UN Security Council inaction on Syria ‘past unacceptable’ says Murray McCully
“The fact the Security Council has not managed to find a resolution amongst the parties is just past unacceptable. We are doing everything we can to try to create some sort of resolution that will enable the humanitarian challenges to be addressed
Shame NZ isn’t doing every thing we can to met the humanitarian challenge.
Yep. Expect a flip-flop from Key on this in the very near future. Except it won’t be called a flip-flop – that term is reserved for the opposition. The government’s furious back-pedalling has already been framed as a “softening of position”, which sounds much nicer.
What this shows is the default position of this government is indifference, and this is backed up by the sweeping changes to WINZ and social housing. However, they are happy to throw cruel ideology away at the first sign of trouble from their own voter base.
“Unacceptable” is a classic weasel word. Whenever a politician uses the word “unacceptable”, they mean that they want to be seen to be condemning someone else but never in a news release containing that word will you see an alternative or a commitment to do anything. It means, ‘thank you for doing what I would do, but which would make me more unpopular if I did it.’ When ‘leading Labour, Goff was very fond of it himself when he wasn’t saying ‘me too’.
Note how quiet the MSM is keeping on the fact that John Key’s mother was a refugee from 1930s Europe. She was one of the lucky ones who escaped the holocaust and ended up starting a new life in NZ. She and her children were looked after by the state… lived in a warm, dry home… good food in their stomachs… and the recipients of a first class education.
The Refugee Association mention sit every chance they get. I think People have forgotten that Key’s parents were refugees and I thought Little missed a great chance to look into the camera and speak to MR Key ” hey, remember how NZ helped your parents?”
To them, John Key’s parents were the right sort of refugees – they were white and had the right God, not brown and Islamic.
Peter Dunne wants refugees to be vetted on an wealth and skills basis which defeats the entire idea of compassion, I would have thought. Further proof that this government is indifferent to the vulnerable.
That daft Scots migrant, Jock Anderson, made a complete fool of himself on the radio yesterday afternoon advocating that only rich refugees be allowed access.
yes, a general misunderstanding of what a refugee is. We have categories for welathy immigrants, refugee is a different beats. It is of concern when so called intelligent people don’t get this, or don’t want to.
Key said it was easy for the Opposition to say the Government should do more and while the number of displaced people had increased in recent years – “there were still tens of millions when Helen Clark was Prime Minister”.
Look at the careful imprecision of Key’s statement.
1. “We’re not ruling out”. This says nothing and indicates very little positive action in a negative way.
2. “more”. Not quantified or defined. Could have been a little more, lot more, a whole lot more.
3. “possibly’. Again no action indicated and ‘possibly’ is very low down the chain of probability of something happening.
4. “maybe specifically”. This is a wonderful juxtaposition of a low probability word ‘maybe’ with a very definite word ‘specifically’, meaning very little.
4. “what we are seeing”. Not described. Later, Key could say he was talking about anything.
This is not Orwellian “newspeak”. This is “nothingspeak”, “zilchtalk”, ‘nadamessaging”. It is the verbal equivalent of candy floss.
That substance possibly derives from good nutrition, whereas with Key there’s nothing to bite on, chew on, give nourishment. I prefer candy floss as a symbol since it also conjures up fairground hucksters, snake oil merchants and winning prizes that turn out to be less than the cost of the turn.
@ mac1 (4.2) But … but did FJK make those statements as FJK (faux) PM, FJK NatzKEY leader, FJK private citizen, FJK Bronagh’s hubby, FJK Moonbeam’s dad, FJK Uncle Sam’s scrooge, or FJK whoever? His position at the time of flapping his gob off here, makes all the difference to where his responsibility lies!
But did he make those statements, and did he mean what you think he said, because he can always get another opinion, and anyway actually Helen did it too, and Labour were to blame in their nine long years…………………….
The only thing more upsetting than the story itself are the numerous comments underneath the story, where the compassion that used to be a hallmark of our nation is exposed to be woefully (and increasingly) absent.
I also fail to understand how he could have run out of the WINZ office seeing as every WINZ office in the country currently has at least one security guard stationed at the door and usually another inside the offices themselves. Many also have a local representative from the Police in situ during office hours.
I can’t see the country I was raised in anymore. I do miss it though.
We got another bad link in a incoming RSS feed. Due to having a nasty cold last week, I didn’t find a permanent fix for this.
People were getting locked out of the site for writing comments for several hours. I have cleared all of those blocks now, and the RSS feeds are switched off.
They will stay off until I have time to build a permanent fix.
lprent -some info on today:
I have been sent to the ‘statcounter’ page a number of times today whilst ‘downforme’ sites said this site was up.
