Latest TPP U.S., Australia Move Toward Biologics Compromise With Options
ATLANTA – The United States and Australia are inching toward a compromise on the exclusivity period for biologic drugs that would give Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries more than one option for providing an appropriate level of intellectual property (IP) protection, according to informed sources. http://insidetrade.com/
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 13m13 minutes ago
#TPP Ministerial is extended for another 24 hours now.
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 22m22 minutes ago
Reportedly, Amari told Froman to conclude dairy & biologics negotiations within 24 hrs. Japan is getting anxious #TPP
“Meanwhile, New Zealand has significantly softened its stance on market access for dairy products. Up until now, the country had been calling for lower barriers for its dairy products. By Saturday, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was saying the TPP would greatly benefit his country even if he couldn’t gain more progress on the issue.”
‘A push by the United States to set a longer period of exclusivity for drug makers who develop biological drugs like Genentech’s Avastin cancer-treatment has run into opposition from other TPP economies.
The United States allows pharmaceutical companies an exclusive period of 12 years to use clinical data behind the approval for a new biological drug.
The Obama administration had previously proposed lowering that threshold to seven years but has pushed a proposal for an eight-year minimum in the TPP talks in Atlanta.
Drug companies argue that a longer period is needed to create an incentive for developing treatments for diseases such as cancer and arthritis.’
‘Harper’s Conservatives are on course to win the most seats in the October 19 election but may lose their majority, and the main opposition party has said it would not feel itself bound by any TPP deal that Harper negotiated.’
75% of drug development in the US is funded by the federal government under the Orphan Drugs scheme. It’s around US$9b per year worth of subsidies (The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato) and I believe that the drug companies actually get to keep the IP rights contrary to most US government grants.
Now, just think of what our own pharmaceutical industry could do with $9b per year of government funding. That’d employ about 100,000 people.
+ 1. Yes Mariana Mazzucato also shows that the development new biologic drugs – the subject of much negotiation in the TPPA – were also funded by public money – mostly in the UK. Venture capitalists and big Pharma only got interested when all of the substantive risks were mitigated and the proofs of effectiveness were rolling in.
She shows that much of the IP claims of big Pharma are in new uses for existing drugs and that the most innovative thing some big pharmaceutical companies do is share buy backs because they are unwilling to take the risks of – the very thing we are supposed to laud these corporate titans for doing – spending actual money on actual research for new drugs.
She describes many companies, Apple for example, as being unfit recipients of public investment because of how they behave – avoiding taxes, moving production offshore and so on.
No one can calibrate with a reasonable degree of confidence the impact of tighter intellectual property protections or harmonized regulations, which are likely to do more to transfer income from one group (consumers) to another (producers) than to affect the overall size of the economy.
— Alan Beattie, Financial Times
This is actually wrong. It’s not shifting income from consumers to producers but from consumers and producers to shareholders. You can pretty much guarantee that there will be a rise in Patent Trolls once the TPPA is in force and everyone will suffer while the bludgers take us to the cleaners.
While I don’t read THIS article as reflecting it……watch out for the insinuation (just quietly) that this victim somehow contributed to her ordeal.
“Prisoner X could have this…..Prisoner X could have that…..BEFORE she was slung into mainstream……etc etc etc. Hang on, maybe her lawyer could have done more…..blah blah blah.”
Yes. She might also have respected this government’s advised ‘kaitiaki’ role in relation to Serco’s licensed lust for profit taking. And said nothing at all.
A la Amanda Bailey. I can see it coming. Hosking’ll be champing at the bit I daresay…..just waiting for the word.
C’mon Peseta Sam……out of hiding and give it your fumbling, inglorious best !
Here’s some context then.
The Independent, a UK newspaper, reporting on the day England played, had 2 stories not to do with sport with greater prominence than the rugby loss.
I’m highlighting how awful our news reporting is.
And therefore how ill informed our population is.
And therefore how a bunch like Key’s gang make parliament.
Police, The Department of Corrections and Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga were all investigating after the prisoner, previously segregated, was moved into the “mainstream” jail population, then allegedly beaten up and sexually assaulted.
Labour’s acting Corrections spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern said the incident was “clear evidence” Serco was not fit to run New Zealand’s prisons.
“After the chaos and violence we saw at Mt Eden Prison, we are now seeing Serco isn’t fit to run Wiri prison either.
“It’s there in black and white in Serco’s contract that they have to run proper segregation policies at Wiri to keep at-risk prisoners safe. They clearly aren’t living up to that.”
Yes serco are not fit to run prisons or anything – they and the people who gave them this role are scum and… (I really really want to go medieval on these bastards, I really really want to describe horrendous fates for these bastards – but doesn’t that make me like them?)
I don’t think Hosking or any media are going to start insinuating this transgender inmate did anything to provoke being raped. I reckon coverage will be neutral (and probably minimal – more’s the pity). It’s a gross failing on the part of Serco, culpable negligence amounting to abuse. Anybody with any sense could have seen that risk, surely. I hope she successfully sues Serco and Corrections.
OPEN LETTER TO JOSIE PAGANI: SECOND PUBLICATION
Sunday 4 October
Dear Josie Pagani,
Two and a half weeks ago on this forum, I asked you to answer two questions:
1.) In the light of your support for the destruction of Afghanistan, do you support the invasion of the United States and Great Britain, the bombing and obliteration of British and American schools, hospitals, power stations and churches, and the killing of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of American and British civilians?
2.) Can you explain your statement that Hezbollah and Hamas are anti-Semitic?
Canadian Treaty ratification process is basically the same as ours, Maybe Harper is spinning.
“After signature of an international treaty, once Canada is ready to be bound by it, a document is prepared establishing that the formalities for the coming into force and implementation of the treaty have been completed and that Canada agrees to be bound by the treaty. More formally, Cabinet prepares an Order in Council authorizing the Minister of Foreign Affairs to sign an Instrument of Ratification or Accession.13 Once this instrument is deposited with the appropriate authority, the treaty is officially ratified. At this point, Canada is bound by the treaty as soon as it comes into force (if it is not already in force).14
The Canadian government and public servants have continued to negotiate on the TPPA as if there was no pre-election period rather than following the usual convention of becoming a care-taker government.
Advice to public servants has been amended from the usual practice. However the advice does say that no deal will be signed until post election but it is still a rather shocking departure from the usual process.
Dear Mr Morrissey
As you know my politics are from the left and therefore cannot provide you with an unequivocal answer. I speak in riddles, just like messers Cunliffe, Little and Geoff.
Yours Josie
[r0b: In case it is not obvious, this comment is not from JP]
“Where do they think they are? Fal-LUJAH!?!?!??”*
Death toll rises in suspected US airstrike on Afghan hospital
by SUNE ENGL RASMUSSEN in Kabul The Guardian, 3 October 2015
Nine staff dead and up to 37 injured in Médecins Sans Frontières hospital as charity says bombing continued for 30 minutes after it raised alarm
A US airstrike appears to have hit a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in the Afghan city of Kunduz, killing nine staff members and injuring up to 37 people.
MSF said its hospital in the northern city was bombed and badly damaged in an aerial attack early on Saturday morning.
The charity claimed it had circulated the coordinates of the site to all sides engaged in fighting in the country, adding that the bombing continued for 30 minutes after it had raised the alarm with Afghan and US authorities.
At the time of the bombing, 105 patients and its carers, and more than 80 MSF international and national staff were in the hospital, the charity said.
Some members of staff were still unaccounted for on Saturday, and there are fears the death toll will rise considerably. Up to 10 international aid workers who were based in the hospital are believed to have survived the attack. ….
A spokesman for the US military admitted it might be responsible.
“US forces conducted an airstrike in Kunduz city at 2:15am [local time] on 3 October against individuals threatening the force. The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility. This incident is under investigation,” said Col Brian Tribus, spokesman for international forces in Afghanistan. ….
Morrissey – this is dreadful, dreadful, dreadful. When will the USA stop its stupid war-mongering?
