Kiwi journo Anita McNaught gets into premier Syrian city of Aleppo, investigates the summary executions on Tuesday cited by the shrill Assad supporter and extremist climate change apologist Colonial Viper
In addition to al-Qaeda, there are independent jihadi groups, like the al-Noor Brigades, and Muslim Brotherhood units linked with the rebel Free Syrian Army – all of which have the same methods and agenda. They also share the same sponsors – Qatar, Saudi Arabia, figures in the United Arab Emirates and fundamentalists elsewhere.
The fundamentalists have been encouraged by the emergence from the underground through the Arab Spring of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots in North Africa, and of various Salafi groups in these countries.
Of course, some naive people might still think that the conflict in Syria is “of the people, for the people, by the people”, but they must be stupid, in the face of the rapidly mounting evidence, to still believe so.
Of course, some naive people might still think that the conflict in Syria is “of the people, for the people, by the people”, but they must be stupid, in the face of the rapidly mounting evidence, to still believe so.
In the ransacked and burnt-out remains of various security headquarters in al-Bab lie many clues to the means used by Bashar al-Assad’s government to stay in power, revealing why life under the regime had become increasingly intolerable for its citizens. ….
…. the cupboards are still stuffed with manila files and brown envelopes containing years of records documenting government-condoned snooping. Mostly handwritten, the files are the fruits of an East German style surveillance state.
Anita McNaught Al Jazeera
Who to believe, Colonial Viper, sitting safely at home in front of his keyboard stupidly parroting the propaganda of the Assad regime.
Or respected journalist Anita McNaught putting her life at risk to seek the truth?
The Guardian UK: Al-Qaida Iraq bomb masters turn tide for rebels
According to Abu Khuder, his men are working closely with the military council that commands the Free Syrian Army brigades in the region. “We meet almost every day,” he said. “We have clear instructions from our [al-Qaida] leadership that if the FSA need our help we should give it. We help them with IEDs and car bombs. Our main talent is in the bombing operations.” Abu Khuder’s men had a lot of experience in bomb-making from Iraq and elsewhere, he added.
Hey Jenny, check that Guardian article out. There’s a cute header photo of a Free Syrian Army fighter spray painting the slogan “There is no Islam without Jihad” on a wall.
Playing to the racist and Islamaphobic seats to justify your support for this monstrous regime, CV?
The regime and it’s supporters like you, are doing your very best to stir up sectarian divisions to keep this bloody and monstrous dictatorship in power.
Point of note, the Syrian situation is NOT like the PoAL, where it was basically Union v Contracting, it is far more complicated, and multi faceted than that relatively straight forward situation you commented on so regularly.
Taking such a staunchly simplistic one-sided position is frankly juvenille, and is reaching the stage where your posts and thus your mind set seem to be now struggling against some personal crusade, which while being well indented is, through your words becoming disrespectful of the ever decending seriousness of the situaiton.
Saying someone must be a supprter of the “monsterous dictatorship” because they understand that the situation is complicated, and not what it is presented as to the sheep who follow along, and offer evidence contrary to your personal belief, is limiting!
Its appropriate to accept a situation is complicated, and thus beyond ones capabilities to get their head around. The first step is to realise that it is a mature approach to not back oneself into a corner!
Edit: STOP accusing people of rac*sm incorrectly, continued accusations and use of the term totally disrespect those who suffer genuine rac*sm.
Tel Aviv’s agenda is clear; a weakened Syrian government, an overextended army in disarray, sectarian hatred all around and a relentless slouching towards balkanization. The ultimate goal; not only the Lebanonization, but the Somalization of Syria and environs.
Turkey’s agenda remains incredibly murky – apart from the wishful thinking of post-Assad Syria becoming a mild, civilized version of the AKP reign in Ankara (it won’t happen).
As reported by ATol for months now, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) until a while ago was running a command and control center in Iskenderun, in Hathay province. Recently, it was finally leaked to Reuters the news of a joint Turkey-Qatar-Saudi Arabia “secret” base in Adana, 100 kilometers from the Syrian border. Adana happens to be the home of Incirlik, the immense NATO base. A local ATol source for weeks has been reporting of frantic cargo movements at Incirlik.
It was Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Saud who requested, in person, for the base to be set up, to Ankara’s delight
Ankara-Riyadh-Doha; talk about a triangle of death. Yet the spin from Qatar is once again of the “leading from behind” variety. Turkey is doing the military heavy lifting; the CIA is “hands off”; and Qatar is just taking pictures like an innocent tourist (while directing operations via its military intelligence). The heavy-duty guys are all unspecified “middlemen”.
In an ideal world, the struggle of people against any/all forms of tyranny would have altruistic intervention, indeed in an ideal world, there would not be wars or struggle to intervene in!
Thats not the world we have allowed to be created for us, and its not the world we will ever see, not as long as the species allows itself to be exterminated. With science and technology entrapping the planet further, while crisis after crisis of man made control grid is forced upon the worlds peoples, with the middle east simply one of the manufactured crises.
Your intentions seem to be well meaning, but by having been so fooled into what you believe in happening in Syria, your well meaning is in fact a hugely negative energy force, because you are in fact supporting, what you deny is going on.
Does this mean you should stop supporting the innocent caught up in these manufactured uprisings, absolutely not, but it does mean that you should cover all angles and at least factor in the evidence which states numerously that Syria, like Libya is being destroyed by NATO intervention, using mercenaries and other assorted sponsored criminals, all with the end game pre planned, and using the transparent overused “arab spring” lie, as cover.
Oh and Anita worked of the BBC who have been outed with multiple lies and cover ups over many decades, so I would question Ms McNaughts ability of be , lets call it “independent”
“Oh and Anita worked of the BBC who have been outed with multiple lies and cover ups over many decades, so I would question Ms McNaughts ability of be , lets call it “independent””
Jeez, that’s weak, Muzza. The BBC remains the worlds leading independent news source and I’ll bet you’ll be struggling to back up your daft comment about them. And if you’d bothered to look at Jenny’s link, you’d have spotted that McNaught, who appears to be about a million times braver than you or me, reports for Al Jazeera.
The BBC lost credibility a very long time ago Voice, they have been caught out too many times. No need for me to link anything, go find it for yourslf…Start with Dr David Kelly, though as a tip!
Al Jazeera, LOL again showing how little you know about this Qatari, sponsored Anglo Saxon, pseudo Arab puppet media outlet, where most of its “important employees” are from the UK, many worked for the BBC, just like Anita. Hey Qatar, got the FIFA world cup because they deserved it eh bro!
Oh and refer only to your own cowardice when posting nonsense, do not speak on my behalf!
I didn’t make any comment about Al Jazeera, Muzza, just pointed out that you were being ignorantly insulting to a reporter who is actually risking her life to report the news, while you sit on the couch in your underpants.
Nice to see you can’t back up your claims about the BBC, too.
You pointed out I was being ignorantly insulting did you….that really is ironic!
Can’t see where you read that in my original post, I said “Anita worked OF the BBC”, a typo, I meant to say “worked FOR the BBC”, either way, use of the word WORKED indicated past tense didn’t it!
I also don’t see where I questioned her aledged bravery, only her ability to be an “independent”, reporter, given the association to the BBC, and now to Al Jazeera, both of which I have given an opinion on, and if you want the links to read up on those media outlets, go find them for yourself, they are plentiful!
Warning, it might throw up some questions about “The BBC remains the worlds leading independent news source “, which could open you up to exposing mental frailties when challenged.
You’re not up for that though, I already know that mental challenges are not something you have the chops for!
🙄 Did you not read the comment where Red rings the bell for a halt to personal attacks, f**k off over to the Sewer if you cannot help but indulge in such…
( 🙄 ) It is in fact as easy to see why you are the recipient of regular bans from the Standard as it is to see that you have failed to learn from such bans,
My proposal to those who put the effort into giving us this site so as to further discussion of the things that matter to the Left in New Zealand society and politics is that where a particular commenter has deserved to be the subject of such banning that each time the length of the ban be extended by double the amount of the previous banning…
If it’s me your calling stupid it’s a wasted effort as i just do not care, if it’s a reference to he who we bestow ^ 🙄 ^ upon i am presently unarmed with any facts that would allow me to debate otherwise…
Actually, I know several left wing Brits who think that the BBC news is no longer as independent as it was – I think since the Kelly incident under Blair’s watch. I tend to agree. For instance, it particularly favours a pro-Israel government line and tends to demonise Palestine. I understand that the news on BBC channels broadcast in the UK in the main news slots, is more biased than, say BBC’s international broadcasts.
In contrast, writer and journalist John Pilger has frequently accused the BBC of a right-wing bias, a view shared by the left-wing Media Lens website. The editors’ of Media Lens claim that the BBC acts to narrow the range of thought and like most commercial broadcasters it inherently portrays the opinions of the powerful.[18] Former Director General of the BBC, Greg Dyke, has criticised the BBC as part of a “Westminster conspiracy” to maintain the British political system.[19] Respect MP George Galloway has referred to it as the “Bush and Blair Corporation”.[20]
Also, I used to think Al Jazeera was pretty good at providing critiques from different viewpoints. I watch it quite a bit, but in the last year or two, it has become much more like mainstream western media in mirroring viewpoints of the western power blocs. Although, it still has some good critical pieces, ditto the BBC.
Yes North, she was ’embedded’ – as the saying went – by Fox News when Iraq Invasion no.2 was in progress. She was quite defensive of them at the time. That’s my recollection anyway.
More findings from that Ipsos/Fairfax poll, involving interviews with a relatively small number of people (1000). Not surprisingly Nat supporters are more positive about the future than those who support opposition parties – UF & ACT supporters are too small in number to register anything much, except they seem to be ambivalent about the future (maybe they are just always ambivalent?).
People were asked a range of questions to ascertain how they feel about the future compared with a year ago. Views about the economy seem to have been the strongest influence on people’s feelings about the future:
One in three believes their financial security has lessened over the past 12 months, compared with 23 per cent who felt their situation had improved.
[..]
Some of the survey findings are surprising – young men are more likely than older New Zealanders to feel positive and optimistic about the country’s direction, while those in their 40s and 50s – children largely of the 1960s – are comfortable financially, and optimistic about their own prospects, but less positive about the direction of the economy in general.
