and many marvellous idols were they able to construct to the amazement of simple folk who wished for nothing more than a simple life as of old and but one god in nature which to marvel at.
Balancing the greed of Man by converting much of the unclean winds from the burning of the fires of earth, to the clean wind of air, that man may still live and breathe, took its toll on the gods of earth, wind, fire and water who were still dedicated to the light of the word of IO. And in his greed Man consumed more than could be balanced.
Slowly the life sustaining waters were becoming poisoned, as too the fields of the earth and the winds of the air. The trees, used for the boats of old to travel the waters, became thin on the ground. The fish that were once plentiful, told stories of the water becoming as fire, burning all that it touches and of places of death, where the winds cannot pass through from the heavens to become clean. Burning water also rained from the skies. The spirits of the dark gods echoed in the sounds of man as it tore through the waters and sought to overwhelm the fishes with the sheer volume of it.
In this time, unwanted aspects generated from the burning of the fires of the earth became plentiful in the water, threatening to kill all who inhabit it. The peoples of Pasifika knew from old that when the waters die, so too does the earth and those who rely on it.
Though it appeared that Man in general, didn’t seem to care. Little thought was given to the generations of the future who would pay a high price for their foolish ancestor’s lustful greed and worship of the dark gods. The gods themselves had become powerless in their control as the ignorance of Man assumed godliness without the cleanliness of godly responsibility.
Okeanos, the Ancient One from which all waters flowed, as he was known in the tongue of the men from the north, chose the Dietermined Man to act in his name and invoke Te Mana o te Moana, to gather the 7 sisters of the sea and once again spread the word of IO that was lost in the nature of what man and the gods had become…blind with lust and greed, reckless with endangerment.
————————————————————————–
..and don’t worry B. You’ll all be with me in spirit 🙂
I can recommend a fascinating book I’m reading, Tuwharetoa by John Te Herekiekie Grace, and I’ve almost finished the first part which covers the construction, preparation and the voyage of the Arawa canoe. It’s been hard work though because of the multitude of characters, their relationship to the other characters, the mile long names and the million and one details but thoroughly enjoyable.
Cheers J.
I was talking to a Te Arawa voyager on one of the waka and was interested to note that their tribal lands are laid out in the shape of a canoe 🙂
Have you read Vaka – Tom Davis. It’s a bloody good read too. Spanning 300 years in the life of a canoe as it voyages, changes name and ownership through a number of generations to become the famed Takitimu
I couldn’t help but be cynical about the last line in this story:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5384841/Police-obscene-in-Christchurch-looter-case
Here’s the opening paragraph:
“The police’s handling of a man with Asperger’s syndrome caught looting after the Christchurch earthquake has been described as “cruel and obscene” by people calling for the case to be dropped.”
Here’s the last line:
“Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said police had “extensive experience” in dealing with people with mental health issues or who had an intellectual impairment.”
I have to wonder if this “extensive experience” comes from dealing with their own staff.
“extesive experience” could mean anything.
mongrel mob have extensive experience in criminal investigations
taito phillip field has extensive experience in fraud investigations
US defence forces have extensive experience in dealing with people subjected to bombing campaigns
What a crock. But I am glad that this case is not disappearing and that many people are following it through to the bitter end to ensure justice. Does anyone know if the police officer who gave the lad a black eye has been charged with assault yet?
Police may have be hamstrung by the no tolerance law that forced them to treat this individual like any other. Secondly, likely people with disabilities are aware of their disability and so can innoculate themselves to wrong doing. When for instance does it become okay to treat someone with a compulsive disorder seriously? Was stealing lightbulbs during a mass social disruption event like the Earthquake justified that some nuance to policing be over looked due to the high level of social stress, new crime problems, and other new pressures on police. Was it likely that someone who knows they have a problem, justifiably incensed by something that usually would not have led to police action and with a lower iq might have provoked (alledegly) matters.
So no. I think this incidient is a timely reminder that disasters throwup unintended consequences and everyone should just get some cold water and throw it over themselves. I do not believe the disabled community would want to make out that this is some case because there was a Earthquake, how often does that happen. If anyone is responsible its legislators who make laws up for disasters that invoke the zero tolerance proto fascism theory of government, pushing
unstable people into the hands of overstretched, stressed, policing.
Yes another nutting sentencing unsensible trust help the victims and so create more victims, a young
man who could not help it and maybe police officers now worried about their jobs. Thanks again the SST clueless arrogance wins threw.
“Police may have be hamstrung by the no tolerance law that forced them to treat this individual like any other.”
But they don’t have to charge everyone who commits a crime.
Yes they do. They are not allowed to think. Leave it to the Horses they are told, they have bigger heads.
They are allowed to think deadly nz. They can use diversion and they can decide when someone gets a warning if its a trivial offence too can’t they?
“Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said police had “extensive experience” in dealing with people with mental health issues or who had an intellectual impairment.”
Like that poor sod they managed to kill in the back of a patrol car some years ago?
FFS Grant Ogilvie, Arie was held in police custody for 11 days. Murders can be bailed within a day or two. People detained under the mental health act can only initially be detained for 5 days. Did anyone from the police consult a psychologist in 11 days? (The police usually employ at least one organisational psychologist, but they probably need about five).
Murderers (my spelling is not the best).
It’s disturbing to read that the death of AB Byron Solomon could have been prevented.
The Coroners report indicates that HMNZS Canterbury was rushed into service and this contributed to the unnecessary and preventable death.
A damned shame – so what does the then-Defense Minister have to say?
Petrol abuse in outback Australia is a noted problem. Known to cause anti-social behavior amongst the poorest. Strange how our petrol heads often spend countless hours in the area of car exhausts and our neighborhoods become noise magnets as a result. Could we soon see petrol added to alcohol and drugs as yet another addiction warrenting time off work? If petrol fumes cause brain damage could employers sack people for high levels of the exhaust residues in employees blood?
Not so smart after all to get a second hand part that destorys the ability of your engine to remain quiet and keep the suspension from destroy the road surfaces, add to brain damage to the list.
Gold:
Photos of the anthropocene. The captions are of course couched in denialist terms like “In this century the world’s supply may plummet.” when talking about an old oil field.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/age-of-man/anthropocene-photography
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5388471/SIS-mislead-public-Goff
“The document was given to right wing blogger Whaleoil today by the SIS, which refused a Fairfax request several days ago for the briefing note to be released immediately.”
This doesn’t seem kosher to me? A supposedly un-partisan organisation giving a document to a partisan blogger after denying the same priveledges to the (again supposedly) neutral media….
Agreed. Why the slimy one should be preferred over a main stream media outlet, even one controlled by Murdoch is beyond me.
Questions need to be asked.
Like who applied first? Who applied correctly? Is it normal for someone to queue jump by demanding immediate release? There are many possibilities.
Goff is making major accusations based on backing his memory 100% that he remembers specifically NOT seeing one document? How many documents does he look at? He remembers ALL of them?
He’s on a hiding to nothing blowing this up into far more than it could and should have been.
Pete G
In the same comment you have questioned Goff’s veracity and Fairfax Media’s competence both in favour of the Government and without the slightest shred of proof. Perhaps we should wait for answers to the first questions.
I’m not questioning Fairfax’s competence. They didn’t get an immediate release, but that could mean anything. Fairfax haven’t accused Whale or the SIS of anything. Whale may have applied first, it could be as simple as that (if not then I’m sure Fairfax will ask more questions).
Goff’s situation is different. He said:
“I was not shown that document. I never read that document. Warren Tucker is wrong.”
(A notation on the document by Tucker said it was shown to Goff during one of his regular meetings with the opposition leader.)
That’s a clear accusation that Tucker is wrong, in effect that he has incorrectly notated the document and is now lying about it. That’s serious – isn’t it?
Even though the predictable 3 News take on it, is that it’s another point against Goff!
Typical PG trolling.
That’s a very weak response CV.
This amounts to a document signed off as part of standard procedure versus Goff saying his memory is infallible. He can’t prove he hasn’t seen or read it. He’s already struggling for credibility. It’s going to be very tough for him to be convincing.
Seems like Goff is the one acting troll-like here to be honest CV. He seems intent on shouting down anyone on this and removing any possiblity that he may be wrong. That’s highly risky if the documents show anything like a discussion taking place. I think Tucker is teaching him a bureaucratic lesson.
Not content with besmirching the reputation of a senior civil servant who has an impeccable record, now Goff’s blaming some vast right-wing conspiracy for Tucker releasing docs under the OIA to Whaleoil…
As for Pagani’s views? … break out the tinfoil hats once again!
Goff’s dog-tucker
What’s that sound? The sound of a self-congratulatory RWNJ echo chamber? meh.
John Pagani addresses the same point here.
Needs a full investigation ASAP. Won’t get one out of this government though as they’ll need to cover their corruption.
Think that through.
For a security document, there are layers, mountainous layers of clearance to go through to release a document.
So it might be feasible that they couldn’t immediately release it to Fairfax.
Someone has expedited this document for politics.
That’s a major assumption.
Anyway, what would be the difference if Fairfax got it first?
Yes it is. One which seems to fit the facts and is worth formally confirming or denying.
No No – It’s called the Official Information Act and anybody can use it to get Official Information released to them provided certain criteria, spelled out in the Act, are met.
I guess Mr Slater’s request met the requirements so he got what he asked for.
Y’all gonna have to suck on it.
Mr Tucker is not answering questions, but then he releases official information which can be misinterpreted and it tells me nothing except that Tucker’s judgement is lacking.
