Can someone please explain to me why Robertson is thought to have any chance against Cunliffe.
When I think of the mess of the last few years I think of Robertson. He and his type of smart Alex’s robbed the Labour Party just like Douglas did. He has no care for what the members like. He has done nothing for the workers of this country.
Not everyone whose opinion you hear has the interests of the progressive left at heart.
The right wing media puppets have a mortgage to pay and corporate owners to placate.
Within the Labour caucus there are people who place their own career and position above the needs of society. Also Remember the Labour Party of the 1980s was taken over by a secret coup from the top. These people, who still exist in the Labour caucus, have never said sorry for Rogernomics. Who they answer to remains a mystery.
Agreed! Add to that, the fact that he said his partner Alf had other things to do and “isn’t here” to the reporter Heather Du Plessis-Allen when they were at his favourite pub, filming for “Seven Sharp”, when all the time, “Alf” was indeed there, very close by, looking on!!! Not honest and not a good look!!
And I wonder why a man says that to a reporter with a camera in attendance that his partner is not present. I wonder whether matters of privacy might just be part of the reasons. It’s the reason why we have ‘white lies’- to avoid a situation which if treated ‘honestly’ leads to more harm than the harm received by the reporter in this case in being told a white lie when the reporter probably ought not to have asked the question in the first place.
Certainly much easier to deny his partner’s presence than to have to say to the reporter something along the lines of, “Why the fuck are you interested in whether my partner is here? Don’t you know that family is off limits? Don’t you go shoving that camera in my partner’s face just to satisfy your and your public’s prurient interest.”
Because anybody who’s been in public life knows how film is misused. Just think about what has happened with Cunliffe’s art work as a recent example.
Better for Alf to really not be there, to avoid anyone misconstruing anything, I would venture to suggest!! It just made him look like he was ashamed of Alf, and as you say, the look of things is everything when it comes to television and incidents like this can be twisted to suit all kinds of agendas. Sad, but true!
Certainly much more foolish to deny his partner’s presence than to have to say to the reporter “Yes he’s here but he’s keeping a low profile, he’s a very private person.”
Thanks QoT, that would be simpler, so long as the reporter could be trusted to stop there. I wouldn’t trust every reporter. Your far simpler answer for me in that situation would depend on my relationship of trust with that reporter, and I’ve been in the middle of some malicious journalism.
And protecting your partner from intrusive reporters and TV cameras is not important?
QoT, neither you nor I know why Robertson did not tell the truth. I just don’t have the same need to attack him for it as some folk obviously do.
I actually don’t care about this. I can see that there is more than one reasonable explanation as to why this man did this action, and I am not going to judge him for it.
What I believe I do detect, though, is a whole lot of judging going on, based on whether this candidate or that candidate is their preferred.
At this stage, I prefer Cunliffe but it’s not based on this discussion, and I don’t feel the need to attack Robertson because I prefer another candidate.
I’m in the Labour Party. I expect that all these contenders are going to remain in caucus, along with Shearer too and we’ll move on together from here- to defeat this tory government and reintroduce some politics of decency for ordinary folks back into NZ politics.
The two journos who misused film and photos in their control and involving me, I didn’t even know, by the way. No chance to build up trust there. They did what they did, for their own motivation, probably political, certainly deliberate. Just a misuse of their power, and a breach of the trust that we place in the media to be honest and without bias in the business of the fourth estate.
CV-different scenario. Banks and Key are only temporarily married, with Don Brash giving them both away. The media were invited to the nuptials, but not into the church to hear the exchange of vows.
The important words for me are- “protecting your partner.” The pre-organised media event was for Grant Robertson. Whether his mother, father, great uncle, nieces, aunts, bothers and sisters or his partner were there is private, unless they were invited into the spotlight.
I still ask the question- what were the chances of the intention of the reporter being anything less than prurient?
As I said, if you turn up with family in tow to a big media event in a public space…how are you expecting privacy for your family? If you want to protect your family from the media…why have you asked them along?
News this morning that Israel says it has carried out a “joint” US missile launch (new Sparrow ballistic type) in the Mediterranean for “target practice”. Russia reports 2 missiles. News of ruffled financial markets. Refer RT-News, Guardian, et al.
First official reports of CIA armed and trained rebel units now heading into Syria from Jordan. Likely been going on for sometime, but now quietly acknowledged.
“Hollywood actor Sam Neill has teamed up with a host of stars to lambast the Government over plans to shut out the public from decisions on deep-sea oil drilling.
Neill uses the “call to action” video montage to criticise National for threatening the oceans and spoiling New Zealand’s international reputation. He says the country is “going backwards fast.”
And Fairfax media’s poll beside asks…
Which is more important?
Jobs
Environment
Typical!
There is no option of both. Jobs and the Environment.
The media is so awful. Guess when you are owned by billionaires like Reinhart, you have to support the corporate evil.
Very good review of Max Rashbrooke`s edited collection, `Inequality: a New Zealand crisis` by Wayne Hope on The Daily Blog yesterday. The first part summarises some of the key points made in the book about inequality in NZ. Then Hope adds to points that he considers aren’t adequately covered in the book:
From the government`s perspective everything was going fine until a major book on inequality was launched and publicised. Then,last week Bryan Bruce`s `Mind the Gap` documentary on TV3 repoliticised the issue at the worst possible time.
[…]
For the Key government and its backers this is all bad news. For readers of the Daily Blog, however, it is now time for a `national conversation` as they say.
[…]
Firstly, the destruction of New Zealand`s economic sovereignty is given insufficient attention. As Bruce Jesson observed, `Rogernomics` facilitated major changes in the structure of New Zealand capitalism. Directorial elites, institutional investors and shareholders were caught up in an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquistions
[…]
Secondly, the book did not fully investigate the business and social worlds of New Zealand`s wealthiest people. The same can be said of Bryan Bruce`s documentary, the plight of homeless and stressed out families should be set against the luxurious lifestyles associated with wealth concentration. Do the rich inhabit a global or national world? Where do they make most of their money? To what extent are they repatriating profits offshore? Answers to these questions will provide a more complete picture of inequality in New Zealand.
The prospect of an ongoing national conversation about inequality will be terrifying the Key government. For the truth is this. They are less interested in economic development and national prosperity than in wealth defence.
And the stats Hope presents does not look good for the Clark government period either:
Between 1989 and 2008 foreign controlled sharemarket value increased from 19 to 41 per cent. From 1989 to 2006 direct foreign investment increased from $1.9 billion to $82.7 billion. These funds were focussed on the purchase of existing assets rather than the creation of new productive capacity. Between 1997 and 2006,for example, transnational corporations made NZ $50.3 billion in profits from their New Zealand operations, yet only 32 per cent of this sum was reinvested domestically.
Definitely time for a new direction from opposition parties.
Hi karol. Yes, I read this article yesterday and found it a good follow on, (with additional info) from last week’s Bryan Bruce doco. There’s many useful articles to be found on that site. I’ll continue to visit the site and read them but I’ve got to say I’m over commenting on it.
There’s a lack of cohesion among the commenters, I would have thought by now there would be more a sense of community.The site is very Auckland centric in my opinion, and I don’t mean any offense to the Auckland authors and commenters here. On The Standard there is a sense of connectedness to the country as whole and articles about other regions, including an ongoing discussion that pops up around Christchurch.The Standard also showed it’s solidarity with it’s community by putting up a comments sections after both the Seddon earthquakes. That was appreciated. I lived longer in Auckland than any other place in NZ so I think I am qualified to make that observation about the Auckland centric nature of the site:-)
What else? I’m over the like/dislike system – it’s a little childish.I know other blogs do it too but I only really visit two blogs and it just seems a bit more mature here, without the thumbs up/down thing going on.
The Standard has a much better class of RWNJ’s present. The one’s over there are just rabid. Yesterday, while commenting on Democratic Distempers…………..” by Chris Trotter I came across a not necessarily RWNJ but a Jone’s apologist who was really tiresome. I found his attitude towards women offensive and that was the last straw for me. It was the most annoying and useless conversation I’ve had there.
So big ups to The Daily Blog for fulfilling an important role in the world of online political talk, for bringing us the livestreams of the recent GCSB public meetings in Auckland and for posting good articles by good authors. But I think I’ll lurk around in the comments here more frequently than there from now on.
The position for the Clark government as I understand it, was that they were wanting to facilitate the growth of private business and the taxation and employment resulting would be beneficial, and they also wanted to maintain the social welfare net but ensure it would be operated efficiently. So really it isn’t left policy. It just wasn’t rabid right, more Centre right I think.