They also worry about the protection of the environment and New Zealand’s core values.
But most interesting is the growing sense of resentment of the wealthy elite:
Across 1000 interviews, one of the themes that emerged was a growing sense of “us and them”.
STAY-AT-HOME dad Matthew West, 35, from Taupo, agrees there seems to be a growing undercurrent of resentment in New Zealand toward those who have made it financially.
“You see that in higher tax rates for the rich. If you’re rich – which I’m not even if I’d like to be – you pay more tax anyway just because you earn more money. But it creates that sort of environment – people think ‘Oh, that person’s rich, he gets this and that, he can dodge his tax’ etc.
“I think the whole system is set up to breed that resentment. I do think that’s becoming a big issue.”
Dr Lloyd says some of that sense of “us and them” has been fuelled by worldwide events and the growing transfer of wealth to just a few, which has spawned the likes of the Occupy movement. But National’s asset sales plan is the sort of issue that also helped drive that feeling.
So, Labour and Greens, take note. it’s time for a change of focus and to jettison the remnants of the neoliberal scam. There’s a growing tide of sentiment that would support a focus on fairness and possibly for what is beneficial to the wider community.
However, there are some signs of retreat to social isolation as a defense, except in Auckland, where apparently the community spirit is quite strong. There needs to be some strong leadership on drawing people together to work towards the best for society as a whole, so that retreat from community doesn’t take hold.
Well, I certainly despair when I see that the government is playing musical houses with state/subsidised housing, shunting the available low cost housing around amongst the poor. Meanwhile they are also trying to push as many people as possible out of state houses and into the rental market:
The group she is working for, He Korowai Trust, has received a $720,000 grant from the Government’s social housing programme towards buying 20ha on the edge of Kaitaia where it will eventually install 27 Glen Innes houses for families that must have at least two children and be living in “substandard, unhealthy or unreliable living conditions”.
[…]
But housing Kaitaia’s homeless is coming at a serious cost in Glen Innes, where Housing NZ is removing or renovating 156 houses to make way for 78 new or renovated state units, 39 homes for community providers and about 140 privately owned homes.
Meanwhile the wealthier classes are continuing to spend on buying houses in Auckland, as if there was no recession, paying high dollar to buy up the available housing. No doubt many will take advantage of the struggle to find rental accommodation amongst the less well-off, raising rents so that some will just not be able to afford anywhere to live.
Carol The bubble will burst Ollie Newland has said it won’t be pretty.
Australian eastern state cities are experiencing a major downturn after a post GFC bubble.
Just like last time New Zealand will follow suit. its just a matter of time.
Doesn’t the Babble in that Herald article just do your head in, there’s three strands in the Herald story that are best dealt with as separate issues,
*First we have Paula Benefit,hardly one for presenting either deep or evidential based analysis of any ‘problem’ She has encountered in Her Social development portfolio, giving a good spray and walk away line in the vein of ‘i thunk it therefor it is’,
How many beneficiaries are there boarding in State Houses, paying board to the main State House tenant who only pays 25% of income, while the boarder claims from Income Support an accommodation supplement???,
The Minister (as usual) gives NO figures for the numbers of people supposedly involved and as such i can only assume that Paula Benefit and Phil Heatley have spent an hour together, (focus grouping), creating in their minds the supposed problem,
Even so,IF there is a problem of this sort occurring,and, My belief is that HousingNZ rents out it’s property’s on the basis of 25% of the TOTAL income of the HOUSEHOLD,it is in fact a simple ‘fix’, and theoretically at least seeing as HousingNZ has just had a $90 Million computer upgrade, an easily accomplished one , where the ‘rule’ of 25% of HOUSEHOLD income be firmly established while changing the rules so that NO accommodation supplement can be paid to anyone living in a HousingNZ tenancy,
That along with some data matching between Paula and Phil’s fiefdoms of Housing and Social Development so as to have those who make the decisions on Accommodation Supplements know which are and which are not State Houses,
* Second, really i can only say What The F**k, private providers of Social Housing cannot compete with HousingNZ because the HousingNZ tenants pay 25% of income and the best the private providers of social housing can achieve is 70-80% of market rent,
As in Wah f**king Wah, the Loony’s having taken over the Asylum now want a ‘Level Playing Field’ to be imposed upon Social Housing because ‘it’s not fair’ that they cannot compete with HousingNZ,
In all seriousness there is i fear only 2 logical solutions that could be applied here, rule changes aplenty would have to occur as i fear that such people are way to far gone to be swayed by logical argument and my diagnosis would be either to put them up against the wall or provide them a psychiatric institution within which they could indulge in a game of doctors,nurses, and, patients to take turns at solving their own various problems,
* Third, as Minister of Housing Phil Heatley has given us all an in depth analysis of the problem He,and He appears to be mostly alone here, sees in the HousingNZ rental policy, Phills in depth analysis, ‘we can’t afford it’,
Annette King makes sport of Phil in the House at question time and you can almost see the mousy Housing Minister looking for a bolt hole every time King skewers Him with another query over matters within His portfolio that amount to slow death by a thousand small cuts,
Phill has the unenviable task of rack renting HousingNZ tenants most of whom are beneficiaries simply because National have always hated State Housing, nothing more nothing less,
The whole Herald article really comes down to making up a whole lot of s**t which the tame press will print verbatim which attempts to find some logical justification for National to give Beneficiaries (especially the ones in State Housing who Nationals core voters cannot profit from), another financial kicking in order to satisfy its red-neck core vote…
As an economic afterthought to my long winded comment above, there is absolutely NOTHING to be gained in an economic sense from any changes that national propose to make to the 25% of income rental regime as applied to it’s HousingNZ stock of social housing,
The reverse is in fact true,simply rack-renting those who by lack of income are reliant upon the State does nothing but move monies between the various agencies of State in some warped attempt at book balancing,
For the ‘Real Economy’ the reality simply means that while the State is indulging in fits of ‘give with the left hand’, and, ‘take back with the right’ there is a nett loss in revenue from the State House tenants negatively effected by such stupidity doing what such revenue is supposed to do in the wider economy,
Money from tenants so negatively affected by such proposed changes simply stops going around in the economy, strangely enough, Nationals core vote in the business sector who benefit by competing for a slice of such money being spent into local economy’s by HousingNZ tenants will also suffer negatively as the money will now simply transit from one Government account to another,
Thus National is simply proposing to deepen further the ongoing recession and while concentrating upon micro-economics of the Government social spend is blind to the negative impact upon that local economy, (or more to the point seems to just not give a f**k)…
“No doubt many will take advantage of the struggle to find rental accommodation amongst the less well-off, raising rents so that some will just not be able to afford anywhere to live.”
That is what the direct consequence of the changes to state housing will be.
And I thought the purpose of social housing was to keep rents down? It seems to me that the social housing providers want the government to subsidize their rent?
some of that sense of “us and them” has been fuelled by worldwide events and the growing transfer of wealth to just a few
How much of the this generated by political campaigning? Greens in particular keep promoting terminology like”the growing transfer of wealth to just a few”.
It’s ironic that those most adversly affected by the wealth gap don’t have any wealth to transfer, in fact it’s tax paid by the more wealthy that enable them to receive state assistance.
The “transfer of wealth” term is a misnomer, especially when Greens promote transferring more wealth from rich to poor by raising taxes.
So publicly owned amenties such as health, education, parks, libaries are not wealth, and that these things are being closed down so the rich get cuts in rates and taxes.
Had a thought — correct term is actually transfer the wealth from the wider community to the rich. The closure of hospitals around the country to pay for Bill Birch’s tax cuts in 1996 is an example, as well as Porirua City Council’s closure of the Plimmerton libaray to keep rates down.
BTW: I have put in an OIA request to get a list of hospitals closed between 1990 and 1999 and 1999 and 2008. We shall then see the effect of tax cuts on health services 🙂
Pete, just when I had developed some sympathy for you because of what could be identified as bullying behaviour against you, you come out with this ignorant gem. My sympathy has now evaporated completely. You are a delusional and annoying waste of bandwidth.
“…So, Labour and Greens, take note. it’s time for a change of focus and to jettison the remnants of the neoliberal scam…”
The problem is the serious generational lag we have in our political/media elites. Key is a neo-liberal by choice but outside a small but powerful business lobby that Key represents everyone in the rest of the real world has long moved on from neo-liberalism. But our media/political elite is still heavily infested with 1980s and 90s neo-liberal supporters and apologists. English, Roughan, Holmes, Ralston, half the Labour front bench, swags of the Nats (McCully and Williamson for a start) etc etc etc are all left over neo-liberals who are far, far past their use by date. Hopefully Labour will take the opportunity in 2014 to clean out the likes of Mallard, Dyson, King and Goff and bring in a generation of politicians who at least formed some of their ideas in this century….
I don’t think we should have term limits in parliament. Some experience is beneficial – Lockwood Smith as Speaker a good example.
But there’s nothing to stop parties from having their own term limits, or at least encouraging retirement of MPs past their best and past their value to the party. Have any parties considered term restrictions?
And if they don’t get the message then leadership could reinforce it by dropping them down the rankings.
The obvious problem is long serving MPs have too much self serving influence.
Not sure why Colin Craig gets so much coverage for a non-politician, I guess money talks.
But in his case he’s talking all over the place, as one argument gets demolished he moves to another. Ah, marriage convention has changed quite a bit over the last few thousand years. It’s changed quite a bit in my lifetime.
On The Nation this morning he ended up pleading for his last hope, a referendum. No chance of that either.
In contrast Louisa Walls impressed with facts and forceful points.
Peter Dunne (Ohariu) 14,357
Colin Craig (Rodney) 8,031
The Conservative Party had probably 10 times the UF budget and got more media coverage. They also tried to push shoddy polls to promote their support. They got a creditable number of votes but in the end failed under MMP.
But that’s all history. Dunne is an MP (and a Minister). Craig is neither.
And it’s all irrelevant, it’s got nothing to do with my commentt, most of what I talk about is non-UF. More: The Colin Craig Craze.
I was proposing a reason for why he gets media attention even though he’s not a politician: because he and his party got significantly more support in the election than two of the politicians who are in parliament.
