English interviewed on newshub this morning… But Prime Minister you have introduced 16 new taxes since national took office…. pause… but that was part of our tax reform…English was also reminded they raised GST and brought in more fuel taxes.
Since taking the reins in 2008, National has introduced at least 18 new taxes and levies – six of them on petrol. Others include:
raising GST (after promising not to)
a tax on employer KiwiSaver contributions
new student loan and Family Court fees
the bright line capital gains tax on flipping houses
a border clearance levy
including GST on digital purchases
removing tax refunds for kids doing part-time work.
Thanks Cinny. Bill is quick isn’t he. “But Prime Minister you raised taxes 18 times.”
Pause. No change of expression. Then into deflection and justification. Wow! Would you buy a car from this man?
Paula Bennett: “Some have fewer human rights than others when they are creating a string of victims behind them … there is a different standard.”
Where are the howls of outrage from the MSM? This is the thin end of the wedge for ushering in a police state! Of course, if ‘you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,’ Dr. Goebbels.
Bennett is a threat to democracy and as such, has no place in our parliament! IMHO.
Plus being in power with ACT and their education policy that essentially removes the right to freedom of association in the workplace. Hmmm. Democracy at it’s best. /sarc
Alwyn – appropriate that you should choose a stage instruction from ‘A Winter’s Tale’.
As I’m sure you know, the late romances (tragicomedies) are marked by incipient tragedies turned somehow into magical/mystical redemptions. And young women/girls play an important role in that change of fortune in ‘The Tempest’, ‘A Winter’s Tale’ , ‘Pericles’ and ‘Cymbeline’.
Seems to describe our current political situation rather well?
“As I’m sure you know”.
Then you are a great deal more sure of it than I am.
I only ever read, and watched, Shakespeare’s plays because they were fun. You obviously know a great deal more about his work than I do.
I have known cases, and they are the ones I think of, where the words “until the last minute” was used to mean “until disaster strikes and we have to run”.
As in. “We kept adding sandbags to the top of the levees in New Orleans until the last possible minute”.
It may not be the standard use of the phrase but it is the one I think of. Hence, when all hope is lost of affecting the result of the election Ad is heading for the hills.
I didn’t hear the clarification – but what troubles me is the ‘mind-set’ of people like Bennett and Seymour. Their first inclination is to ‘strengthen police rights!’
The fact that the teacher unions are strong is one reason education is not a complete basket case already, like in some states of America.
English did a good job on RNZ saying Bennett was wrong, didn’t articulate the policy correctly, and Prof Andrew Geddis noted that clarification.
He didn’t “clarify” his own statement that he’s pleased NZ doesn’t have a constitution to put constraints on his power to decide who has human rights and who doesn’t?
“making it superior law”.
We don’t have any such concept in our legal system, do we?
That is a concept in the US system where a Court can rule that an act of the Government is antithetical to the Constitution I would have thought.
Surely our rule, that a Government cannot bind its successor, would prevent us having anything like these “superior laws”?
Even an entrenched law doesn’t really mean what it says. Can’t you remove the entrenchment by a simple majority in Parliament and then revoke the law by a simple majority after that?
Ps. I am not a lawyer, and don’t claim that these suppositions are what the law really means.
We don’t have any such concept in our legal system, do we?
Nope. That is the position that a written constitution would fill and why Blinglish is so happy that we don’t have one.
That is a concept in the US system where a Court can rule that an act of the Government is antithetical to the Constitution I would have thought.
Surely our rule, that a Government cannot bind its successor, would prevent us having anything like these “superior laws”?
That is correct and so we end up with governments that rule against human rights and other stuff that are detrimental to the general populace (but good for business and the rich) because there’s no restrictions on them doing so.
Can’t you remove the entrenchment by a simple majority in Parliament and then revoke the law by a simple majority after that?
Let’s get this clear not all people whom work in our justice systems are bad most of them work to try and make our society
Safer but some are bad and Will use any means to get there mark man.
So this new law Bennett is backing will be used by these bad cops as a tool to manipulate these people lives and could be used to manipulate these people children lives to.
I have stayed off the topic of our youths suicide.
Most of our best stars can not see a light at the end of there tunnel they can not see a future they like.
Yes its our youths that can predict there future and they are intelligent .
My friend whom was really intelligent his dad had all his financial needs solve for him . But he would take not his money he was like young a brother to me .
But I was to busie trying to make a nest egg for my family to notice my friends problems he had a lot of school friends
If some one starts giving away things take note of that person because this is the first sign of that problem.
Most times our youth just want to be loved and cared for someone to listen to them any life lost is not on.
But our youth that are the brightest stars that do this are a BIG BAD STAIN ON OUR SOCIETY AND A WASTE OF OUR BEST CHILDREN WTF.
Bennett using Trump tack ticks to stir up the emotional and racial cards in our society.
Gangs most times pray on the underprivileged the people who are desperate and poor the people they can intimidate they. They could affect our youth.But you won’t see these people harass anyone that will ring the cops on them because they no the people who will do this and who won’t ring the cops on them.
So don’t let Bennett play with your emotions.
Now people don’t listen to the lies that have are being spread about me cops lie
1 when have u heard a cop plead guilty
2 if you are hearing these lies Somme is breaking the law
3 If these lies were true I wound not be blogging now to u.
4 my old clients no that I’m not a threat and Don’t want me to sell my lawn run the cops can’t have the public no there are cheat s in there force enough said the facts of there behaving like this are out there
Now I DON’T believe in fathers day and all that stuff just to get us spend money.
As I’m a father grandfather 360 days of the year so I would rather save my money and give it to my family in times of there need!!!!
Now I’m using my position of power to fight the neo liberals that are control freaks and who run our world I’m fighting these people for my HUMAN rights and privacy rights as I am a human I’m fighting for the rights for all the underprivileged in our WORLD
I’m using my position of power to fight for our children our greatgrandchildern future our environment our wildlife all of this will be exploited by the neo liberals if they can make a buck out of them
Congratulations to Kenyans for winning the first battle to have a legitimate President elected the people of Kenya will have to keep a sharp eye on every process in the next election .
Don’t let foreigners advise you on how to run your country as only Kenyans no what is good for all the people of Kenya ALL THE BEST TO Kenya.
Uruguay has become the first country to legalise marijuana for recreational use but United States banks won’t deal with any Uruguay banks that do business with businesses selling marijuana in that country making it impossible for the Uruguayan banks to accept money from those businesses. Not only does this show how difficult it will be for marijuana to be legalised by countries but also just how powerful the American banking system.
All these sanctions are just causing other countries to abandon the American banking system and US dollar as exchange currency , and set up their own systems., with alternative SWIFT arrangements Russia,China, Iran , even Saudi Arabia are using their own currencies for oil trade.
Despite terrible US sanctions against Iran that went on for decades, Iran survived and even grew by learning to circumvent those sanctions.
Cuba is another example of successful resistance
The more desperate the US gets, the more it seals its own fate as more and more countries learn to bypass the US banking system
I fail to see what your comments about SWIFT mean.
SWIFT is not a US organisation and is not governed by US law. It is incorporated in Belgian and is governed by Belgian, and hence EU law.
It is also only a messaging system and does not hold or transfer funds between banks or other parties, It merely transfers, securely, messages between its banking shareholder members.
With reference to yesterday’s discussion on Brodifacoum and the Brook Valley sanctuary, here’s why I don’t take anti-poisoning campaigners very seriously – they tend to make anti-vaxxers and anti-fluoride campaigners look reasonable. These two have managed to inspire sympathy for Nick Smith, a feat I would have considered Herculean up until now.
There are many people in Nelson who are so angry with Smith. Most Saturday mornings his caravan is protested at the Nelson market by many different factions.
What they did with the poison was a bit OTT, but they are at the end of their tether, the Brook Valley Sanctuary is a very polarising issue for Nelson.
It appears that Nick is looking for sympathy, the thing is I doubt he will find much in Nelson no matter how many newspapers he asks to print his story because Nick being targeting is nothing new for Nelsonians.
Maybe protestors should looking at getting the fantastic toilet sculpture trucked up here and placed next to Smith as a prop at his street corner meetings and brought to the Saturday market, now that would create a bit of interest and a good reminder to people what he has done.
Am expecting him to have quite a large drop in votes this election, would be thrilled if he lost. People are talking about tactical voting to get rid of him, my advice vote for the next strongest candidate, Matt Lawrey from the Greens.
That’s one way of putting it. Another way would be that people who feel very strongly about something but don’t have rational arguments to back up those strong feelings should maybe do a bit of self-reflection, rather than just assuming they have to resort to vandalism and assault because it’s impossible their emotions could misguide them.
These guys are resorting to vandalism and assault because their various attempts to persuade the courts to agree with them have failed – due to the weakness of their arguments. Having strong feelings about something is never an acceptable substitute for having a persuasive argument, and pointing that out is not ad hominem.
It’s actually more of an accurate description than an ad hom. At the very least, the anti-poisoners seem to have some difficulty in expressing a rational argument against the poison drop.
Some rational arguments might revolve around points such as:
X is in practise ineffective against the target species;
X is in practise less effective than other comparable control methods;
X is in practise more damaging to species we wish to preserve than the pests X is supposed to destroy;
X in practise presents a realistic danger to people;
X in practise is less cost-effective than other methods (not just short-term “cheaper”, just literally you get more effect from a given dollar value of X than of Y).
No, I mean that when the arguments against X were presented for rational consideration, they did not outweigh whatever arguments were presented in favour of X.
Their attampts at rational argument having failed, some people (as psycho milt points out) are resorting to vandalism and assault.
can you perhaps explain to me how you “rationally” compare
X is in practise less effective than other comparable control methods;
with
X makes the loudest bang per dollar
or
X in practise presents a realistic danger to people;
with
X makes the loudest bang per dollar
or
X is money paid overseas to produce toxic chemicals that could be paid to NZ residents for meaningful employ
with
but X makes the loudest bang per dollar
at some point “rational” has to give way to “whats more important?”!
It’s possible for something to be cheaper as well as less effective: washing dishes with cold water rather than hot, for example.
But that was merely a list of example arguments you might want to explore if you wish the effectiveness of your arguments to match your obvious passion.
I don’t know what arguments were presented in court. I don’t particularly care. By and large, courts try to rest on rational arguments, especially in judge rather than jury trials. This is not always the case, but you have not presented any rational argument as to why I should be doubtful about the court’s decision.
If you’re under the impression a court would find it difficult to rationally assess choices like “this one is cheaper but presents a realistic danger to people,” you’re woefully under-estimating the cognitive abilities of the nation’s judges.
Ah while I do have a very low estimation of the cognitive abilities of the nation’s judges, I think the problem lies deeper than that.
It is that the terms of reference for the court are so restrictive that the Judge in the end is not deciding the matter.
Perhaps this is why some feel that the minister should be brought to understand his personal responsibility in this?
Perhaps this is why some feel that the minister should be brought to understand his personal responsibility in this?
I’ve yet to see any of the Brook Waimarama protesters provide an argument for their objection to this poison drop that made any sense. Their inability to make a compelling case against the poison drop isn’t the courts’ responsibility or Nick Smith’s responsibility, it’s theirs.