And as for the “collateral damage” bullshit …… its time they spoke plain English and said straight-out – “we the USA bombed a hospital with over 200 people in it – patients and carers” The use of such language helps them hide their atrocities.
“When will the USA stop its stupid war-mongering?”
They won’t. Their whole economy is based on bombs, bullets and violence.
These conflicts in the middle east plus the Jews bombing Gaza are, as Arther Daily would say ” nice little earners ” . You don’t make bombs to put into a store somewhere, you make them to use.
As for the “collateral damage” bullshit, the yanks have used “sanitised ” language for ages. They no longer do precision bombing, precision is something the bloody yanks don’t know the meaning off, They are now called “Surgical Strikes” sounds very clean antiseptic and sterilized. Another term is “take out” a term that is now creeping into our thugby. It is the American culture and that is why I avoid as much as possible looking, reading, or listening to anything that comes out of that sewer.
Who are they then? They are not exactly Scots in Kilts are they? I am also under the impression the regime that bombed Gaza was returned to power at the last election, So who were the people who voted for them then?
Israel is a pariah state, it is not “the Jews”. It is a militaristic, racist regime that has been condemned by most of the world. Much of the most eloquent testimony against this rogue state comes from Jews—many of them conscientious objectors from its own armed forces. ….
I think you should be referring to the Israelis half crown, as opposed to the Jews. Jews reside in many countries and do not all by any means condone the Israeli regime’s apartheid and attacks against Palestinians. The IDF seem to be the main agents of the regime.
Precision bombing and Americans is an oxymoron! Joseph Heller summed it up pretty well in Catch-22:
“Did we hit the bridge?” McWatt would ask.
“I couldn’t see, sir, I kept getting bounced around back here pretty hard and I couldn’t see . . .”
“Hey, Aarfy, did the bombs hit the target?”
“What target?” . . . “I don’t think we’re at the target yet. Are we?”
“Yossarian, did the bombs hit the target?”
“What bombs?” answered Yossarian, whose only concern had been the flak.
“Oh well,” McWatt would sing, “what the hell.”
Although I said I don’t read anything that comes out of that sewer, I do read some of the more intelligent thought provoking literature that comes from there. Catch 22 is one of my favorites. The novel is far superior than the film, though I did like Orson Wells (Brigadier General Dreedle) B25 with the white walled tyres. and John Voight (Milo Minderbinder) doing his deals with the Germans to bomb their base at cost plus 10% Fantastic and cynical.
I also like Major Major Major and how he was named Major Major Major. Just to name a few highlights.
Brings back good memories of an ill spent youth in Pomgolia.
Richard Madan @RichardMadan 1h1 hour ago
Also, chances of #TPP Ministerial talks extending *past* Sunday = slim. G20 Trade Min Summit begins Monday in Istanbul, so there’s that.
TPPA
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 5m5 minutes ago
Trade ministers will hold another plenary session at 10 PM tonight. Another night of #TPP stakeholdering, perfect Saturday night in Atlanta!
re- …”This may be dubious but it’s caught the ear of the 800-pound gorilla in the GOP presidential nomination – Donald Trump. He has built a fair degree of his campaign on opposition to TPP, and recently met with Jeff Sessions, a leading TPP opponent among conservatives, to talk trade. Heck, Trump wants to cancel NAFTA, along with stopping any Obama-negotiated trade agreements. “We need fair trade, not free trade,” Trump told 60 Minutes on Sunday, sounding more like Dick Gephardt than a conservative. But he has the ear of a significant portion of the conservative base.”
Go DONALD TRUMP! obviously a free thinker ( ha ha never thought I would say that)
…and interesting that Dotcom has also been texting him!
Hilarious the way this post assumes that left wingers are middle class careerists. No mention of workers (Bunnings, Affco,teachers, bank workers anyone) who are union members, who get the job done as well as being active in political work. That’s the strength of the union movement. Not people with Pol Sci degrees fretting about their mortgage and their career, and what to wear to work today.
[lprent: I’ve never been part of a union. There are no unions that cover the areas I work in and never have been. Unlike people who are in unionised industries and work places, I cannot rely upon a collective herd immunity. Nor can many people who are supporters of the labour movement. This post was clearly directed at them.
Many people who support labour movements aren’t likely to be even have the opportunity to join a union. There aren’t any available to them.
Kind of freaky the way that you assume leftie middle class careerists have PolSci degrees. I don’t. BSc, MBA and a lot of experience on factory floors and running them. I know very few people with polsci degrees outside of a few bureaucrats in Wellington.
But I suspect that you are just a idiot, and probably a troll. Looking at your comments – you are banned from the post that these came from for attempted diversion. Use OpenMike where this got moved to. You are now being moderated. If I see you try here again, I will give you a long ban.
Moved the whole thread to OpenMike to discourage similar fuckwits ]
“Not people with Pol Sci degrees fretting about their mortgage and their career, and what to wear to work today.”
Way to minimise political concerns. Given that the people who control what’s happening to all of us are likely to be Pol Sci grads (and business school grads with careers to fret about), it makes sense to look at the politics of coercion in that context.
(you can of course also write about the pressures on working class people to be silent).
Lols. I just deleted my reply to CR (I had the identical experience as them when working for an NGO) as I’m not middle class careerist enough. Figured this post isn’t for me after all.
Way to dismiss the place of unions in left politics and pretend that belonging to a union isn’t one of the best ways to advance “leftist” politics. And that only working class people belong to unions. Teachers, nurses, medical specialists, university staff, finance and retail sector workers – all middle class and members of strong, active and successful unions. That is one very powerful way to be politically active, have a career, be middle-class and left.
Advising me to write a separate post about unions and the working class kind of underscores the point.
If people join unions, or form unions when there isn’t one that covers your profession, unions have more strength, and are able to influence politics more.
Careerists are by definition more concerned with their individual selves and prospects of “getting ahead”, as demonstrated here, and collective action and strength seems not to appeal to them. How does that sit with be “lefty”?
Unions members have mortgages too. Stop being such cowards.
…because…do you get it? People here are complaining of feeling isolated, and vulnerable and unable to speak out. How many of you saying that belong to your union? That’s what unions are – groups of workers middle class and working class, banding together to protect their pay and conditions, yes, but also to protect their professional standards, and to have political influence, and the right an ability to speak out without fear. Why is that not an option for you guys? I am genuinely interested to know.
The people that I was thinking about like the “small business owner” are not in a union situation, trendy lefty. Also the people that used to work for larger govt departments or firms who are now classified as contractors.
Part of the rationale for this trend was to help disestablish the rights of the workers and deal to unions at the same time. I agree, if you have the opportunity to be in a union, you should take it.
The people that I was thinking about like the “small business owner” are not in a union situation,
I think that small business owners should be in a union and I’m not talking about the Chamber of Commerce. They could do much to help each other. Unfortunately, someone would probably get round to calling it a guild which is an illegal entity.
I don’t understand why people dont. In July I got a $23 a fortnight pay increase because of TEU. I pay $18 a fortnight to the Union. My non union colleages go tno increase, so financially alone, i am ahead BUT most importantly the TEU works to challenge the change being proposed where I work, and it will protect its own workers jobs first and foremost
I can see why some big bosses don’t like unions, but not anyone earning less than $90k per annum.
Anytime a colleague has a work problem and they come to me (as a former lawyer) , I always ask them first “are you in the union” When they say “no” I say join the union, and they will help you.
I can see why some big bosses don’t like unions, but not anyone earning less than $90k per annum.
Big bosses love unions. It’s why they belong to so many – Manufacturing Associations, Business Roundtables, Chambers of Commerce, The National Party. What they don’t like is the small people having unions.
Tracey..Pleased to hear that non union colleagues didn’t get the increase that you as a union member got. It didn’t use to be that way and the freeloaders (Duh. I don’t believe in unions..duh!) used to get the same increases that union members paid,negotiated and even withdrew services for.