Regardless of how you define “politician” (and I’m sure we can can all think of a few quite different but quite legitimate variations) the crux is he’s a “political actor”.
A referendum on marriage would pass the legislation. Personally, if there was a referendum the questions should be:
Do you think you should have the right to marry? Do you think other people should be able to prevent you from marrying?
I’m reasonably certain that we would get back a 100% Yes/No response.
Leave it to Craig and other deniers of basic human rights and we’ll probably get some weaselly question that would be more confusing than informative – just like the question on smacking.
It’s a moot point anyway, there won’t be a referendum on it – although I agree that if there was it would agree with what MPs are likely to pass.
It’s possible Craig will try a CIR on this but I think he’s using the issue to raise profile rather than thinking he has any chance of success at stopping the Marriage bill.
Louisa Wall presented her case impressively on The Nation, and Colin Craig kept moving from one smackdown to another.
This one is similar to the sorts of reports that were coming out of Iraq in late 04 and through 05, with what national identity that had existed falling away in the face of sectarian group dynamics:
The Iraqi government still hasn’t finalised it’s constitution with regard to the Kurds. The govts, new and old, in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria may well have many differences but you can bet they’ll all agree that the Kurds won’t be getting anything like a homeland. If western peeps want something simple to get pissed off about with a clear cut right and wrong side, that’s about as close a one as I can see in this mess. Good luck convincing our governments to do anything but.
An interesting piece on the coverage from Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya http://t.co/M1AGvnqa
But if you really want nightmare visions. Read the press coming out of Lebanon. Whose up for picking sides in a Hezbollah vs Al-Qaeda fight? And think about the stakes of that.
As is obvious, this is a fight that has nothing to do with us. Putting ‘what we think ought to happen’ into the mix is a recipe for blowback. And it’s messy enough already for mind.
It’s awful, but that doesn’t mean that anything we can do will make it better.
Finally some in that useless UN have grown some gonads, even if it is non binding.
The UN has been for a long time to me replicating its parent, The League of Nations in its inability at doing anything but allow its delegates and support staff the lifestyle that New York offers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19106250
The UN has been for a long time to me replicating its parent, The League of Nations in its inability at doing anything but allow its delegates and support staff the lifestyle that New York offers.
No additional world wars since the UN was founded. That’s something.
BTW the delegates to the UN and various support staff don’t have a say in whether the UN continues or not, so their “lifestyle” convenience has nothing to do with it.
Tell that to the 40.968 million who have been killed in various wars since WWII, I am sure they take consolation that there was No WW War III. http://www.cissm.umd.edu/papers/files/deathswarsconflictsjune52006.pdf
From a financial point of view why have the UN based in New York. I am sure we could find a developing nation that would benefit from the economic activity. Perhaps such an idea JK could take aboard to fix our countries economic woes and the msm would believe,take and run with this perhaps a great diversion just like making NZ a financial hub. 😉 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10691438
The UN in it’s current form is not permitted to grow gonads. It is still fundamentally limited by the G8 nations unwilling to give it enough power to act effectively.
And most especially not to act against their own hegemonic ambitions.
That would not be lawful if he were the Prime Minister of Australia.
Seen this?
John Key publicly admits his Bank of America shareholding at a Grey Power public meeting in February 2011.
Remember – when he worked for Merrill Lynch – he was the Head of Derivatives – and at the time the Glass Steagall Act (which kept separate boring safe commercial banking and risky dangerous investment banking) was repealed – November 1999 – John Key was a Foreign Exchange Advisor for the New York Federal Reserve.
So – what role did shonky John Key play in the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act?
Why is this important?
Because the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act helped to leave the dodgy derivatives market completely unregulated.
Which is the main reason why the world is facing an international financial meltdown?
Because of the collapse of the dodgy derivatives market – which shonky John Key helped to set up?
Penny the price of BofA ML shares will be worthless.
Not unlike Keys promises.
Bof A suffered huge loss’s because of more dodgy dealings at ML.
They also facing legal action on many fronts and the US government is in no mood for a second bail out.
yes and now the reserve bank of new zealand is in the process of allowing the uncovered bonds act to go through so there will be even less control of the issuers of shonky derivatives.
“yes and now the reserve bank of new zealand is in the process of allowing the uncovered bonds act to go through so there will be even less control of the issuers of shonky derivatives.”
I wonder how well this is supported in the Green Party:
Greens would support military intervention in Syria
The Green Party says New Zealand should vote for military intervention in Syria at the United Nation if the fighting there reaches the point where crimes against humanity are being committed.
Green MP Kennedy Graham, who met Syrian refugees six weeks ago in camps near the border with Jordan, says the General Assembly should pass economic sanctions on Syria and take military action if the circumstances warrant it.
It does make me wonder just how far to the right the Greens have actually slipped when there are Green MP’s calling for military intervention in any conflict, let alone one where it’s becoming more than a little apparent the US is intervening via proxy,
Someone else mentioned the other day the fact that it seems that the right stages ‘take-overs’ of the political party’s on the left with consumate ease, and, i have also been feeling uneasy about certain aspects of the Greens ‘going straight’ for the purposes of electoral success,
The modern Left in New Zealand and in particular supporting the Parliamentary Left has felt increasingly akin to some nomadic journey, a gypsy circus trodden with more disappointment than hope,
My thought is though, give the Greens at least a term of Government with at least my vote at the 2014 election, but, i have already begun the where to from here type thought…
Lol. Mostly at the idea that Pete F. George think he is in any position to be questioning what Kennedy Graham knows or does not know about International Relations.
Read what he is saying. Closely.
If their are crimes against humanity taking place what is the Green party’s longstanding position on that sort of thing? Bear in mind that crimes against humanity is not a synoym for ‘shit I don’t like’.
Next think about what he is saying we should do, and by implication shouldn’t do.
Is Graham saying we should join in any ‘coalition of the willing’ style clusterfuck?
Or is he saying that that sort of adventure would be illegal and that we should not only have no part in it but that we should be doing something else.
What should the International community do about Crimes against humanity?
That’s the question he’s asking, and he’s putting the govt in a box with regard to requests to join ad hoc illegal coalitions.
According to the RNZ article he’s advocating economic sanctions which always hit the people at the bottom of the pyramid while the people at the top, the people that the santions are supposed to stop, don’t feel a thing. Please also note that the people at the top are already shooting at the people at the bottom (which I’m pretty sure is already a Crime Against Humanity).
Chances of sanctions doing anything? Around zero.
He then says that if sanctions don’t work (pretty much guaranteed) in containing (not stopping) the slaughter then military intervention is required.
Basically, IMO, he’s advocating a default position of military intervention.
Now, preventing arms being delivered to the current government is probably a valid option and one I would support but not full sanctions and definitely no military intervention. I think we’ll probably see both though.
–No but he is the brother of Doug Graham, so Ill say it again.
The Greens are not what people wish them to be, thats not what they exist for, and have ben taken over some time ago, its all too easy to control politics, you just have to do a little digging into the backgrounds of these people.
Labour gone towards the right, Greens headed the same way. Just control a few key people inside each entity, and its job done, the coutry and the people get screwed, and most either have no idea, or actually vote for those who screw them!
Why are the Greens are making this call now, when it looks like the victory of the rebellion is all but guaranteed, and a Western intervention now, would only act to steal the people’s victory?
The Green Party says New Zealand should vote for military intervention in Syria at the United Nation if the fighting there reaches the point where crimes against humanity are being committed.
Kennedy Graham Radio NZ report
What is crazy about this, about this call for Western intervention from the Greens is that crimes against humanity are already being committed, and have been for some time. From the firing on unarmed protesters, to the detention, torture and murder of deserters wives and children, to the aerial bombardment of civilian centres resulting in the mass deaths of civilians.
I am sure that regime defenders of this monstrous regime like Colonial Viper would welcome any attempt to snatch victory from the resistance.
Have the Greens been ignorantly swallowing the propaganda from pro regime supporters in this country?
B12 Yep I did wonder before the last election whether closet blue green was was infiltrating the Greens- something felt a little off key but couldn’t really put my finger on it.Noticed a lot of the old guard retired all at once and none of them seemed to be morphing into the older party statesperson type role which nade me wonder if they are still welcome through the door. Also the “we may do a deal with the Nats line.”
And are we getting a strong media slant on Green party actions when it lines up with Nact aspirations. Lots of attention on Norman none really on Meretai.
Different subject entirely – our revered leader isn’t swanning around at the Olympics for the photo ops. So unlike him what’s wrong – is he ill, unwelcome or something else?
And again – I wondered if we will continue to win at the Olypics as we do now? Child poverty destroys early sporting chances (?) I suspect, so is there any correlation between left wing governments and sucess some years later.
I see the Aussies are trying for an exchange rate/gold medal correlation oh dear ………..
Nah, safer to wait and see what comes home and sort photo-ops then if it’s worth it.
Yeah well, the C/T trained PR team will be in full motion organising a shindig at parliament as we speak. My suggestion is: the opposition stake out the possible venues inside the Beehive for the Key photo op. and gatecrash it at the last minute. Oh how hilarious to see Shearer/ Mallard/Norman/Turei grinning cheesily from the sidelines. That would make my week. Harawira (grinning cheesily) could appear over the top of Key. That would make my month.
It’s very important because he is the parliamentary moral leader of Maori. That’s the guts on the street now. People can forget their bullshit stuff about manners and so on.
And for them who’ll come up “Nah, he’s a prick or whatever……….” – damn it, they’re all older. Young people are receptive, even if subliminally, to the relative deprivation and need that is very pervasive now.
So go away Tariana and Pita. You’re not relevant anymore. You have sat at the table while Maori have suffered and still you’re saying all is as sweet, as sweet as it can be.
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...
Transport is our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Any credible effort to reduce emissions to net-zero has to target it. So what is the government doing? Subsidising some of the dirtiest, most inefficient vehicles on the roads:New Zealand's favourite cars - double cab utes - are largely exempt ...
You’ve really got to wonder what the NZ First Party was thinking and drinking last Friday? Not only did they hamstring the Greens by halting one of their main environmental policies, the electric vehicle fee-bate scheme, a policy that the public was led to believe was a done deal…but they ...