Have a screengrab if you want/need it
was just about to post on that – but had site access issues – ….
It’s not a brand, it’s a national flag, right? A national flag is about many things; pride, unity, respect, solidarity, patriotism. So why all the copyright issues circling the Flag referendum selections? We have the Rugby Union unequivocally putting their foot down about their rights. The Companies and Immigration Offices are both remarkably quiet about one of the selections, while (co-incidentally)the man who designed the NZRU Silver Fern talks up redesigning all the ferns that have been shortlisted.
And have you seen the story where Kyle Lockwood is looking at challenging the RNZAF in a copyright battle over prior use of his Siver Fern Flag designs?
These stories highlight how the focus of the exercise seems to be flagging. I don’t see how prior use copyright battles with the very people you are freely giving up your copyright claims to, can be said to support any of those tall standards of pride, unity, respect, solidarity & patriotism. It has recently been reported people representing Kyle Lockwood are making inquiries about the “kiwi party plates” and their possible breach of his designs’ copyright. They seem to have been slow off the mark however, the Silver Fern Flag website states they first became aware of the plates back in 2011.
These are very clear terms. We have no reason not to think they have been rightfully enacted by that very same government he is now questioning over rights of prior use. Rights that would now let the government comfortably use any such design in the very function the [prior] owner of the copyright is making enquiries about.
His lawyers may well have a case about prior use (though there are enough design variances to raise doubt) but under the terms of the flag selection process, Kyle Lockwood has to sign over all rights for current and future use (and should have already done so). Considering it is a group within the RNZAF whom, it is questioned, might have committed a prior use infringement, we are left to puzzle over his motivations for even bothering to contest it. Companies selling plastic plates is one thing. The armed forces of the nation whose flag your design is shortlisted to replace does seem an odd choice of litigant, if it gets that far.
Remember, Kyle Lockwood was also very passionate about NZ bringing back ten year passports and petitioned the government on the issue and was spokesperson for the ‘NZ Ten’ campaign. http://www.nzten.com/petition.html I thank him for that, and thank all those who played their small part in pushing for this incredibly important return to sanity.
Kyle Lockwood seems to have a genuine passion for NZ, the fact he is currently based in Melbourne is irrelevant and yes, his career should rightfully beneift from the exposure of his designs’ success. However, I do not believe that success should include ongoing commercial gain directly drawn from the sale of flags and associated materials bearing a design that is now meant to be the commercial and legal property of the NZ government. Not only is the commercial activity continuing, after all rights are meant to have been signed over, but he is actually expanding the commercial activity related to his design. It appears he plans to sell even more flags.
Due to unprecedented demand as a result of the Crown’s top four release, all flags have sold out, however more are on the way. our manufacturers are busily making new flags and we are setting up distribution centres in Auckland, Wellington and Melbourne, with a view to opening a London distribution centre.
Please bear with us if your flags take a little while to arrive, thank you!
Kyle Lockwood, Designer.
http://www.silverfernflag.org/store.html
How much longer is he going to be selling the flags for?
Have the Silver Fern Flag outlets become some unofficial marketing or revenue arm of the referendum process?
Weird huh? What’s weirder still? Even though he proudly updated the commercial arm of his website there is STILL not any update announcing his designs’ success either on the Homepage, or the Press page! As the copyright lawyers get together and the media have said as little as possible, the government seems happy to leave the entire issue in legal limbo. Seems Lockwood is free to carry on selling product I guess. At least we can rest peacefully knowing “It’s not a brand”.
There really is a very limited number of ways to draw a Silver Fern and they will all look similar, ergo, I think Kyle Lockwood can go fuck himself. The original copyright holder is Nature and She’s not complaining.
I thought he could go fuck himself when there were conflicting stories about whether he is based in Hutt Valley or Melbourne.
I don’t give a shit either way, it just seems to me that he’s been clumsily bullshitting in order to get people to give a fuck. And, it seems, make himself money.
A settlement with the Crown enables Key and Smith to get some of that Auckland land for housing.
The agreement appears to reinforce the first right of refusal principle and leads to the withdrawal of the legal challenge..
“The Government and Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau have come to an agreement, where we will be able to get on and use vacant public land for housing while at the same time ensuring Treaty settlements covering the Auckland region are respected and upheld. I welcome the decision by Ngāti Whātua Rōpū to withdraw legal proceedings to allow the programme to continue at pace,” Dr Smith says.
And the Iwi have withdrawn it cos they have had their right of first refusal acknowledged by the Government, which is what they were challenging.
Last night the Turkish government just rolled over the war against ISIS – and in one sense extended it to include active participation in Syria. Will this come with them fighting against the Kurds? As Kurdish forces control many of the vital strategic and tactical cross roads on the northern Syrian and Southern Turkish boarder.