When they complained about being treated poorly my advice always was.. ‘discuss it with your union delegate..oh what? your not a member?..oh well,,’
A colleague of mine a few years ago challenged her redundancy. She had not been a union member, but once made redundant joined up. They went in to battle for her. She had a poor case (legally) but with the union she got a VERY good payout.
I can see why they do it, they want to protect workers but honestly, if you knew your insurance company would pay you out without paying premiums until you needed to, why would you bother?
“..and forgo your career arc”, or words to that effect. Not so. You make it sound as if being a member of the union automatically means your career is over. Bullshit, I say. Sure unions don’t always win, and small businesses are businesses, so yeah hard for them to join a union – but is that a new thing? And if you are a small business, you can be left wing by treating and paying your employees well, and encouraging them to belong to their union.
However, most people in New Zealand are employees, and less than 20% are members of their unions. I hear people say, why should I join a union? They have no power. They didn’t do anything for me..etc…acting as if a union is a separate entity, rather than themselves and their colleagues.
If you are an employee or a contractor, join your union. Be active in your union, and encourage other colleagues to join. Be brave.
Union member with a good career and senior position, speaking out, telling it like it is to the Minister of Education. Not scared, surrounded by member colleagues, who know that they, not the union staff, are the union:
Well, your comment reads as though addressed directly to me. But see, I didn’t say anything about foregoing a career arc in relation to unionism per se. Hmm, and I was formerly heavily involved in unionism. Anyway…
I hear people say, why should I join a union? They have no power. They didn’t do anything for me..etc…acting as if a union is a separate entity, rather than themselves and their colleagues.
That is true and it is also true of greater society.
I think many of Ad’s points, in the abstract, do apply to working class employment too (whether or not that was Ad’s ‘target’).
My Dad worked in factories almost all of his life. When he was an operator of a cable extruder (did that for about 12 years) I remember him saying that he trained probably half a dozen new men (always men) to become a ‘driver’ on the machine – which was the lead role on the machine and paid more than a ‘hand’.
Dad would apply to get a ‘driver’s’ job but was never offered it despite being relied upon to train the new recruits. The reason, according to him, was that he was disliked by his managers. Why?
Well, he was a staunch unionist and, using basic logic and his intuitive principles he would point out when management was in breach of the award that they had signed up to or were acting in bad faith, etc..
Back then – the 1970s – that amounted to being labelled a ‘pommy stirrer’.
Mum used to tell him to stop arguing with the bosses so that he’d become a driver and get a pay rise. He didn’t, which I guess meant that we were less wealthy than we could have been if he’d compromised what, to him, were pretty basic principles of fairness (e.g., rule of law, abiding by a contract, being honest). I guess you could say he sacrificed his ‘career’ by not compromising his principles.
He also used to complain about the fact that, at smoko and lunches (he worked 12 hour shifts, sometimes overnight so they weren’t always lunches) he’d try to talk about politics but his co-workers were completely uninterested and didn’t want to engage – they just read the sports pages of the paper on the cafeteria tables.
He became very frustrated and quite bitter – I guess a bit of an outcast both in terms of his treatment by the bosses but, more importantly, the responses of his fellow workers to his politicised view of life and work.
I think the same applies in middle class workplaces – and sites of middle class socialising in general. The person who wants to discuss or ‘come out’ about their political concerns is either an embarrassment or seen as an unhelpful bore and, quick, someone start talking about something else – anything else.
BTW, at that time Dad wasn’t a shop steward or a union staffer – just an active member of the union.
I think, in general, being political is a good way to not be accepted by most groups, working or middle class.
At best I think it’s often seen as an unfortunate ‘hobby’ for someone to have – especially if it goes beyond brief and bland comments about, for example, ‘the government’s not doing too bad, eh’ or ‘did you here what [politician X] said? What a jerk/joke/idiot!’.
Jonah Hull’s scandalously biased “report” on “Russia’s bombardment of Syria”:
Qatari state TV is, as usual, repeating U.S. State Dept. talking points.
Al Jazeera News, Sunday 4 October 2015, 11 a.m.
Al Jazeera’s biased and incendiary coverage of Syria has always been a disgrace. As the mouthpiece of the ISIL-supporting Qatari dictatorship, Al Jazeera diligently parrots the dictatorship’s line, which is a faithful reiteration of the U.S.-Saudi line, on every dispute involving Syria, Yemen, Iran and Lebanon.
In fact, it is more upsetting to see such crude propaganda emanating from an ostensible news channel than it is to watch the same words coming from the mouths of Samantha Power, John Kerry and Barack Obama. At least we expect Power, Kerry and Obama to routinely tell lies. With a television channel on the other hand, even one from an anti-democratic state like Qatar, we should expect at least a nominal commitment to the facts.
Instead, Al Jazeera insults its viewers with “reports” like the one this morning from Jonah Hull, in Macedonia….
After soberly announcing that the “moderate armed opposition” in Syria—a technical term for Al Qaeda, ISIL and Al Nusra—in Syria is “demanding” that its Western supporters “get serious” about supporting them, Hull goes in search of some vox pop, presumably to lend an appearance of credibility to his “report”…
JONAH HULL: Do you think Russia’s involvement in Syria will make things better?
CAREFULLY SELECTED SYRIAN REFUGEE: Ehhhhh, no.
Then it’s back to Jonah Hull for a few pompous, minatory final words. Summoning up all the gravitas he can, Hull intones: “It’s about the Russian bombing of Syria now, of course. Jonah Hull, Al Jazeera, on the Macedonia-Serbia border.”
Democrats are as likely to participate in the revolving door as Republicans; which incentivizes them to support and propose legislation that redistributes income to the wealthy and harms the middle class. In his progressive agenda, President Sanders would be taking this lucrative escape from representative duties away from them.
Not only this but those regulatory agencies which have been captured by industry and finance will be against him. The criminal (in)justice system which has benefited from militarization and the drug war will be against him. The entire pharmaceutical and insurance industries will be against him. The military that wants to be able to fight the Soviet Union two times over will be against him.
This is why “political revolution” is so important.
And we have similar problems here as well as we saw with the ABCs in Labour prior to the last election. Our entire bureaucratic system fights against the changes that we need to make NZ, and the world, better.
An Auckland mother-of-three spent seven months on home detention after her former employer at upmarket bathroom ware chain Spazio Casa wrongly accused her of theft.
Rachel Wilkinson was acquitted at a retrial last month when ex-franchisees of the company came forward to counter the claims of Spazio Casa director, Paulo Cozzolino.
Cozzolino had accused Wilkinson of taking $40,000 worth of bathroom products and selling them on Trade Me.
But 32-year-old Wilkinson has always maintained that Cozzolino told her to do it, to get rid of unwanted stock.
The allegations came as Spazio Casa was investigated by the Commerce Commission for promoting its products as Italian, when in fact most were made in China.
Right, now that he’s left can we make it so that he can’t come back?
I disagree, justice must be proportionate, as we are now seeing the quite disreproporate way kiwi are treated in oz. Seven months home detention for the boss.
I agree. You don’t see why politics of distraction exists to undermine your power. Do the sums, when media in oz or nz do immigration stories whose harmed.
When we throw out a crime they do the same, it all equals up, but its worse for all, as the criminals have families, they have mortgages their kids are attached to their community, when you cut them out, you not only damage them but also the wealth around them. That’s why mob mentality is dumb, you are dumb, you are serving the media distraction industry, you are being uneconomic, u are harming innocents, or at least that would be the effect if people listened to you.
Free trade is undermined when we make it harder for world class experts to move around the globe, and know they are just as likely to gecaught in a lie. Take vw, some engineer wrote a testing regime for smooth running diseal that out performed petrol, marketering got a hold of it and not understanding the physics got the boss sacked. WE chuck crimes out and they chuck their crimes out and we’ll get the same amount of crimes shared around. Well worse since there ate so many more kiwis aboard and so more criminals.
Oh, andhen as the returnee come home poorer caught at the I lowest hour, they can thank you for your mercy.
When we throw out a crime they do the same, it all equals up, but its worse for all, as the criminals have families, they have mortgages their kids are attached to their community, when you cut them out, you not only damage them but also the wealth around them.