You didn’t talk about the use of debt to create money in the NZ economy. Cullen used a massive build up of private sector debt to fuel that economic activity and to create the flows of money he could tax out of the private sector back into the govt sector.
Simply put, Cullen exchanged public sector debt for private sector debt.
I actually like the comment rankings. It gives some very limited idea of how well particular ideas are supported or not.
What I don’t like about TDB is the lack of user friendliness when you want to go through posts in chronological sequence, and Bomber’s insistence on blaming baby boomers for the ills of the world. Apart from that, I like the wide selection of authors, and hadn’t noticed that it was Tamaki Makauraucentric to any harmful degree. It’s also difficult to have an ongoing discussion there, with the wait for comments to be posted.
Hi Murray. One of the things that put me off commenting was the wait time for comments to be posted. It seems to be down to an hour or less now, but I have been up to 6 hours in moderation. It doesn’t really foster the flow of conversation.
The Auckland centric thing. It’s not harmful I agree. I guess I do notice it and maybe over sensitive to it. One of the reasons I left Auckland but by no means was it a deciding factor, was the sense I got from my Akld friends, workmates and acquaintances was this feeling that they were completely detached from the country, as if they existed in a city state, oblivious to what happened in other cities, towns and small towns. It was an inward looking sort of thing that made me feel claustrophobic. Like I say, probably my view of this skews my view of the site.
Baby boomer focus. This generation does get a hammering on the site from time to time. I’d probably feel a bit miffed if I belonged to this generation and got blamed for everything, as if every single baby boomer was some multiple property owning greedy bastard responsible for todays problems. I noted the backlash one article re the reality of life for some of the baby boomers.
Agree that theres a wide selection of authors, and that keeps me returning
These funds were focussed on the purchase of existing assets rather than the creation of new productive capacity.
Of course FDI was more about buying up successful businesses – capitalists don’t take risks. It’s that lack of risk taking that the capitalists keep saying that the government has to borrow – they’re the ones who buy the government bonds and thus get a government guaranteed income.
FDI is bad for a society. It gets the people of that society working harder and harder while getting less.
Greenfields FDI is something we do need more of, but not overseas interests coming in to scoop up our real productive assets with electronically created cash.
Nope, don’t need that either. We can use our own electronically created cash to support greensfields and bluesky development by directing our own resources to them.
Somehow I doubt it. Recall the Oil Crisis of 1973. The west has been hostage to OPEC from the begining – if anything it would be in the USA’s better interests to open up oil pricing to competition.
Are any of the contenders for the Labour leadership of or on this planet, proposing the ‘Living Wage’ for only low waged workers working directly for the Parliament or those contracted to the Parliament will do exactly what,
Seriously, if you were a low waged worker earning 14 bucks a hour what would you do if it were proposed to you that you miss out on the living wage while the Parliaments workers got it, race out to vote for Labour at the 2014 election???,
i sure as hell wouldn’t, such an elitist dividing of the workers is likely to see after the euphoria of the leadership contest wears off the 800,000 registered but did not vote bloc again withhold their votes at the next election,
Here’s the Stuff poll from yesterday, not scientific but a lot of votes cast,
Would a ‘Living Wage’ promise encourage you to vote Labour?.
About 20 of those yes votes are mine. I can remember Michael Bassett saying “we need to get our people to the polls as early and as often as possible.” Of course, he was quoting Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago.
Bad12, I also thought it was strange to raise the minimum wage in one sector, but I guess they are speaking as an employer. I thought Cunliffe originally said he would look at the raise for state servants and also all low income workers (i.e the govt as an employer would use the Living Wage, and it would also look at how to encourage this in the wider country). But in the last day or so he is being reported as saying he will bring in the Living Wage for govt workers. I think if you want to know what Cunliffe is actually saying you should ask him or one of his team or someone that is at the meetings 😉
This is the problem with a public leadership process. It seems weird to me that the 3 candidates could be saying what they will do. Shouldn’t the party be setting policy?
Lolz Weka as you should know by now i am not a member so attending any of the ‘meetings’ for me is out of the question,
i will say it again tho, there will be only one result from extending the ‘living wage’ to Parliaments workers and NOT Legislating that ‘living wage’ for all the low waged economy,
That will be that those workers who are left out in the cold are hardly likely to turn out for Labour in the 2014 election,
If Labour can trumpet its KiwiBuild policy off of the back of a mere 1000 or so votes in a Herald online poll as ‘flagship’ which is apparently where the ex-leader judged the policies level of support from then they would be foolish to ignore the stuff poll,
My opinion, oft expressed i know, is that if Labour goes into the 2014 election with a policy of having the ‘living wage’ in place in its first 3 year term of Government Labour will win that election hands down…
Lolz, i have had my nose firmly fixed on ‘the net’ all morning digging out the zillions of links which debunk the economics 101 bulls**t that raising the minimum wage leads to unemployment, and the man Himself decides to Post here,
From what David Cunliffe has said in that post He is in favor of the living wage being rolled out to all workers as it can be ‘afforded’,
My view is that David Cunliffe and Labour need to qualify this in a far stronger message, IE, rolling out the living wage in the first term or over 3-4 years,
i will tho put that idea into David’s post, where Lolz, i fully expect it to get buried among the 100’s of other’s that will have piled up while He is off to the next leadership contest in Tauraunga…
I’m curious how low income workers will respond to Key saying “If you can legislate at $18.40 a hour and have no implications, why not make it $30 and hour?”
i see in the linked article Slippery the Prime Minister almost waxing lyrical in fear at the ‘living wage’ should become an election issue,
In my opinion it is exactly this point of difference leading into the 2014 election that Labour should use ruthlessly, it is not only a ‘vote winner’ it is also the ‘right’ thing to do for all those trapped in the low waged economy,
Raising the minimum wage causes unemployment, Absolute F**king Bulls**t,
And i quote: In the State of Nevada USA the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the Nevada rate of unemployment??? 10.2%,
In the State of Vermont USA the minimum wage is $8.60 an hour, the Vermont rate of unemployment??? 5.1%,
Obviously IF a higher minimum wage caused unemployment the State of Vermont should have a higher rate of unemployment than the State of Nevada, the reverse is the actual truth,
From Noo Zealand, ”16-17 year old’s unemployment initially increased by 1.4-2.6%, BUT, that negative impact on unemployment was not evident a year later in 2010” unquote,
Local and national elections. This report about new forum sounds great. See TS Ben Clark’s 3/9
21st Century Leadership Election on the online Labour discussion Q&A.
And tricky electronic ‘theft’ of personal name. 20/8/13 Taranaki Daily News on Line Matt Rilkoff A council candidate is seeking legal advice on how to deal with a website hijacking his name.
Mortgage broker Murray Chong is one of 35 candidates standing for the city ward of the New Plymouth District Council and has the website http://www.murraychong.com for his campaign.
However, another website, http://www.murraychong.co.nz, has also been registered and this one has nothing to do with Mr Chong.
Instead this one leads to a Facebook page called Decision 2013 – NPDC which Mr Chong has previously stated he would not contribute to because it was biased against him.
Would a court in New Zealand really give an immediate decision on removing the Facebook account, or whatever they would have to do?
If it was going to take six weeks or more the election would be over and it wouldn’t matter.
If you had won it wouldn’t affect you and if you had lost it wouldn’t help you as no-one would wipe the election and order a new one.
Unless it has occured previously I wouldn’t think a judge would make a prompt decsion as they would probably be greatly concerned about the precedent they would be setting.
Does anyone know whether it has happened previously?
OK, but I assume that what he wants to do is get the website “murraychong.co.nz” removed or cancelled or at least made inaccessible in some way. Is this what you mean by “the courts shouldn’t have much difficulty with this”; that the courts can order this to be done and the web site address must be deleted in some way? Please forgive the fact that I don’t know the technical details or the jargon of the internet. I’m just a user.
The questions I have remain.
Does it require an order from a court to scap the “biased” website?
Is this routine in NZ or is this a first, and therefore likely to take longer than the election period to get done?
Does it require an order from a court to scap the “biased” website?
Not going to have anything to do with the website which is a facebook page but I believe the courts can rule that the URL “murraychong.co.nz” be handed over to him if it defames or misrepresents him. The website would remain but it would no longer have his name attached to it.
How is the current leadership selection likely to affect Conference. Obviously there will be a bit of hoopla from the winners supporters but is there likely to be backlash if members perceive that they did not get a fair decision.
Would it put you off going to conference if you really disagreed with decision?
Just curious how this will play out.
I don’t know about that. My first preference is Cunliffe. But I still think Robertson will be an improvement over Shearer. Plus whoever wins will carry a much broader mandate. I would expect a lot of grumbling, but I think this whole process overall is very healthy and the party is already stronger for it. I think either way, Cunliffe’s exile in the back benches will soon be over.