Also have the Kurds done to well? If our troops had to be in the region, I would have preferred them helping Kurdish and other minorities, against the worlds latest theocratic state.
From what I recall they recently got some additional US gear in exchange for ramping up against ISIL, but also sneak in a few attacks against the kurds. They cooled off against the kurds previously because the kurds were the only ones opposing ISIL with any success.
Basically, Turkey seems happy to let the Kurds and ISIL weaken each other, and turkey will take on the weakened victor.
I agree McFlock – the Kurds victories over ISIS have been protracted and bloody. They have been slowly dragging more and more of their population into the militias. I’m not sure for stability it is a good tactic from Turkey.
I know from Greek friends, they are mightily pissed off with Turkey at the moment. One friend said there has been some sabre-rattling from the Greek military over Turkey again. It all seem fubar.
The comment Anne said about John Keys Mother is timely
Apart from not being war torn what can NZ offer refugees when our social services (housing, child poverty etc)are abysmal, maybe we should get our own house in order and politicians should fix (instead of talking )NZs social issues
Grandstanding on issues like refugees doesn’t help anyone and is insincere point scoring, nothing more
IMO the import of more refugees will be detrimental for NZ and it’s social services “the cart before the horse “comes to mind
Good to see NZFirst standing against the proposed sale of 50% of Silver Ferm Farms to the Chinese.
Whether it’s Chinse, Russian, British or Fijian, it pisses me off.
There has been huge multi-year efforts by NZ farmers to try and get the two big meat operators to cooperate
Until this takeover succeeds, there is still a chance to form a common NZ international marketing organisation for NZ grass-fed beef, just like Zespri, and the old ENZA etc. it is so crap that the two of them compete on the same Sainsbury meat shelf on price, when the power of the national food brand remains so high internationally. And the government have not lifted a finger to help. Typical.
Last month, last week, even yesterday, the PM could have announced an immediate increase of a hundred places without any real concern about costs and support infrastructure and still run with ‘we’ll see what the reports say and maybe have a look at a greater increase soon… ‘
Now, any action he forwards is branded for what it is, shame induced tokenism
Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show the 2013 advice to Cabinet on the refugee quota was based on the preferences of the Prime Minister and did not allow for the relevant Ministers or Immigration officials to put forward a previously suggested case for an increase.
On Monday the Prime Minister admitted that he thought the nation’s annual refugee quota was “three or four thousand”. He later corrected himself by acknowledging just over one thousand total places were available every year.
Here is the interview with Paul Henry where the PM states the Family Re-unification process pushes the quota of 750 refugees up to “three to four thousand people” every year and he obviously accepts that number, as he goes on to say “we are set in about the right place”
(note that three to four thousand is a number which he later corrected to a much lower figure -see above quote)
During the interview, he discusses how including family Re-unification numbers, the total of three to four thousand is about where the numbers should be. He admitted after the interview he was incorrect in the number of refugees NZ does take in, but if he was comfortable talking about three to four thousand people as being “set in about the right place” surely he accepts there is a case for increasing the number of refugees?
Public Service Announcement specifically directed @ Morissey….
Please DON’T bother with this arvo’s “The Panel”. It’ll be damaging to your health. (Especially once you’ve got past the ‘suffistik- aided woin’ analysis, and when the ‘father of the Nayshun’ (Jum Mora) comes on board.
Truly fuckn horrible.
I was thinking of emailing the Jessy to tell him to ease up a bit. It’s not yet “The Wireless” on the ether and airwaves – no matter how much he might like it – and there’s still a generation from above as well as a Natzi gummint looking for an excuse.
Whilst I’m no longer a regular here – I feel it my duty to warn you on the grounds of health prevention and in the knowledge that it may make you want to just hoik at them (Memories of those signs “no spitting on the pavement” that used to adorn kent terrace/courtenay place lamposts)
Jesse Mulligan’s smartarse 6th former delivery is irritating. Simon Pound is a bass frog. they’re marginally less annoying than emphysemic mouthbreather Chris Trotter. For fucksake back away from the mike, Trotter!
Yeah….Mulligan’s RNZ could easily be Coast or Breeze. Eminently missable indeed approaching unlistenable. Rhema’s bloody near more interesting. From memory he doesn’t have the proudest recent provenance….for a time riding second shotgun to Mutton/Lamb Hosking on Seven PM Sharp ?
In fact the only afternooon RNZ I anticipate at all is Mensa (Allegedly) Mora. And then only when BFs Boag/Edwards are on. The ‘joshing’ across the Putative Political Divide and the Punch & Judy-ness of them resonates a little I confess. The House & Garden stuff they trot out almost always is sweet as well.