As I said, he’s already left to go back to Italy. All I’m saying is that we don’t let him back in. Hopefully he hasn’t got full citizenship in which case all we have to do is to revoke his permanent residency.
Free trade is undermined when we make it harder for world class experts to move around the globe, and know they are just as likely to gecaught in a lie.
Can you define what “world class” means?
I’m pretty sure you can’t and the reason for that is because it’s a meaningless phrase. It, quite literally, means nothing.
Take vw, some engineer wrote a testing regime for smooth running diseal that out performed petrol, marketering got a hold of it and not understanding the physics got the boss sacked.
Calls to invoke immigration fascism is self defeating, as other countries do the same. And given the present issue where kiwis in oz are denied access to welfare, and are more likely to get caught out by the law, it seems astounding anyone on the left for the reasons above, or the right for free trade in workers or the huge dispropionate loss of wealth forcing a whole family to up root and move. Just saying I think you need to back using immigration as a arm of justice. People make mistakes, they do so at home or aboard, companies lose when chefs have to be replaced. And don’t give me that argument that a person whose committed an offences lesser a human being, or not beter at their jobs, or have kids, or won’t cost the economy if we stuff them up a bit with some arbritary historical boundary merely as they are in the public eye. Judges don’t take licenses away from drivers, so way should immigration stuff up a foreigners life that may take decades to get back. Now if it was a violent crime, then the society that raised them should have to deal wih them. Oz chewing up kiwi born but aussie raised to throw themut is just beyond nasty its bout owning the problem. What would that say about a person if they don’t take responisility. Australia should be taken to task by its citizens.
TPPA Jane Kelsey’s take on the situation.
Jane Kelsey: “TPPA ministerial extended another day, still stuck on meds and dairy ”
“But Professor Kelsey warns that a ‘final’ TPPA that assumes any compromise wording would survive the US political process could be built on sand, as the US could still demand a longer term as a quid pro quo for making concessions on other areas.
Allowing countries to keep their current 5 years would have to pass the scrutiny of the US Congress and, more significantly, the process whereby the US certifies the other country has complied with the US understanding of its obligations under agreement. Professor Kelsey observed that ‘any flexibility given to New Zealand on biologics to allow us to keep our current 5 years of data exclusivity could prove an illusion at that final hurdle.’
As for dairy, the chess game remains much the same: what Canada and Japan have given the US is not enough to satisfy the US industry that it can compensate for increased market access to New Zealand.”
– See more at: http://livenews.co.nz/2015/10/04/jane-kelsey-tppa-ministerial-extended-another-day-still-stuck-on-meds-and-dairy/#sthash.4tzsdjl7.dpuf
On Friday I posted this about the comments on NZ Herald stories, a topic which had previously been raised here:
“I have been watching one particular story today, so here’s what has happened so far.
Brian Rudman’s “Don’t waste takahe’s cash on panda porn” was posted at 9.24am. (Presumably too late for the print edition – will it be in that tomorrow?)
The 24 comments the Herald opted to reproduce are all denoted as having been made at c.11.48am. However, they were not actually posted till after 1pm.
I made a comment on the article sometime around 12.30 and that has not been posted. In fact it is now 5.25pm and no further comments have been added at all. That seems odd.
(The tone of the existing comments was pretty nearly 100% against the government. The usual RWNJs were absent, having decided that this one was too hot too handle.)”
Just coming back to report that the missing comments- or such of them as the Herald wants to print – have now been posted, TWO DAYS LATE. Posted late this morning, Sunday. They’re pretty heavily critical of the government’s actions, but I doubt that many people will now read them. That’s one way to deal with criticism.
Keep an eye on the Herald’s techniques with its comments. They are up to no good.
1. One of the aspects of TPPA that concerns me the most is the rules about SOE’s . As far as I am concerned, state-backed enterprises should be able to have public service/ public good considerations and not be subject to forced competition with overseas providers.
“The TPP is about more than tariffs and quotas, said Cam Vidler of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He said it’s a rare opportunity for the international community to modernize itself in several important ways:
2. In his q and a interview this morning Mr Key says he can’t say if New Zealand will benefit from the TPPA deal at the moment. He said Kiwis are worrying because they are misinformed. He also says he doesn’t believe NZ could be sued.
Mr Key, I have just looked at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development paper headed “Recent Developments in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).”
“By end of 2013, 98 States have been respondents in a total of 568 known
treaty-based cases.” 57 were initiated in 2013. http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/webdiaepcb2014d3_en.pdf
You John might have a faith-based belief that NZ could not be sued, but looking at the information that I have just read, can you forgive me for having a nagging doubt?
TPPA update
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 2m2 minutes ago
Tonight’s plenary is over. The ministers will meet tomorrow afternoon but not before. Japan is still hopeful of conclusion. #TPP
Burcu Kilic Retweeted
Anna Vidot @AnnaVidot 1h1 hour ago
tl;dr: Robb sounds optimistic,hopeful, but not necessarily confident re biologics agreement. Doesn’t sound like a man about to concede. #TPP
Burcu Kilic Retweeted
Anna Vidot @AnnaVidot 1h1 hour ago
Robb: Aust & US acting in good faith, “but fact is we’ve got different systems and just splitting it down the middle is not the answer. #TPP
‘As it stands at the moment Prime Minister John Key says the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) isn’t “a very good deal for dairy”.
But despite that the benefits in other areas are more “impressive” than the deal struck under the free trade agreement with China, he said.
“So when I say to New Zealanders, look I’m not going to sign you up to something unless I think it’s in your best interests – I don’t do that by whistling in the wind.”
The much-anticipated announcement on the Pacific trade deal has been pushed back again after negotiating countries failed to front at a scheduled press conference at midday on Saturday (Sunday 5am NZT).
It’s understood negotiations will continue through the night in an effort to get it across the line after talks ground to a halt in recent weeks over dairy and biologics.
Key told TVNZ’s Q+A that New Zealand wouldn’t get everything it wanted on dairy but it was about getting something that’s “acceptable”.
He also dismissed claims that New Zealand was opening itself up to being sued by a big US corporation through investor-state or losing its sovereignty over the deal.
“Well we’ve had it in four FTAs now, we’ve never ever been sued. New Zealand has never had a case taken against us in investor state.”‘
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 24 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
Welcome to the whirring wonders of one brain trying to align its actions with its beliefs within a system it thinks is evil. My brain has been spiralling in a woke conundrum ever since I found out a bookshop I’ve never been to was shutting down. Good Books, a bookshop ...
We repeat our call for criminal justice policy to be based on evidence, something the three strikes regime neglects to recognise – with no evidence that it either reduces crime or assists with rehabilitation. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara With only four more seats in the 50-member Parliament yet to be officially declared, there is no outright winner in the Solomon Islands elections. As of Monday, the two largest blocs in the winner’s circle, independents and the incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh ...
Two/fiftyseven is a multi-purpose space hidden in the heart of Wellington that is paving a way for sustainable building and responsible landlording in Aotearoa and beyond.By 2060 the world is predicted to double its entire building stock, which equates to building an entire New York City every 34 days, ...
Popstars wasn’t just a reality television revolution, it was also a huge moment for Y2K fashion.It’s 25 years since girl group TrueBliss was formed on New Zealand national television, breaking new ground for both the reality television industry and the shiny clothing industry. With the first episode on NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Pepping, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, Griffith University Marvin / Shutterstock Are all single people insecure? When we think about people who have been single for a long time, we may assume it’s because single people have insecurities that make ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Geary, Lecturer in Quantitative Ecology & Biodiversity Conservation, The University of Melbourne Trismegist san, Shutterstock Landscapes that have escaped fire for decades or centuries tend to harbour vital structures for wildlife, such as tree hollows and large logs. But these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher, Lecturer in Marine Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Shutterstock/S Curtis Why are we crossing ecological boundaries that affect Earth’s fundamental life-supporting capacity? Is it because we don’t have enough information about how ecosystems respond to change? Or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Crocker, PhD Student in Economics, Deakin University Here’s something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its ...