There are two people out there though who really do need to be “brought to understand their personal responsibility in this,” and hopefully the Police will be assisting them with that shortly.
Well, I’m sure he’d be reassured by his doctor when it’s pointed out to him that the poison is low dose, slow acting, and easily treatable with vitamin K1.
He probably faced a bigger risk from the grubby hands of the assaulters.
xanthe: In the quick scan I gave the wiki link you provided there was nothing about long term soil life impacts, nor on invertebrates.
Amongst all the impassioned cries about our wonderful native avians there is remarkably little interest shown in the populations that are far greater in number and importance than the visible few at the top of the food chain.
Who, now, is undertaking those lengthy monitoring programs – and where?
And, just to be impish – who is monitoring human interference, with a view to curtailing our sense of entitlement and our wish to play ‘god’, now that we’ve played merry hell with the ecologies, ranges and habitats?
Can’t be DoC: they’re grossly underfunded and lack the means whereby. Which means that gut-feeling protesters can’t readily refer to pertinent, modern, and local science-based facts to make a case. (Not that science is all that reliable or unbiased…)
However, residues do not appear to persist
in arthropods (insects, spiders, crustaceans) beyond a
few days. Brodifacoum is perceived to lack insecticidal
properties due to the different circulatory physiology of
invertebrates.
That seems plausible, since Brodifacoum works by by messing with blood clotting.
Thanks mcflock, the study seems to show that invertebrates are largely unaffected by the brodifacoum , however they will happily consume the baits and do so ,meaning birds that feed on them are subject to secondary poisioning. they (invertebrates) excrete the toxin rapidly so this risk exists mainly while baits are present. the study is silent on what then happens to the weta shit
I mean, you could have done the math and figured that a bird would need to eat its weight in wetas as they left the bait station. You could have also read the bit about the poison being broken down by soil bacteria – much the same as I assume weta shit is broken down.
You could then have googled the department of conservation for native bird deaths, as I doubt they’d differentiate between primary and secondary poisoning. And any analyses on whether bird populations recover quicker than rodent populations – if not, the poison should not occur.
As it is, you simply made a pointless statement with no argument whatsoever.
Correct mcflock I did not make any argument whatsoever, You are welcome to make assumptions and draw conclusions from them if that seems the rational course to you
Cheers.
In considering the debate over the last couple of days, I’ve made 2 conclusions:
1) the poison seems to be a reasonable choice for air dropping to control rodents and preserve native species, especially avian;
2) you have no rational argument against my first conclusion.
In truth no-one knows for a few weeks. But the folk who’ve suffered most from Nick Smith – those with housing stress or affected by swimmable bovine sewers mostly live outside his electorate.
Any of the big engineering consultancies would snap him up if National lost. Almost he alone now knows the new RMA so he could command a high consulting price by himself.
But it’s a close run thing – they may well have a fourth term so he’s well placed either way.
If he wins the electorate then there’s nothing that they can do about removing him from parliament. They could remove him from the National Party Caucus and have him deselected for the next election.
He might, like Mussolini after losing power, be partially hanged then torn to pieces by a mob. It’s one of the endgames for failed anti-democratic officials, like defenestration.
Beneficiaries called for end of the “toxic culture” at Work and Income, and want to raise welfare benefits by hundreds of dollars a week.
…
“Overwhelmingly, the responses from beneficiaries we have spoken to are that benefit rates are too low to live on with dignity,” group co-ordinator Vanessa Cole says.
She says they amassed their demands based on stories and ideas gathered from beneficiaries.
“[These include] liveable incomes for all, building a culture at Work and Income based on respect and redistribution, a mass build of state housing with secure tenures, and a tax on wealth.”
This twitter feed had a link to the longer version of that video (on facebook). It is also well worth following for the artwork emphasising the written accounts of some other experiences with the; “toxic culture at Work and Income” (though it does make cut and pasting the text difficult):
[5:15] was told not to go on the housing list because they were accomodated… because they were living in their car they have somewhere to live.
[speaker changes] We have had people who have wheelchairs that have been sleeping on the street…
If anyone wants to see a major business leader slam National to their core and request a change of government, check out the interview with Mainfreight CE Don Braid in the NZHerald today.
National have acquired a trenchant critic in both Braid and O’Sullivan at the worst time, as we go down to the wire.
Even higher weights for trucks……traceys right as they’ve done very well out of nationals destruction of rail and allowing even heavier trucks to destroy and clog the roads.
It’s a pr stunt for the incoming govt…..transparent and disingenuous.
Like Gisbourne, Northland etc Heavy trucks are smashing the roads to pieces, we have these ‘safety improvements’ projects now that are filling in the destroyed shoulder as regular maintenance isnt sufficient.
To rIght tc these trucks stuff the roads they drive to fast and when accidents happen well what a mess they fuck the roads and then this cause more accidents and more wear and tear to our cars I have to change my lower ball joints every 12 months now use to be every 2 years. I got a good idea lets set up more speed cameras and this will stop all the accidents YEAR RIGHT.
Just revenue gathering. most of the people paying these fines are poor and on a benefit that system is just a money go round .
8am National Radio news had a claim from Bill English that the “Jacinda Mania” momentum had peaked and was diminishing. Interestingly the RNZ journalist did not ask Bill English as to what this opinion was based on. My guess is that his claim is based on wishes and it is the latest National effort to try a and stem the momentum.
This brings up an interesting (and disturbing) aspect about voter behaviour; namely, the tendency of voters to report voting and voting intentions that places them with the winning party.
Post-election surveys have shown that the number of people who report that they voted for the successful political party is statistically very unlikely. That is, the if a party achieved 55% of the the vote then you would expect a post-election poll result to show 55% with a margin of error of 3.5% at a confidence level of 95%. Post-election polls can indicate an overstatement at 6% above expected voting numbers.
So having established that part of the electorate will incorrectly report themselves’ as being part of the “winners”, the question is how much of the voting population identify with the “momentum party” prior to the actual vote occurring due to the likelihood of the that party being the “winning” party? Is policy irrelevant to this type of voter?
His opinion was based on one poll giving Labour 43%, then a completely different poll giving them 39%. Note – this was not a change in the SAME poll, but from different ones. And the trend in both polls was for Labour to be rising fast and National to be falling slowly. I guess Bill hasn’t learnt to treat data with scepticism yet – or he was trying to make something happen by claiming that it was already happening, or he was just billshitting again.
Some people actually do go simply with the way the winds blow. It’s why I think polls should either be banned in the run up to the election or simply not published.
The Radio New Zealand article explaining their poll of polls makes the point that the Colmar Brunton poll was taken later than the Reid Research one, even though the CB was released earlier. As a result, it’s disingenuous to deduce from these two polls that the momentum is slowing
DtB
I entirely agree that there should be a moratorium on publishing polls after writ day. Not just because of the bandwagon effect, but also because of the amount of limited political reporting space they take away from other events. However, I am not so much behind banning them from being conducted – although there is the problem of push-polling.
timbeau
What I’ve found most interesting about that RR poll is just how different the headlines for exactly the same thing have been: From the rather bland RNZ one you link, to Newshub’s (who paid for the poll); “National and Labour in one-on-one fight for power”, Scoop’s grammatical peculiar; “Newshub-Reid Research Poll Shows Gap tightest”, and finally NZH’s; “New poll: Has National halted Labour’s rise? “.
Don Braid nails Bill English to the cross and slips the knife in for good measure:
“In a video interview for the Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom Election Survey, Mainfreight chief executive Don Braid said the country was “being run by a couple of accountants, rather than visionaries”.
Braid said National’s sudden decision to invest in the country’s infrastructure after three terms and just ahead of an election looked unconvincing to voters.”
The “do-nothing” government ‘s chickens are finally coming home to roost. I almost feel sorry for Bill because Lord Key should be taking most of the blame.
If we follow the logic of the Right, Bill’s biggest problem is he has never had a real world job. University, some farm work and then Treasury, then an MP.
But National do not apply the rhetoric of their attacks to themselves
Bill’s biggest problem is he never learns from his mistakes. He’s still pretending everything is working wonderfully when he knows that a lot of his crap has never worked.
If he’d actually grown the productive economy or achieved low unemployment (now around 11%) he wouldn’t be on the way out.
Imo bill gets to play PM then sling his hook if they lose as hes a list MP. They didnt have a plan if they won last time but they seem to have this one all sorted.
Leave pullya, crusher and the others to it whilst a progressive govt rebuilds….so nz can vote them back in to plunder all over again as the electorate has the memory of a ZX80.
With the NZ population growing at over 40,000 each year (or the equavalent of over one new MP per annum), sooner or later the size of Parliament will need to grow.
Back in 1993, prior to MMP being introduced, there where 99 MPs and the population was 3.57m people (or about 36,080 people per MP). When MMP was introduced there were 120 MPs for 3.68m people (or about 30,700 people per MP). It’s now 2017 with 4.60m people in New Zealand. Currently the average number of people per MP has grown to 38,358 people.
If the initial MMP ratio of MPs to people was implemented today, then we would be looking at 150 MPs.
If the last FPP ratio was used (36,000 people per MP) as a guide we would see the current Parliament re-sized to 128 MPs.
Sooner or later increasing the number of MPs will need to be addressed. Any thoughts on how big Parliament should be?
I think it was a joke told in the film Brassed Off: On the eighth day of creation, one of God’s angels came to Him and said, we’ve run out of brains, hearts and backbones, but we’ve still got a lot of arseholes left.” “I’m sure I can do something with those,” God said, and Lo and Behold, He created the Tory Party.
The cited article refers to the US situation and is examining plurality with particular reference to what happens when election funding constraints are removed. Does this biased plurality occur in NZ? Yes, but not to the same extent.
I prefer tight election funding rules that limit individual and group contributions and where contributions sources have to be revealed.
One model for decision making is that everybody gets a vote. Everybody is asked to pass that vote to a proxy whom they respect as a “wise and trust worthy” person. These first level proxies are then asked the same question and they pass on all their proxy votes to a second level proxy. Rinse and repeat until you get to a sufficiently small group of proxies holders to run the country.
Does this biased plurality occur in NZ? Yes, but not to the same extent.
I’m in two minds about that actually. The sale of our assets over the last 30 years to the private sector against the will of the people tends to indicate to me that they’re acting for business rather than the people. Even if it isn’t to the same extent as the US the fact that we seem to be following their footsteps in many ways isn’t a good indication either.
One model for decision making is that everybody gets a vote. Everybody is asked to pass that vote to a proxy whom they respect as a “wise and trust worthy” person. These first level proxies are then asked the same question and they pass on all their proxy votes to a second level proxy. Rinse and repeat until you get to a sufficiently small group of proxies holders to run the country.
I’ve been tending towards a parliament the same as we have now. It does everyday government business but the policies are decided by referendum – and voting in them is compulsory.
After the last UK Election we were surprised to see that Labour was supported largely by educated socially aware people as opposed to the ignorant. (Suppose the latter voted Tory?)
Why should we decide that the average number of people/MP in 1993 in New Zealand was the optimal ratio?
For example the US has 435 members in the Lower house and a population of about 330m. That is about 750,000 people/congressman.
India has about 1,500,000/representative. That would be 3 people for the whole of New Zealand. Sounds pretty good to me. 2 in the North Island and 1 in the South. It would be easy to decide what was the majority view.