In a month it’s all the Once-Ferbulous-Aging-Auckland-Glit’s (and ubiquitous silver two-door Merc’ criminally slow up College Hill) that I need !
The US and UK tried to bring “freedom and democracy” to the Middle East.
Well, that’s what Waikato’s AL GILLESPIE asserted this afternoon. The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 4 September 2015
Jim Mora, Steve McCabe, Simon Pound
The Harvard School of Law, with its monstrous needles-under-the-fingernails enthusiast Alan Dershowitz and his incompetent dean Elena Kagan, has long been the natural home for the academic psychopath; now it looks as if the Waikato School of Law might be giving it a run for its money.
Last year I praised Waikato University law professor Al Gillespie as “an honorable exception to the troubling collection of cranks and fanatics that are ensconced at Waikato”. [1] And indeed, he is vastly superior to the likes of such Waikato mediocrities as Jacqueline Rowarth, Ron Smith, Willem De Lange and Dov Bing.
But when you think about it, that’s faint praise. Last month, I was appalled to hear Prof. Gillespie intone, in apparent high seriousness: “To a degree we have to trust the government.” He assured the Panel that in future, governments would have learned their lesson and would never be as secretive as this one has been about the TPPA “negotiations.” [2] That is the sort of complacent, irresponsible statement that Panel sufferers would expect from such regulars as Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Barry Corbett, David Farrar or Karl Du Fresne.
Professor Gillespie’s brief appearance on this afternoon’s program raises further questions about his judgement. After Jim Mora and his two guests had spent a couple of minutes sighing about the refugee crisis in Europe, it was time to talk to the designated “expert”—Professor Gillespie. Mora raised a question which he said “a few people have been asking”, i.e., why do we never hear any admission by American and British leaders that they bear a huge responsibility for this disaster?
Professor Gillespie then spoke for a couple of minutes, but whatever he said was surely rendered null and void by the bizarre statement he made right at the end of his contribution. The United States and Great Britain, he told the panelists, had “tried to bring democracy and freedom to these countries.”
Perhaps some time in the future Prof. Gillespie should try making that statement to an audience comprising Egyptian democracy activists, Iranians who experienced the American-backed dictatorship of Reza Pahlavi, Iraqis who experienced the American-backed dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, Palestinians, Saudi dissidents, Yemenis, Qataris, Indonesians….
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In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara Solomon Islands’ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency. It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the country’s next government. Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after ...
Headline: The moment of friction. – 36th Parallel Assessments In strategic studies “friction” is a term that it is used to describe the moment when military action encounters adversary resistance. “Friction” is one of four (along with an unofficial fifth) “F’s” in military strategy, which includes force (kinetic mass), ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, 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. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Its all the UN’s fault …
It’s never Nationals fault even when it is.
Yep. Expect a flip-flop from Key on this in the very near future. Except it won’t be called a flip-flop – that term is reserved for the opposition. The government’s furious back-pedalling has already been framed as a “softening of position”, which sounds much nicer.
What this shows is the default position of this government is indifference, and this is backed up by the sweeping changes to WINZ and social housing. However, they are happy to throw cruel ideology away at the first sign of trouble from their own voter base.
“Its all the UN’s fault …”
Nah, It’s Labour’s fault. Just ask the Spiv.
Always easy to speak tough on stuff you can’t change…. big bad courageous mccully
“Unacceptable” is a classic weasel word. Whenever a politician uses the word “unacceptable”, they mean that they want to be seen to be condemning someone else but never in a news release containing that word will you see an alternative or a commitment to do anything. It means, ‘thank you for doing what I would do, but which would make me more unpopular if I did it.’ When ‘leading Labour, Goff was very fond of it himself when he wasn’t saying ‘me too’.
Emmerson: Living in less enlightened times
Note how quiet the MSM is keeping on the fact that John Key’s mother was a refugee from 1930s Europe. She was one of the lucky ones who escaped the holocaust and ended up starting a new life in NZ. She and her children were looked after by the state… lived in a warm, dry home… good food in their stomachs… and the recipients of a first class education.
Something the opposition should be skewering him over and using his cynical flag exercise costs as a clear example of vanity before humanity.
Somedays I wonder if we even have an opposition…
You’ve got to remember that a large part of the opposition actually agree with National on charging for education and not providing social housing.
The Refugee Association mention sit every chance they get. I think People have forgotten that Key’s parents were refugees and I thought Little missed a great chance to look into the camera and speak to MR Key ” hey, remember how NZ helped your parents?”
Makes no difference to Key’s support base.