Latest TPP U.S., Australia Move Toward Biologics Compromise With Options
ATLANTA – The United States and Australia are inching toward a compromise on the exclusivity period for biologic drugs that would give Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries more than one option for providing an appropriate level of intellectual property (IP) protection, according to informed sources. http://insidetrade.com/
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 13m13 minutes ago
#TPP Ministerial is extended for another 24 hours now.
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 22m22 minutes ago
Reportedly, Amari told Froman to conclude dairy & biologics negotiations within 24 hrs. Japan is getting anxious #TPP
Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said he had agreed to stay on until Sunday, but this was the last extension possible for talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which began on Wednesday. http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUKKCN0RX0OZ20151003?irpc=932
Good explanation of biologicals issue in this Huff Post article
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-sander-/is-tpp-the-most-progressive-trade-agreement-in-history-_b_7461734.html
“Meanwhile, New Zealand has significantly softened its stance on market access for dairy products. Up until now, the country had been calling for lower barriers for its dairy products. By Saturday, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was saying the TPP would greatly benefit his country even if he couldn’t gain more progress on the issue.”
http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Negotiations-on-Pacific-trade-deal-to-go-on-another-day
Thanks, John!
We’re being softened up for a dirty dirty deal.
‘A push by the United States to set a longer period of exclusivity for drug makers who develop biological drugs like Genentech’s Avastin cancer-treatment has run into opposition from other TPP economies.
The United States allows pharmaceutical companies an exclusive period of 12 years to use clinical data behind the approval for a new biological drug.
The Obama administration had previously proposed lowering that threshold to seven years but has pushed a proposal for an eight-year minimum in the TPP talks in Atlanta.
Drug companies argue that a longer period is needed to create an incentive for developing treatments for diseases such as cancer and arthritis.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/286007/tpp-talks-bogged-down-over-pharmaceuticals
From the same article
‘Harper’s Conservatives are on course to win the most seats in the October 19 election but may lose their majority, and the main opposition party has said it would not feel itself bound by any TPP deal that Harper negotiated.’
Could we hear the same form Mr Little please?
75% of drug development in the US is funded by the federal government under the Orphan Drugs scheme. It’s around US$9b per year worth of subsidies (The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato) and I believe that the drug companies actually get to keep the IP rights contrary to most US government grants.
Now, just think of what our own pharmaceutical industry could do with $9b per year of government funding. That’d employ about 100,000 people.
+ 1. Yes Mariana Mazzucato also shows that the development new biologic drugs – the subject of much negotiation in the TPPA – were also funded by public money – mostly in the UK. Venture capitalists and big Pharma only got interested when all of the substantive risks were mitigated and the proofs of effectiveness were rolling in.
She shows that much of the IP claims of big Pharma are in new uses for existing drugs and that the most innovative thing some big pharmaceutical companies do is share buy backs because they are unwilling to take the risks of – the very thing we are supposed to laud these corporate titans for doing – spending actual money on actual research for new drugs.
She describes many companies, Apple for example, as being unfit recipients of public investment because of how they behave – avoiding taxes, moving production offshore and so on.
On the topic of the TPPA it appears that there is concern in Canada that people believe the CBC is at risk because of the SOE chapter of the proposed agreement. It seems odd that no-one has raised the possibility of the same risk for Radio New Zealand. Radio New Zealand is not an SOE but the TPPA definition could well differ from the NZ definition.
http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/cbc-could-be-on-the-table-at-next-round-of-tpp-talks-this-wednesday-529823071.html
From you last link:
This is actually wrong. It’s not shifting income from consumers to producers but from consumers and producers to shareholders. You can pretty much guarantee that there will be a rise in Patent Trolls once the TPPA is in force and everyone will suffer while the bludgers take us to the cleaners.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11523403
While I don’t read THIS article as reflecting it……watch out for the insinuation (just quietly) that this victim somehow contributed to her ordeal.
“Prisoner X could have this…..Prisoner X could have that…..BEFORE she was slung into mainstream……etc etc etc. Hang on, maybe her lawyer could have done more…..blah blah blah.”
Yes. She might also have respected this government’s advised ‘kaitiaki’ role in relation to Serco’s licensed lust for profit taking. And said nothing at all.
A la Amanda Bailey. I can see it coming. Hosking’ll be champing at the bit I daresay…..just waiting for the word.
C’mon Peseta Sam……out of hiding and give it your fumbling, inglorious best !
4 headlines in the Herald online about rugby.
None about the TPP.
Bread and circuses.
try and keep it in context paul ffs
Here’s some context then.
The Independent, a UK newspaper, reporting on the day England played, had 2 stories not to do with sport with greater prominence than the rugby loss.
I’m highlighting how awful our news reporting is.
And therefore how ill informed our population is.
And therefore how a bunch like Key’s gang make parliament.
sure Paul I’m talking about the actual story you commented on which was about the awful alleged abuse of that person.
Apologies.
I had meant to start a new thread rather then reply to North’s story.
all good mate
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11523360
Yes serco are not fit to run prisons or anything – they and the people who gave them this role are scum and… (I really really want to go medieval on these bastards, I really really want to describe horrendous fates for these bastards – but doesn’t that make me like them?)
I don’t think Hosking or any media are going to start insinuating this transgender inmate did anything to provoke being raped. I reckon coverage will be neutral (and probably minimal – more’s the pity). It’s a gross failing on the part of Serco, culpable negligence amounting to abuse. Anybody with any sense could have seen that risk, surely. I hope she successfully sues Serco and Corrections.
OPEN LETTER TO JOSIE PAGANI: SECOND PUBLICATION
Sunday 4 October
Dear Josie Pagani,
Two and a half weeks ago on this forum, I asked you to answer two questions:
1.) In the light of your support for the destruction of Afghanistan, do you support the invasion of the United States and Great Britain, the bombing and obliteration of British and American schools, hospitals, power stations and churches, and the killing of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of American and British civilians?
2.) Can you explain your statement that Hezbollah and Hamas are anti-Semitic?
Could you please respond?
http://thestandard.org.nz/all-the-left-wants-is-a-clean-contest-of-ideas/#comment-1071118
This Open Letter to Josie Pagani was also published on Saturday 3 October 2015. So far, Josie Pagani has failed to justify herself.
Stephen Harper, the Canadian pm has promised that the final decision on TPP for Canada will be decided by the parliament in Ottawa. Why isn’t the same thing happening here?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-trans-pacific-partnership-1.3255564
Canadian Treaty ratification process is basically the same as ours, Maybe Harper is spinning.
“After signature of an international treaty, once Canada is ready to be bound by it, a document is prepared establishing that the formalities for the coming into force and implementation of the treaty have been completed and that Canada agrees to be bound by the treaty. More formally, Cabinet prepares an Order in Council authorizing the Minister of Foreign Affairs to sign an Instrument of Ratification or Accession.13 Once this instrument is deposited with the appropriate authority, the treaty is officially ratified. At this point, Canada is bound by the treaty as soon as it comes into force (if it is not already in force).14
The Canadian government and public servants have continued to negotiate on the TPPA as if there was no pre-election period rather than following the usual convention of becoming a care-taker government.
Advice to public servants has been amended from the usual practice. However the advice does say that no deal will be signed until post election but it is still a rather shocking departure from the usual process.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2015/08/canadian-government-amends-caretaker-rules-to-give-itself-power-to-continue-negotiating-tpp/
Perhaps this statement is in response to the criticism that this approach has created
Our flag should be a green mere on a red background, referencing the Maori wars.
Dear Mr Morrissey
As you know my politics are from the left and therefore cannot provide you with an unequivocal answer. I speak in riddles, just like messers Cunliffe, Little and Geoff.
Yours Josie
[r0b: In case it is not obvious, this comment is not from JP]
Thanks r0b. I was kind of on to this one.
Who, by the way, is the “Geoff” this faux-Josie references?
Goff, I imagine.