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girlsRape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the new figures for COVID-19 (as we must now call the novel coronavirus – though I’m not sure the capitalisation is correct) from Hubei province:Image from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51495484The spike yesterday is a consequence of a using a different way of ...
Bob Jones has dropped his defamation case against Renae Maihi. Good. But at the same time, it perfectly exposes what the case was all about: not protecting Jones' reputation, but punishing someone who had dared to criticise him, and deterring others from doing the same. This rich pompous asshat dragged ...
As I've done for the past few years, I'm curating and presenting The Listening Lounge, the talk programme at Splore. On the morning of Saturday the 22nd at the Living Lounge stage, the korero goes like this.Yes, we're talking about drugs again, not just because I'm professionally interested in drug ...
What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
The government today announced a major support package aimed at reducing homelessness. A thousand new transitional housing places, more support for people to find homes (or not lose them in the first place), all good stuff. The one problem with it is that they're going to start charging people in ...
Courtroom Drama: There is no off-switch in a courtroom. Neither is it possible to turn the page in disgust. Ill-formed and ill-defended opinions will be exposed ruthlessly and unapologetically. As Shakespeare put it: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Sometimes the ...
As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ngā ...
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Introduction Mr Speaker We all know why we are here today. It has been a long journey. The journey did not actually begin on 15 March 2019. It began on 30 June 1997. Almost 23 years ago, Justice Sir Thomas Thorp told us what was wrong with our firearms legislation. ...
The Government’s work to put trades and vocational education back on the agenda took another major step forward today with the passing of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is a watershed day for trades and vocational education. These law changes formalise ...
Speeding up the return of Christchurch regeneration activities to local leadership is behind the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today by Minister Megan Woods. “As we approach nine years since the February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, and with the transition to local leadership well underway, the time ...
Hundreds of New Zealanders and international visitors will be able to get back out into nature with the Milford Track partially reopening next week, after extensive assessments and repairs, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The popular Great Walk has been closed since 3 February after an extreme ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Stewart, Doctoral Candidate at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University In the wake of last week’s horrific murder of a woman and her three children in Brisbane at the hands of her estranged partner, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston ...
Politicians who have appeared on Dancing with the Stars over the past 15 years say the publicity could backfire for would-be politician Hannah Tamaki if she puts on her dancing shoes. ...
Marlin’s Dreaming have a new single out ahead of their next, ‘least accessible’ album. Frontman Semisi Maiai sat down to talk about how a bunch of jocks from Dunedin became indie darlings.Semisi Maiai embodies the duality of man. He’s a barista and a basketballer; he’s a jock and an indie ...
Pacific Media Watch A University of Waikato researcher says some of the current colonial representations of climate change in the Pacific are obscuring Pacific voices and failing to recognise the importance of Indigenous knowledge in the fight against the changing climate. Dr Jessica Pasisi’s thesis, Niue Women’s Perspective and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne Bernie Sanders has easily won the Nevada Democratic caucus, cementing his status as front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the US presidential election. With 88% of precincts reporting, Sanders won ...
An announcement that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will be based in Hamilton makes “perfect sense” given the city’s location and strong transport links says Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate. On Friday Justice Minister Andrew Little ...
Steel & Tube has recorded a large half-year loss, in line with forecasts, mostly because of a $37 million write-down in asset values. For the six months ended December the steel manufacturing company made a $36.9m loss. Chief executive Mark Malpass said the company expected an improved second half. "While ...
The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter has slumped to a large loss because of volatile prices and power costs. Pacific Aluminium, controlled by Rio Tinto, made a loss of $313 million for the year ended December compared with the previous year's profit of $207m. However, the underlying loss fell to $46m ...
The Government has extended its ban on travel from China by another eight days until early March, but may provide an exemption for international students, while the Treasury is considering global recession scenarios. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Cabinet decided on Monday afternoon to extend its ban on travel ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season has done immense damage to Australia’s tourist industry. Then, just as heavy rain began to bring the situation under control, came the coronavirus outbreak in China – now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hole, Senior Research Fellow, Mathematical Sciences Institute, Australian National University Recent reports from scientists pursuing a new kind of nuclear fusion technology are encouraging, but we are still some distance away from the “holy grail of clean energy”. The technology developed ...
First the broadcaster was caught up in an online swindle using Facebook – now it’s the other media giant.“Hosking’s Latest Investment”, went the headline on the Google-served advertisement, complete with a photograph of the award-winning broadcaster, placed on a New Zealand news site. “New Zealand’s citizens are already raking in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s announcement on Friday that a Labor government would adopt a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 was a big step in the right direction. But a bit of simple maths reveals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Gurrieri, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, RMIT University Under Australia’s harsh sun, we’ve long slapped on sunscreen to protect ourselves from skin damage and cancer. Now the product, once known for protecting skin against harmful UV rays, is becoming part of beauty ...
Get data at the national level, by regional council area, territorial authority / Auckland local board area, statistical area 2 (SA2), and district health board area. Tables contain 2018, 2013, and 2006 Census data. Access data in NZ.Stat Use ...
Northland's biggest trucking operator has accused the Transport Agency of letting an employee wage a personal vendetta against him that's cost him millions of dollars. Stan Semenoff says the employee went after his scalp, but he's defeated the Agency and shown that it had no safety case to begin with. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations scandals John Armstrong (TVNZ): Jacinda Ardern’s refusal to reprimand Winston Peters is nothing short of disgraceful Luke ...
Keep New Zealand Beautiful partners with Waste Management New Zealand to send educational book to New Zealand schools New Zealand not-for-profit organisation, Keep New Zealand Beautiful, has teamed up with Waste Management to distribute an educational storybook ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paxton Loke, Paediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Some children grow out of their food allergies, but researchers don’t exactly know why. Here’s how to work with your allergy specialist if you suspect your child isn’t allergic any more. Read ...
The Māori Party candidate for Waiariki - Rawiri Waititi - believes the younger generation will be the key to the party getting back into Parliament this year. ...
The Sustainable New Zealand Party is struggling to demonstrate it has enough political sustainability to last until the election campaign heats up later this year. Within just a few months media attention has turned from its founding to its foundering. The New Zealand Herald seems not to have caught up ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve heard of dark matter. You’ve probably heard there’s a fair bit of it out there in space, and that astronomers don’t know for sure what it is. But, strange as dark matter is, there’s an ...
When NZME reports its annual results on Tuesday, attention will focus on its mooted purchase of rival Stuff Ltd and the revenue its paywalled nzherald.co.nz site has brought in ...
After 43 years on the telly, Fair Go knows exactly how to stick up for Kiwi consumers. Tara Ward talks to Sophie Baird, the woman changing New Zealand, one consumer complaint at a time. For over four decades, Fair Go has been our saviour. They’ve defended us when we’ve been ripped ...
ANALYSIS:By Asmiati Malik in Jakarta The Indonesian government plans to evaluate the efficacy of special funds for the West Papua region. These funds have been disbursed to the easternmost region, comprising the two provinces of Papua and West Papua, for nearly two decades. The funds, paid since 2002 to ...
Last week Nick Loosley, founder of food waste and food poverty charity Everybody Eats, was named the 2020 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year. He talked to Alex Braae about how a more sustainable approach to our food system can help feed those in need. There’s a theme of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Skead, Professor, Dean of Law School, University of Western Australia In 2017, a business lecturer posted a photo on LinkedIn showing a completely empty university classroom, 15 minutes after the class had been scheduled to start. This is not an isolated ...
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. The airline has issued a revised forecast for its full year earnings, cutting its estimate of operating earnings by between $35m to $75m to ...
New Zealand's steps to shield itself from the Covid-19 coronavirus will not save the economy from feeling its effects. Hundreds of millions of dollars is likely to be shaved off the value of the economy for the first quarter, with estimates currently between 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points less than ...
By Evaristo Soares Martins in Dili Early elections cannot be allowed to “become the political culture” in Timor-Leste, says the leader of the opposition Fretilin party, Dr Marí Alkatiri. The former Prime Minister said he wants to see an end to the political impasse, prompted by the collapse of ...
By Sharlyne Eri in Lae A Papua New Guinean man who once resorted to crime to make a living is now running a bicycle repair business. Collin Kunan is a long-time resident of West Taraka, one of Lae’s urban settlements where petty crime is rife because of high unemployment. ...
Jamie’s away with the lads, Claire’s elbow deep in a dead man’s abdomen, and Roger wants to go back to the future. Tara Ward recaps episode two of season five of Outlander.Well, my thirstly little Outlander cherubs, that was something else, wasn’t it? It’s been many a moon since I watched ...
Opposition leader Simon Bridges says a National government will look at amending the law to allow Australians convicted of serious crimes in New Zealand to be deported. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carlo Perrotta, Senior lecturer, Monash University The spread of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 is a public health emergency with economic and social ramifications in China and across the world. While the impacts on business are well documented, education is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Cullen, Adjunct professor, University of Western Australia The extradition hearing to decide whether to send Julian Assange to the United States to be tried for publishing classified military documents on Wikileaks is expected to finally begin today in London. Assange is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernadette McSherry, Foundation Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne In 2018, the Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, delivered a report about “the saddest case” she had ever seen. A 39-year-old woman with a developmental disorder had been locked in her prison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick O’Connor, Associate Professor, University of Adelaide Among the vast number of native species damaged by the recent bushfire crisis, we must not forget native pollinators. These animals, mainly insects such as native bees, help sustain ecosystems by pollinating native plants. Native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Skead, Professor, Dean of Law School, University of Western Australia In 2017, a business lecturer posted a photo on LinkedIn showing a completely empty university classroom, 15 minutes after the class had been scheduled to start. This is not an isolated ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil G Sipe, Adjunct Researcher in Transport and Planning, The University of Queensland Over the past decade almost US$200 billion has been invested globally in mobility technology that promises to improve our ability to get around. More than US$33 billion was invested ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne In a recent ruling the Australian Press Council has given a signal to gossip magazines it is OK to make up and publish rubbish about people, so long as the ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China which is due to expire tonight. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The transformation of the national electricity market has “progressed at a remarkable pace and scale” over the last year as it moves towards renewables, but security is a critical issue, according to the Energy Security ...