Under FPP, there was a legislated ratio of registered voters to MPs, being the average number of registered voters per South Island electorate. Thus, as the population expanded, the North Island added electorates and Parliament got bigger.
We still have that system for the electorates under MMP, but Parliament itself has not added MPs, so we have gone from 64 electorates to 71, but still have 120 MPs. This will have to change at some point, or MMP will become Supplementary Member instead.
That is true. There must be 16 General electorates in the South Island. I don’t really see why that number is so sacred. I believe the reasoning is that otherwise electorates could get too large. I can’t see it would be a problem if the number were to drop to 15 or 14.
After all one of the Maori electorates covers the whole of the South Island.
Even that is a midget of course compared to Durack in Western Australia. That covers 1.63 million km2. That is 6 times the area of New Zealand.
Apparently there is an even bigger one in Canada. Nunavut is about 2.1 million km2.
Imagine going door knocking in one of those babies?
That is a digression of course. I don’t see why we need as many MPs as we have. One excuse given is that it gives more people from whom to pick a Cabinet. That is a furphy. It is the number of MPs in the Government that determines the size of the Cabinet, not the other way around.
In order for the Cabinet to control the Government caucus, and prevent them over-riding the Cabinet there must be about half the Government in Cabinet, or at least be Ministers.
That is why we have about 20 of them in Cabinet and 7 Ministers outside Cabinet. Back in the 1950s, when we had 80 MPs there were only about a dozen in Cabinet. They did just fine. Doubling the population doesn’t double the work to be done.
I am disinclined to use the electoral system in the USA as anything but a cautionary tale.
The Senate system sees 2 US senators per state. So Californa has two for 40m people and Vermont has 2 for 0.67m.
US Congressmen and Congresswomen are shared by states on a more proportional manner.
Your count of elected officials missed the gubernatorial and state legislatures. This would add thousands of people to your count. ( Though not in the District of Columbia, where the US Congress has taken on itself to be the state legislature.)
As to how much representation do we need, my answer is:
1. It has to maintain the capability of list seats to create proportionality. Currently the list seats are being converted into electorate seats and as CH notes, this means we have gone from a 60:60 split to a 71:49 split. Population growth being focused in the Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga triangle will see continued trend of losing list seats and electorate seats being created in these areas. My preference is to ensure that at between 50% and 40% of the total number of MPs come from the list before triggering automatic growth. So right now we are one seat away from that threshold being reached.
2. The electorate seats continue to be driven from maintaining a minimum number of seats in the South Island due to size v’s representation issues. Reducing below the existing 16 is impractical and the argument of growing it by a 2 or 3 can be strongly mounted.
3. Given the population diffences between North Island (3.596m) and South Island (1.043m) the number of electorates in the North Island would need to be increased to 62 to match 18 in the South Island. This gives 80 electorate MPs.
4. Having 80 electorate MPs then means that there would be between 134 and 160 MPs in total.
Briefly.
Yes I left out the Senate but we don’t have any form of Upper House and the House of Representatives seemed to be the most relevant comparison.
We also don’t have a State Government system. Perhaps we should adopt the Texas approach. We could have Parliament sit for 60 days every second year. I’m sure that would be enough.
Or as a Texas friend of mind proposed. They should meet for 2 days every 60 years. That would be perfect.
You don’t need a particular ratio of Electorate/List seats to maintain proportionality. You only need to have a very small number of overhang seats. There was only one of those in the 2014-2017 Parliament. Apart from that one seat we had perfect proportionality. The Green Party for example would have exactly the same number of seats whether we had 50 or 90 list seats.
I can see no reason at all to prefer some rather arbitrary number of list seats.
I cannot see any reason why we cannot reduce the number of South Island seats. Why do you say it is “impractical” to go below 16? If you think a few seats are to large would you prefer the old country quota?
Even if we did have 80 electorate seats we wouldn’t necessarily have a non-proportional status. It would just mean that neither National nor Labour would have as many list members as they do. The NZF and Green parties would still have exactly as many members as they do now.
Having talked to both Cabinet and other MPs they all talk about the high demand local meetings and consultation puts on them. This is how it should be and fobbing constituents off with local office managers leads to the sort of events seen in the Southland electorate.
“So more people does mean more work for MPs to do”.
That may be true. However it is a very good argument for a greater proportion of them being Electorate rather than List MPs. It shouldn’t really matter unless we start getting a whole lot of overhang members. I haven’t done the calculation properly but 40, and perhaps even 30 list seats would still allow all the parties currently in the house to have exactly the same number of MPs as they do now.
It is possible that having only 30 list members, and inflating the number of electorate seats for each party in proportion to the larger number of electorates would mean some overhang Labour MPs. It is almost impossible to work out what would really happen without nominating new electorate boundaries and looking at last elections polling place results.
We have a significant corruption problem at present – it wouldn’t hurt to replace up to half of MPs with randomly selected citizen jurors who would serve for a month or so. You’d see a bit more common sense.
I have to say that I thought 2014 was as interesting as an election in NZ would be especially since the Lord, High Commander, Doctor and Sir John Key announced his retirement
Well in this instance I’m glad to be wrong, this election is going down right to the wire 🙂
Or wintergreen: Wintergreen Oil Benefits. Research shows that wintergreen oil has the ability to act like a natural analgesic (pain reducer), antiarthritic, antiseptic and astringent. Wintergreen oil primarily contains the active ingredient methyl salicylate, which makes up about 85 percent to 99 percent of wintergreen essential oil.
Voltaren’s my go-to for leg sprains and inflammation. I could have kissed my doctor when he said I could do up to 150mg a day.
Also a good prophylactic when I feel my ankle starting to get gouty (although when I started allopurinol that one seems to have been put under control).
This was supposed to be out in April, but it took the Green Party to release it (and I imagine, someone in the Environment Ministry frustrated with the long delay to leak it to them). It is long (284 pages, though the last 26 are references – I’ve copied it over as a pdf, but don’t have the software setup to extract text from that), however what I’ve read so far depicts a daunting future:
The report estimates that property and infrastructure lying 1.5m below the high water spring mark would face ‘higher levels of coastal risk exposure’.
And it estimates risk exposure in those low lying areas would affect:
133,000 people (resident population)
43,680 residential buildings
5 airports
More than 2000kms of road
46kms of railway
It puts replacement costs for buildings in coastal areas lying 1.5m below high water spring mark at $19 billion.
“Bill English, as Finance Minister, has previously dismissed the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s findings on the impact and cost of coastal risks from climate change as ‘speculative’…
NIWA research in 2015 estimated that if a climate change sea level danger zone was doubled to 3.0m below the high water spring mark, total replacement costs for buildings alone would be $52 billion… based on 2011 building costs.
More than half describe him as a ‘bully’. 44% think that he’s ‘unstable, barely over a third think that he’s ‘competent’. Less than a third think that he’s a ‘problem solver’, ‘knowledgeable’, ‘honest, ‘steady’ or ‘compassionate’ (and only 26% for the last). Only a quarter think that he’s a ‘moral leader’ or ‘presidential.’
A clear majority of polled voters said that the terms ‘presidential’, ‘moral leader’, ‘compassionate’, and ‘steady leader’ do not apply at all.
Moreover, over half – 56% – say that he is ‘tearing the country apart’ rather than almost a third who think that he is uniting the country.
Again, this is a poll of Fox News viewers, the group most likely to support him after people who keep the Reader’s Digest abridged edition of Mein Kampf as bedtime reading.
Supposedly only 1 in 18 Trump voters say would change their vote (https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2017-07-20/do-over-1-in-8-people-who-voted-for-trump-want-to-change-their-vote-reuters-ipsos-poll), but I think that a defining characteristic of these people, and what made Trump appealing to them, is a defiant attitude. Asking a direct question will get a defiant ‘NO!’ These are people who get tattoos saying ‘No Regerts’ after all. Questions about specific personal and moral qualities will get different answers with a different cumulative result. This is why psychologists routinely use multiple indirect questions about individual circumstances when assessing personality instead of one big question.
Now the next Presidential election is in 2020, but the congressional mid-terms are next year and a lot of Republican congresscreatures are going to be thinking about rats and sinking ships.
Going to channel my inner paddy gower and demand a simple yes or no from one of the labour heavies that lurk her,
Is labour’s water tax going to be 100% spent on cleaning up rivers?????
Labour candidate Jo Luxton told the crowd that during a recent meeting with Ashburton councillors, the possibility of using the revenue generated for projects such as roading, rather than solely for environmental purposes, was raised.
Labour’s water spokesman, David Parker, was at that meeting, and said he would be open to discussing that possibility, Luxton said.
When contacted on Friday, Parker said revenue would primarily need to be distributed to regional councils to clean up waterways.
However, money left over could be given to local councils, which would “decide what to do with it”, he said.
If money were to be “left over” then the levy is too high. It will take a long time to sort so it shouldnt be a problem. Now, where a road might be needed is getting access to areas to carry out the “cleaning”
my suspicion is ‘wedge politics’ as farmers are an easy target for townies to hate on as the have no idea what’s happening in rural nz , and it stinks,
Bwaghorn, you seem to be one of the more sensible commentators on this site.
I’m also farming, and just can’t be involved with Labour or the left anymore, so antagonistic to farming and farmers.
I’m wondering why you support the left?
You poor farmers. You don’t understand what is going on. There are a number of different farming sectors actually, so are you into industrial farming, capital accretion farming (buying up farms to create a huge block like Crafar who had eyes bigger than his gut.)
We alert townies try and keep up with the numerous dodges that farmers and their support businesses adopt. And of course as I pointed out there are Queen Street farmers whose dream is to sit in their leather office chair watching their computer screens, electronically opening and closing gates, and using low-price, high-volume third world labourers while ignoring the NZs who would like to have an opportunity.
You make me weep with your simple-minded talk about antagonism to farmers. The facts about irrigation drying up rivers, nutrient seepage and animal pollution are out there.
Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and man up to the problems.
Jimmy has had to go and attend to lambing? Rescue animals from flood waters. We will never know what sort of farmer he is or what his ‘beef’ with townies is as he is a Southern man and has an allowance of 100 words a day!@
How many different sorts of farmers are there?
1 Dairy
2 Dairy/beef
3 Fattening bobby calves
4 Sheep and wool
5 Slinks?
6 Family farm/mixed
7 Farms Amalgamated with managers
8 Corporate
??
Had to go and calve a cow that was having an extremely difficult breech birth.
I never said I had a “beef” with townies, I said I found the left too be antagonistic to farmers.
I’m more Northern than southern, and dairy is the farm type.
many reasons but the biggy for me is the depths that the right will plumb to stay in power , also as we saw with the barclay stuff the first instinct of a cornered nat is to lie , the same as they are doing with the 11 bill fiscal hole lie they are touting now , any party that thinks key shipley or brash are fit leaders i could never support, also collins as an mp defies belief .
in saying that i like top but unless i see him getting close i’ll hold my nose and vote labour despite their water wedge politics
If they stop at ‘rivers’ then they’ve barely begun.
Aquifers are also at risk and it takes time for leachate to percolate. More time than a parliamentary term. Mapping and monitoring are both long term basic management work.