To them, John Key’s parents were the right sort of refugees – they were white and had the right God, not brown and Islamic.
Peter Dunne wants refugees to be vetted on an wealth and skills basis which defeats the entire idea of compassion, I would have thought. Further proof that this government is indifferent to the vulnerable.
That daft Scots migrant, Jock Anderson, made a complete fool of himself on the radio yesterday afternoon advocating that only rich refugees be allowed access.
yes, a general misunderstanding of what a refugee is. We have categories for welathy immigrants, refugee is a different beats. It is of concern when so called intelligent people don’t get this, or don’t want to.
But if we could take 10 000 that could support themselves as well as increasing our true refugee numbers buy double wouldn’t that be better.?
+100 Anne
But, but Helen Clark did it too – – – –
Key said it was easy for the Opposition to say the Government should do more and while the number of displaced people had increased in recent years – “there were still tens of millions when Helen Clark was Prime Minister”.
From yesterdays’ DomPost
What a snotty nosed, out of context and infantile response! Did the DomPost point out he’s behaving like a child? I’m sure the answer was ‘no’.
Incisive leadership (sarc) on the refuge crisis from the Prime Minister.
Quoted in today’s Press.
“We’re not ruling out whether there’s more that we could possibly do earlier, and maybe specifically in relation to what we are seeing at the moment”
I’m not comfortable with that level of ‘leadership’.
But he and Bling did rule it out, just two days ago.
yes, but he is a perpetual liar so does that. Remember that 2103 poll where only 28% believe anything he says?
Look at the careful imprecision of Key’s statement.
1. “We’re not ruling out”. This says nothing and indicates very little positive action in a negative way.
2. “more”. Not quantified or defined. Could have been a little more, lot more, a whole lot more.
3. “possibly’. Again no action indicated and ‘possibly’ is very low down the chain of probability of something happening.
4. “maybe specifically”. This is a wonderful juxtaposition of a low probability word ‘maybe’ with a very definite word ‘specifically’, meaning very little.
4. “what we are seeing”. Not described. Later, Key could say he was talking about anything.
This is not Orwellian “newspeak”. This is “nothingspeak”, “zilchtalk”, ‘nadamessaging”. It is the verbal equivalent of candy floss.
mac1-Candy floss?- I was thinking of another substance, somewhat heavier and brownish rather than pink. cheers!
That substance possibly derives from good nutrition, whereas with Key there’s nothing to bite on, chew on, give nourishment. I prefer candy floss as a symbol since it also conjures up fairground hucksters, snake oil merchants and winning prizes that turn out to be less than the cost of the turn.
It is the words of a man who knows he will not be held to account for his words. And is waiting for more polling before he makes up his mind
@ mac1 (4.2) But … but did FJK make those statements as FJK (faux) PM, FJK NatzKEY leader, FJK private citizen, FJK Bronagh’s hubby, FJK Moonbeam’s dad, FJK Uncle Sam’s scrooge, or FJK whoever? His position at the time of flapping his gob off here, makes all the difference to where his responsibility lies!
But did he make those statements, and did he mean what you think he said, because he can always get another opinion, and anyway actually Helen did it too, and Labour were to blame in their nine long years…………………….
‘Leadership’ is soooo yesterday……for bleeding hearts, “munters”, Helen Clark a decade ago.
The New Order is ‘CelebriKey’ !
C’mon NiuZilndizz……”Gerr-Sarrm-Garrtzz !” Check it out on E! Channel, Seven PM Sharp, week nights.
Bennett and Tolley’s New Keyland…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/71705496/Homeless-man-walks-Blenheim-to-Kaikoura-for-shelter
BUT. LOOK? OVER THERE?
A FLAG
The only thing more upsetting than the story itself are the numerous comments underneath the story, where the compassion that used to be a hallmark of our nation is exposed to be woefully (and increasingly) absent.
I also fail to understand how he could have run out of the WINZ office seeing as every WINZ office in the country currently has at least one security guard stationed at the door and usually another inside the offices themselves. Many also have a local representative from the Police in situ during office hours.
I can’t see the country I was raised in anymore. I do miss it though.
Thanks for the article, muttonbird. Very close to home, in more ways than one.
Huge credit due to the helpers in this situation.
We got another bad link in a incoming RSS feed. Due to having a nasty cold last week, I didn’t find a permanent fix for this.
People were getting locked out of the site for writing comments for several hours. I have cleared all of those blocks now, and the RSS feeds are switched off.
They will stay off until I have time to build a permanent fix.
thanks Lynn.
lprent -some info on today:
I have been sent to the ‘statcounter’ page a number of times today whilst ‘downforme’ sites said this site was up.