Did someone else other than Tucker give consent for Slater to recieve info which is being disputed?
The job of the SIS is to protect MPs not cause a rift with the leader of a political party.
When it comes to the oia there is no requirement to worry about the reputation of the leader of the opposition – and rightly so. Do you actually realize what kind of world you are wanting to encourage treetop? It’s the kind of world the oia was created to prevent.
I have no problem with the OIA except when information gets released to a right wing blogger who then plays politics with it and will milk it to the max when so much information is blacked out. Slater may end up being charged with slander and where will this leave Tucker?
So information that is politically damaging can not be released to bloggers? or only right wing bloggers? Who makes the judgement call as to what is politically damaging?
Slander? where did you get your bush lawyers degree? I would be asking for a refund.
Oh yeah, let’s release the info to Right Wing bloggers but not a newspaper.
That’s how a good democracy works eh.
🙄
Slander is any defamation that is spoken and heard.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Libel+and+Slander
Who makes the judgement call to what is politically damaging?
Depends which government department is involved, who its minister is and that transparency is seen.
So are you saying that the oia is ok as long as it works for people you like? Did you know that opposition parties make oia requests all the time and make selective use of that information purely for political purposes. No right turn does similar to slater. Sounds like your real issue is that ‘your guy’ got caught out and is wearing the consequences, and it is embarrassing for you. Change your leader not the law if that’s the case
OFGS. It’s not the SIS to blame here, they did what they are legally obligated to do. They did not “cause” anything. It’s Phil Goff fudging the truth, & bumbling handling of the matter.
Andrei
The information holder can also withhold the information when:
Making the information available would be contrary to a specific Act, or would be contempt of Court or contempt of Parliament, or in some sensitive cases (for example, information about terrorism), the existence of the information can be neither confirmed or denied, or the request is frivolous or vexatious or the information is trivial.
Looks like the judgement call of the SIS is out of whack again.
Zaoui could not defend himself due to information not being disclosed by the SIS.
You’ve got to be kidding. The information requested and supplied is none of those.
Cameron Slater’s request was vexatious. Do know what that word means law?
I think Pagani may be onto something. OIAs often take a long time to review and process, even uncontroversial ones. My instant thought is that this has moved very quickly. He only sent it in on the 26th. I think that reflects Tucker’s annoyance at Goff’s public criticism so this is very nice “Yes MInister” payback. They are doing things by the book, hence Fairfax is having to go through the same process Slater did.
The answer is now clear the Whale asked for the documentation that Phil Goff had seen the document, not the document itself, which is what Fairfax had demanded.
And he got it..
Somebody is gonna be dogtucker after this fiasco
Are you kidding Andrei, you actually believe what Cameron Slater says over Phil Goff? Slater has zero credibility. It appears that Warren Tucker took the document with him but Phil Goff did not see it. I fail to see what the big deal is there.
I really hope that Slater keeps digging though, as the initial scandal of possible Mosad agents attaining false passports from New Zealand again needs a lot more sunlight. More questions need to be asked of John Key.
Why the F did a Right-wing blogger get given the documentation by the SIS, which refused a Fairfax request several days ago for the briefing note? Could this have anything to do with the huge increase in funding the SIS has got under National?
I know that on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 12:41 pm Phil Goff released this press statement and I thought this looks like it is a fairly unwise thing to be saying.
And then a few hours later Cameron Slater released a document which shows unambiguously that Mr Goff’s statements in his press release are, shall we say charitably, incorrect.
Those less charitable than myself might use another word that begins with L to describe Mr Goff’s words.
Game Set and Match, I’d say
What you say is worth dog shit.
Yes but contemporaneous notes speaks volumes
” you actually believe what Cameron Slater says over Phil Goff? Slater has zero credibility. ” Jackal, you must be getting dizzy with all the spinning you are trying with that comment. This is not a case of Slater vs Goff, it is a matter of what was actually discussed between Goff and Tucker… Slater is just a messenger.
Slater is an agent of disinformation and has gained documents previously not released, even when requested using the same procedure. This is a case of John Key and Warren Tucker abusing their positions to undertake a smear campaign on Phil Goff. When it smells and looks like a bullshit, chances are it is. However this discussion now has its own thread.
http://thestandard.org.nz/its-who-you-know/#comment-360484
How did he know what to ask for? And how do you know what Fairfax asked for?
It smells.
It smells alright ms. And when the RWFWs start trying to muddy the waters you know something smells.
You have to wonder where John Key might fit into it too.
That’s my feeling, Anne. Curious that they keep attacking Goff and saying he’s lame…. and yet, they must fear him to spend so much times to smear him, one way or another.
Also I suspect it was given to the slippery one so that National front benchers and Shonkey have their hands clean and can keep spinning that they don’t use negative attack politics.
…. and yet, they must fear him to spend so much times to smear him, one way or another.