Nor have we begun to look at long term harms and changes in soil populations or effects on DNA and resilience to viruses and fungal outbreaks.
The levy won’t be ‘too high’. Probably grossly underfunded and at risk from a scare that shifts people away from bottled and back to tap.
(Whoever thought water in plastic was a ‘good’ idea, anyway?)
Good piece inspired by AAAP at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11916289
It claims that “NZ First has not made any promises on welfare except to “ensure that benefits (and abatement levels) are inflation adjusted” and I can find nothing to the contrary on their website (http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/policies)
If indeed they have no policy to increase benefits above the rate of inflation I am appalled.
I think that Seymour had the best comment on all the promises and demands that Winston First has been announcing.
“Winston has more bottom lines than a 100 year old Elephant”.
I ignore any claims The Right Honourable Winston Raymond Peters makes. Any similarity between what he says and what actually happens is entirely coincidental.
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...
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by John Edmundson The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) have recently reposted a February article, by Romany Tasker-Poland, explaining ISO’s position in the “trans rights” debate. It is available on their website and on their Facebook Page. The article sets out to explain why “socialists support trans rights”. It reads more ...
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Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
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I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
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While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
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An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
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Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
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A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
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We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
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An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
“Proposals to curb environmental damage help our coasts and the oceans Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. We at CEAC also ...
David Robie, concluding his three-part series about Iran, profiles an extraordinary pair of Tehran brothers who have been pioneering global research adventurers. They have been dubbed the “Persian Indiana Joneses”. Their adventures are fabled and hair-raising, as shown by a Jivaro shrunken human head and relics from curious rituals ...
Four months ago Caroline Shaw bought an e-bike. She explains why they’re the answer to our lethal car culture.Four months ago we took what felt like a huge leap of faith and bought an e-cargo bike. The combination of three things tipped us over the edge: feeling the need to ...
The online magazine that boasted a bigger Instagram following than most New Zealand media has abruptly come to an end. So what was Auckland Mag? Why did it exist? And who was it mysterious founder Dan Rolph? David Farrier investigates. The reply from Dan Rolph at Auckland Magazine came quickly. It came ...
In the wake of the shocking revelations about Three, Duncan Greive assesses the health of New Zealand’s six big media companies.Winston Peters has studied the cold, pitiless heart of a certain strand of New Zealander for four decades now, and has become our foremost expert on both expressing its feelings ...
US justice reform activists Deborah Small and asha bandele say white supremacy and colonialism are at the heart of punitive drug laws. They spoke to Teuila Fuatai about how drug reform can reverse their effects on minority communities. Deborah Small sees Donald Trump as the US Dorian Gray. “He’s the physical ...
Madeleine Chapman spent a day learning about Christchurch through its most famous dishes.What is there do with with a day in Christchurch? Thanks to the inexplicably early check-out times at hotels all over the world and a 7pm flight back to Auckland, I had a full day to wander the ...
Winston Peters says his party is a handbrake on bad ideas and a "supercharged turbo" for good ones - but will it be in the driver's seat come 2020? ...
Our former prime minister secured a meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping outside all normal diplomatic channels. Interest’s Jenée Tibshraeny asks what it means for New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the superpower.Former prime minister John Key secured a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without the involvement of ...
David Robiecontinues his three-part series about travelling in Iran. I stumbled on the scene by chance. Our host family in Iran’s second city Mashhad, a modern and beautiful metropolis that would comfortably fit in New Zealand’s entire population, was taking us on a drive to the outskirts to ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the media, in particular, MediaWorks, just a day after the company announced it was selling off its television arm. ...
About a hundred disgruntled licensed gun owners have descended on the New Zealand First conference to tell the party leader Winston Peters that they feel like victims. ...
New Zealand First members will vote on a policy today that would allow businesses of all sizes to enforce 90-day trials when they employ people straight out of prison. ...
"Each time she held her lighter underneath the pipe and sucked the smoke into the back of her throat, the promise was there": a New Zealand tragedy by Alice Tawhai. ...
With the future of Mediaworks’ TV business hanging in the balance, Al Jazeera news presenter Kamahl Santamaria reflects on what the imperilled channel meant, and continues to mean, to him.I always liked the logo. The fresh bright colours, the nod to a koru in its shape, and just the fact ...
There are still many barriers preventing people from voting in local elections. Laura O’Connell Rapira proposes some social solutions.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.To vote in the local elections, I cast ...
What’s really stood out for me being back in Tokyo is the unique qualities of Japan’s spectators, writes Richard Light, professor of sport coaching at the University of Canterbury.The Rugby World Cup has thrown a global spotlight on Japan over recent weeks. Not just the rugby: the distinctive culture and ...
As the New Zealand First Party gathers for its annual conference, the question swirling in the year is how it can carve out a path to avoid electoral defeat in 2020, writes Jo Moir for RNZ. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s a familiar break up excuse that’s used ...
To the early intervention therapists, to the teachers, to the speech therapists, the occupational therapists, music therapists, diabetes nurses and all: you change the world.When I was married almost a decade ago we had the following reading at our wedding:You are holding up a ceilingwith both arms. It is very ...
The faces said it all. The smiles of the European leaders crowded round Boris after the Brexit deal was struck. The deal his opponents – no, pretty much everyone – said was impossible.So what’s in it? The detail is still opaque, but subject to gremlins in the fine print, ...
Iran attracts an onslaught of negative media in New Zealand and Western media. But is it fair or deserved? David Robie has spent several weeks travelling in the country on sabbatical and finds the media negativity far from the reality of the “most friendly” country he has ever visited ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan. They talk about Alan Jones accusing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of failing the immediate needs of drought-striken farmers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow in Geometallurgy/Applied Geochemistry, The University of Queensland Last month, scientists uncovered a mineral called Edscottite. Minerals are solid, naturally occurring substances that are not living, such as quartz or haematite. This new mineral was discovered after an ...
The Auckland-based collective talk origins, ambitions and making the rave accessible to everybody.Friendly Potential is an outfit that defies easy summary. They’re among the country’s most ambitious and prolific club promoters. In their almost five-years of operation, they’ve been responsible for the local debuts of electronic music icons including Detroit ...
Analysis: Two polls show support for Labour sliding, the government is accused of breaking another promise and the Greens's refusal to back a bill forces Labour to rely on National to get it through. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Lindsey, University of Technology Sydney One spring morning in 1850, over 8,000 Sydneysiders marched through town to protest the resumption of transportation – the act of sending British criminals to Australia. It was the largest protest in Australia thus far, an ...
Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses. ...
Sam Brooks recaps the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and wonders why some of these queens don’t know how to sew.This episode asks, and sort of answers the main question that millions of people across the world: why would you come on Drag Race and not know how to sew?!There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John M Clarke, Team Leader, Regional Projections, CSIRO Last month we lost Dr Penny Whetton – one of the world’s most respected climate scientists and a brilliant mentor to the next generation of researchers. Penny will also be remembered as a passionate ...
Ten moose were upended into the Dusky Sounds in 1910. Now, their descendants are getting their day in the sun.The climate crisis is affecting wildlife all over the country: rockhopper penguin populations are in drastic decline, tuatara eggs aren’t hatching females, and the ice walls keeping predators away from kea ...
Security footage of NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell being thrown out of a Tauranga bar looks unlikely to ever be aired - despite his leader Winston Peters promising a screening. ...
Amnesty International is concerned that Justice Minister Andrew Little's Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill could have the potential to undermine human rights in New Zealand. The Bill would give the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to ...
Expect the old campaigner Winston Peters to be at his belligerent best as he gears up for another election. He’s kept his party alive for 27 years and he shows no sign of quitting. The omens may be bleak—polls this week showed his party below the 5% threshold– but Peters ...
The National Party has agreed to take down any videos breaching the current rules around the use of parliamentary TV footage, as all parties try to reach consensus. ...
Recently the Health Promotion Agency released a report into hazardous drinking in New Zealand. The report shows that Māori who drink alcohol and live in deprived circumstances are less likely to have a harmful relationship with alcohol if they ...
Turkey-US joint-statement on military ops within Syria’s territory.The Turkish Embassy in New Zealand issued Evening Report this unabridged United States of America-Republic of Turkey joint-statement detailing what both sides agreed to regarding Turkey’s military operations within the so-called security zone within Syrian territory near Turkey’s southern border. It is ...
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash didn’t mention what winners will receive, when he proudly called for entries for a new public award “to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector”. Nor did he mention the cost to taxpayers of this initiative. Point of Order’s checks with the website where more details have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona R Martin, Senior Lecturer in Convergent and Online Media, University of Sydney One of the basic tenets of the ABC Act is independence from government. Yet once again, in contravention to that principle, the federal government is trying to push through ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Lily Holloway.modernity to globalisationwhen I get there as still life and landscape and also portraitureseeking the cacti in small pots who dot the globeslices of pie offer up the vision after the sermonexpressing emotions without coherent narrative supportbecause no artist responded to this callemploying ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi to rule out any taxpayer-funded purchase or bailout for Mediaworks’s channel Three. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “For the last few months Mediaworks ...
The Police Commissioner's announcement that squadcars of officers with automatic rifles will patrol New Zealand's streets is dangerous and unnecessary, according to the criminal justice community organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The ...
News broke this morning that Mediaworks is seeking to sell off, and even contemplating closing, its TV division. What might that mean for journalism?For journalism in New Zealand, the loss of Three’s TV division is a devastating blow. It is not yet known whether any of the news properties will ...
In our defence of our coalition Government policy on climate change, we fully support Government plan to use rail funding for rail infrastructure upgrades to promote use rail infrastructure for freight around NZ. ...
The billions of tonnes of plastic in our oceans isn’t going away any time soon, but innovative companies here and abroad are working together to find silver linings to this daunting problem.Fishing boats head out to sea and set their nets. They go back to shore. They head back out, ...
An EveningReport.nz investigation by Kevin ListKiwibank services. Image by Kevin List.Evening Report looks into the separation of Kiwibank from New Zealand Post, and considers the impact on the public’s access to banking services in their communities.Kiwibank. What’s going on? Kiwibank and New Zealand Post are in the ...
Local Government New Zealand today confirmed what many local election commentators have observed; that more of the voting public cast their ballots in favour of women candidates than ever before. ...
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 (this week we totted up the data a day early, on Wednesday, to let our books ed. ...
New Zealand's mineral manufacturing sector is expected to face some testing times, with softer prices, tighter margins and sluggish export markets. ...
Portugal has been painted by pro-cannabis legalisation groups as a model to follow. Yet just last month, the mayor of Porto contradicted his previous pro-harm reduction position and endorsed reintroducing criminal penalties for drug use in public spaces. ...
Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short announced today the inclusion of six Cook Island First World War soldiers in the New Zealand and Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s official rolls of honour. ...
The latest statistics released by the Health Promotion Agency showing a dramatic fall in the numbers of cigarettes being sold in supermarkets, service stations, and liquor stores are being welcomed by the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ). ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.NZ First Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Where to from here? How NZ First will win in ...
Aotearoa Climate Emergency (ACE), a climate change network, will host a conference in Wellington on 11 November (Armistice Day) to promote holding a Citizens Assembly in 2020, as a way of breaking the current political deadlock on treating climate ...