If Jones wins, however, I think there would be the deafening sound of Standardinistas’ heads exploding all over the country.
“The trade figure just looks at the physical amounts of material traded, but it doesn’t take into account the materials that are used to produce these goods that are traded – so for something like fertiliser, you need to mine phosphate rocks, you need machinery, so you need extra materials.”
In this analysis, the Chinese economy had the largest material footprint, twice as large as the US and four times that of Japan and India. The majority comes from construction minerals, reflecting the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in China over the past 20 years.
Instead of driving efficiency it’s doing the exact opposite.
I’d like to hear what David Cullen has to say about education.
National Standards is widely regarded by teachers and parents alike as a fiasco and a massive waste of teaching resources and time. The previous Labour government had put in place the NZ Curriculum, an internationally recognised system for improving the education of our kids.
I’d like to hear more about what David would like to do.
[lprent: I’m uncertain who you’re talking to. Michael Cullen was a former Labour minister of finance. David Cunliffe if the candidate. Shunted to OpenMike. ]
I wish them all well and the whole process is a great way of raising consciousness of what the New Zealand Labour Party stands for.
If the gallery journos had some more brains they would be able to explain this instead of trying to invent personal “STORIES” with no real significance.
Have you seen what coloured ties the Labour leader team are wearing today? And the cut of their suits? Winston seems to prefer double-breasted but I think the others prefer single style. They seem to adopt the short hair style, none have gone to the bald-alien-look. Generally I think they are all contenders for sartorial style. Who makes their suits – hand made or off the peg I wonder? Don’t know what their ideas will mean for the country though, I was too busy checking their appearance. And I did hear from a Labour source in the support team that one of them swore and threatened violence when the heavy member (naming no names) stood on his toe…
/sarc
yeshe
Seeing I wasn’t being serious I had to throw Winston in – being double-breasted he could come down on the left or right. And he makes good copy for pseudo jonos like me mixing up a potfull of goodies to
beguile the readers. Blah blah….
Well I don’t suppose tinfoilhat is actually wearing a tin foil hat, or that weka is a bird using it’s beak to tap a keyboard. What’s wrong with pseudonyms? Indentity theft? How’s about this, you let the question stand as P.Davis since no one is going to treat your imaginative handle with any of the intent this thread is supposed to contain. If it were just for people cheering and not to discover facts, why not say so to begin with?
[lprent: And that looks like simple diversion. Diverting to OpenMike. Whine about it there. And read the policy. ]
But we should not be shy about investing for growth during a recession, nor underwriting high value long term infrastructure….
Monetary settings need to be revised. Inflation is not the only goal worth pursuing, and while it matters, so does growth, employment and our external balance. Amending the Reserve Bank Act would be a significant priority.
That’s enough to get debate going and to give you my general thrust. A Labour government that I lead would be true red not light blue; bold not shy, and compassionate not uncaring. NZ desperately needs a change and to achieve that we must win in 2014. That is why I am offering to lead Labour now.
Indeed, the next Labour lead Government needs to find the mechanism with which to uncouple ‘interest rates’ from the whole inflation equation,
It is the thought of rising interest rates which scares the mortgages belt middle class in our society to silently agreeing to having unemployment and low wages used as a tool to keep interest rates low,
My first thought is that the Minister of Finance should be tasked with the job of fixing interest rates…
I think David Cunliffe should stay away from Caspar.
It is run for the very same people who leaned so heavily on their children that they had no other way out.
Making an emotinal giltfest over what should be a personal tragedy is unconscionable.
[lprent: Perhaps you should explain what Caspar is? Context helps. Moved to OpenMike as I can’t figure out the relationship to the post was ]
An economist, has debunked the Neoliberal Myth that it is private entrepreneurs who should be credited with backing wealth-creating technology…
In fact it is the State which is a lead risk taker and funder of innovation …and pioneering technologies of the past century points to the state, not the private sector as the most decisive player eg recipients of State Funding include:
* Apple…and “every technology that makes the iPhone a smartphone owes its vision and funding to the state”..
* Google
* GPS
* Touch screen displays
* voice activated smart phones
* pharmaceutical and biotech research
* Green energy
In an era of reducing public debt and State it is argued that big companies should be paying much more tax…to ensure that the State continues with R&D… and education, health and transport can continue to benefit from State investments in innovation.
Mariana Mazzucato ,economist and professor of science and technology policy, University Sussex)…author of ‘The Entreprenueurial State: Debunking public vs. private sector myths’
( article ‘New Scientist’ 24 August, pp26-7)
What a shame that Government has decided to close the School Journal Publishing unit. A mere 100 people will be placed on the scrap heap and instead of the Government unit publishing the journal it will be outsourced probably off shore I would guess. No doubt some government friendly company will benefit from the deal. The Minister of Finance stated that all of the Government small business units companies will be investigated with a view to closing them.
Nice one Bill!
“The Minister of Finance stated that all of the Government small business units companies will be investigated with a view to closing them.”
This is how the government plans to sell of most of our assets. Wind the companies up and sell off the assets bit by bit. They are doing it with the railways. No need to go thru parliament or anything.
I remember the School Journal as a kid, with its colorful cover illustrations, etc, with the year and volume “School Journal, Vol 3 1976”. A kiwi icon. The Americans have their apple pie, we have the School Journal.
(Though, one of the great ironies in life is that the Labour government turned Leaning Media from a Crown Entity into an SOE requiring it to make a profit and return a dividend — Cullen and Mallard have as much a role to play in its demise as English and Parata).
Here’s hoping the Correspondence School takes over the work that Learning Media does. It dovetails in quite nicely with its current role of providing distance education (which require the publishing of learning materials).
Well who needs it. This National Government has worked hard (since 1991 I believe?) to close down Learning Media. This is the total SOE which produced the famously unique School Journal and other Educational Publications. They are saying that the School Journals will continue – for now but I suspect that soon even that will be closed as not financially viable. (And Roading is?)
More than 100 jobs are under threat with the closure of the government-owned company that publishes the School Journal.
Learning Media has produced the reading tool – familiar to generations of Kiwis – and other education resources for the last 79 years. It employs 109 staff, including editors, designers, project managers and software programmers.
Many now-famous New Zealand authors, including Margaret Mahy and Witi Ihimaera, have contributed to the School Journal.
+1 Ron and ianmac….it should be retained! …it is an essential part of NZ culture and creativity matrix and the contributors have a place in generations of New Zealand school children’s hearts!!!!
Nact are SOULESS cost accounting, cultural barbarians!..they are trying to reduce NZ to their back pocket wallets and trust share portfiolios ….and reduce us to a mindless yah saying backwater playground for their international friends…..
Lets hope the new Labour Government reverses this decision
It was not only authors such as Mahy & Ihimaera but the School Journal was an important source of experience and money for up & coming New Zealand artists – there was art work by Woollaston, Frizzell, Angus & McCahon in the Journal (many of these original artworks are held in Archives New Zealand). The School Journal has an vital role as a conduit of New Zealand culture, art & literature in the educational sector.
Learning Media should never have been formed into a Crown Company in 1993 but it was the first step on the eventual road to what would I’m sure have been a privitisation if there had been a National led government into the 1999-2002 term. However Labour is not guilt free here either – it was a Labour led government that turned it into a State Owned Enterprise in 2005 further forcing it down a corporate path which has led to this point.
This is definitely one resource that should be borne by the taxpayer. 30 years on and the neo-liberal wrecking continues.
I am bloody furious about the government’s axing of the dear old New Zealand School Journal, the cornerstone of our near universal literacy rate for over 75 years. All because the Ministry of Education wouldn’t award contracts to it’s own Learning Media company. Utter UTTER Bastards!
No. Why? Just because I disagree with some of the really nasty extremes and ivory tower nonsense preached by some here doesn’t make me not essentially left wing liberal – despite how the extreme ideologues would paint me
Learning Media…. smash down contractor rates to below commercial rate, sell output to MoE well above commercial rate.
MoE realise they can get more for the same amount given to LML, the rest is history. MoE went through a 2 year feasibility and appointment process to expand who was providing services, and LML never budged.
It’s abject failure on LML board’s part to adapt, and they paid the price. Go ask anyone who contracted to LML, and a lot of their (soon to be) ex-employees, they’ll give you some interesting insights.
Bullshit. I contracted to them occasionally and they were one of the best paying gigs around. Anyway that’s all beside the point – as an imprint the School Journal is a taonga.