“Where do they think they are? Fal-LUJAH!?!?!??”*
Death toll rises in suspected US airstrike on Afghan hospital
by SUNE ENGL RASMUSSEN in Kabul
The Guardian, 3 October 2015
Nine staff dead and up to 37 injured in Médecins Sans Frontières hospital as charity says bombing continued for 30 minutes after it raised alarm
A US airstrike appears to have hit a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in the Afghan city of Kunduz, killing nine staff members and injuring up to 37 people.
MSF said its hospital in the northern city was bombed and badly damaged in an aerial attack early on Saturday morning.
The charity claimed it had circulated the coordinates of the site to all sides engaged in fighting in the country, adding that the bombing continued for 30 minutes after it had raised the alarm with Afghan and US authorities.
At the time of the bombing, 105 patients and its carers, and more than 80 MSF international and national staff were in the hospital, the charity said.
Some members of staff were still unaccounted for on Saturday, and there are fears the death toll will rise considerably. Up to 10 international aid workers who were based in the hospital are believed to have survived the attack. ….
A spokesman for the US military admitted it might be responsible.
“US forces conducted an airstrike in Kunduz city at 2:15am [local time] on 3 October against individuals threatening the force. The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility. This incident is under investigation,” said Col Brian Tribus, spokesman for international forces in Afghanistan. ….
Continues….
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/03/three-medecins-sans-frontieres-staff-killed-in-afghanistan-hospital-bombing?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
* David Letterman’s nightly joke during 2004-5. Always met with a roar of laughter from his audience.
Are NZ SAS forces still involved in supplying target information to the US ?
+1 Morrissey
Don’t think we will hear John Key lecturing the security council over this. What a hypocrite.
Morrissey – this is dreadful, dreadful, dreadful. When will the USA stop its stupid war-mongering?
And as for the “collateral damage” bullshit …… its time they spoke plain English and said straight-out – “we the USA bombed a hospital with over 200 people in it – patients and carers” The use of such language helps them hide their atrocities.
“When will the USA stop its stupid war-mongering?”
They won’t. Their whole economy is based on bombs, bullets and violence.
These conflicts in the middle east plus the Jews bombing Gaza are, as Arther Daily would say ” nice little earners ” . You don’t make bombs to put into a store somewhere, you make them to use.
As for the “collateral damage” bullshit, the yanks have used “sanitised ” language for ages. They no longer do precision bombing, precision is something the bloody yanks don’t know the meaning off, They are now called “Surgical Strikes” sounds very clean antiseptic and sterilized. Another term is “take out” a term that is now creeping into our thugby. It is the American culture and that is why I avoid as much as possible looking, reading, or listening to anything that comes out of that sewer.
“the Jews bombing Gaza”
Please don’t call this rogue, criminal regime “the Jews”. The worldwide opposition to Israel is led by Jewish thinkers and activists.
Israel does not represent “the Jews” any more than the similarly brutal regime in Riyadh represents “the Arabs”.
Who are they then? They are not exactly Scots in Kilts are they? I am also under the impression the regime that bombed Gaza was returned to power at the last election, So who were the people who voted for them then?
Israel is a pariah state, it is not “the Jews”. It is a militaristic, racist regime that has been condemned by most of the world. Much of the most eloquent testimony against this rogue state comes from Jews—many of them conscientious objectors from its own armed forces. ….
http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
I think you should be referring to the Israelis half crown, as opposed to the Jews. Jews reside in many countries and do not all by any means condone the Israeli regime’s apartheid and attacks against Palestinians. The IDF seem to be the main agents of the regime.
Precision bombing and Americans is an oxymoron! Joseph Heller summed it up pretty well in Catch-22:
“Did we hit the bridge?” McWatt would ask.
“I couldn’t see, sir, I kept getting bounced around back here pretty hard and I couldn’t see . . .”
“Hey, Aarfy, did the bombs hit the target?”
“What target?” . . . “I don’t think we’re at the target yet. Are we?”
“Yossarian, did the bombs hit the target?”
“What bombs?” answered Yossarian, whose only concern had been the flak.
“Oh well,” McWatt would sing, “what the hell.”
Although I said I don’t read anything that comes out of that sewer, I do read some of the more intelligent thought provoking literature that comes from there. Catch 22 is one of my favorites. The novel is far superior than the film, though I did like Orson Wells (Brigadier General Dreedle) B25 with the white walled tyres. and John Voight (Milo Minderbinder) doing his deals with the Germans to bomb their base at cost plus 10% Fantastic and cynical.
I also like Major Major Major and how he was named Major Major Major. Just to name a few highlights.
Brings back good memories of an ill spent youth in Pomgolia.
TPPA
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 5m5 minutes ago
Thanks 2 NZ Minister Groser, we have a new #TPP term; DRI (dead rat index) swallowing dead rats- making compromises. http://ipolitics.ca/2015/10/03/tpp-talks-bogging-down-meltdown-
Richard Madan @RichardMadan 1h1 hour ago
Also, chances of #TPP Ministerial talks extending *past* Sunday = slim. G20 Trade Min Summit begins Monday in Istanbul, so there’s that.
TPPA
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 5m5 minutes ago
Trade ministers will hold another plenary session at 10 PM tonight. Another night of #TPP stakeholdering, perfect Saturday night in Atlanta!
TPPA — maybe some unanticipated help from a most unexpected quarter …..
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/29/the_unexpected_upshot_of_john_boehners_ouster_the_trans_pacific_partnership_is_in_danger/
+100 … thanks for that !…interesting
re- …”This may be dubious but it’s caught the ear of the 800-pound gorilla in the GOP presidential nomination – Donald Trump. He has built a fair degree of his campaign on opposition to TPP, and recently met with Jeff Sessions, a leading TPP opponent among conservatives, to talk trade. Heck, Trump wants to cancel NAFTA, along with stopping any Obama-negotiated trade agreements. “We need fair trade, not free trade,” Trump told 60 Minutes on Sunday, sounding more like Dick Gephardt than a conservative. But he has the ear of a significant portion of the conservative base.”
Go DONALD TRUMP! obviously a free thinker ( ha ha never thought I would say that)
…and interesting that Dotcom has also been texting him!
Hilarious the way this post assumes that left wingers are middle class careerists. No mention of workers (Bunnings, Affco,teachers, bank workers anyone) who are union members, who get the job done as well as being active in political work. That’s the strength of the union movement. Not people with Pol Sci degrees fretting about their mortgage and their career, and what to wear to work today.
[lprent: I’ve never been part of a union. There are no unions that cover the areas I work in and never have been. Unlike people who are in unionised industries and work places, I cannot rely upon a collective herd immunity. Nor can many people who are supporters of the labour movement. This post was clearly directed at them.
Many people who support labour movements aren’t likely to be even have the opportunity to join a union. There aren’t any available to them.
Kind of freaky the way that you assume leftie middle class careerists have PolSci degrees. I don’t. BSc, MBA and a lot of experience on factory floors and running them. I know very few people with polsci degrees outside of a few bureaucrats in Wellington.
But I suspect that you are just a idiot, and probably a troll. Looking at your comments – you are banned from the post that these came from for attempted diversion. Use OpenMike where this got moved to. You are now being moderated. If I see you try here again, I will give you a long ban.
Moved the whole thread to OpenMike to discourage similar fuckwits ]
This is definitely a post for middle class careerists.
Hope you can cope with that.
Someone else can do a post on the union movement.
In fact the union movement and workers – whom we all support – get more posts here than middle class careerists.
“Not people with Pol Sci degrees fretting about their mortgage and their career, and what to wear to work today.”
Way to minimise political concerns. Given that the people who control what’s happening to all of us are likely to be Pol Sci grads (and business school grads with careers to fret about), it makes sense to look at the politics of coercion in that context.
(you can of course also write about the pressures on working class people to be silent).
Lols. I just deleted my reply to CR (I had the identical experience as them when working for an NGO) as I’m not middle class careerist enough. Figured this post isn’t for me after all.