MediaWorks’ owners have called time after years of losses from its TV division. Sources say the company will announce it is for sale – if no buyers emerge, it will close within months.Three is facing the biggest crisis in its three decade history today, as its ownership will soon announce ...
Sam Brooks reviews Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, an anthology series based on the New York Times column dedicated to ‘love in all its forms’. A first date that ends up in the emergency room. A flagging marriage that finds new energy through tennis. The founder of a dating app who doesn’t ...
If we want to grow support for New Zealand’s aid, we need to get better at partnering with the ‘unlike-minded’ as well as the ‘like-minded’, and much better at telling people what we do with the money they give, says Josie Pagani, Executive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Orsola De Marco, Astrophysicist , Macquarie University If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How are stars made? –Zali, age 8, Karkoo, South Australia. How are stars made? Well, stars are not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gita Mishra, Professor of Life Course Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland All women know to expect the time in life when their periods finish and they reach menopause. Many might even look forward to it. What many women don’t ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney Since ancient times, horse behaviour, and the bond between horses and humans, has been a source of intrigue and fascination. The horse-lore that has accumulated over the centuries is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Wallis, Lecturer and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland A move to the country is often presented in popular culture as an idyllic life, a place where you can escape the pressures of the city. It’s in television shows such ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The just-announced inquiry into Australia’s retirement income system ought to be anything but run-of-the-mill. Taking place 25 years after the introduction of compulsory superannuation, it provides an opportunity to either fix a broken system, or discard ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan McCay, Law Lecturer, University of Sydney The rise of artificial intelligence has led to widespread concern about the role of humans in the workplaces of the future. Indeed, Israeli historian, futurist and publishing sensation Yuval Noah Harari warns in his most ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Saunders, Phd candidate, University of Wollongong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images and names of deceased people. You leave Sydney and head for holidays on the South Coast. You plan to catch a quick surf, ...
Open Mike 04/09/2017 
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...1 day ago
As Brexit comes to a grisly conclusion (perhaps) people on all sides are saying intemperate and uwise things. Some, like the Daly Mail, have been doing it for years.People as normally level headed as Jon Lansman are calling for automatic deselection of MPs who vote against a (likely) Labour three ...1 day ago
On Wednesday, the government was loudly telling us that it needed to legislate to allow it to impose "control orders" - effectively a parole regime, but imposed without charge, prosecution, conviction or real evidence - on suspected terrorists because they couldn't be prosecuted for their supposed crimes. Today, it turns ...2 days ago
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...2 days ago
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...3 days ago
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...3 days ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz There is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...4 days ago
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...5 days ago
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...5 days ago
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...1 week ago
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...1 week ago
We're rebuilding our hospitals, protecting our oceans, and taking mental health seriously. ...2 days ago
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...4 days ago
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...2 days ago
There was no big policy announcement from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today despite promising there would be. ...2 hours ago
“Proposals to curb environmental damage help our coasts and the oceans Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. We at CEAC also ...2 hours ago
David Robie, concluding his three-part series about Iran, profiles an extraordinary pair of Tehran brothers who have been pioneering global research adventurers. They have been dubbed the “Persian Indiana Joneses”. Their adventures are fabled and hair-raising, as shown by a Jivaro shrunken human head and relics from curious rituals ...3 hours ago
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English interviewed on newshub this morning… But Prime Minister you have introduced 16 new taxes since national took office…. pause… but that was part of our tax reform…English was also reminded they raised GST and brought in more fuel taxes.
English, living in a glass house throwing stones
Since taking the reins in 2008, National has introduced at least 18 new taxes and levies – six of them on petrol. Others include:
raising GST (after promising not to)
a tax on employer KiwiSaver contributions
new student loan and Family Court fees
the bright line capital gains tax on flipping houses
a border clearance levy
including GST on digital purchases
removing tax refunds for kids doing part-time work.
Link for this mornings interview.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/decision-17-bill-english-promises-no-new-taxes.html
At 2.30 in Duncan reminds him that national has no credibility when it comes to not introducing new taxes
Thanks Cinny. Bill is quick isn’t he. “But Prime Minister you raised taxes 18 times.”
Pause. No change of expression. Then into deflection and justification. Wow! Would you buy a car from this man?
Paula Bennett: “Some have fewer human rights than others when they are creating a string of victims behind them … there is a different standard.”
Where are the howls of outrage from the MSM? This is the thin end of the wedge for ushering in a police state! Of course, if ‘you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,’ Dr. Goebbels.
Bennett is a threat to democracy and as such, has no place in our parliament! IMHO.
Plus being in power with ACT and their education policy that essentially removes the right to freedom of association in the workplace. Hmmm. Democracy at it’s best. /sarc
English did a good job on RNZ saying Bennett was wrong, didn’t articulate the policy correctly, and Prof Andrew Geddis noted that clarification.
Are you going to vote for him?
I will continue campaigning for Labour until the last minute.
And at the last minute you will obey Shakespeare’s stage direction.
“Exit, pursued by a bear”.
Where does the bear come into things??
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExitPursuedByABear
That’s a bit harsh
Alwyn – appropriate that you should choose a stage instruction from ‘A Winter’s Tale’.
As I’m sure you know, the late romances (tragicomedies) are marked by incipient tragedies turned somehow into magical/mystical redemptions. And young women/girls play an important role in that change of fortune in ‘The Tempest’, ‘A Winter’s Tale’ , ‘Pericles’ and ‘Cymbeline’.
Seems to describe our current political situation rather well?
“As I’m sure you know”.
Then you are a great deal more sure of it than I am.
I only ever read, and watched, Shakespeare’s plays because they were fun. You obviously know a great deal more about his work than I do.
I have known cases, and they are the ones I think of, where the words “until the last minute” was used to mean “until disaster strikes and we have to run”.
As in. “We kept adding sandbags to the top of the levees in New Orleans until the last possible minute”.
It may not be the standard use of the phrase but it is the one I think of. Hence, when all hope is lost of affecting the result of the election Ad is heading for the hills.
I didn’t hear the clarification – but what troubles me is the ‘mind-set’ of people like Bennett and Seymour. Their first inclination is to ‘strengthen police rights!’
The fact that the teacher unions are strong is one reason education is not a complete basket case already, like in some states of America.
So you’ll admit his deputy is not on top of party policy?
Pretty embarrassing for him to have to clarify things.
Clarify?
Bennett told the truth. English did his best to obscure it.
Typical National Party: they have to lie about their intentions and values or they’d never get elected.
Like Jacinda on CGT just the other day??
That’s the joke, idiot.
Your joke telling ability is rather substandard.
Jones had to be “clarified” last night.
Davis had to be “clarified” last week.
It’s all in how they recover.
Did either of them propose something that contravened the international standards on human rights?
Nope. And each media flurry was done in hours. It’s a good campaign.
English did a good job on RNZ saying Bennett was wrong, didn’t articulate the policy correctly, and Prof Andrew Geddis noted that clarification.
He didn’t “clarify” his own statement that he’s pleased NZ doesn’t have a constitution to put constraints on his power to decide who has human rights and who doesn’t?
If any party wants to entrench BORA they should say so. Then say how.
It’s not a question of entrenchment but of making it superior law so that even the government can’t break it.
And I can’t seen any government doing that.
“making it superior law”.
We don’t have any such concept in our legal system, do we?
That is a concept in the US system where a Court can rule that an act of the Government is antithetical to the Constitution I would have thought.
Surely our rule, that a Government cannot bind its successor, would prevent us having anything like these “superior laws”?
Even an entrenched law doesn’t really mean what it says. Can’t you remove the entrenchment by a simple majority in Parliament and then revoke the law by a simple majority after that?
Ps. I am not a lawyer, and don’t claim that these suppositions are what the law really means.
It depends on how yo entrench it and what, if any ,other legislative provisions it is subject to.
In NZ we have tended toward things like 75% of parliament or more than 50% in a referendum
Nope. That is the position that a written constitution would fill and why Blinglish is so happy that we don’t have one.
That is correct and so we end up with governments that rule against human rights and other stuff that are detrimental to the general populace (but good for business and the rich) because there’s no restrictions on them doing so.
Yep.
Thank you. I am happy to see that my understanding was correct.
Edit.
That means I am happy I understood it, not that I am happy that it is the way things are by the way.
Bennett gleefully supported the idea. Bill’s “she didn’t articulate…” doesn’t erase her delight in what she believed the proposal was.
Except for the bit when he stood next to her when she said it, and didnt correct her, suggesting he agrees.
Let’s get this clear not all people whom work in our justice systems are bad most of them work to try and make our society
Safer but some are bad and Will use any means to get there mark man.
So this new law Bennett is backing will be used by these bad cops as a tool to manipulate these people lives and could be used to manipulate these people children lives to.
I have stayed off the topic of our youths suicide.
Most of our best stars can not see a light at the end of there tunnel they can not see a future they like.
Yes its our youths that can predict there future and they are intelligent .
My friend whom was really intelligent his dad had all his financial needs solve for him . But he would take not his money he was like young a brother to me .
But I was to busie trying to make a nest egg for my family to notice my friends problems he had a lot of school friends
If some one starts giving away things take note of that person because this is the first sign of that problem.
Most times our youth just want to be loved and cared for someone to listen to them any life lost is not on.
But our youth that are the brightest stars that do this are a BIG BAD STAIN ON OUR SOCIETY AND A WASTE OF OUR BEST CHILDREN WTF.
Bennett using Trump tack ticks to stir up the emotional and racial cards in our society.
Gangs most times pray on the underprivileged the people who are desperate and poor the people they can intimidate they. They could affect our youth.But you won’t see these people harass anyone that will ring the cops on them because they no the people who will do this and who won’t ring the cops on them.
So don’t let Bennett play with your emotions.
Now people don’t listen to the lies that have are being spread about me cops lie
1 when have u heard a cop plead guilty
2 if you are hearing these lies Somme is breaking the law
3 If these lies were true I wound not be blogging now to u.
4 my old clients no that I’m not a threat and Don’t want me to sell my lawn run the cops can’t have the public no there are cheat s in there force enough said the facts of there behaving like this are out there
Now I DON’T believe in fathers day and all that stuff just to get us spend money.
As I’m a father grandfather 360 days of the year so I would rather save my money and give it to my family in times of there need!!!!
Now I’m using my position of power to fight the neo liberals that are control freaks and who run our world I’m fighting these people for my HUMAN rights and privacy rights as I am a human I’m fighting for the rights for all the underprivileged in our WORLD
I’m using my position of power to fight for our children our greatgrandchildern future our environment our wildlife all of this will be exploited by the neo liberals if they can make a buck out of them
Some viewers won’t get my last 2 post but some people in NZ will
Congratulations to Kenyans for winning the first battle to have a legitimate President elected the people of Kenya will have to keep a sharp eye on every process in the next election .
Don’t let foreigners advise you on how to run your country as only Kenyans no what is good for all the people of Kenya ALL THE BEST TO Kenya.
Great work, Eco maori and if I could grant you five extra days a year, I would!
LoL Robert Guyton that post was in between lawns
🙂
Uruguay has become the first country to legalise marijuana for recreational use but United States banks won’t deal with any Uruguay banks that do business with businesses selling marijuana in that country making it impossible for the Uruguayan banks to accept money from those businesses. Not only does this show how difficult it will be for marijuana to be legalised by countries but also just how powerful the American banking system.