Listening briefly to Mora, Fleur Revell – utterly trite and concreteheaded opinions from the right – how she can talk without feeling embarrassed by her shallow understanding, Sir Bruce Slane and Jock Anderson – one or both of them a bloated male with similar intellect. (I may be wrong – about the bloated male but not about having concreteheaded…..)
Loved the bit from the female about the Greens being clever to get Sam Neill to make mention of environmental matters, not one of the flax weaving – hippies or something.
@Greywarbler ….
Interesting you describe them as “utterly trite”.
As I was listening (and wondering why I keep punishing myself), I thought
trite – hackneyed – vapid – etc. It led me to synonyms on the net since I had nothing better to do whilst I waited for an appointment (other than perusing TS, Scoop and TDB).
Afternoons with Jim Mora:
trite hackneyed vapid banal routine formulaic stereotypical humdrum stodgy tiresome mundane safe dull …. etc. Intellectual anaesthetic for the masses apparently.
Oh, and ‘NICE’ (and ‘fair and Balanced’ – just like Fuks Newz)
@Tim
Philosophical – about words. Did we make them or is it that they made us, what we are today?
And two more words. Slavoj Zizek. Have you ever watched/listened to Slavoj Zizek on-line. He has so many words spilling out, with such great thinking, that he has to use his hands to spread them round, he talks with his mouth and body – and great thoughts.
Incidentally those who like me don’t know who Fleur Revell is – Fleur Revell-Devlin (born Fleur Revell, 14 March 1972) is a New Zealand public relations consultant and former television personality and journalist. She won …
She is pretty, and has long blonde hair, and is obviously a candidate for the NACT party list if she so wishes to get involved, with her immense understanding of all the important issues for the country.
Daniel Pipes is on National Radio tonight.
Next week’s guest: David Duke?
Wednesday 4 September 2013
Every couple of months, for several years now, Brian Crump has interviewed a “middle east correspondent” on his Radio NZ National Tonight show. These correspondents—all women—have been either silent about Israeli aggression against the Palestinians (Lana Shaheen) or unashamedly supportive of it (Liat Collins, Irris Makler). Although it is quite clear that Crump, and on a couple of occasions Chris Whitta, have been disturbed and appalled by their “Middle East correspondents”, nothing ever seems to get done about it, and they are required to go through the gruesome charade a couple of months later with the same person or someone ideologically identical.
This practice of interviewing “experts” from the hard right fringe continues on National Radio tonight, where one of the guests is the odious DANIEL PIPES, the founder of the extreme right wing “think tank” the Middle East Forum. Whoever made the decision to put Pipes on is either utterly ignorant, or approves of his rabidly anti-Islamic views. There are a great number of serious scholars that the producers of “Nights” could have contacted, but they have gone with someone who wrote this in 1990: “Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene…All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.” Replace the word Muslim with “Jewish” and you could be reading a typical essay from a 1930s issue of the Völkischer Beobachter.
Long time listeners will not be surprised that someone who writes such racist nonsense poses no problem for the serious and knowledgeable producers at Radio New Zealand.
I recommend you do some investigation into the rancid output of Daniel Pipes, but, as a starter, the following article shows how Norman Finkelstein exposed Pipes’ mix of stupidity, fraudulent scholarship and extraordinary gullibility…. http://rense.com/general77/norm.htm
Is Peter Dunne saying outright that Henry et al are lying when they say they didn’t read the Vance emails they were sent ‘by accident”. Very clearly, he says he believes they were read !! Calls it a ‘shoddy’ inquiry. ( Just like we call his govt, but I digress.)
Monty Python could not have written this more absurdly .. Dunne’s one vote delivering us all to the pitter patter of tiny spies everywhere and here is on the intrusions into his own secret and sacred life, right down to Dunne dunny visits apparently !! ( A wiser man might have chosen to omit that pun potential from his notes imho.)
Wonder if he is angry enough yet to vote against the TICS bill .. living in hope I am, Mr Dunney, living in hope !
Re Dunn as part of the “willing buyer and seller. ” what did Dunn obtain for his singular vote ? 30 pieces of silver or something else. When does mike moores time run out in the U.S. ? Lockwood smith has the uk covered for a few years to come.
As I have not read or heard anyone approach Dunn or key on the issue for a response.
While driving home tonight I heard a report on the latest NZ Initiative business survey on international competitiveness, on RNZ. I don’t know why anyone would take their research seriously. The radio report did have a comment from Bill Rosen saying it was totally skewed towards the interests of businesses and not workers. And there was a comment from Don brash about NZ’s low wages and vast inequality gap.
According to the annual Global Competitiveness Index, New Zealand jumped five places to 18th, while Australia slipped one to 21st.
The index measures economic competitiveness across 111 indicators including the time it takes to establish a business, innovation and infrastructure.
The New Zealand Initiative, an economic think-tank which surveyed 50 local chief executives for the index, says New Zealand’s economy seems to be improving while Australia’s is falling behind.
WHEN YOUR RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK – SIT DOWN AND REFUSE TO MOVE! 🙂
After not being invited to the Auckland School of Architecture Mayoral Forum, and after asking (nicely) to be included, and being declined – I arrived early at the Fisher and Paykel Auditorium, pulled up a seat, and refused to move.
In my view it was both sexist and a form of political censorship, to not be invited, when I have already attended a number of Mayoral forums/ debates with incumbent Mayor Len Brown, John Palino, John Minto and the Reverend Uesifili Unasa.
Especially given the work I have done as an ‘investigative activist’ in checking out the LAW, FACTS and EVIDENCE about the Auckland (Spatial) Plan (which the Auckland Draft Unitary Plan is supposed to implement).
ie: The ‘million more people coming to Auckland’, is NOT lawfully-based because it is based upon the Department of Statistics ‘high’ population growth projections, instead of the ‘medium’ population growth projections, which they had advised Auckland Council to use.
Initially, Auckland University security guards were called to try and encourage me to leave, but I sat my ground and said that although I understand they had a job to do – so had I – and that they should ring the Police because I wasn’t moving.
In the end, commonsense and ‘fair play’ prevailed, and I was given the same opportunity as the four male candidates to explain my vision and answer questions (which I had not seen prior to this meeting).
Full credit to the Reverend Uesifili Unasa, as the only other Mayoral candidate, who emailed me, offering his support.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. David Shearer put in a huge effort as Leader,and I am really grateful for that. I think we need to be more direct in our communications about the alternative we are offering, and to stand up and fight for the people who are being neglected by this government.
by grant.robertson 11:02 AM
Follow up Comment (1)
Jamie Pontague
Did you point this out to David Shearer and the caucus?
Thanks for your comment! It’s in moderation..
First Question
“Looking back at the last eighteen months of the Labour party, what would have been done differently (and in what respect) had you been leader?”
Grant also says he will give senior roles to Cunliffe and Jones if he is leader…
“Grant, ABC, which you are a part of, which selected Shearer, who failed miserably, what makes you think you are qualified to put yourself forward as leader with their backing?
Don’t you think you should do a Gillard and resign from politics if you lose?”
One concern is that no one is being terribly honest about the Shearer year. Jones says nothing (about this and many things), Cunliffe says he learnt alot and has spent the last year making changes…Robertson basically says hindsight is 20/20 and I need to do what I thought shearer was going to do but I dont know why he didnt and you can trust I will.
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With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
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Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
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The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
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Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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Can someone please explain to me why Robertson is thought to have any chance against Cunliffe.
When I think of the mess of the last few years I think of Robertson. He and his type of smart Alex’s robbed the Labour Party just like Douglas did. He has no care for what the members like. He has done nothing for the workers of this country.
Not everyone whose opinion you hear has the interests of the progressive left at heart.
The right wing media puppets have a mortgage to pay and corporate owners to placate.
Within the Labour caucus there are people who place their own career and position above the needs of society. Also Remember the Labour Party of the 1980s was taken over by a secret coup from the top. These people, who still exist in the Labour caucus, have never said sorry for Rogernomics. Who they answer to remains a mystery.
Agreed! Add to that, the fact that he said his partner Alf had other things to do and “isn’t here” to the reporter Heather Du Plessis-Allen when they were at his favourite pub, filming for “Seven Sharp”, when all the time, “Alf” was indeed there, very close by, looking on!!! Not honest and not a good look!!
And I wonder why a man says that to a reporter with a camera in attendance that his partner is not present. I wonder whether matters of privacy might just be part of the reasons. It’s the reason why we have ‘white lies’- to avoid a situation which if treated ‘honestly’ leads to more harm than the harm received by the reporter in this case in being told a white lie when the reporter probably ought not to have asked the question in the first place.
Certainly much easier to deny his partner’s presence than to have to say to the reporter something along the lines of, “Why the fuck are you interested in whether my partner is here? Don’t you know that family is off limits? Don’t you go shoving that camera in my partner’s face just to satisfy your and your public’s prurient interest.”