Have a screengrab if you want/need it
Odd. Send it through to me.
I had a look through the rest of the site and didn’t see any other odd links.
YHM
Wil llook in the morning
A badge worn by members of RNZAF 3 squadron, has a silver fern and the stars of the southern cross in exactly the same location as the two flags designed by Kyle Lockwood. Designed or copied?
Picture at http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/71710031/air-force-unit-has-been-wearing-one-of-final-four-flags-for-years.html
was just about to post on that – but had site access issues – ….
It’s not a brand, it’s a national flag, right? A national flag is about many things; pride, unity, respect, solidarity, patriotism. So why all the copyright issues circling the Flag referendum selections? We have the Rugby Union unequivocally putting their foot down about their rights. The Companies and Immigration Offices are both remarkably quiet about one of the selections, while (co-incidentally)the man who designed the NZRU Silver Fern talks up redesigning all the ferns that have been shortlisted.
And have you seen the story where Kyle Lockwood is looking at challenging the RNZAF in a copyright battle over prior use of his Siver Fern Flag designs?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/71710031/air-force-unit-has-been-wearing-one-of-final-four-flags-for-years
These stories highlight how the focus of the exercise seems to be flagging. I don’t see how prior use copyright battles with the very people you are freely giving up your copyright claims to, can be said to support any of those tall standards of pride, unity, respect, solidarity & patriotism. It has recently been reported people representing Kyle Lockwood are making inquiries about the “kiwi party plates” and their possible breach of his designs’ copyright. They seem to have been slow off the mark however, the Silver Fern Flag website states they first became aware of the plates back in 2011.
As I might have mentioned previously, his designs are meant to have had all rights signed over to the government under part 15 of the Flag Design Terms and Conditions. (excepting some recent application of part 19 of course) https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/the-nz-flag-your-chance-to-decide/resources/terms-and-conditions/
These are very clear terms. We have no reason not to think they have been rightfully enacted by that very same government he is now questioning over rights of prior use. Rights that would now let the government comfortably use any such design in the very function the [prior] owner of the copyright is making enquiries about.
His lawyers may well have a case about prior use (though there are enough design variances to raise doubt) but under the terms of the flag selection process, Kyle Lockwood has to sign over all rights for current and future use (and should have already done so). Considering it is a group within the RNZAF whom, it is questioned, might have committed a prior use infringement, we are left to puzzle over his motivations for even bothering to contest it. Companies selling plastic plates is one thing. The armed forces of the nation whose flag your design is shortlisted to replace does seem an odd choice of litigant, if it gets that far.
Remember, Kyle Lockwood was also very passionate about NZ bringing back ten year passports and petitioned the government on the issue and was spokesperson for the ‘NZ Ten’ campaign. http://www.nzten.com/petition.html I thank him for that, and thank all those who played their small part in pushing for this incredibly important return to sanity.
Kyle Lockwood seems to have a genuine passion for NZ, the fact he is currently based in Melbourne is irrelevant and yes, his career should rightfully beneift from the exposure of his designs’ success. However, I do not believe that success should include ongoing commercial gain directly drawn from the sale of flags and associated materials bearing a design that is now meant to be the commercial and legal property of the NZ government. Not only is the commercial activity continuing, after all rights are meant to have been signed over, but he is actually expanding the commercial activity related to his design. It appears he plans to sell even more flags.
http://www.silverfernflag.org/store.html
How much longer is he going to be selling the flags for?
Have the Silver Fern Flag outlets become some unofficial marketing or revenue arm of the referendum process?
Weird huh? What’s weirder still? Even though he proudly updated the commercial arm of his website there is STILL not any update announcing his designs’ success either on the Homepage, or the Press page! As the copyright lawyers get together and the media have said as little as possible, the government seems happy to leave the entire issue in legal limbo. Seems Lockwood is free to carry on selling product I guess. At least we can rest peacefully knowing “It’s not a brand”.
You mean it has become all about money?
quel horreur!
So much for the flag representing all of us as a nation…
There really is a very limited number of ways to draw a Silver Fern and they will all look similar, ergo, I think Kyle Lockwood can go fuck himself. The original copyright holder is Nature and She’s not complaining.
I thought he could go fuck himself when there were conflicting stories about whether he is based in Hutt Valley or Melbourne.
I don’t give a shit either way, it just seems to me that he’s been clumsily bullshitting in order to get people to give a fuck. And, it seems, make himself money.
” and She’s not complaining”
can be awesome when worked up though ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZcBlAjf2NE
A settlement with the Crown enables Key and Smith to get some of that Auckland land for housing.
The agreement appears to reinforce the first right of refusal principle and leads to the withdrawal of the legal challenge..