All these sanctions are just causing other countries to abandon the American banking system and US dollar as exchange currency , and set up their own systems., with alternative SWIFT arrangements Russia,China, Iran , even Saudi Arabia are using their own currencies for oil trade.
Despite terrible US sanctions against Iran that went on for decades, Iran survived and even grew by learning to circumvent those sanctions.
Cuba is another example of successful resistance
The more desperate the US gets, the more it seals its own fate as more and more countries learn to bypass the US banking system
I fail to see what your comments about SWIFT mean.
SWIFT is not a US organisation and is not governed by US law. It is incorporated in Belgian and is governed by Belgian, and hence EU law.
It is also only a messaging system and does not hold or transfer funds between banks or other parties, It merely transfers, securely, messages between its banking shareholder members.
+ 100 francesca
With reference to yesterday’s discussion on Brodifacoum and the Brook Valley sanctuary, here’s why I don’t take anti-poisoning campaigners very seriously – they tend to make anti-vaxxers and anti-fluoride campaigners look reasonable. These two have managed to inspire sympathy for Nick Smith, a feat I would have considered Herculean up until now.
Anti-poisoning campaigners and poisoning campaigns are two very different “things”.
There are many people in Nelson who are so angry with Smith. Most Saturday mornings his caravan is protested at the Nelson market by many different factions.
What they did with the poison was a bit OTT, but they are at the end of their tether, the Brook Valley Sanctuary is a very polarising issue for Nelson.
It appears that Nick is looking for sympathy, the thing is I doubt he will find much in Nelson no matter how many newspapers he asks to print his story because Nick being targeting is nothing new for Nelsonians.
Maybe protestors should looking at getting the fantastic toilet sculpture trucked up here and placed next to Smith as a prop at his street corner meetings and brought to the Saturday market, now that would create a bit of interest and a good reminder to people what he has done.
Am expecting him to have quite a large drop in votes this election, would be thrilled if he lost. People are talking about tactical voting to get rid of him, my advice vote for the next strongest candidate, Matt Lawrey from the Greens.
…they are at the end of their tether…
That’s one way of putting it. Another way would be that people who feel very strongly about something but don’t have rational arguments to back up those strong feelings should maybe do a bit of self-reflection, rather than just assuming they have to resort to vandalism and assault because it’s impossible their emotions could misguide them.
pshcho “people who feel very strongly about something but don’t have rational arguments to back up those strong feelings… etc”
is ad-hominem … todays reading for you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
These guys are resorting to vandalism and assault because their various attempts to persuade the courts to agree with them have failed – due to the weakness of their arguments. Having strong feelings about something is never an acceptable substitute for having a persuasive argument, and pointing that out is not ad hominem.
xanthe – misspelling names real or ersatz is impolite…”todays(sic) reading for you”
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/politeness.html
Robert – Could not find any reference to misspelling names in the link provided. Did you read it yourself before posting it?
It’s actually more of an accurate description than an ad hom. At the very least, the anti-poisoners seem to have some difficulty in expressing a rational argument against the poison drop.
Some rational arguments might revolve around points such as:
X is in practise ineffective against the target species;
X is in practise less effective than other comparable control methods;
X is in practise more damaging to species we wish to preserve than the pests X is supposed to destroy;
X in practise presents a realistic danger to people;
X in practise is less cost-effective than other methods (not just short-term “cheaper”, just literally you get more effect from a given dollar value of X than of Y).
And if those rational arguments were presented and then ignored (or ruled secondary to “biggest bang for bucks”) in the appropriate court hearings ?
Then, rationally, they weren’t as good as the arguments in favour of X, were they.
ahhh you mean “loudest bang for bucks” ?… seems rational enough if you squint hard and touch your left ear when you say it!
No, I mean that when the arguments against X were presented for rational consideration, they did not outweigh whatever arguments were presented in favour of X.
Their attampts at rational argument having failed, some people (as psycho milt points out) are resorting to vandalism and assault.
can you perhaps explain to me how you “rationally” compare
X is in practise less effective than other comparable control methods;
with
X makes the loudest bang per dollar
or
X in practise presents a realistic danger to people;
with
X makes the loudest bang per dollar
or
X is money paid overseas to produce toxic chemicals that could be paid to NZ residents for meaningful employ
with
but X makes the loudest bang per dollar
at some point “rational” has to give way to “whats more important?”!
It’s possible for something to be cheaper as well as less effective: washing dishes with cold water rather than hot, for example.
But that was merely a list of example arguments you might want to explore if you wish the effectiveness of your arguments to match your obvious passion.
I don’t know what arguments were presented in court. I don’t particularly care. By and large, courts try to rest on rational arguments, especially in judge rather than jury trials. This is not always the case, but you have not presented any rational argument as to why I should be doubtful about the court’s decision.
If you’re under the impression a court would find it difficult to rationally assess choices like “this one is cheaper but presents a realistic danger to people,” you’re woefully under-estimating the cognitive abilities of the nation’s judges.
Ah while I do have a very low estimation of the cognitive abilities of the nation’s judges, I think the problem lies deeper than that.
It is that the terms of reference for the court are so restrictive that the Judge in the end is not deciding the matter.
Perhaps this is why some feel that the minister should be brought to understand his personal responsibility in this?
Yes. Because tories respond so favourable to being assaulted /sarc
well its just within the realms of possibility Smith was prompted to search for and read this.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodifacoum#Toxicology
which could be seen as a positive?
Perhaps this is why some feel that the minister should be brought to understand his personal responsibility in this?
I’ve yet to see any of the Brook Waimarama protesters provide an argument for their objection to this poison drop that made any sense. Their inability to make a compelling case against the poison drop isn’t the courts’ responsibility or Nick Smith’s responsibility, it’s theirs.
There are two people out there though who really do need to be “brought to understand their personal responsibility in this,” and hopefully the Police will be assisting them with that shortly.
which could be seen as a positive?
Only by someone who’s become a stranger to reason.
Well, I’m sure he’d be reassured by his doctor when it’s pointed out to him that the poison is low dose, slow acting, and easily treatable with vitamin K1.
He probably faced a bigger risk from the grubby hands of the assaulters.
xanthe: In the quick scan I gave the wiki link you provided there was nothing about long term soil life impacts, nor on invertebrates.
Amongst all the impassioned cries about our wonderful native avians there is remarkably little interest shown in the populations that are far greater in number and importance than the visible few at the top of the food chain.
Who, now, is undertaking those lengthy monitoring programs – and where?
And, just to be impish – who is monitoring human interference, with a view to curtailing our sense of entitlement and our wish to play ‘god’, now that we’ve played merry hell with the ecologies, ranges and habitats?
Can’t be DoC: they’re grossly underfunded and lack the means whereby. Which means that gut-feeling protesters can’t readily refer to pertinent, modern, and local science-based facts to make a case. (Not that science is all that reliable or unbiased…)
One Anonymous Bloke pointed us to the DoC factsheet on Brodifacoum yesterday. It says:
However, residues do not appear to persist
in arthropods (insects, spiders, crustaceans) beyond a
few days. Brodifacoum is perceived to lack insecticidal
properties due to the different circulatory physiology of
invertebrates.
That seems plausible, since Brodifacoum works by by messing with blood clotting.
Someone did a phd thesis on it. Have fun.
And always remember: Google can be your friend.
Thanks mcflock, the study seems to show that invertebrates are largely unaffected by the brodifacoum , however they will happily consume the baits and do so ,meaning birds that feed on them are subject to secondary poisioning. they (invertebrates) excrete the toxin rapidly so this risk exists mainly while baits are present. the study is silent on what then happens to the weta shit
You almost made a rational argument there.
I mean, you could have done the math and figured that a bird would need to eat its weight in wetas as they left the bait station. You could have also read the bit about the poison being broken down by soil bacteria – much the same as I assume weta shit is broken down.
You could then have googled the department of conservation for native bird deaths, as I doubt they’d differentiate between primary and secondary poisoning. And any analyses on whether bird populations recover quicker than rodent populations – if not, the poison should not occur.
As it is, you simply made a pointless statement with no argument whatsoever.
Correct mcflock I did not make any argument whatsoever, You are welcome to make assumptions and draw conclusions from them if that seems the rational course to you
Cheers.
In considering the debate over the last couple of days, I’ve made 2 conclusions:
1) the poison seems to be a reasonable choice for air dropping to control rodents and preserve native species, especially avian;
2) you have no rational argument against my first conclusion.
17,000 majority for Smith undiminished.
The activists did themselves no favours.
He’s in there for as long as he wants unless they get from angry to smarter
Will need more than smarts to reduce 17k margin. Is thete a precedent?
In truth no-one knows for a few weeks. But the folk who’ve suffered most from Nick Smith – those with housing stress or affected by swimmable bovine sewers mostly live outside his electorate.
Would he stay in Parliament if National lost the election, do you think?
I think he might come under pressure from his colleagues to quit, on the basis that it was in substantial part perceived to be his fault…
A.
Any of the big engineering consultancies would snap him up if National lost. Almost he alone now knows the new RMA so he could command a high consulting price by himself.
But it’s a close run thing – they may well have a fourth term so he’s well placed either way.
He alone knows the new RMA? What a strange fellow you are
He personally approved every clause.
WTF? Just 4 days ago you were saying it was in the bag for Labour. You seem quite unhinged.
The campaign feels great.
The result is too close to call.
That’s not what you said the other day.
If he wins the electorate then there’s nothing that they can do about removing him from parliament. They could remove him from the National Party Caucus and have him deselected for the next election.
He might, like Mussolini after losing power, be partially hanged then torn to pieces by a mob. It’s one of the endgames for failed anti-democratic officials, like defenestration.
Was wondering the same, but then again I think he enjoys the salary and the prestige.
The Nick Smith taking a crap sculpture is coming to Nelson, woop woop, thrilled about that news.
He may be quite happy to remain an electorate MP outside Govt
Newshub reports on Auckland Action Against poverty’s video – the video includes beneficiaries talking about the realities of being on a benefit and dealing with W&I. Video at the link.
This twitter feed had a link to the longer version of that video (on facebook). It is also well worth following for the artwork emphasising the written accounts of some other experiences with the; “toxic culture at Work and Income” (though it does make cut and pasting the text difficult):
Tweets by WeBeneficiaries
If anyone wants to see a major business leader slam National to their core and request a change of government, check out the interview with Mainfreight CE Don Braid in the NZHerald today.
National have acquired a trenchant critic in both Braid and O’Sullivan at the worst time, as we go down to the wire.
Someone ensuring they get a warm welcome on the 9th floor post election.
I dont put much stock in the views of a business leader that waits til the polls change to step up.
He’s been sniping at the government for a few years now
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/71576224/Mainfreight-boss-takes-swipe-at-Steven-Joyce-over-rail-and-technology
he’s one of the good ones out imo , i know it’s hard for some lefties to believe but be successful and being good person can happen
Yes it can. But it bothers me when being a successful CEO gets you listened on Education and Health ahead of, well, Education and Health experts.
Braid has been making huge donations to the Māori Party – more than $150,000 at last count. Not sure what his end game is.
A flourishing democracy by the looks of it.
A de facto donation to the National Party, more like.