Because anybody who’s been in public life knows how film is misused. Just think about what has happened with Cunliffe’s art work as a recent example.
Better for Alf to really not be there, to avoid anyone misconstruing anything, I would venture to suggest!! It just made him look like he was ashamed of Alf, and as you say, the look of things is everything when it comes to television and incidents like this can be twisted to suit all kinds of agendas. Sad, but true!
Certainly much more foolish to deny his partner’s presence than to have to say to the reporter “Yes he’s here but he’s keeping a low profile, he’s a very private person.”
Fixed it for you.
Thanks QoT, that would be simpler, so long as the reporter could be trusted to stop there. I wouldn’t trust every reporter. Your far simpler answer for me in that situation would depend on my relationship of trust with that reporter, and I’ve been in the middle of some malicious journalism.
You know how you build “relationships of trust” with reporters? Don’t lie to them about fairly unimportant things.
And protecting your partner from intrusive reporters and TV cameras is not important?
QoT, neither you nor I know why Robertson did not tell the truth. I just don’t have the same need to attack him for it as some folk obviously do.
I actually don’t care about this. I can see that there is more than one reasonable explanation as to why this man did this action, and I am not going to judge him for it.
What I believe I do detect, though, is a whole lot of judging going on, based on whether this candidate or that candidate is their preferred.
At this stage, I prefer Cunliffe but it’s not based on this discussion, and I don’t feel the need to attack Robertson because I prefer another candidate.
I’m in the Labour Party. I expect that all these contenders are going to remain in caucus, along with Shearer too and we’ll move on together from here- to defeat this tory government and reintroduce some politics of decency for ordinary folks back into NZ politics.
The two journos who misused film and photos in their control and involving me, I didn’t even know, by the way. No chance to build up trust there. They did what they did, for their own motivation, probably political, certainly deliberate. Just a misuse of their power, and a breach of the trust that we place in the media to be honest and without bias in the business of the fourth estate.
Public place. Pre-organised media event. Lots of cameras and journalists about.
Like I remarked to Key and Banks at the time: you turned up to this and expected privacy???
CV-different scenario. Banks and Key are only temporarily married, with Don Brash giving them both away. The media were invited to the nuptials, but not into the church to hear the exchange of vows.
The important words for me are- “protecting your partner.” The pre-organised media event was for Grant Robertson. Whether his mother, father, great uncle, nieces, aunts, bothers and sisters or his partner were there is private, unless they were invited into the spotlight.
I still ask the question- what were the chances of the intention of the reporter being anything less than prurient?
As I said, if you turn up with family in tow to a big media event in a public space…how are you expecting privacy for your family? If you want to protect your family from the media…why have you asked them along?
Retired Engineer +1
News this morning that Israel says it has carried out a “joint” US missile launch (new Sparrow ballistic type) in the Mediterranean for “target practice”. Russia reports 2 missiles. News of ruffled financial markets. Refer RT-News, Guardian, et al.
First official reports of CIA armed and trained rebel units now heading into Syria from Jordan. Likely been going on for sometime, but now quietly acknowledged.
“Hollywood actor Sam Neill has teamed up with a host of stars to lambast the Government over plans to shut out the public from decisions on deep-sea oil drilling.
Neill uses the “call to action” video montage to criticise National for threatening the oceans and spoiling New Zealand’s international reputation. He says the country is “going backwards fast.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9121336/Deep-sea-oil-plans-anger-stars
And Fairfax media’s poll beside asks…
Which is more important?
Jobs
Environment
Typical!
There is no option of both. Jobs and the Environment.
The media is so awful. Guess when you are owned by billionaires like Reinhart, you have to support the corporate evil.
And the majority of respondents say that the environment is more important.
Very good review of Max Rashbrooke`s edited collection, `Inequality: a New Zealand crisis` by Wayne Hope on The Daily Blog yesterday. The first part summarises some of the key points made in the book about inequality in NZ. Then Hope adds to points that he considers aren’t adequately covered in the book:
And the stats Hope presents does not look good for the Clark government period either:
Definitely time for a new direction from opposition parties.
Hi karol. Yes, I read this article yesterday and found it a good follow on, (with additional info) from last week’s Bryan Bruce doco. There’s many useful articles to be found on that site. I’ll continue to visit the site and read them but I’ve got to say I’m over commenting on it.
There’s a lack of cohesion among the commenters, I would have thought by now there would be more a sense of community.The site is very Auckland centric in my opinion, and I don’t mean any offense to the Auckland authors and commenters here. On The Standard there is a sense of connectedness to the country as whole and articles about other regions, including an ongoing discussion that pops up around Christchurch.The Standard also showed it’s solidarity with it’s community by putting up a comments sections after both the Seddon earthquakes. That was appreciated. I lived longer in Auckland than any other place in NZ so I think I am qualified to make that observation about the Auckland centric nature of the site:-)
What else? I’m over the like/dislike system – it’s a little childish.I know other blogs do it too but I only really visit two blogs and it just seems a bit more mature here, without the thumbs up/down thing going on.
The Standard has a much better class of RWNJ’s present. The one’s over there are just rabid. Yesterday, while commenting on Democratic Distempers…………..” by Chris Trotter I came across a not necessarily RWNJ but a Jone’s apologist who was really tiresome. I found his attitude towards women offensive and that was the last straw for me. It was the most annoying and useless conversation I’ve had there.
So big ups to The Daily Blog for fulfilling an important role in the world of online political talk, for bringing us the livestreams of the recent GCSB public meetings in Auckland and for posting good articles by good authors. But I think I’ll lurk around in the comments here more frequently than there from now on.
The position for the Clark government as I understand it, was that they were wanting to facilitate the growth of private business and the taxation and employment resulting would be beneficial, and they also wanted to maintain the social welfare net but ensure it would be operated efficiently. So really it isn’t left policy. It just wasn’t rabid right, more Centre right I think.
You didn’t talk about the use of debt to create money in the NZ economy. Cullen used a massive build up of private sector debt to fuel that economic activity and to create the flows of money he could tax out of the private sector back into the govt sector.
Simply put, Cullen exchanged public sector debt for private sector debt.
I actually like the comment rankings. It gives some very limited idea of how well particular ideas are supported or not.
What I don’t like about TDB is the lack of user friendliness when you want to go through posts in chronological sequence, and Bomber’s insistence on blaming baby boomers for the ills of the world. Apart from that, I like the wide selection of authors, and hadn’t noticed that it was Tamaki Makauraucentric to any harmful degree. It’s also difficult to have an ongoing discussion there, with the wait for comments to be posted.
Hi Murray. One of the things that put me off commenting was the wait time for comments to be posted. It seems to be down to an hour or less now, but I have been up to 6 hours in moderation. It doesn’t really foster the flow of conversation.
The Auckland centric thing. It’s not harmful I agree. I guess I do notice it and maybe over sensitive to it. One of the reasons I left Auckland but by no means was it a deciding factor, was the sense I got from my Akld friends, workmates and acquaintances was this feeling that they were completely detached from the country, as if they existed in a city state, oblivious to what happened in other cities, towns and small towns. It was an inward looking sort of thing that made me feel claustrophobic. Like I say, probably my view of this skews my view of the site.
Baby boomer focus. This generation does get a hammering on the site from time to time. I’d probably feel a bit miffed if I belonged to this generation and got blamed for everything, as if every single baby boomer was some multiple property owning greedy bastard responsible for todays problems. I noted the backlash one article re the reality of life for some of the baby boomers.
Agree that theres a wide selection of authors, and that keeps me returning
Rosie, I do think The Daily Blog focuses more on the author’s posts than the encouragement of discussion via the comments section.
The “likes” section is a curious feature, and only is used by a minority of people, so It’s impossible to tell how representative they are.
I guess the authors reflect Martyn Bradbury’s networks, which is why it is a bit Auckland centric.
However, there are some very good posts on the blog, including that one from Wayne Hope.
Of course FDI was more about buying up successful businesses – capitalists don’t take risks. It’s that lack of risk taking that the capitalists keep saying that the government has to borrow – they’re the ones who buy the government bonds and thus get a government guaranteed income.
FDI is bad for a society. It gets the people of that society working harder and harder while getting less.
Greenfields FDI is something we do need more of, but not overseas interests coming in to scoop up our real productive assets with electronically created cash.
Nope, don’t need that either. We can use our own electronically created cash to support greensfields and bluesky development by directing our own resources to them.