“The Government and Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau have come to an agreement, where we will be able to get on and use vacant public land for housing while at the same time ensuring Treaty settlements covering the Auckland region are respected and upheld. I welcome the decision by Ngāti Whātua Rōpū to withdraw legal proceedings to allow the programme to continue at pace,” Dr Smith says.
And the Iwi have withdrawn it cos they have had their right of first refusal acknowledged by the Government, which is what they were challenging.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1509/S00061/crown-iwi-agreement-on-auckland-housing-programme.htm
Last night the Turkish government just rolled over the war against ISIS – and in one sense extended it to include active participation in Syria. Will this come with them fighting against the Kurds? As Kurdish forces control many of the vital strategic and tactical cross roads on the northern Syrian and Southern Turkish boarder.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-mandate-idUSKCN0R32GL20150903
Also have the Kurds done to well? If our troops had to be in the region, I would have preferred them helping Kurdish and other minorities, against the worlds latest theocratic state.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/syrias-kurds-have-little-choice-but-to-flee-amid-the-desolution-ruins-and-danger-they-face-10485357.html
Turkey has been bombing the kurds for a while.
From what I recall they recently got some additional US gear in exchange for ramping up against ISIL, but also sneak in a few attacks against the kurds. They cooled off against the kurds previously because the kurds were the only ones opposing ISIL with any success.
Basically, Turkey seems happy to let the Kurds and ISIL weaken each other, and turkey will take on the weakened victor.
I agree McFlock – the Kurds victories over ISIS have been protracted and bloody. They have been slowly dragging more and more of their population into the militias. I’m not sure for stability it is a good tactic from Turkey.
I know from Greek friends, they are mightily pissed off with Turkey at the moment. One friend said there has been some sabre-rattling from the Greek military over Turkey again. It all seem fubar.
Matt Taibbi…worth a read..http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/eric-holder-wall-street-double-agent-comes-in-from-the-cold-20150708#ixzz3fPUnQTlR
The comment Anne said about John Keys Mother is timely
Apart from not being war torn what can NZ offer refugees when our social services (housing, child poverty etc)are abysmal, maybe we should get our own house in order and politicians should fix (instead of talking )NZs social issues
Grandstanding on issues like refugees doesn’t help anyone and is insincere point scoring, nothing more
IMO the import of more refugees will be detrimental for NZ and it’s social services “the cart before the horse “comes to mind
Good to see NZFirst standing against the proposed sale of 50% of Silver Ferm Farms to the Chinese.
Whether it’s Chinse, Russian, British or Fijian, it pisses me off.
There has been huge multi-year efforts by NZ farmers to try and get the two big meat operators to cooperate
Until this takeover succeeds, there is still a chance to form a common NZ international marketing organisation for NZ grass-fed beef, just like Zespri, and the old ENZA etc. it is so crap that the two of them compete on the same Sainsbury meat shelf on price, when the power of the national food brand remains so high internationally. And the government have not lifted a finger to help. Typical.
A massive tragedy if this sale goes through.
NZFirst are on the money.
+100…New Zealand can ill afford to sell off its primary asset which is land… to sell out the land is to sell off its sovereignty
GO Winston Peters and NZF
…and it is not just New Zealand farmers who are having a hard time of it…
https://www.rt.com/news/314241-tractor-protest-french-farmers/
…we must hold on to our land!
Graeme Brazier, our own Gluepot Zoolander.
Gutter Black!
.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/71751191/protesters-at-parliament-call-for-refugee-quota-increase
Last month, last week, even yesterday, the PM could have announced an immediate increase of a hundred places without any real concern about costs and support infrastructure and still run with ‘we’ll see what the reports say and maybe have a look at a greater increase soon… ‘
Now, any action he forwards is branded for what it is, shame induced tokenism
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1506/S00238/refugee-advocate-seeks-assurances-of-evidence-based-review.htm
Here is the interview with Paul Henry where the PM states the Family Re-unification process pushes the quota of 750 refugees up to “three to four thousand people” every year and he obviously accepts that number, as he goes on to say “we are set in about the right place”
(note that three to four thousand is a number which he later corrected to a much lower figure -see above quote)
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/AUDIO-Prime-Minister-John-Key-on-the-refugee-quota-and-Colin-Craig/tabid/506/articleID/88438/Default.aspx
During the interview, he discusses how including family Re-unification numbers, the total of three to four thousand is about where the numbers should be. He admitted after the interview he was incorrect in the number of refugees NZ does take in, but if he was comfortable talking about three to four thousand people as being “set in about the right place” surely he accepts there is a case for increasing the number of refugees?
Public Service Announcement specifically directed @ Morissey….