Even higher weights for trucks……traceys right as they’ve done very well out of nationals destruction of rail and allowing even heavier trucks to destroy and clog the roads.
It’s a pr stunt for the incoming govt…..transparent and disingenuous.
Nah they’ve been integrating road and rail for years.
As soon as you get into depots and transfer stations, rather than point to point, rail makes much more sense. Mate of mine works for them.
Like Gisbourne, Northland etc Heavy trucks are smashing the roads to pieces, we have these ‘safety improvements’ projects now that are filling in the destroyed shoulder as regular maintenance isnt sufficient.
To rIght tc these trucks stuff the roads they drive to fast and when accidents happen well what a mess they fuck the roads and then this cause more accidents and more wear and tear to our cars I have to change my lower ball joints every 12 months now use to be every 2 years. I got a good idea lets set up more speed cameras and this will stop all the accidents YEAR RIGHT.
Just revenue gathering. most of the people paying these fines are poor and on a benefit that system is just a money go round .
8am National Radio news had a claim from Bill English that the “Jacinda Mania” momentum had peaked and was diminishing. Interestingly the RNZ journalist did not ask Bill English as to what this opinion was based on. My guess is that his claim is based on wishes and it is the latest National effort to try a and stem the momentum.
This brings up an interesting (and disturbing) aspect about voter behaviour; namely, the tendency of voters to report voting and voting intentions that places them with the winning party.
Post-election surveys have shown that the number of people who report that they voted for the successful political party is statistically very unlikely. That is, the if a party achieved 55% of the the vote then you would expect a post-election poll result to show 55% with a margin of error of 3.5% at a confidence level of 95%. Post-election polls can indicate an overstatement at 6% above expected voting numbers.
So having established that part of the electorate will incorrectly report themselves’ as being part of the “winners”, the question is how much of the voting population identify with the “momentum party” prior to the actual vote occurring due to the likelihood of the that party being the “winning” party? Is policy irrelevant to this type of voter?
His opinion was based on one poll giving Labour 43%, then a completely different poll giving them 39%. Note – this was not a change in the SAME poll, but from different ones. And the trend in both polls was for Labour to be rising fast and National to be falling slowly. I guess Bill hasn’t learnt to treat data with scepticism yet – or he was trying to make something happen by claiming that it was already happening, or he was just billshitting again.
Bandwagon Effect
Some people actually do go simply with the way the winds blow. It’s why I think polls should either be banned in the run up to the election or simply not published.
The Radio New Zealand article explaining their poll of polls makes the point that the Colmar Brunton poll was taken later than the Reid Research one, even though the CB was released earlier. As a result, it’s disingenuous to deduce from these two polls that the momentum is slowing
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/338623/labour-s-poll-average-still-climbing
DtB
I entirely agree that there should be a moratorium on publishing polls after writ day. Not just because of the bandwagon effect, but also because of the amount of limited political reporting space they take away from other events. However, I am not so much behind banning them from being conducted – although there is the problem of push-polling.
timbeau
What I’ve found most interesting about that RR poll is just how different the headlines for exactly the same thing have been: From the rather bland RNZ one you link, to Newshub’s (who paid for the poll); “National and Labour in one-on-one fight for power”, Scoop’s grammatical peculiar; “Newshub-Reid Research Poll Shows Gap tightest”, and finally NZH’s; “New poll: Has National halted Labour’s rise? “.
Don Braid nails Bill English to the cross and slips the knife in for good measure:
“In a video interview for the Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom Election Survey, Mainfreight chief executive Don Braid said the country was “being run by a couple of accountants, rather than visionaries”.
Braid said National’s sudden decision to invest in the country’s infrastructure after three terms and just ahead of an election looked unconvincing to voters.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11916469
The “do-nothing” government ‘s chickens are finally coming home to roost. I almost feel sorry for Bill because Lord Key should be taking most of the blame.
Thanks I just count figure how to add the link from my mobile.
If they make it, hope Labour court him well. Hes a big “integrated rail+road” believer.
Heh, yep. That’s the difference between a trucking company and a logistics company.
Yes that’s right, key stuck it to the Natz as he slithered out the back door.
Standard management practice – polish your reputation by leaving your successor knee-deep in shit and making it look like their fault.
Blinglish deserves this…..a dishonest man who gladly peddles his christian values whilst punishing the vulnerable.
Let the hypocrisy burn nationals vote down, they’ve certainly worked hard on it.
+111
😈
Ask yourself this, why did the right put up bill if he is not the best choice?
Why did they go for someone recognisable as a Christian conservative?
hint: quick exit…
They thought they were more than the John Key party even though they created the John Key facade. They thought they could remake steady billy a bit…
Well Bill does have some good points but he should have stuck to being finance minister
If we follow the logic of the Right, Bill’s biggest problem is he has never had a real world job. University, some farm work and then Treasury, then an MP.
But National do not apply the rhetoric of their attacks to themselves
Bills biggest problem (imho) is that he comes across as a bit boring, a bit dull
Bill’s biggest problem is he never learns from his mistakes. He’s still pretending everything is working wonderfully when he knows that a lot of his crap has never worked.
If he’d actually grown the productive economy or achieved low unemployment (now around 11%) he wouldn’t be on the way out.
He’s a fucking liar. Just hope whoever in the media attempts to expose tonight’s lies gets cut through.
And as Bill is “On the List” he can exit stage right on the 24th September.
Imo bill gets to play PM then sling his hook if they lose as hes a list MP. They didnt have a plan if they won last time but they seem to have this one all sorted.
Leave pullya, crusher and the others to it whilst a progressive govt rebuilds….so nz can vote them back in to plunder all over again as the electorate has the memory of a ZX80.
With the NZ population growing at over 40,000 each year (or the equavalent of over one new MP per annum), sooner or later the size of Parliament will need to grow.
Back in 1993, prior to MMP being introduced, there where 99 MPs and the population was 3.57m people (or about 36,080 people per MP). When MMP was introduced there were 120 MPs for 3.68m people (or about 30,700 people per MP). It’s now 2017 with 4.60m people in New Zealand. Currently the average number of people per MP has grown to 38,358 people.
If the initial MMP ratio of MPs to people was implemented today, then we would be looking at 150 MPs.
If the last FPP ratio was used (36,000 people per MP) as a guide we would see the current Parliament re-sized to 128 MPs.
Sooner or later increasing the number of MPs will need to be addressed. Any thoughts on how big Parliament should be?
Needs a bigger heart than it has presently.
I think it was a joke told in the film Brassed Off: On the eighth day of creation, one of God’s angels came to Him and said, we’ve run out of brains, hearts and backbones, but we’ve still got a lot of arseholes left.” “I’m sure I can do something with those,” God said, and Lo and Behold, He created the Tory Party.
Sacks and sacks of arseholes, pallets stacked high with them, my mind boggles!!
Is that the right question or should we be asking if representation levels be maintained?
Which brings up another question: Are our MPs actually representing us or are they representing business and rich people?
The evidence is that they’re representing business and rich people.
The cited article refers to the US situation and is examining plurality with particular reference to what happens when election funding constraints are removed. Does this biased plurality occur in NZ? Yes, but not to the same extent.
I prefer tight election funding rules that limit individual and group contributions and where contributions sources have to be revealed.
One model for decision making is that everybody gets a vote. Everybody is asked to pass that vote to a proxy whom they respect as a “wise and trust worthy” person. These first level proxies are then asked the same question and they pass on all their proxy votes to a second level proxy. Rinse and repeat until you get to a sufficiently small group of proxies holders to run the country.
I’m in two minds about that actually. The sale of our assets over the last 30 years to the private sector against the will of the people tends to indicate to me that they’re acting for business rather than the people. Even if it isn’t to the same extent as the US the fact that we seem to be following their footsteps in many ways isn’t a good indication either.
I’ve been tending towards a parliament the same as we have now. It does everyday government business but the policies are decided by referendum – and voting in them is compulsory.
After the last UK Election we were surprised to see that Labour was supported largely by educated socially aware people as opposed to the ignorant. (Suppose the latter voted Tory?)
Why should we decide that the average number of people/MP in 1993 in New Zealand was the optimal ratio?
For example the US has 435 members in the Lower house and a population of about 330m. That is about 750,000 people/congressman.
India has about 1,500,000/representative. That would be 3 people for the whole of New Zealand. Sounds pretty good to me. 2 in the North Island and 1 in the South. It would be easy to decide what was the majority view.
Small countries, counting only sovereign states are Nauru and San Marino at about 500 people/rep.
The ultimate is apparently Vatican City with 114 people/rep.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legislatures_by_country
Please explain why you think that 36,000 is optimal and any other value is wrong.
Under FPP, there was a legislated ratio of registered voters to MPs, being the average number of registered voters per South Island electorate. Thus, as the population expanded, the North Island added electorates and Parliament got bigger.
We still have that system for the electorates under MMP, but Parliament itself has not added MPs, so we have gone from 64 electorates to 71, but still have 120 MPs. This will have to change at some point, or MMP will become Supplementary Member instead.
That is true. There must be 16 General electorates in the South Island. I don’t really see why that number is so sacred. I believe the reasoning is that otherwise electorates could get too large. I can’t see it would be a problem if the number were to drop to 15 or 14.
After all one of the Maori electorates covers the whole of the South Island.
Even that is a midget of course compared to Durack in Western Australia. That covers 1.63 million km2. That is 6 times the area of New Zealand.
Apparently there is an even bigger one in Canada. Nunavut is about 2.1 million km2.
Imagine going door knocking in one of those babies?
That is a digression of course. I don’t see why we need as many MPs as we have. One excuse given is that it gives more people from whom to pick a Cabinet. That is a furphy. It is the number of MPs in the Government that determines the size of the Cabinet, not the other way around.
In order for the Cabinet to control the Government caucus, and prevent them over-riding the Cabinet there must be about half the Government in Cabinet, or at least be Ministers.
That is why we have about 20 of them in Cabinet and 7 Ministers outside Cabinet. Back in the 1950s, when we had 80 MPs there were only about a dozen in Cabinet. They did just fine. Doubling the population doesn’t double the work to be done.
I am disinclined to use the electoral system in the USA as anything but a cautionary tale.
The Senate system sees 2 US senators per state. So Californa has two for 40m people and Vermont has 2 for 0.67m.
US Congressmen and Congresswomen are shared by states on a more proportional manner.
Your count of elected officials missed the gubernatorial and state legislatures. This would add thousands of people to your count. ( Though not in the District of Columbia, where the US Congress has taken on itself to be the state legislature.)
As to how much representation do we need, my answer is:
1. It has to maintain the capability of list seats to create proportionality. Currently the list seats are being converted into electorate seats and as CH notes, this means we have gone from a 60:60 split to a 71:49 split. Population growth being focused in the Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga triangle will see continued trend of losing list seats and electorate seats being created in these areas. My preference is to ensure that at between 50% and 40% of the total number of MPs come from the list before triggering automatic growth. So right now we are one seat away from that threshold being reached.
2. The electorate seats continue to be driven from maintaining a minimum number of seats in the South Island due to size v’s representation issues. Reducing below the existing 16 is impractical and the argument of growing it by a 2 or 3 can be strongly mounted.