WHY THE US IS REALLY INTERESTED IN SYRIA:
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldenJackass/1377892800.php
@Sable…thanks for that link …really interesting
Somehow I doubt it. Recall the Oil Crisis of 1973. The west has been hostage to OPEC from the begining – if anything it would be in the USA’s better interests to open up oil pricing to competition.
(this really is a must-watch..(and i try not to overuse those words/that recommendation..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/ed-i-have-a-new-heroine-her-name-is-hillary-mann-leverett-and-she-worked-in-the-bush-administration-in-the-lead-up-to-the-iraq-war-and-here-she-kicks-into-touch-a-gaggle-of-warmongering-presst/
.this is 19 mins long..and is a masterclass in bullshit/black-propaganda puncturing..
..and is one that really needs to be watched by our (unthinking) warmongering-wannabe presstitutes/lefties/progressives..eh..?.
phillip ure..
Actual link
Are any of the contenders for the Labour leadership of or on this planet, proposing the ‘Living Wage’ for only low waged workers working directly for the Parliament or those contracted to the Parliament will do exactly what,
Seriously, if you were a low waged worker earning 14 bucks a hour what would you do if it were proposed to you that you miss out on the living wage while the Parliaments workers got it, race out to vote for Labour at the 2014 election???,
i sure as hell wouldn’t, such an elitist dividing of the workers is likely to see after the euphoria of the leadership contest wears off the 800,000 registered but did not vote bloc again withhold their votes at the next election,
Here’s the Stuff poll from yesterday, not scientific but a lot of votes cast,
Would a ‘Living Wage’ promise encourage you to vote Labour?.
14,715 votes YES, 58.2% in favor,
10,568 votes NO 41.8% against…
About 20 of those yes votes are mine. I can remember Michael Bassett saying “we need to get our people to the polls as early and as often as possible.” Of course, he was quoting Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago.
That’s ok Linz, several thousand of the no votes are Simon Lusk’s autoscript.
Bad12, I also thought it was strange to raise the minimum wage in one sector, but I guess they are speaking as an employer. I thought Cunliffe originally said he would look at the raise for state servants and also all low income workers (i.e the govt as an employer would use the Living Wage, and it would also look at how to encourage this in the wider country). But in the last day or so he is being reported as saying he will bring in the Living Wage for govt workers. I think if you want to know what Cunliffe is actually saying you should ask him or one of his team or someone that is at the meetings 😉
This is the problem with a public leadership process. It seems weird to me that the 3 candidates could be saying what they will do. Shouldn’t the party be setting policy?
Yes, it should be and why I like Loomio.
Cool, they’ve gone public. Have you tried it yet?
Not yet.
Lolz Weka as you should know by now i am not a member so attending any of the ‘meetings’ for me is out of the question,
i will say it again tho, there will be only one result from extending the ‘living wage’ to Parliaments workers and NOT Legislating that ‘living wage’ for all the low waged economy,
That will be that those workers who are left out in the cold are hardly likely to turn out for Labour in the 2014 election,
If Labour can trumpet its KiwiBuild policy off of the back of a mere 1000 or so votes in a Herald online poll as ‘flagship’ which is apparently where the ex-leader judged the policies level of support from then they would be foolish to ignore the stuff poll,
My opinion, oft expressed i know, is that if Labour goes into the 2014 election with a policy of having the ‘living wage’ in place in its first 3 year term of Government Labour will win that election hands down…
Go read Cunliffe’s post here on ts, and then let me know what you think he is intending 🙂
Lolz, i have had my nose firmly fixed on ‘the net’ all morning digging out the zillions of links which debunk the economics 101 bulls**t that raising the minimum wage leads to unemployment, and the man Himself decides to Post here,
From what David Cunliffe has said in that post He is in favor of the living wage being rolled out to all workers as it can be ‘afforded’,
My view is that David Cunliffe and Labour need to qualify this in a far stronger message, IE, rolling out the living wage in the first term or over 3-4 years,
i will tho put that idea into David’s post, where Lolz, i fully expect it to get buried among the 100’s of other’s that will have piled up while He is off to the next leadership contest in Tauraunga…
Stuff poll
Would a living wage promise encourage you to vote Labour?
Yes
16960 votes, 59.5%
No
11563 votes, 40.5%
Total 28523 votes
Related story: Living wage plan ‘unworkable, unbelievable’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9114732/Living-wage-plan-unworkable-unbelievable
I’m curious how low income workers will respond to Key saying “If you can legislate at $18.40 a hour and have no implications, why not make it $30 and hour?”
i see in the linked article Slippery the Prime Minister almost waxing lyrical in fear at the ‘living wage’ should become an election issue,
In my opinion it is exactly this point of difference leading into the 2014 election that Labour should use ruthlessly, it is not only a ‘vote winner’ it is also the ‘right’ thing to do for all those trapped in the low waged economy,
Raising the minimum wage causes unemployment, Absolute F**king Bulls**t,
And i quote: In the State of Nevada USA the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the Nevada rate of unemployment??? 10.2%,
In the State of Vermont USA the minimum wage is $8.60 an hour, the Vermont rate of unemployment??? 5.1%,
http://www.newyorker.com/…/the-case-for-a-higher-minimum-wage.htm...
Obviously IF a higher minimum wage caused unemployment the State of Vermont should have a higher rate of unemployment than the State of Nevada, the reverse is the actual truth,
From Noo Zealand, ”16-17 year old’s unemployment initially increased by 1.4-2.6%, BUT, that negative impact on unemployment was not evident a year later in 2010” unquote,
http://www.blog.greens.org.nz/…/its-official-abolishing-youth-rates-did-not-increase...
for the same reason he presumably thinks low taxes are great but stopped at 30% and 33% respectively. It has to be fair and workable.
Local and national elections. This report about new forum sounds great. See TS Ben Clark’s 3/9
21st Century Leadership Election on the online Labour discussion Q&A.
And tricky electronic ‘theft’ of personal name. 20/8/13 Taranaki Daily News on Line Matt Rilkoff
A council candidate is seeking legal advice on how to deal with a website hijacking his name.
Mortgage broker Murray Chong is one of 35 candidates standing for the city ward of the New Plymouth District Council and has the website http://www.murraychong.com for his campaign.
However, another website, http://www.murraychong.co.nz, has also been registered and this one has nothing to do with Mr Chong.
Instead this one leads to a Facebook page called Decision 2013 – NPDC which Mr Chong has previously stated he would not contribute to because it was biased against him.
I’d say that the courts shouldn’t have too much difficulty there – it’s obvious that the second domain name is set up to discredit him.
Would a court in New Zealand really give an immediate decision on removing the Facebook account, or whatever they would have to do?
If it was going to take six weeks or more the election would be over and it wouldn’t matter.
If you had won it wouldn’t affect you and if you had lost it wouldn’t help you as no-one would wipe the election and order a new one.
Unless it has occured previously I wouldn’t think a judge would make a prompt decsion as they would probably be greatly concerned about the precedent they would be setting.
Does anyone know whether it has happened previously?
The URL has nothing to do with Facebook.
OK, but I assume that what he wants to do is get the website “murraychong.co.nz” removed or cancelled or at least made inaccessible in some way. Is this what you mean by “the courts shouldn’t have much difficulty with this”; that the courts can order this to be done and the web site address must be deleted in some way? Please forgive the fact that I don’t know the technical details or the jargon of the internet. I’m just a user.
The questions I have remain.
Does it require an order from a court to scap the “biased” website?
Is this routine in NZ or is this a first, and therefore likely to take longer than the election period to get done?
Not going to have anything to do with the website which is a facebook page but I believe the courts can rule that the URL “murraychong.co.nz” be handed over to him if it defames or misrepresents him. The website would remain but it would no longer have his name attached to it.
How is the current leadership selection likely to affect Conference. Obviously there will be a bit of hoopla from the winners supporters but is there likely to be backlash if members perceive that they did not get a fair decision.
Would it put you off going to conference if you really disagreed with decision?
Just curious how this will play out.
If David Cunliffe doesn’t win the contest the pages of the Standard will become unreadable, the Conference??? who knows…
I don’t know about that. My first preference is Cunliffe. But I still think Robertson will be an improvement over Shearer. Plus whoever wins will carry a much broader mandate. I would expect a lot of grumbling, but I think this whole process overall is very healthy and the party is already stronger for it. I think either way, Cunliffe’s exile in the back benches will soon be over.
If Jones wins, however, I think there would be the deafening sound of Standardinistas’ heads exploding all over the country.
Agreed Pete. Either of them will do the job well and either will be a huge improvement.