The Labour Party has selected Kerrin Leoni as their candidate for the electorate of Waikato. In a confirmation meeting held in Ngaruawahia on 23rd February, Ms Leoni, 39, was nominated unopposed as the electorate candidate, with the electorate covering ...
RNZ Checkpoint last week reported that the rodeo industry has killed two animals during the current rodeo season. Information recently obtained by animal rights organisation SAFE reveals two bulls were killed at ‘Mad Bull’ rodeo events in November and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China - which is due to expire tonight. ...
Climate change will be a hot topic in Jacinda Ardern's meeting with the Fijian PM this week, but an elephant in the room for her talk with the Australian PM. ...
In today’s edition: plant-based diets add a new item to the rural-urban tension menu, Genesis plans NZ’s biggest solar farm and a major regulatory push on vaping.The Sunday Star-Timesdevoted its whole cover to a dramatic image under the headline ‘Is meat for the chop?’, while inside a Colmar ...
What’s the economic impact of draining a wetland, or depleting soil health? An economist is looking at the value of some of the mostly unseen ecological services nature performs. A lot of what occupies economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s mind is invisible processes. While environmentalists fighting for wetland protection, or ...
Coronavirus has created new economic uncertainties in China and beyond. There is no doubt the short-term impact on New Zealand’s businesses will be severe, but how exactly is difficult to foresee. The outlook for global trade already looks grim compared to our expectations late last year. CNN reported that Maersk, ...
Belinda Muller has managed major Kiwi sports teams in three different codes – netball, rugby and, now, cricket. The only difference, she's found, is the size of their balls. It was supposed to last just three days. A bit of a paperwork at a netball centre, to help out a ...
The Children’s Commissioner responds to a UN committee's decision about the torture of children at Lake Alice. David Williams reports Pressure is building on a police review of their file into Lake Alice psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks. The review was prompted by a landmark decision by the United Nations Committee against ...
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant new thriller by Kiwi author JP Pomare, inspired by creepy Australian cult The Family. Today: The creepy opening chapter.— Amy’s journal — Here are two things I learnt today: 1. ...
Back to university today? Beware the flashy voluntourism brochures promising a chance to save the world, writes AUT lecturer Daniel Crouch.It was my first day as a lecturer, February 2018, and I was feeling pretty nervous as students filed in. Just before the nine o’clock start, a young woman approached ...
The rise of litigation funding in New Zealand puts politicians and business leaders on notice – their actions will now be policed by a powerful new sheriff, writes Chris Lee.In business, as in life, there may be a range of thought processes that quell the temptation to cheat. One would ...
Aucklanders are breaking records for water usage - at the same time as the city breaks records for days without rain. How secure is the city's future water supply if these droughts continue? Auckland's water use has gone through the roof this summer, breaking records of 560 million litres per ...
News broke today that Hannah Tamaki has been cast for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. Emily Writes explains why the religious leader and aspirant politician has no place on the show.In an exceptionally sad display of desperation, MediaWorks appears to have booked Hannah Tamaki, known for her ...
Political parties must, this election year, pledge to press forward with a massive build of “social” homes to tackle New Zealand’s human rights crisis in housing, a move that will also help reduce inequality, Peter Malcolm, spokesperson for the ...
Details of the Government's newly-announced vaping crackdown may keep New Zealanders smoking and paying exorbitant excise taxes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union. Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "We welcome the decision not ...
News that the Government is set to regulate vaping is welcomed. However, heavily restricting where most vape flavours can be sold is a step too far and could lead to rising smoking rates, says the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ). ...
Tala Pasifika is applauding Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa’s Vaping Amendment Bill announcement and hopes that all parties will support the bill as a positive move for Pacific peoples trying to quit smoking. The Smoke-free Environments ...
Rawiri Waititi will stand for the Maori Party in Waiariki at September’s General Election. The 39-year-year old’s candidacy was today confirmed in Rotorua. Waiariki Maori Party Electorate Chair Verna Ohia-Gates said Waititi was an outstanding choice ...
ASH NZ congratulates Minister Salesa on the introduction of legislation to regulate vaping. ASH NZ Chair, Prof Robert Beaglehole said, “It is wonderful that a Bill will be introduced next week and we congratulate Minister Salesa on balancing the ...
Open mike 04/08/2012 
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...53 mins ago
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...9 hours ago
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...10 hours ago
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...12 hours ago
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girls Rape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...14 hours ago
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...2 days ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...2 days ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...5 days ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...1 week ago
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...10 hours ago
We're taking action on child poverty, getting Kiwis into the trades, and more ...2 days ago
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...6 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is brushing off pressure from National to take a tougher stance on deporting Australian criminals. ...2 hours ago
What weakened the "West" and led to today's restless world? ...3 hours ago
The Government tells Wellington city council they should tread carefully before bucking a national trend on water ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Stewart, Doctoral Candidate at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University In the wake of last week’s horrific murder of a woman and her three children in Brisbane at the hands of her estranged partner, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston ...3 hours ago
Marlin’s Dreaming have a new single out ahead of their next, ‘least accessible’ album. Frontman Semisi Maiai sat down to talk about how a bunch of jocks from Dunedin became indie darlings.Semisi Maiai embodies the duality of man. He’s a barista and a basketballer; he’s a jock and an indie ...4 hours ago
Without the feebate scheme - which was mildly ambitious at best - the Government has virtually no policy on cutting transport emissions. ...5 hours ago
An announcement that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will be based in Hamilton makes “perfect sense” given the city’s location and strong transport links says Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate. On Friday Justice Minister Andrew Little ...6 hours ago
Steel & Tube has recorded a large half-year loss, in line with forecasts, mostly because of a $37 million write-down in asset values. For the six months ended December the steel manufacturing company made a $36.9m loss. Chief executive Mark Malpass said the company expected an improved second half. "While ...6 hours ago
The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter has slumped to a large loss because of volatile prices and power costs. Pacific Aluminium, controlled by Rio Tinto, made a loss of $313 million for the year ended December compared with the previous year's profit of $207m. However, the underlying loss fell to $46m ...6 hours ago
The Government has extended its ban on travel from China by another eight days until early March, but may provide an exemption for international students, while the Treasury is considering global recession scenarios. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Cabinet decided on Monday afternoon to extend its ban on travel ...6 hours ago
Immigration staff are stretched thin after the shutdown of their Beijing office and people on work visas could face major delays. ...7 hours ago
Two ministers are heading to India this week for a high-powered visit - but is it too little, too late? ...7 hours ago
Northland's biggest trucking operator has accused the Transport Agency of letting an employee wage a personal vendetta against him that's cost him millions of dollars. Stan Semenoff says the employee went after his scalp, but he's defeated the Agency and shown that it had no safety case to begin with. ...8 hours ago
The Sustainable New Zealand Party is struggling to demonstrate it has enough political sustainability to last until the election campaign heats up later this year. Within just a few months media attention has turned from its founding to its foundering. The New Zealand Herald seems not to have caught up ...9 hours ago
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. ...9 hours ago
When NZME reports its annual results on Tuesday, attention will focus on its mooted purchase of rival Stuff Ltd and the revenue its paywalled nzherald.co.nz site has brought in ...9 hours ago
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. The airline has issued a revised forecast for its full year earnings, cutting its estimate of operating earnings by between $35m to $75m to ...12 hours ago
New Zealand's steps to shield itself from the Covid-19 coronavirus will not save the economy from feeling its effects. Hundreds of millions of dollars is likely to be shaved off the value of the economy for the first quarter, with estimates currently between 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points less than ...12 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China which is due to expire tonight. ...13 hours ago
The public has sent a clear message to the Reserve Bank that people would not tolerate moves to make New Zealand a cashless society. ...13 hours ago
National won't scrap planned minimum wage hikes - Collins; and Auckland Council struggling to sell construction disruption as good news. ...13 hours ago
What’s the economic impact of draining a wetland, or depleting soil health? An economist is looking at the value of some of the mostly unseen ecological services nature performs. A lot of what occupies economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s mind is invisible processes. While environmentalists fighting for wetland protection, or ...17 hours ago
Coronavirus has created new economic uncertainties in China and beyond. There is no doubt the short-term impact on New Zealand’s businesses will be severe, but how exactly is difficult to foresee. The outlook for global trade already looks grim compared to our expectations late last year. CNN reported that Maersk, ...17 hours ago
Belinda Muller has managed major Kiwi sports teams in three different codes – netball, rugby and, now, cricket. The only difference, she's found, is the size of their balls. It was supposed to last just three days. A bit of a paperwork at a netball centre, to help out a ...17 hours ago
The Children’s Commissioner responds to a UN committee's decision about the torture of children at Lake Alice. David Williams reports Pressure is building on a police review of their file into Lake Alice psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks. The review was prompted by a landmark decision by the United Nations Committee against ...17 hours ago
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant new thriller by Kiwi author JP Pomare, inspired by creepy Australian cult The Family. Today: The creepy opening chapter. — Amy’s journal — Here are two things I learnt today: 1. ...17 hours ago
Aucklanders are breaking records for water usage - at the same time as the city breaks records for days without rain. How secure is the city's future water supply if these droughts continue? Auckland's water use has gone through the roof this summer, breaking records of 560 million litres per ...17 hours ago
Nationwide councils have underspent on water infrastructure by billions, Wellington is one of the first to feel the fallout. ...1 day ago
Kiwi journo Anita McNaught gets into premier Syrian city of Aleppo, investigates the summary executions on Tuesday cited by the shrill Assad supporter and extremist climate change apologist Colonial Viper
Many religious fundamentalist groups, including ultra-orthodox foreign Salafi fighters and Al-Qaida Iraq, seeking to oust Assad in Syria
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0727/1224320884188.html
Of course, some naive people might still think that the conflict in Syria is “of the people, for the people, by the people”, but they must be stupid, in the face of the rapidly mounting evidence, to still believe so.
Some of Colonial Viper’s “mounting evidence”.
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/assads-storyline-a-war-led-and-fought-by-foreigners/
Talk about “naive”. Who could possibly swallow this crap?
Compare this to New Zealand’s own Anita McNaught, reporting on the reality of the Syrian regime, see above or below as revealed in captured files.