Way to dismiss the place of unions in left politics and pretend that belonging to a union isn’t one of the best ways to advance “leftist” politics. And that only working class people belong to unions. Teachers, nurses, medical specialists, university staff, finance and retail sector workers – all middle class and members of strong, active and successful unions. That is one very powerful way to be politically active, have a career, be middle-class and left.
Advising me to write a separate post about unions and the working class kind of underscores the point.
If people join unions, or form unions when there isn’t one that covers your profession, unions have more strength, and are able to influence politics more.
Careerists are by definition more concerned with their individual selves and prospects of “getting ahead”, as demonstrated here, and collective action and strength seems not to appeal to them. How does that sit with be “lefty”?
Unions members have mortgages too. Stop being such cowards.
…because…do you get it? People here are complaining of feeling isolated, and vulnerable and unable to speak out. How many of you saying that belong to your union? That’s what unions are – groups of workers middle class and working class, banding together to protect their pay and conditions, yes, but also to protect their professional standards, and to have political influence, and the right an ability to speak out without fear. Why is that not an option for you guys? I am genuinely interested to know.
The people that I was thinking about like the “small business owner” are not in a union situation, trendy lefty. Also the people that used to work for larger govt departments or firms who are now classified as contractors.
Part of the rationale for this trend was to help disestablish the rights of the workers and deal to unions at the same time. I agree, if you have the opportunity to be in a union, you should take it.
I think that small business owners should be in a union and I’m not talking about the Chamber of Commerce. They could do much to help each other. Unfortunately, someone would probably get round to calling it a guild which is an illegal entity.
I belong to the TEU.
I don’t understand why people dont. In July I got a $23 a fortnight pay increase because of TEU. I pay $18 a fortnight to the Union. My non union colleages go tno increase, so financially alone, i am ahead BUT most importantly the TEU works to challenge the change being proposed where I work, and it will protect its own workers jobs first and foremost
I can see why some big bosses don’t like unions, but not anyone earning less than $90k per annum.
Anytime a colleague has a work problem and they come to me (as a former lawyer) , I always ask them first “are you in the union” When they say “no” I say join the union, and they will help you.
Big bosses love unions. It’s why they belong to so many – Manufacturing Associations, Business Roundtables, Chambers of Commerce, The National Party. What they don’t like is the small people having unions.
Tracey..Pleased to hear that non union colleagues didn’t get the increase that you as a union member got. It didn’t use to be that way and the freeloaders (Duh. I don’t believe in unions..duh!) used to get the same increases that union members paid,negotiated and even withdrew services for.
When they complained about being treated poorly my advice always was.. ‘discuss it with your union delegate..oh what? your not a member?..oh well,,’
A colleague of mine a few years ago challenged her redundancy. She had not been a union member, but once made redundant joined up. They went in to battle for her. She had a poor case (legally) but with the union she got a VERY good payout.
I can see why they do it, they want to protect workers but honestly, if you knew your insurance company would pay you out without paying premiums until you needed to, why would you bother?
From the post.
“..and forgo your career arc”, or words to that effect. Not so. You make it sound as if being a member of the union automatically means your career is over. Bullshit, I say. Sure unions don’t always win, and small businesses are businesses, so yeah hard for them to join a union – but is that a new thing? And if you are a small business, you can be left wing by treating and paying your employees well, and encouraging them to belong to their union.
However, most people in New Zealand are employees, and less than 20% are members of their unions. I hear people say, why should I join a union? They have no power. They didn’t do anything for me..etc…acting as if a union is a separate entity, rather than themselves and their colleagues.
If you are an employee or a contractor, join your union. Be active in your union, and encourage other colleagues to join. Be brave.
Union member with a good career and senior position, speaking out, telling it like it is to the Minister of Education. Not scared, surrounded by member colleagues, who know that they, not the union staff, are the union:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOuRU4MHnsQ
Well, your comment reads as though addressed directly to me. But see, I didn’t say anything about foregoing a career arc in relation to unionism per se. Hmm, and I was formerly heavily involved in unionism. Anyway…
That is true and it is also true of greater society.
I think many of Ad’s points, in the abstract, do apply to working class employment too (whether or not that was Ad’s ‘target’).
My Dad worked in factories almost all of his life. When he was an operator of a cable extruder (did that for about 12 years) I remember him saying that he trained probably half a dozen new men (always men) to become a ‘driver’ on the machine – which was the lead role on the machine and paid more than a ‘hand’.
Dad would apply to get a ‘driver’s’ job but was never offered it despite being relied upon to train the new recruits. The reason, according to him, was that he was disliked by his managers. Why?
Well, he was a staunch unionist and, using basic logic and his intuitive principles he would point out when management was in breach of the award that they had signed up to or were acting in bad faith, etc..
Back then – the 1970s – that amounted to being labelled a ‘pommy stirrer’.
Mum used to tell him to stop arguing with the bosses so that he’d become a driver and get a pay rise. He didn’t, which I guess meant that we were less wealthy than we could have been if he’d compromised what, to him, were pretty basic principles of fairness (e.g., rule of law, abiding by a contract, being honest). I guess you could say he sacrificed his ‘career’ by not compromising his principles.
He also used to complain about the fact that, at smoko and lunches (he worked 12 hour shifts, sometimes overnight so they weren’t always lunches) he’d try to talk about politics but his co-workers were completely uninterested and didn’t want to engage – they just read the sports pages of the paper on the cafeteria tables.
He became very frustrated and quite bitter – I guess a bit of an outcast both in terms of his treatment by the bosses but, more importantly, the responses of his fellow workers to his politicised view of life and work.
I think the same applies in middle class workplaces – and sites of middle class socialising in general. The person who wants to discuss or ‘come out’ about their political concerns is either an embarrassment or seen as an unhelpful bore and, quick, someone start talking about something else – anything else.
BTW, at that time Dad wasn’t a shop steward or a union staffer – just an active member of the union.
I think, in general, being political is a good way to not be accepted by most groups, working or middle class.
At best I think it’s often seen as an unfortunate ‘hobby’ for someone to have – especially if it goes beyond brief and bland comments about, for example, ‘the government’s not doing too bad, eh’ or ‘did you here what [politician X] said? What a jerk/joke/idiot!’.
At worst – well, it gets pretty tough.
Jonah Hull’s scandalously biased “report” on “Russia’s bombardment of Syria”:
Qatari state TV is, as usual, repeating U.S. State Dept. talking points.
Al Jazeera News, Sunday 4 October 2015, 11 a.m.
Al Jazeera’s biased and incendiary coverage of Syria has always been a disgrace. As the mouthpiece of the ISIL-supporting Qatari dictatorship, Al Jazeera diligently parrots the dictatorship’s line, which is a faithful reiteration of the U.S.-Saudi line, on every dispute involving Syria, Yemen, Iran and Lebanon.
In fact, it is more upsetting to see such crude propaganda emanating from an ostensible news channel than it is to watch the same words coming from the mouths of Samantha Power, John Kerry and Barack Obama. At least we expect Power, Kerry and Obama to routinely tell lies. With a television channel on the other hand, even one from an anti-democratic state like Qatar, we should expect at least a nominal commitment to the facts.
Instead, Al Jazeera insults its viewers with “reports” like the one this morning from Jonah Hull, in Macedonia….
After soberly announcing that the “moderate armed opposition” in Syria—a technical term for Al Qaeda, ISIL and Al Nusra—in Syria is “demanding” that its Western supporters “get serious” about supporting them, Hull goes in search of some vox pop, presumably to lend an appearance of credibility to his “report”…
JONAH HULL: Do you think Russia’s involvement in Syria will make things better?
CAREFULLY SELECTED SYRIAN REFUGEE: Ehhhhh, no.
Then it’s back to Jonah Hull for a few pompous, minatory final words. Summoning up all the gravitas he can, Hull intones: “It’s about the Russian bombing of Syria now, of course. Jonah Hull, Al Jazeera, on the Macedonia-Serbia border.”