Jones winning isn’t even worth thinking about. I have no idea why he’s in the Labour party, let alone in the leadership contest.
perspicacious of you, Bad 12 🙂
Lolz, ‘He’ has to win to save the last vestiges of my fast fading sanity…
‘He’ just has to win. I, too, have but a vestige of hope remaining …
Nice one Len Brown: full review of CCOs in the offing 😀
Time for some POAL directors to start thinking about their future 🙂
and another nail in the coffin of free-trade:
Instead of driving efficiency it’s doing the exact opposite.
I’d like to hear what David Cullen has to say about education.
National Standards is widely regarded by teachers and parents alike as a fiasco and a massive waste of teaching resources and time. The previous Labour government had put in place the NZ Curriculum, an internationally recognised system for improving the education of our kids.
I’d like to hear more about what David would like to do.
[lprent: I’m uncertain who you’re talking to. Michael Cullen was a former Labour minister of finance. David Cunliffe if the candidate. Shunted to OpenMike. ]
cunliffee answered this question in the thread bearing his name, I think
I wish them all well and the whole process is a great way of raising consciousness of what the New Zealand Labour Party stands for.
If the gallery journos had some more brains they would be able to explain this instead of trying to invent personal “STORIES” with no real significance.
Have you seen what coloured ties the Labour leader team are wearing today? And the cut of their suits? Winston seems to prefer double-breasted but I think the others prefer single style. They seem to adopt the short hair style, none have gone to the bald-alien-look. Generally I think they are all contenders for sartorial style. Who makes their suits – hand made or off the peg I wonder? Don’t know what their ideas will mean for the country though, I was too busy checking their appearance. And I did hear from a Labour source in the support team that one of them swore and threatened violence when the heavy member (naming no names) stood on his toe…
/sarc
Winston hs become a Labour leader ???
yeshe
Seeing I wasn’t being serious I had to throw Winston in – being double-breasted he could come down on the left or right. And he makes good copy for pseudo jonos like me mixing up a potfull of goodies to
beguile the readers. Blah blah….
🙂
“…..And in doing so we will not compromise our beautiful environment and clean green image….”
So you agree then with EVERYTHING that the Greens will demand of you regards the enviroment/transport/housing ect ect?
You’ll never get National’s left by taking that position – you probably won’t even keep your right voters!
[lprent: That looks like a silly strawman argument. Did you not read my comment about what rules I was applying? Take it to OpenMike. ]
Well I don’t suppose tinfoilhat is actually wearing a tin foil hat, or that weka is a bird using it’s beak to tap a keyboard. What’s wrong with pseudonyms? Indentity theft? How’s about this, you let the question stand as P.Davis since no one is going to treat your imaginative handle with any of the intent this thread is supposed to contain. If it were just for people cheering and not to discover facts, why not say so to begin with?
[lprent: And that looks like simple diversion. Diverting to OpenMike. Whine about it there. And read the policy. ]
whale oil be a thik prik, there is a diversion for dickheads.
I hope its permanent.
http://thestandard.org.nz/david-cunliffe-2/#comment-691254
Hear ye – hearye. The town cryer calls – Don’t miss hearing what David Cunliffe is saying. Go to the link and read the rest, also the varied questions on our concerns.
I managed to get the wrong link up. Sorry. Here is David Cunliffe’s actual comment.
http://thestandard.org.nz/david-cunliffe-2/#comment-691191
Indeed, the next Labour lead Government needs to find the mechanism with which to uncouple ‘interest rates’ from the whole inflation equation,
It is the thought of rising interest rates which scares the mortgages belt middle class in our society to silently agreeing to having unemployment and low wages used as a tool to keep interest rates low,
My first thought is that the Minister of Finance should be tasked with the job of fixing interest rates…
Just more unaccounted-for hidden costs in the Sky Cshitty deal .. sigh.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11119291
I think David Cunliffe should stay away from Caspar.
It is run for the very same people who leaned so heavily on their children that they had no other way out.
Making an emotinal giltfest over what should be a personal tragedy is unconscionable.
[lprent: Perhaps you should explain what Caspar is? Context helps. Moved to OpenMike as I can’t figure out the relationship to the post was ]
An economist, has debunked the Neoliberal Myth that it is private entrepreneurs who should be credited with backing wealth-creating technology…
In fact it is the State which is a lead risk taker and funder of innovation …and pioneering technologies of the past century points to the state, not the private sector as the most decisive player eg recipients of State Funding include:
* Apple…and “every technology that makes the iPhone a smartphone owes its vision and funding to the state”..
* Google
* GPS
* Touch screen displays
* voice activated smart phones
* pharmaceutical and biotech research
* Green energy
In an era of reducing public debt and State it is argued that big companies should be paying much more tax…to ensure that the State continues with R&D… and education, health and transport can continue to benefit from State investments in innovation.
Mariana Mazzucato ,economist and professor of science and technology policy, University Sussex)…author of ‘The Entreprenueurial State: Debunking public vs. private sector myths’
( article ‘New Scientist’ 24 August, pp26-7)
[deleted]
[lprent: see http://thestandard.org.nz/ubi-universal-basic-income/#comment-691717 ]
Mazzucato interviewed by INET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPvG_fGPvQo
The Entreprenueurial State: Debunking public vs. private sector myths
What a shame that Government has decided to close the School Journal Publishing unit. A mere 100 people will be placed on the scrap heap and instead of the Government unit publishing the journal it will be outsourced probably off shore I would guess. No doubt some government friendly company will benefit from the deal. The Minister of Finance stated that all of the Government small business units companies will be investigated with a view to closing them.
Nice one Bill!
A real shame from a stupid government that knows the cost of everything but values of nothing. A penny wise and pound foolish clueless lot.
“The Minister of Finance stated that all of the Government small business units companies will be investigated with a view to closing them.”
This is how the government plans to sell of most of our assets. Wind the companies up and sell off the assets bit by bit. They are doing it with the railways. No need to go thru parliament or anything.
I remember the School Journal as a kid, with its colorful cover illustrations, etc, with the year and volume “School Journal, Vol 3 1976”. A kiwi icon. The Americans have their apple pie, we have the School Journal.
(Though, one of the great ironies in life is that the Labour government turned Leaning Media from a Crown Entity into an SOE requiring it to make a profit and return a dividend — Cullen and Mallard have as much a role to play in its demise as English and Parata).
Here’s hoping the Correspondence School takes over the work that Learning Media does. It dovetails in quite nicely with its current role of providing distance education (which require the publishing of learning materials).
Well who needs it. This National Government has worked hard (since 1991 I believe?) to close down Learning Media. This is the total SOE which produced the famously unique School Journal and other Educational Publications. They are saying that the School Journals will continue – for now but I suspect that soon even that will be closed as not financially viable. (And Roading is?)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9125335/School-Journal-publisher-winding-up
+1 Ron and ianmac….it should be retained! …it is an essential part of NZ culture and creativity matrix and the contributors have a place in generations of New Zealand school children’s hearts!!!!
Nact are SOULESS cost accounting, cultural barbarians!..they are trying to reduce NZ to their back pocket wallets and trust share portfiolios ….and reduce us to a mindless yah saying backwater playground for their international friends…..
Lets hope the new Labour Government reverses this decision
It was not only authors such as Mahy & Ihimaera but the School Journal was an important source of experience and money for up & coming New Zealand artists – there was art work by Woollaston, Frizzell, Angus & McCahon in the Journal (many of these original artworks are held in Archives New Zealand). The School Journal has an vital role as a conduit of New Zealand culture, art & literature in the educational sector.
Learning Media should never have been formed into a Crown Company in 1993 but it was the first step on the eventual road to what would I’m sure have been a privitisation if there had been a National led government into the 1999-2002 term. However Labour is not guilt free here either – it was a Labour led government that turned it into a State Owned Enterprise in 2005 further forcing it down a corporate path which has led to this point.
This is definitely one resource that should be borne by the taxpayer. 30 years on and the neo-liberal wrecking continues.
I am bloody furious about the government’s axing of the dear old New Zealand School Journal, the cornerstone of our near universal literacy rate for over 75 years. All because the Ministry of Education wouldn’t award contracts to it’s own Learning Media company. Utter UTTER Bastards!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9125335/School-Journal-publisher-winding-up
pop
Are you winding us up too?
No. Why? Just because I disagree with some of the really nasty extremes and ivory tower nonsense preached by some here doesn’t make me not essentially left wing liberal – despite how the extreme ideologues would paint me
Learning Media…. smash down contractor rates to below commercial rate, sell output to MoE well above commercial rate.
MoE realise they can get more for the same amount given to LML, the rest is history. MoE went through a 2 year feasibility and appointment process to expand who was providing services, and LML never budged.
It’s abject failure on LML board’s part to adapt, and they paid the price. Go ask anyone who contracted to LML, and a lot of their (soon to be) ex-employees, they’ll give you some interesting insights.