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/secret-police-files-show-assad-regimes-culture-of-spying/
Who to believe, Colonial Viper, sitting safely at home in front of his keyboard stupidly parroting the propaganda of the Assad regime.
Or respected journalist Anita McNaught putting her life at risk to seek the truth?
The Guardian UK: Al-Qaida Iraq bomb masters turn tide for rebels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/30/al-qaida-rebels-battle-syria
Hey Jenny, check that Guardian article out. There’s a cute header photo of a Free Syrian Army fighter spray painting the slogan “There is no Islam without Jihad” on a wall.
Warms the heart, eh.
Playing to the racist and Islamaphobic seats to justify your support for this monstrous regime, CV?
The regime and it’s supporters like you, are doing your very best to stir up sectarian divisions to keep this bloody and monstrous dictatorship in power.
Jenny,
Point of note, the Syrian situation is NOT like the PoAL, where it was basically Union v Contracting, it is far more complicated, and multi faceted than that relatively straight forward situation you commented on so regularly.
Taking such a staunchly simplistic one-sided position is frankly juvenille, and is reaching the stage where your posts and thus your mind set seem to be now struggling against some personal crusade, which while being well indented is, through your words becoming disrespectful of the ever decending seriousness of the situaiton.
Saying someone must be a supprter of the “monsterous dictatorship” because they understand that the situation is complicated, and not what it is presented as to the sheep who follow along, and offer evidence contrary to your personal belief, is limiting!
Its appropriate to accept a situation is complicated, and thus beyond ones capabilities to get their head around. The first step is to realise that it is a mature approach to not back oneself into a corner!
Edit: STOP accusing people of rac*sm incorrectly, continued accusations and use of the term totally disrespect those who suffer genuine rac*sm.
As for the Mossad’s “low profile”, the spin in Tel Aviv is that Israel is able to “control” the swarm of hardcore Wahhabis and Salafi-jihadis now infesting Syria. Even if that is manifest nonsense, one juicy point is clear; Israel is in bed with al-Qaeda-style Islamists.
Jenny,
In an ideal world, the struggle of people against any/all forms of tyranny would have altruistic intervention, indeed in an ideal world, there would not be wars or struggle to intervene in!
Thats not the world we have allowed to be created for us, and its not the world we will ever see, not as long as the species allows itself to be exterminated. With science and technology entrapping the planet further, while crisis after crisis of man made control grid is forced upon the worlds peoples, with the middle east simply one of the manufactured crises.
Your intentions seem to be well meaning, but by having been so fooled into what you believe in happening in Syria, your well meaning is in fact a hugely negative energy force, because you are in fact supporting, what you deny is going on.
Does this mean you should stop supporting the innocent caught up in these manufactured uprisings, absolutely not, but it does mean that you should cover all angles and at least factor in the evidence which states numerously that Syria, like Libya is being destroyed by NATO intervention, using mercenaries and other assorted sponsored criminals, all with the end game pre planned, and using the transparent overused “arab spring” lie, as cover.
Oh and Anita worked of the BBC who have been outed with multiple lies and cover ups over many decades, so I would question Ms McNaughts ability of be , lets call it “independent”
“Oh and Anita worked of the BBC who have been outed with multiple lies and cover ups over many decades, so I would question Ms McNaughts ability of be , lets call it “independent””
Jeez, that’s weak, Muzza. The BBC remains the worlds leading independent news source and I’ll bet you’ll be struggling to back up your daft comment about them. And if you’d bothered to look at Jenny’s link, you’d have spotted that McNaught, who appears to be about a million times braver than you or me, reports for Al Jazeera.
The BBC lost credibility a very long time ago Voice, they have been caught out too many times. No need for me to link anything, go find it for yourslf…Start with Dr David Kelly, though as a tip!
Al Jazeera, LOL again showing how little you know about this Qatari, sponsored Anglo Saxon, pseudo Arab puppet media outlet, where most of its “important employees” are from the UK, many worked for the BBC, just like Anita. Hey Qatar, got the FIFA world cup because they deserved it eh bro!
Oh and refer only to your own cowardice when posting nonsense, do not speak on my behalf!
I didn’t make any comment about Al Jazeera, Muzza, just pointed out that you were being ignorantly insulting to a reporter who is actually risking her life to report the news, while you sit on the couch in your underpants.
Nice to see you can’t back up your claims about the BBC, too.
If I wanted to read this sort of divisive, insulting crap where no-one listens to anyone … I’d be at the sewer.
Where they do it better.
Yeah, fair call, RL. I’m off to footie, so no more smart arsery from me.
You pointed out I was being ignorantly insulting did you….that really is ironic!
Can’t see where you read that in my original post, I said “Anita worked OF the BBC”, a typo, I meant to say “worked FOR the BBC”, either way, use of the word WORKED indicated past tense didn’t it!
I also don’t see where I questioned her aledged bravery, only her ability to be an “independent”, reporter, given the association to the BBC, and now to Al Jazeera, both of which I have given an opinion on, and if you want the links to read up on those media outlets, go find them for yourself, they are plentiful!
Warning, it might throw up some questions about “The BBC remains the worlds leading independent news source “, which could open you up to exposing mental frailties when challenged.
You’re not up for that though, I already know that mental challenges are not something you have the chops for!
So illiterate and completely unable to provide evidence at all to back up your claims? Not your best work, Muzza!
Is illiterate a pejorative on TS? Really?
TRP: “unable to provide evidence at all to back up your claims?
Te hypocrisy.
m: “You pointed out I was being ignorantly insulting did you….that really is ironic!”
Āna.
🙄 Did you not read the comment where Red rings the bell for a halt to personal attacks, f**k off over to the Sewer if you cannot help but indulge in such…
bad12 – did you not read the comment where Red rings the bell for a halt to personal attacks? Maybe your irony is accidental.
( 🙄 ) It is in fact as easy to see why you are the recipient of regular bans from the Standard as it is to see that you have failed to learn from such bans,
My proposal to those who put the effort into giving us this site so as to further discussion of the things that matter to the Left in New Zealand society and politics is that where a particular commenter has deserved to be the subject of such banning that each time the length of the ban be extended by double the amount of the previous banning…
poroheahea
If it’s me your calling stupid it’s a wasted effort as i just do not care, if it’s a reference to he who we bestow ^ 🙄 ^ upon i am presently unarmed with any facts that would allow me to debate otherwise…
Kaua koe e whai atu i ngā mahi a te hukehuke rā, kei raru kōrua tahi
Actually, I know several left wing Brits who think that the BBC news is no longer as independent as it was – I think since the Kelly incident under Blair’s watch. I tend to agree. For instance, it particularly favours a pro-Israel government line and tends to demonise Palestine. I understand that the news on BBC channels broadcast in the UK in the main news slots, is more biased than, say BBC’s international broadcasts.
See also here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC
Also, I used to think Al Jazeera was pretty good at providing critiques from different viewpoints. I watch it quite a bit, but in the last year or two, it has become much more like mainstream western media in mirroring viewpoints of the western power blocs. Although, it still has some good critical pieces, ditto the BBC.
I have noticed that, sadly… 🙁
Wasn’t Anita working for FoxNews at some point ?
I really do apologise if I’m wrong.
LOL how about apologising for being so transparent
Yes North, she was ’embedded’ – as the saying went – by Fox News when Iraq Invasion no.2 was in progress. She was quite defensive of them at the time. That’s my recollection anyway.
More findings from that Ipsos/Fairfax poll, involving interviews with a relatively small number of people (1000). Not surprisingly Nat supporters are more positive about the future than those who support opposition parties – UF & ACT supporters are too small in number to register anything much, except they seem to be ambivalent about the future (maybe they are just always ambivalent?).
People were asked a range of questions to ascertain how they feel about the future compared with a year ago. Views about the economy seem to have been the strongest influence on people’s feelings about the future:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7411347/Pulse-of-the-Nation-How-we-see-ourselves
But most interesting is the growing sense of resentment of the wealthy elite:
So, Labour and Greens, take note. it’s time for a change of focus and to jettison the remnants of the neoliberal scam. There’s a growing tide of sentiment that would support a focus on fairness and possibly for what is beneficial to the wider community.
However, there are some signs of retreat to social isolation as a defense, except in Auckland, where apparently the community spirit is quite strong. There needs to be some strong leadership on drawing people together to work towards the best for society as a whole, so that retreat from community doesn’t take hold.
Problem is, political parties just think that it is time to join in the neoliberal scam.
Well, I certainly despair when I see that the government is playing musical houses with state/subsidised housing, shunting the available low cost housing around amongst the poor. Meanwhile they are also trying to push as many people as possible out of state houses and into the rental market:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10824497
Meanwhile the wealthier classes are continuing to spend on buying houses in Auckland, as if there was no recession, paying high dollar to buy up the available housing. No doubt many will take advantage of the struggle to find rental accommodation amongst the less well-off, raising rents so that some will just not be able to afford anywhere to live.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10824355
The lack of sufficient affordable, safe and secure housing is a disgrace, and still the government does everything to make it worse.
Will a real opposition PLEASE stand-up and show up this rentier scam!?
Carol The bubble will burst Ollie Newland has said it won’t be pretty.
Australian eastern state cities are experiencing a major downturn after a post GFC bubble.
Just like last time New Zealand will follow suit. its just a matter of time.