Phil Goff has far more knowledge and experience than Key (and Joyce) when it comes to matters concerning Defence and Foreign Affairs. Key knows it. What I don’t understand is why Dr. Warren Tucker is refusing to accept that he didn’t show the document to Goff because that is seemingly what happened. It was probably no more than an oversight – he may have been under pressure at the time? So why didn’t he just accept Goff’s word that he hadn’t seen the document(s) and apologised to him. I’m sure Goff would have accepted his apology unequivocally and that would have been the end of the matter.
Instead a right-wing slimeball is provided by someone in the SIS with the documentation. That’s where the big smell lies!
Further to the above and as has already been commented on:
The fact that the story only broke two weeks ago, and Slater is already in possession of documents smells of extremely rancid fish.
micky is right. Questions need to be asked; like where any politician gets off publicly besmirching the reputation of a senior civil servant, particularly one with an exemplary record?
This practice has to stop, regardless of political affiliation.
That’s what the State Services Commission is for.
Sent to Malaysia without passing Go
Governments are using social media and YouTube more and more as a way to get their message across.
http://kiwi-linkwhore-simplexity.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/sent-to-malaysia-without-passing-go/
The speedy top cop Cox
The Southern Motorway in Auckland was the scene of a police crackdown on speeding in January that aimed to reduce the number of fatalities on New Zealand roads.
http://kiwi-linkwhore-simplexity.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/the-speedy-top-cop-cox/
http://kiwi-linkwhore-simplexity.wordpress.com/
Am I going bonkers or am I just reading the wrong papers and forms of news.
Now every day I hear of jobs going and mass unemployment. Yet the radio news tells me unemployment has been reduced. Now every day I read that Key is Super-Man in disguise, yet everyone I speak too hates the guy.
Same with the present government every paper tell me the Nats will win by a huge majority .However all the people I speak say “We must get rid of this government.. So what’s going on ? Bye the way Im almost a non- drinker and I do not smoke or take drugs, Answers please !
Doublespeak is a long running machine they have practised with and tuned and now just throw it into gear any time they choose. Vigilance of your own reality is all you can hope for.
John Key on Letterman
Recently it was revealed that Tourism NZ paid the PR frim Hill & Knowlton $10,000, to get John Key on the David Letterman show. They engaged the PR firm because after at least six months of lobbying, Letterman was uninterested in having John Key on his show…
No – Tourism NZ pay Hill & Knowlton to promote New Zealand.
As part of their brief they conceived the idea of our prime minister making an appearance on Letterman and set it up.
Mr Key himself was paid US $250 for this appearance, this being to meet Actors equity union requirements that all those who appear on TV shows get paid. This money, I understand, was donated to charity.
Do pay attention
http://thestandard.org.nz/you-paid-to-get-try-hard-john-on-the-telly/
you may want to read this thread Andrei to get your timeline in order
Brown noser (Andrei)- it is not Mr Key it is Shonkey.
Andrei = latest CT astroturfer
I am listening now to 3 News lying their fat faces off about the latest unemployment figures. Petulant Bean taking credit for the ‘drop’ that only 3News can see… and a whine about ‘yoof’ from someone else. Having just been turned down yet again, today, on the grounds of my age, I didn’t need to see an old lady of 70+ talking about how happy she was to have gone back to work… Nice if you can do that, but some of us can’t even get a job to go back to!
Ditto for me – 60 applicants for the 2nd to last job I applied for in my field, to his credit the employer personally read all the cv’s and cover letters – no interview. Last job applied for the reply even stated that I had many of the skills that they were looking for – still no interview.
WTF.
Spoke to a guy at work today, he been in business for years, never had any trouble finding clients but in the last six months the works has dried up and now he is going ‘door knocking’ looking to drum up business, or to work for someone else.
National must go, the one thing that this country most certainly cannot afford is to dump a whole chunk of the population on the scrapheap through the policies of neglect and indifference.
RNZ has been reporting a jobless economic recovery – no improvement in unemployment stats.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/81710/unemployment-figures-'amount-to-jobless-recovery‘
Great! 🙁
I’ve been hearing this “just around the corner” for 2 years now
@vicky32 Bet that female employment rise was in part time and casual work.
That’s what I heard (on the news) the stats were saying, cautious increases in employment, especially part time.
Everything from Nactional politicians.and supporters……..is ‘just around the corner.’
Everything English, Key and Co. promise is ‘soon ‘.. in 2012 etc. i.e ‘the future looks good after the election.’ Hey! NOW is bad for a lot of people who are losing jobs and losing under inflation. I suggest they concentrate on the here and now rather than their contrived mythical future.
Keep up the good work folks. Read most of comments. To mac1 hot air balloon rode over cappadoccia turkey at sunrise magnificent. Down amongst the valleys and hills. Wow!