Bullshit. I contracted to them occasionally and they were one of the best paying gigs around. Anyway that’s all beside the point – as an imprint the School Journal is a taonga.
It really comes down to a hostility towards public sector provision and ownership.
RIP School Journal — Vol 5, 1987 will live on, however.
Awesome.
Listening briefly to Mora, Fleur Revell – utterly trite and concreteheaded opinions from the right – how she can talk without feeling embarrassed by her shallow understanding, Sir Bruce Slane and Jock Anderson – one or both of them a bloated male with similar intellect. (I may be wrong – about the bloated male but not about having concreteheaded…..)
Loved the bit from the female about the Greens being clever to get Sam Neill to make mention of environmental matters, not one of the flax weaving – hippies or something.
@Greywarbler ….
Interesting you describe them as “utterly trite”.
As I was listening (and wondering why I keep punishing myself), I thought
trite – hackneyed – vapid – etc. It led me to synonyms on the net since I had nothing better to do whilst I waited for an appointment (other than perusing TS, Scoop and TDB).
Afternoons with Jim Mora:
trite hackneyed vapid banal routine formulaic stereotypical humdrum stodgy tiresome mundane safe dull …. etc. Intellectual anaesthetic for the masses apparently.
Oh, and ‘NICE’ (and ‘fair and Balanced’ – just like Fuks Newz)
@Tim
Philosophical – about words. Did we make them or is it that they made us, what we are today?
And two more words. Slavoj Zizek. Have you ever watched/listened to Slavoj Zizek on-line. He has so many words spilling out, with such great thinking, that he has to use his hands to spread them round, he talks with his mouth and body – and great thoughts.
Incidentally those who like me don’t know who Fleur Revell is – Fleur Revell-Devlin (born Fleur Revell, 14 March 1972) is a New Zealand public relations consultant and former television personality and journalist. She won …
She is pretty, and has long blonde hair, and is obviously a candidate for the NACT party list if she so wishes to get involved, with her immense understanding of all the important issues for the country.
Daniel Pipes is on National Radio tonight.
Next week’s guest: David Duke?
Wednesday 4 September 2013
Every couple of months, for several years now, Brian Crump has interviewed a “middle east correspondent” on his Radio NZ National Tonight show. These correspondents—all women—have been either silent about Israeli aggression against the Palestinians (Lana Shaheen) or unashamedly supportive of it (Liat Collins, Irris Makler). Although it is quite clear that Crump, and on a couple of occasions Chris Whitta, have been disturbed and appalled by their “Middle East correspondents”, nothing ever seems to get done about it, and they are required to go through the gruesome charade a couple of months later with the same person or someone ideologically identical.
This practice of interviewing “experts” from the hard right fringe continues on National Radio tonight, where one of the guests is the odious DANIEL PIPES, the founder of the extreme right wing “think tank” the Middle East Forum. Whoever made the decision to put Pipes on is either utterly ignorant, or approves of his rabidly anti-Islamic views. There are a great number of serious scholars that the producers of “Nights” could have contacted, but they have gone with someone who wrote this in 1990: “Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene…All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.” Replace the word Muslim with “Jewish” and you could be reading a typical essay from a 1930s issue of the Völkischer Beobachter.
Long time listeners will not be surprised that someone who writes such racist nonsense poses no problem for the serious and knowledgeable producers at Radio New Zealand.
I recommend you do some investigation into the rancid output of Daniel Pipes, but, as a starter, the following article shows how Norman Finkelstein exposed Pipes’ mix of stupidity, fraudulent scholarship and extraordinary gullibility….
http://rense.com/general77/norm.htm
Is Peter Dunne saying outright that Henry et al are lying when they say they didn’t read the Vance emails they were sent ‘by accident”. Very clearly, he says he believes they were read !! Calls it a ‘shoddy’ inquiry. ( Just like we call his govt, but I digress.)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9124672/Dunne-strikes-back-over-leak-probe
Monty Python could not have written this more absurdly .. Dunne’s one vote delivering us all to the pitter patter of tiny spies everywhere and here is on the intrusions into his own secret and sacred life, right down to Dunne dunny visits apparently !! ( A wiser man might have chosen to omit that pun potential from his notes imho.)
Wonder if he is angry enough yet to vote against the TICS bill .. living in hope I am, Mr Dunney, living in hope !
Re Dunn as part of the “willing buyer and seller. ” what did Dunn obtain for his singular vote ? 30 pieces of silver or something else. When does mike moores time run out in the U.S. ? Lockwood smith has the uk covered for a few years to come.
As I have not read or heard anyone approach Dunn or key on the issue for a response.
Is this unusual for Rudman ? Don’t read him much. Here he lashes Key a bit…….assets sales.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11118940
Rudman is generally seen as being a commentator/columnist of the left – he is no fan of Key or NAct.
Excellent chap then !
While driving home tonight I heard a report on the latest NZ Initiative business survey on international competitiveness, on RNZ. I don’t know why anyone would take their research seriously. The radio report did have a comment from Bill Rosen saying it was totally skewed towards the interests of businesses and not workers. And there was a comment from Don brash about NZ’s low wages and vast inequality gap.
This is the RNZ print report on it.
Audiofile:
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ckpt/ckpt-20130904-1739-nz_economy_ranked_18th_most_competitive-048.mp3
FYI
WHEN YOUR RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK – SIT DOWN AND REFUSE TO MOVE! 🙂
After not being invited to the Auckland School of Architecture Mayoral Forum, and after asking (nicely) to be included, and being declined – I arrived early at the Fisher and Paykel Auditorium, pulled up a seat, and refused to move.
In my view it was both sexist and a form of political censorship, to not be invited, when I have already attended a number of Mayoral forums/ debates with incumbent Mayor Len Brown, John Palino, John Minto and the Reverend Uesifili Unasa.
Especially given the work I have done as an ‘investigative activist’ in checking out the LAW, FACTS and EVIDENCE about the Auckland (Spatial) Plan (which the Auckland Draft Unitary Plan is supposed to implement).
ie: The ‘million more people coming to Auckland’, is NOT lawfully-based because it is based upon the Department of Statistics ‘high’ population growth projections, instead of the ‘medium’ population growth projections, which they had advised Auckland Council to use.
Initially, Auckland University security guards were called to try and encourage me to leave, but I sat my ground and said that although I understand they had a job to do – so had I – and that they should ring the Police because I wasn’t moving.
In the end, commonsense and ‘fair play’ prevailed, and I was given the same opportunity as the four male candidates to explain my vision and answer questions (which I had not seen prior to this meeting).
Full credit to the Reverend Uesifili Unasa, as the only other Mayoral candidate, who emailed me, offering his support.
Again, I used the opportunity to tell people who is REALLY running the Auckland region – the unelected, invitation-only http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/membership
A BIG thank you to fellow community activist, fellow ‘Public Watchdog’ Lisa Prager for her invaluable support.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/9126988/Mayoral-candidates-debate-future-of-city
GO THE GRRRLS!
😉
Her Warship
http://www.pennybright4mayor.og.nz
hmmmmm @
Answer:
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. David Shearer put in a huge effort as Leader,and I am really grateful for that. I think we need to be more direct in our communications about the alternative we are offering, and to stand up and fight for the people who are being neglected by this government.
by grant.robertson 11:02 AM
Follow up Comment (1)
Jamie Pontague
Did you point this out to David Shearer and the caucus?
Thanks for your comment! It’s in moderation..
First Question
“Looking back at the last eighteen months of the Labour party, what would have been done differently (and in what respect) had you been leader?”
Grant also says he will give senior roles to Cunliffe and Jones if he is leader…
Pondering that…
Tracey @ 11.12am, this looks like the NZ Herald’s live chat with Grant Robertson.
So much BS, then?
Bs indeed.
I’ve asked along the lines of…
“Grant, ABC, which you are a part of, which selected Shearer, who failed miserably, what makes you think you are qualified to put yourself forward as leader with their backing?
Don’t you think you should do a Gillard and resign from politics if you lose?”
No answer. 😆
LOL…
Well, his judgment could be called into question in that he believed Shearer was the right person and ot it so horribly wrong..
One concern is that no one is being terribly honest about the Shearer year. Jones says nothing (about this and many things), Cunliffe says he learnt alot and has spent the last year making changes…Robertson basically says hindsight is 20/20 and I need to do what I thought shearer was going to do but I dont know why he didnt and you can trust I will.
To all those that say equality has arrived and that the armed forces have “changed” their attitudes toward women, be advised…
He is facing courts martial and has NOT been found guilty as yet.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9129152/Court-martial-for-senior-military-commander