Doesn’t the Babble in that Herald article just do your head in, there’s three strands in the Herald story that are best dealt with as separate issues,
*First we have Paula Benefit,hardly one for presenting either deep or evidential based analysis of any ‘problem’ She has encountered in Her Social development portfolio, giving a good spray and walk away line in the vein of ‘i thunk it therefor it is’,
How many beneficiaries are there boarding in State Houses, paying board to the main State House tenant who only pays 25% of income, while the boarder claims from Income Support an accommodation supplement???,
The Minister (as usual) gives NO figures for the numbers of people supposedly involved and as such i can only assume that Paula Benefit and Phil Heatley have spent an hour together, (focus grouping), creating in their minds the supposed problem,
Even so,IF there is a problem of this sort occurring,and, My belief is that HousingNZ rents out it’s property’s on the basis of 25% of the TOTAL income of the HOUSEHOLD,it is in fact a simple ‘fix’, and theoretically at least seeing as HousingNZ has just had a $90 Million computer upgrade, an easily accomplished one , where the ‘rule’ of 25% of HOUSEHOLD income be firmly established while changing the rules so that NO accommodation supplement can be paid to anyone living in a HousingNZ tenancy,
That along with some data matching between Paula and Phil’s fiefdoms of Housing and Social Development so as to have those who make the decisions on Accommodation Supplements know which are and which are not State Houses,
* Second, really i can only say What The F**k, private providers of Social Housing cannot compete with HousingNZ because the HousingNZ tenants pay 25% of income and the best the private providers of social housing can achieve is 70-80% of market rent,
As in Wah f**king Wah, the Loony’s having taken over the Asylum now want a ‘Level Playing Field’ to be imposed upon Social Housing because ‘it’s not fair’ that they cannot compete with HousingNZ,
In all seriousness there is i fear only 2 logical solutions that could be applied here, rule changes aplenty would have to occur as i fear that such people are way to far gone to be swayed by logical argument and my diagnosis would be either to put them up against the wall or provide them a psychiatric institution within which they could indulge in a game of doctors,nurses, and, patients to take turns at solving their own various problems,
* Third, as Minister of Housing Phil Heatley has given us all an in depth analysis of the problem He,and He appears to be mostly alone here, sees in the HousingNZ rental policy, Phills in depth analysis, ‘we can’t afford it’,
Annette King makes sport of Phil in the House at question time and you can almost see the mousy Housing Minister looking for a bolt hole every time King skewers Him with another query over matters within His portfolio that amount to slow death by a thousand small cuts,
Phill has the unenviable task of rack renting HousingNZ tenants most of whom are beneficiaries simply because National have always hated State Housing, nothing more nothing less,
The whole Herald article really comes down to making up a whole lot of s**t which the tame press will print verbatim which attempts to find some logical justification for National to give Beneficiaries (especially the ones in State Housing who Nationals core voters cannot profit from), another financial kicking in order to satisfy its red-neck core vote…
As an economic afterthought to my long winded comment above, there is absolutely NOTHING to be gained in an economic sense from any changes that national propose to make to the 25% of income rental regime as applied to it’s HousingNZ stock of social housing,
The reverse is in fact true,simply rack-renting those who by lack of income are reliant upon the State does nothing but move monies between the various agencies of State in some warped attempt at book balancing,
For the ‘Real Economy’ the reality simply means that while the State is indulging in fits of ‘give with the left hand’, and, ‘take back with the right’ there is a nett loss in revenue from the State House tenants negatively effected by such stupidity doing what such revenue is supposed to do in the wider economy,
Money from tenants so negatively affected by such proposed changes simply stops going around in the economy, strangely enough, Nationals core vote in the business sector who benefit by competing for a slice of such money being spent into local economy’s by HousingNZ tenants will also suffer negatively as the money will now simply transit from one Government account to another,
Thus National is simply proposing to deepen further the ongoing recession and while concentrating upon micro-economics of the Government social spend is blind to the negative impact upon that local economy, (or more to the point seems to just not give a f**k)…
In the broadness of my relatively old age I must say I’m invariably invigorated by Annette King.
She’s like a terrier, pitbullish if necessary, dog with a bone when she’s riled by bullshit answers.
“No doubt many will take advantage of the struggle to find rental accommodation amongst the less well-off, raising rents so that some will just not be able to afford anywhere to live.”
That is what the direct consequence of the changes to state housing will be.
And I thought the purpose of social housing was to keep rents down? It seems to me that the social housing providers want the government to subsidize their rent?
FIFY
The accommodation supplement is a government subsidy to the rentiers already.
The new joint venture between “The Crown & Council”, will not be a CCO but will be run like one.
Board with salaries, and a multi million dollar budget, was registered on July 24.
Purpose is to oversee the GI development, initially, and will have the HQ’s based in East Tamaki
I thought a similar thing – now that they are confident that have a Labour Party moulded to their taste, they can do what they bloody like.
some of that sense of “us and them” has been fuelled by worldwide events and the growing transfer of wealth to just a few
How much of the this generated by political campaigning? Greens in particular keep promoting terminology like”the growing transfer of wealth to just a few”.
It’s ironic that those most adversly affected by the wealth gap don’t have any wealth to transfer, in fact it’s tax paid by the more wealthy that enable them to receive state assistance.
The “transfer of wealth” term is a misnomer, especially when Greens promote transferring more wealth from rich to poor by raising taxes.
🙄
🙄
🙄
So publicly owned amenties such as health, education, parks, libaries are not wealth, and that these things are being closed down so the rich get cuts in rates and taxes.
Had a thought — correct term is actually transfer the wealth from the wider community to the rich. The closure of hospitals around the country to pay for Bill Birch’s tax cuts in 1996 is an example, as well as Porirua City Council’s closure of the Plimmerton libaray to keep rates down.
BTW: I have put in an OIA request to get a list of hospitals closed between 1990 and 1999 and 1999 and 2008. We shall then see the effect of tax cuts on health services 🙂
Pete, just when I had developed some sympathy for you because of what could be identified as bullying behaviour against you, you come out with this ignorant gem. My sympathy has now evaporated completely. You are a delusional and annoying waste of bandwidth.
What I want to know is why they published that ignorant crap from that idiot in Taupo?
“…So, Labour and Greens, take note. it’s time for a change of focus and to jettison the remnants of the neoliberal scam…”
The problem is the serious generational lag we have in our political/media elites. Key is a neo-liberal by choice but outside a small but powerful business lobby that Key represents everyone in the rest of the real world has long moved on from neo-liberalism. But our media/political elite is still heavily infested with 1980s and 90s neo-liberal supporters and apologists. English, Roughan, Holmes, Ralston, half the Labour front bench, swags of the Nats (McCully and Williamson for a start) etc etc etc are all left over neo-liberals who are far, far past their use by date. Hopefully Labour will take the opportunity in 2014 to clean out the likes of Mallard, Dyson, King and Goff and bring in a generation of politicians who at least formed some of their ideas in this century….
Or we should have term limits.
I don’t think we should have term limits in parliament. Some experience is beneficial – Lockwood Smith as Speaker a good example.
But there’s nothing to stop parties from having their own term limits, or at least encouraging retirement of MPs past their best and past their value to the party. Have any parties considered term restrictions?
And if they don’t get the message then leadership could reinforce it by dropping them down the rankings.
The obvious problem is long serving MPs have too much self serving influence.
🙄
“The obvious problem is long serving MPs have too much self serving influence.”
Like Peter Dunne.
Yup. Bit of an own goal from Pete there.
Well it is Saturday morning so waffle is definitely on the menu.
Poor attempt at diversion. And there are very obvious differences.
Peter Dunne has been essential for United Future’s survival and probably also will be in 2014 if he has another go..
The retirement of the likes of Goff, Mallard, King, Cosgrove is essential for Labour’s survival. Note that recently Mallard claimed to be mid-career.
Apt observation Lanth, which PG ignored and tried to pivot to political parties.
United Future has been essential for Peter Dunne’s survival
FIFY
Edit needed:
“Electorate deal making with the National party has been essential for Dunne’s survival”
Seems less … snappy.
obsessive deluded fans included
Not sure why Colin Craig gets so much coverage for a non-politician, I guess money talks.
But in his case he’s talking all over the place, as one argument gets demolished he moves to another. Ah, marriage convention has changed quite a bit over the last few thousand years. It’s changed quite a bit in my lifetime.
On The Nation this morning he ended up pleading for his last hope, a referendum. No chance of that either.
In contrast Louisa Walls impressed with facts and forceful points.
“Not sure why Colin Craig gets so much coverage for a non-politician, I guess money talks.”
He got more votes than UF and Peter Dunne did.
Peter Dunne (Ohariu) 14,357
Colin Craig (Rodney) 8,031
The Conservative Party had probably 10 times the UF budget and got more media coverage. They also tried to push shoddy polls to promote their support. They got a creditable number of votes but in the end failed under MMP.
But that’s all history. Dunne is an MP (and a Minister). Craig is neither.
And it’s all irrelevant, it’s got nothing to do with my commentt, most of what I talk about is non-UF. More: The Colin Craig Craze.
I was proposing a reason for why he gets media attention even though he’s not a politician: because he and his party got significantly more support in the election than two of the politicians who are in parliament.
The election is history and was over 8 months ago.
although surprisingly, Election performance has a few ongoing consequences for NZ politics 🙄
lol
“The election is history and was over 8 months ago.”
Oops, there goes that mandate. 🙄
perhaps you don’t have to be in elected office to be a politician; merely seeking elected office will do it.
Regardless of how you define “politician” (and I’m sure we can can all think of a few quite different but quite legitimate variations) the crux is he’s a “political actor”.
And that’s why he’s news.
Having said that, he’s a twat for referring to himself as “a representative” when he hasn’t been elected.
Also, that “Austrian dictator” moustache on tv today; well done whoever at tv3 was responsible for lighting the backwards little fucker: http://www.3news.co.nz/Craig-and-Wall-gay-marriage-debate-heats-up/tabid/1356/articleID/264093/Default.aspx
Seriously people, this bullshit stat has been sitting here ALL DAY.
It’s MMP, Pete. Use a stat that fucking counts.
Party Vote 2011:
Conservative Party – 59,237
United Future – 13,443
SHA-ZAMM!
Actually in terms of statistics this one is also good:
Peter Dunne (Ohariu) 14,357
Colin Craig (Rodney) 8,031
Peter George (Dunedin North) 176
A referendum on marriage would pass the legislation. Personally, if there was a referendum the questions should be:
Do you think you should have the right to marry?
Do you think other people should be able to prevent you from marrying?
I’m reasonably certain that we would get back a 100% Yes/No response.
Leave it to Craig and other deniers of basic human rights and we’ll probably get some weaselly question that would be more confusing than informative – just like the question on smacking.
It’s a moot point anyway, there won’t be a referendum on it – although I agree that if there was it would agree with what MPs are likely to pass.
It’s possible Craig will try a CIR on this but I think he’s using the issue to raise profile rather than thinking he has any chance of success at stopping the Marriage bill.