3. Given the population diffences between North Island (3.596m) and South Island (1.043m) the number of electorates in the North Island would need to be increased to 62 to match 18 in the South Island. This gives 80 electorate MPs.
4. Having 80 electorate MPs then means that there would be between 134 and 160 MPs in total.
Briefly.
Yes I left out the Senate but we don’t have any form of Upper House and the House of Representatives seemed to be the most relevant comparison.
We also don’t have a State Government system. Perhaps we should adopt the Texas approach. We could have Parliament sit for 60 days every second year. I’m sure that would be enough.
Or as a Texas friend of mind proposed. They should meet for 2 days every 60 years. That would be perfect.
You don’t need a particular ratio of Electorate/List seats to maintain proportionality. You only need to have a very small number of overhang seats. There was only one of those in the 2014-2017 Parliament. Apart from that one seat we had perfect proportionality. The Green Party for example would have exactly the same number of seats whether we had 50 or 90 list seats.
I can see no reason at all to prefer some rather arbitrary number of list seats.
I cannot see any reason why we cannot reduce the number of South Island seats. Why do you say it is “impractical” to go below 16? If you think a few seats are to large would you prefer the old country quota?
Even if we did have 80 electorate seats we wouldn’t necessarily have a non-proportional status. It would just mean that neither National nor Labour would have as many list members as they do. The NZF and Green parties would still have exactly as many members as they do now.
Having talked to both Cabinet and other MPs they all talk about the high demand local meetings and consultation puts on them. This is how it should be and fobbing constituents off with local office managers leads to the sort of events seen in the Southland electorate.
So more people does mean more work for MPs to do.
“So more people does mean more work for MPs to do”.
That may be true. However it is a very good argument for a greater proportion of them being Electorate rather than List MPs. It shouldn’t really matter unless we start getting a whole lot of overhang members. I haven’t done the calculation properly but 40, and perhaps even 30 list seats would still allow all the parties currently in the house to have exactly the same number of MPs as they do now.
It is possible that having only 30 list members, and inflating the number of electorate seats for each party in proportion to the larger number of electorates would mean some overhang Labour MPs. It is almost impossible to work out what would really happen without nominating new electorate boundaries and looking at last elections polling place results.
We have a significant corruption problem at present – it wouldn’t hurt to replace up to half of MPs with randomly selected citizen jurors who would serve for a month or so. You’d see a bit more common sense.
I have to say that I thought 2014 was as interesting as an election in NZ would be especially since the Lord, High Commander, Doctor and Sir John Key announced his retirement
Well in this instance I’m glad to be wrong, this election is going down right to the wire 🙂
To the moderators, Weka asked for a more appropriate name so hopefully I’ve chosen better
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96450064/Pair-rub-poison-in-face-of-Nelson-MP-Nick-Smith-threaten-family?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
This is pretty bad, not hearing a lot of outrage about it though
You could try reading the thread up at comment 6,
Bugger (but thanks)
na its allgood because according to the nats some people have less human rights than others , and obviously the attackers decided nick is one of them
😈
very good b.
Clever
The left go low, the right go high 🙂
yet the left is still miles above the right.
you’re on form today matey.
got a knee that resembles a football so lots of time to sit and think. in voltaren we shepherds trust
Don’t know much about herbals, just read that comfrey ointment is supposed to be good for sprains etc. Anyone know about that?
i believe science when it comes to global warming etc why would i not believe science when it comes to healing
Boil up some comfrey leaves, soak a crepe bandage in the cooled liquid, wrap it around your knee – Voltaren begone!
Or wintergreen: Wintergreen Oil Benefits. Research shows that wintergreen oil has the ability to act like a natural analgesic (pain reducer), antiarthritic, antiseptic and astringent. Wintergreen oil primarily contains the active ingredient methyl salicylate, which makes up about 85 percent to 99 percent of wintergreen essential oil.
Your visitors will probably stay upwind, however…
Voltaren’s my go-to for leg sprains and inflammation. I could have kissed my doctor when he said I could do up to 150mg a day.
Also a good prophylactic when I feel my ankle starting to get gouty (although when I started allopurinol that one seems to have been put under control).
This was supposed to be out in April, but it took the Green Party to release it (and I imagine, someone in the Environment Ministry frustrated with the long delay to leak it to them). It is long (284 pages, though the last 26 are references – I’ve copied it over as a pdf, but don’t have the software setup to extract text from that), however what I’ve read so far depicts a daunting future:
https://www.greens.org.nz/sites/default/files/CH_Guide_Draft4-webversion.pdf
https://www.greens.org.nz/news/press-release/new-coastal-hazards-report-reveals-inconvenient-truths-national-led-government
Sigh
Fox News poll of their own viewers on Der Orangegropenfuhrer’s performance:
http://www.distractify.com/politics/2017/09/03/PuqRu/fox-poll-trump?utm_content=inf_10_53_2&tse_id=INF_9893f18090f111e7a7253d7eefa2109b
More than half describe him as a ‘bully’. 44% think that he’s ‘unstable, barely over a third think that he’s ‘competent’. Less than a third think that he’s a ‘problem solver’, ‘knowledgeable’, ‘honest, ‘steady’ or ‘compassionate’ (and only 26% for the last). Only a quarter think that he’s a ‘moral leader’ or ‘presidential.’
A clear majority of polled voters said that the terms ‘presidential’, ‘moral leader’, ‘compassionate’, and ‘steady leader’ do not apply at all.
Moreover, over half – 56% – say that he is ‘tearing the country apart’ rather than almost a third who think that he is uniting the country.
Again, this is a poll of Fox News viewers, the group most likely to support him after people who keep the Reader’s Digest abridged edition of Mein Kampf as bedtime reading.
Supposedly only 1 in 18 Trump voters say would change their vote (https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2017-07-20/do-over-1-in-8-people-who-voted-for-trump-want-to-change-their-vote-reuters-ipsos-poll), but I think that a defining characteristic of these people, and what made Trump appealing to them, is a defiant attitude. Asking a direct question will get a defiant ‘NO!’ These are people who get tattoos saying ‘No Regerts’ after all. Questions about specific personal and moral qualities will get different answers with a different cumulative result. This is why psychologists routinely use multiple indirect questions about individual circumstances when assessing personality instead of one big question.
Now the next Presidential election is in 2020, but the congressional mid-terms are next year and a lot of Republican congresscreatures are going to be thinking about rats and sinking ships.
Going to channel my inner paddy gower and demand a simple yes or no from one of the labour heavies that lurk her,
Is labour’s water tax going to be 100% spent on cleaning up rivers?????
i will start shouting it if i get no answer
less processing and packaging of course. 🙂
https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/96383507/Revenue-from-Labours-water-levy-could-go-to-projects-such-as-roading?cid=app-iPhone
Labour candidate Jo Luxton told the crowd that during a recent meeting with Ashburton councillors, the possibility of using the revenue generated for projects such as roading, rather than solely for environmental purposes, was raised.
Labour’s water spokesman, David Parker, was at that meeting, and said he would be open to discussing that possibility, Luxton said.
When contacted on Friday, Parker said revenue would primarily need to be distributed to regional councils to clean up waterways.
However, money left over could be given to local councils, which would “decide what to do with it”, he said.
If money were to be “left over” then the levy is too high. It will take a long time to sort so it shouldnt be a problem. Now, where a road might be needed is getting access to areas to carry out the “cleaning”
Or “left over” goes to DOC for that area?
Well I’d say the farmers being charged probably think its a bit of a problem especially if the money used goes elsewhere (Auckland roads for example)
my suspicion is ‘wedge politics’ as farmers are an easy target for townies to hate on as the have no idea what’s happening in rural nz , and it stinks,
Bwaghorn, you seem to be one of the more sensible commentators on this site.
I’m also farming, and just can’t be involved with Labour or the left anymore, so antagonistic to farming and farmers.
I’m wondering why you support the left?
You poor farmers. You don’t understand what is going on. There are a number of different farming sectors actually, so are you into industrial farming, capital accretion farming (buying up farms to create a huge block like Crafar who had eyes bigger than his gut.)
2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6323850/Crafar-farms-sale-to-Chinese-group-approved (Government got away with selling for $14 million
by bringing in Landcorp)
2017 https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/94279420/oxford-dairy-farm-sold-to-overseas-interests-for-182m
We alert townies try and keep up with the numerous dodges that farmers and their support businesses adopt. And of course as I pointed out there are Queen Street farmers whose dream is to sit in their leather office chair watching their computer screens, electronically opening and closing gates, and using low-price, high-volume third world labourers while ignoring the NZs who would like to have an opportunity.
You make me weep with your simple-minded talk about antagonism to farmers. The facts about irrigation drying up rivers, nutrient seepage and animal pollution are out there.
Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and man up to the problems.
He worked he did not have a gut the.The problem is National did sweet f all except give Bills mates a hand out and import workers .
Here is an example Robert!
Where? What cause to non-farmers have to dislike farming and farmers?
Jimmy – what reason do you think “the left” have or give for being antagonistic to farming and farmers?
Jimmy has had to go and attend to lambing? Rescue animals from flood waters. We will never know what sort of farmer he is or what his ‘beef’ with townies is as he is a Southern man and has an allowance of 100 words a day!@
How many different sorts of farmers are there?
1 Dairy
2 Dairy/beef
3 Fattening bobby calves
4 Sheep and wool
5 Slinks?
6 Family farm/mixed
7 Farms Amalgamated with managers
8 Corporate
??
Had to go and calve a cow that was having an extremely difficult breech birth.
I never said I had a “beef” with townies, I said I found the left too be antagonistic to farmers.
I’m more Northern than southern, and dairy is the farm type.
many reasons but the biggy for me is the depths that the right will plumb to stay in power , also as we saw with the barclay stuff the first instinct of a cornered nat is to lie , the same as they are doing with the 11 bill fiscal hole lie they are touting now , any party that thinks key shipley or brash are fit leaders i could never support, also collins as an mp defies belief .
in saying that i like top but unless i see him getting close i’ll hold my nose and vote labour despite their water wedge politics
If they stop at ‘rivers’ then they’ve barely begun.
Aquifers are also at risk and it takes time for leachate to percolate. More time than a parliamentary term. Mapping and monitoring are both long term basic management work.
Nor have we begun to look at long term harms and changes in soil populations or effects on DNA and resilience to viruses and fungal outbreaks.
The levy won’t be ‘too high’. Probably grossly underfunded and at risk from a scare that shifts people away from bottled and back to tap.
(Whoever thought water in plastic was a ‘good’ idea, anyway?)
Good piece inspired by AAAP at
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11916289
It claims that “NZ First has not made any promises on welfare except to “ensure that benefits (and abatement levels) are inflation adjusted” and I can find nothing to the contrary on their website (http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/policies)
If indeed they have no policy to increase benefits above the rate of inflation I am appalled.
They are going to recriminalise prostitution so what did you expect.
I think that Seymour had the best comment on all the promises and demands that Winston First has been announcing.
“Winston has more bottom lines than a 100 year old Elephant”.
I ignore any claims The Right Honourable Winston Raymond Peters makes. Any similarity between what he says and what actually happens is entirely coincidental.
ACT is also offering a serious increase in benefits, although I don’t think Seymour realises that.
Assange goes full Islamaphobe.