Please DON’T bother with this arvo’s “The Panel”. It’ll be damaging to your health. (Especially once you’ve got past the ‘suffistik- aided woin’ analysis, and when the ‘father of the Nayshun’ (Jum Mora) comes on board.
Truly fuckn horrible.
I was thinking of emailing the Jessy to tell him to ease up a bit. It’s not yet “The Wireless” on the ether and airwaves – no matter how much he might like it – and there’s still a generation from above as well as a Natzi gummint looking for an excuse.
Whilst I’m no longer a regular here – I feel it my duty to warn you on the grounds of health prevention and in the knowledge that it may make you want to just hoik at them (Memories of those signs “no spitting on the pavement” that used to adorn kent terrace/courtenay place lamposts)
How did it come to thus? oi akse moisef
Oh….. and didja know…. Mex Koi is a DeeJay!
Only heard Steve McCabe on school buildings. On the money!
Jesse Mulligan’s smartarse 6th former delivery is irritating. Simon Pound is a bass frog. they’re marginally less annoying than emphysemic mouthbreather Chris Trotter. For fucksake back away from the mike, Trotter!
Yeah….Mulligan’s RNZ could easily be Coast or Breeze. Eminently missable indeed approaching unlistenable. Rhema’s bloody near more interesting. From memory he doesn’t have the proudest recent provenance….for a time riding second shotgun to Mutton/Lamb Hosking on Seven PM Sharp ?
In fact the only afternooon RNZ I anticipate at all is Mensa (Allegedly) Mora. And then only when BFs Boag/Edwards are on. The ‘joshing’ across the Putative Political Divide and the Punch & Judy-ness of them resonates a little I confess. The House & Garden stuff they trot out almost always is sweet as well.
In a month it’s all the Once-Ferbulous-Aging-Auckland-Glit’s (and ubiquitous silver two-door Merc’ criminally slow up College Hill) that I need !
WOW, Just WOW.
Clarke and Dawe. Hat tip us over this side of the ditch.
“Can I get a cup of tea?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFih4NakbOg
A discussion on the possible effects of the TPPA on a country’s ability to protect the environment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mattias-wallander/is-the-trans-pacific-partnership-an-environmental-pollution-pass-for-corporations_b_8078460.html
The US and UK tried to bring “freedom and democracy” to the Middle East.
Well, that’s what Waikato’s AL GILLESPIE asserted this afternoon.
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 4 September 2015
Jim Mora, Steve McCabe, Simon Pound
The Harvard School of Law, with its monstrous needles-under-the-fingernails enthusiast Alan Dershowitz and his incompetent dean Elena Kagan, has long been the natural home for the academic psychopath; now it looks as if the Waikato School of Law might be giving it a run for its money.
Last year I praised Waikato University law professor Al Gillespie as “an honorable exception to the troubling collection of cranks and fanatics that are ensconced at Waikato”. [1] And indeed, he is vastly superior to the likes of such Waikato mediocrities as Jacqueline Rowarth, Ron Smith, Willem De Lange and Dov Bing.
But when you think about it, that’s faint praise. Last month, I was appalled to hear Prof. Gillespie intone, in apparent high seriousness: “To a degree we have to trust the government.” He assured the Panel that in future, governments would have learned their lesson and would never be as secretive as this one has been about the TPPA “negotiations.” [2] That is the sort of complacent, irresponsible statement that Panel sufferers would expect from such regulars as Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Barry Corbett, David Farrar or Karl Du Fresne.
Professor Gillespie’s brief appearance on this afternoon’s program raises further questions about his judgement. After Jim Mora and his two guests had spent a couple of minutes sighing about the refugee crisis in Europe, it was time to talk to the designated “expert”—Professor Gillespie. Mora raised a question which he said “a few people have been asking”, i.e., why do we never hear any admission by American and British leaders that they bear a huge responsibility for this disaster?
Professor Gillespie then spoke for a couple of minutes, but whatever he said was surely rendered null and void by the bizarre statement he made right at the end of his contribution. The United States and Great Britain, he told the panelists, had “tried to bring democracy and freedom to these countries.”
Perhaps some time in the future Prof. Gillespie should try making that statement to an audience comprising Egyptian democracy activists, Iranians who experienced the American-backed dictatorship of Reza Pahlavi, Iraqis who experienced the American-backed dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, Palestinians, Saudi dissidents, Yemenis, Qataris, Indonesians….
[1] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24062014/#comment-837881
[2] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17082015/#comment-1059852
Don’t know whether he still is, but Ron Smith was an ACToid.
Indeed he was, Anne. He also wrote an exceptionally bad book about foreign policy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11508129
What does this pig mean by “strong economy” ?