Louisa Wall presented her case impressively on The Nation, and Colin Craig kept moving from one smackdown to another.
Few links on Syria.
This one is similar to the sorts of reports that were coming out of Iraq in late 04 and through 05, with what national identity that had existed falling away in the face of sectarian group dynamics:
http://nyti.ms/RnM63z
In light of that, I suspect that these guys are dreaming:
http://wapo.st/OG3GQn
Poor bloody Kurds. As ever. http://f24.my/Rsl1MM
The Iraqi government still hasn’t finalised it’s constitution with regard to the Kurds. The govts, new and old, in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria may well have many differences but you can bet they’ll all agree that the Kurds won’t be getting anything like a homeland. If western peeps want something simple to get pissed off about with a clear cut right and wrong side, that’s about as close a one as I can see in this mess. Good luck convincing our governments to do anything but.
An interesting piece on the coverage from Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya http://t.co/M1AGvnqa
But if you really want nightmare visions. Read the press coming out of Lebanon. Whose up for picking sides in a Hezbollah vs Al-Qaeda fight? And think about the stakes of that.
As is obvious, this is a fight that has nothing to do with us. Putting ‘what we think ought to happen’ into the mix is a recipe for blowback. And it’s messy enough already for mind.
It’s awful, but that doesn’t mean that anything we can do will make it better.
Bingo.
The only thing we can realistically do is let them sort themselves out. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any hope of that happening.
Finally some in that useless UN have grown some gonads, even if it is non binding.
The UN has been for a long time to me replicating its parent, The League of Nations in its inability at doing anything but allow its delegates and support staff the lifestyle that New York offers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19106250
No additional world wars since the UN was founded. That’s something.
BTW the delegates to the UN and various support staff don’t have a say in whether the UN continues or not, so their “lifestyle” convenience has nothing to do with it.
Tell that to the 40.968 million who have been killed in various wars since WWII, I am sure they take consolation that there was No WW War III.
http://www.cissm.umd.edu/papers/files/deathswarsconflictsjune52006.pdf
From a financial point of view why have the UN based in New York. I am sure we could find a developing nation that would benefit from the economic activity. Perhaps such an idea JK could take aboard to fix our countries economic woes and the msm would believe,take and run with this perhaps a great diversion just like making NZ a financial hub. 😉
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10691438
The UN in it’s current form is not permitted to grow gonads. It is still fundamentally limited by the G8 nations unwilling to give it enough power to act effectively.
And most especially not to act against their own hegemonic ambitions.
‘Aussie Rules’ to help prevent corrupt Ministerial ‘conflicts of interest’.
How come – if New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ – we don’t have these legislative safeguards?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-12-06/rudd-announces-ministerial-code-of-conduct/979880
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
Because having and enforcing them would show up just how corrupt NZ has become.
John Key is a shareholder in the Bank of America.
That would not be lawful if he were the Prime Minister of Australia.
Seen this?
John Key publicly admits his Bank of America shareholding at a Grey Power public meeting in February 2011.
Remember – when he worked for Merrill Lynch – he was the Head of Derivatives – and at the time the Glass Steagall Act (which kept separate boring safe commercial banking and risky dangerous investment banking) was repealed – November 1999 – John Key was a Foreign Exchange Advisor for the New York Federal Reserve.
So – what role did shonky John Key play in the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act?
Why is this important?
Because the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act helped to leave the dodgy derivatives market completely unregulated.
Which is the main reason why the world is facing an international financial meltdown?
Because of the collapse of the dodgy derivatives market – which shonky John Key helped to set up?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
Penny the price of BofA ML shares will be worthless.
Not unlike Keys promises.
Bof A suffered huge loss’s because of more dodgy dealings at ML.
They also facing legal action on many fronts and the US government is in no mood for a second bail out.
Love it Penny.
yes and now the reserve bank of new zealand is in the process of allowing the uncovered bonds act to go through so there will be even less control of the issuers of shonky derivatives.
“yes and now the reserve bank of new zealand is in the process of allowing the uncovered bonds act to go through so there will be even less control of the issuers of shonky derivatives.”
Got a link to that Bill, Captain Hook?
And the ‘Regulatory Impact Report / Statement’?
Anybody?
Cheers!
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
I wonder how well this is supported in the Green Party:
And I wonder if they support a quick hit, or an occupation for a few years.
Disastrous. I don’t think that they have thought the military goals through at all. We vote for it, we’ll have to commit troops to the ground.
Yeah, well, there’s a reason why I’m going off the Greens.
It does make me wonder just how far to the right the Greens have actually slipped when there are Green MP’s calling for military intervention in any conflict, let alone one where it’s becoming more than a little apparent the US is intervening via proxy,
Someone else mentioned the other day the fact that it seems that the right stages ‘take-overs’ of the political party’s on the left with consumate ease, and, i have also been feeling uneasy about certain aspects of the Greens ‘going straight’ for the purposes of electoral success,
The modern Left in New Zealand and in particular supporting the Parliamentary Left has felt increasingly akin to some nomadic journey, a gypsy circus trodden with more disappointment than hope,
My thought is though, give the Greens at least a term of Government with at least my vote at the 2014 election, but, i have already begun the where to from here type thought…
Lol. Mostly at the idea that Pete F. George think he is in any position to be questioning what Kennedy Graham knows or does not know about International Relations.
Read what he is saying. Closely.
If their are crimes against humanity taking place what is the Green party’s longstanding position on that sort of thing? Bear in mind that crimes against humanity is not a synoym for ‘shit I don’t like’.
Next think about what he is saying we should do, and by implication shouldn’t do.
Is Graham saying we should join in any ‘coalition of the willing’ style clusterfuck?
Or is he saying that that sort of adventure would be illegal and that we should not only have no part in it but that we should be doing something else.
What should the International community do about Crimes against humanity?
That’s the question he’s asking, and he’s putting the govt in a box with regard to requests to join ad hoc illegal coalitions.
He is not an idiot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Graham
According to the RNZ article he’s advocating economic sanctions which always hit the people at the bottom of the pyramid while the people at the top, the people that the santions are supposed to stop, don’t feel a thing. Please also note that the people at the top are already shooting at the people at the bottom (which I’m pretty sure is already a Crime Against Humanity).
Chances of sanctions doing anything? Around zero.
He then says that if sanctions don’t work (pretty much guaranteed) in containing (not stopping) the slaughter then military intervention is required.
Basically, IMO, he’s advocating a default position of military intervention.
Now, preventing arms being delivered to the current government is probably a valid option and one I would support but not full sanctions and definitely no military intervention. I think we’ll probably see both though.
“He is not an idiot”
–No but he is the brother of Doug Graham, so Ill say it again.
The Greens are not what people wish them to be, thats not what they exist for, and have ben taken over some time ago, its all too easy to control politics, you just have to do a little digging into the backgrounds of these people.
Labour gone towards the right, Greens headed the same way. Just control a few key people inside each entity, and its job done, the coutry and the people get screwed, and most either have no idea, or actually vote for those who screw them!
Why are the Greens are making this call now, when it looks like the victory of the rebellion is all but guaranteed, and a Western intervention now, would only act to steal the people’s victory?
What is crazy about this, about this call for Western intervention from the Greens is that crimes against humanity are already being committed, and have been for some time. From the firing on unarmed protesters, to the detention, torture and murder of deserters wives and children, to the aerial bombardment of civilian centres resulting in the mass deaths of civilians.
I am sure that regime defenders of this monstrous regime like Colonial Viper would welcome any attempt to snatch victory from the resistance.
Have the Greens been ignorantly swallowing the propaganda from pro regime supporters in this country?
B12 Yep I did wonder before the last election whether closet blue green was was infiltrating the Greens- something felt a little off key but couldn’t really put my finger on it.Noticed a lot of the old guard retired all at once and none of them seemed to be morphing into the older party statesperson type role which nade me wonder if they are still welcome through the door. Also the “we may do a deal with the Nats line.”
And are we getting a strong media slant on Green party actions when it lines up with Nact aspirations. Lots of attention on Norman none really on Meretai.
Different subject entirely – our revered leader isn’t swanning around at the Olympics for the photo ops. So unlike him what’s wrong – is he ill, unwelcome or something else?
And again – I wondered if we will continue to win at the Olypics as we do now? Child poverty destroys early sporting chances (?) I suspect, so is there any correlation between left wing governments and sucess some years later.
I see the Aussies are trying for an exchange rate/gold medal correlation oh dear ………..
National Party strategists will have examined in detail whether or not a confidence and supply arrangement with the Greens is possible.
They will also have examined in detail the likelihood of winning a bunch of gold medals for Key to pose in front of.
If he’s on the spot, he might have to be seen with losers. And Key doesn’t do losers, it doesn’t fit the brand.
Nah, safer to wait and see what comes home and sort photo-ops then if it’s worth it.
Yeah, that’s likely too.
Nah, safer to wait and see what comes home and sort photo-ops then if it’s worth it.
Yeah well, the C/T trained PR team will be in full motion organising a shindig at parliament as we speak. My suggestion is: the opposition stake out the possible venues inside the Beehive for the Key photo op. and gatecrash it at the last minute. Oh how hilarious to see Shearer/ Mallard/Norman/Turei grinning cheesily from the sidelines. That would make my week. Harawira (grinning cheesily) could appear over the top of Key. That would make my month.
I look forward to the moment Hone will pick.
It’s very important because he is the parliamentary moral leader of Maori. That’s the guts on the street now. People can forget their bullshit stuff about manners and so on.
And for them who’ll come up “Nah, he’s a prick or whatever……….” – damn it, they’re all older. Young people are receptive, even if subliminally, to the relative deprivation and need that is very pervasive now.
So go away Tariana and Pita. You’re not relevant anymore. You have sat at the table while Maori have suffered and still you’re saying all is as sweet, as sweet as it can be.
The gaps have widened since Tari and Pit have been sitting at the tepu, building relationships and going through processes.
That’s all Hone needs to say.
It’s also all Labour needs to say.
But the press will never report it, so the 10% masterchef watchers who decide our future will never hear it.
Unless they’re told in weird and unusual ways.
Big ups to you bake-sale and nudie acitivists. Looks like fun too.