More shoddy recent repetition of U.S. State Dept. talking points….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03102015-2/#comment-1077971
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21022015/#comment-972803
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06022015/#comment-964190
Patrick Cockburn writing in the Independent says the the West should welcome Russia’s intervention.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-crisis-lets-welcome-russias-entry-into-this-war-a6678526.html
Thanks for that, Paul. Excellent.
What a President Sanders Can Expect The Day After Inauguration and Why We Need a “Political Revolution”
And we have similar problems here as well as we saw with the ABCs in Labour prior to the last election. Our entire bureaucratic system fights against the changes that we need to make NZ, and the world, better.
Woman’s conviction overturned after boss wrongly accuses her of theft
Right, now that he’s left can we make it so that he can’t come back?
I disagree, justice must be proportionate, as we are now seeing the quite disreproporate way kiwi are treated in oz. Seven months home detention for the boss.
I don’t see what’s disproportionate about keeping a foreign criminal out of NZ.
I agree. You don’t see why politics of distraction exists to undermine your power. Do the sums, when media in oz or nz do immigration stories whose harmed.
When we throw out a crime they do the same, it all equals up, but its worse for all, as the criminals have families, they have mortgages their kids are attached to their community, when you cut them out, you not only damage them but also the wealth around them. That’s why mob mentality is dumb, you are dumb, you are serving the media distraction industry, you are being uneconomic, u are harming innocents, or at least that would be the effect if people listened to you.
Free trade is undermined when we make it harder for world class experts to move around the globe, and know they are just as likely to gecaught in a lie. Take vw, some engineer wrote a testing regime for smooth running diseal that out performed petrol, marketering got a hold of it and not understanding the physics got the boss sacked. WE chuck crimes out and they chuck their crimes out and we’ll get the same amount of crimes shared around. Well worse since there ate so many more kiwis aboard and so more criminals.
Oh, andhen as the returnee come home poorer caught at the I lowest hour, they can thank you for your mercy.
As I said, he’s already left to go back to Italy. All I’m saying is that we don’t let him back in. Hopefully he hasn’t got full citizenship in which case all we have to do is to revoke his permanent residency.
Can you define what “world class” means?
I’m pretty sure you can’t and the reason for that is because it’s a meaningless phrase. It, quite literally, means nothing.
That sounds remarkably like BS.
Calls to invoke immigration fascism is self defeating, as other countries do the same. And given the present issue where kiwis in oz are denied access to welfare, and are more likely to get caught out by the law, it seems astounding anyone on the left for the reasons above, or the right for free trade in workers or the huge dispropionate loss of wealth forcing a whole family to up root and move. Just saying I think you need to back using immigration as a arm of justice. People make mistakes, they do so at home or aboard, companies lose when chefs have to be replaced. And don’t give me that argument that a person whose committed an offences lesser a human being, or not beter at their jobs, or have kids, or won’t cost the economy if we stuff them up a bit with some arbritary historical boundary merely as they are in the public eye. Judges don’t take licenses away from drivers, so way should immigration stuff up a foreigners life that may take decades to get back. Now if it was a violent crime, then the society that raised them should have to deal wih them. Oz chewing up kiwi born but aussie raised to throw themut is just beyond nasty its bout owning the problem. What would that say about a person if they don’t take responisility. Australia should be taken to task by its citizens.
TPPA Jane Kelsey’s take on the situation.
Jane Kelsey: “TPPA ministerial extended another day, still stuck on meds and dairy ”
“But Professor Kelsey warns that a ‘final’ TPPA that assumes any compromise wording would survive the US political process could be built on sand, as the US could still demand a longer term as a quid pro quo for making concessions on other areas.
Allowing countries to keep their current 5 years would have to pass the scrutiny of the US Congress and, more significantly, the process whereby the US certifies the other country has complied with the US understanding of its obligations under agreement. Professor Kelsey observed that ‘any flexibility given to New Zealand on biologics to allow us to keep our current 5 years of data exclusivity could prove an illusion at that final hurdle.’
As for dairy, the chess game remains much the same: what Canada and Japan have given the US is not enough to satisfy the US industry that it can compensate for increased market access to New Zealand.”
– See more at: http://livenews.co.nz/2015/10/04/jane-kelsey-tppa-ministerial-extended-another-day-still-stuck-on-meds-and-dairy/#sthash.4tzsdjl7.dpuf
On Friday I posted this about the comments on NZ Herald stories, a topic which had previously been raised here:
“I have been watching one particular story today, so here’s what has happened so far.
Brian Rudman’s “Don’t waste takahe’s cash on panda porn” was posted at 9.24am. (Presumably too late for the print edition – will it be in that tomorrow?)
The 24 comments the Herald opted to reproduce are all denoted as having been made at c.11.48am. However, they were not actually posted till after 1pm.
I made a comment on the article sometime around 12.30 and that has not been posted. In fact it is now 5.25pm and no further comments have been added at all. That seems odd.
(The tone of the existing comments was pretty nearly 100% against the government. The usual RWNJs were absent, having decided that this one was too hot too handle.)”
Just coming back to report that the missing comments- or such of them as the Herald wants to print – have now been posted, TWO DAYS LATE. Posted late this morning, Sunday. They’re pretty heavily critical of the government’s actions, but I doubt that many people will now read them. That’s one way to deal with criticism.
Keep an eye on the Herald’s techniques with its comments. They are up to no good.
1. One of the aspects of TPPA that concerns me the most is the rules about SOE’s . As far as I am concerned, state-backed enterprises should be able to have public service/ public good considerations and not be subject to forced competition with overseas providers.
“The TPP is about more than tariffs and quotas, said Cam Vidler of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He said it’s a rare opportunity for the international community to modernize itself in several important ways:
He said it would establish clear rules in China’s backyard. Guidelines regulating the behaviour of state-backed enterprises would provide an international precedent, should the emerging giant ever join the agreement.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tpp-talks-bogged-down-over-pharmaceuticals/article26641388/
As Donald Trump would say, “It’s about China”
2. In his q and a interview this morning Mr Key says he can’t say if New Zealand will benefit from the TPPA deal at the moment. He said Kiwis are worrying because they are misinformed. He also says he doesn’t believe NZ could be sued.
Mr Key, I have just looked at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development paper headed “Recent Developments in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).”
“By end of 2013, 98 States have been respondents in a total of 568 known
treaty-based cases.” 57 were initiated in 2013.
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/webdiaepcb2014d3_en.pdf
You John might have a faith-based belief that NZ could not be sued, but looking at the information that I have just read, can you forgive me for having a nagging doubt?
TPPA update
Burcu Kilic @burcuno 2m2 minutes ago
Tonight’s plenary is over. The ministers will meet tomorrow afternoon but not before. Japan is still hopeful of conclusion. #TPP
Burcu Kilic Retweeted
Anna Vidot @AnnaVidot 1h1 hour ago
tl;dr: Robb sounds optimistic,hopeful, but not necessarily confident re biologics agreement. Doesn’t sound like a man about to concede. #TPP
Burcu Kilic Retweeted
Anna Vidot @AnnaVidot 1h1 hour ago
Robb: Aust & US acting in good faith, “but fact is we’ve got different systems and just splitting it down the middle is not the answer. #TPP
We are being softened up.
‘As it stands at the moment Prime Minister John Key says the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) isn’t “a very good deal for dairy”.
But despite that the benefits in other areas are more “impressive” than the deal struck under the free trade agreement with China, he said.
“So when I say to New Zealanders, look I’m not going to sign you up to something unless I think it’s in your best interests – I don’t do that by whistling in the wind.”
The much-anticipated announcement on the Pacific trade deal has been pushed back again after negotiating countries failed to front at a scheduled press conference at midday on Saturday (Sunday 5am NZT).
It’s understood negotiations will continue through the night in an effort to get it across the line after talks ground to a halt in recent weeks over dairy and biologics.
Key told TVNZ’s Q+A that New Zealand wouldn’t get everything it wanted on dairy but it was about getting something that’s “acceptable”.
He also dismissed claims that New Zealand was opening itself up to being sued by a big US corporation through investor-state or losing its sovereignty over the deal.
“Well we’ve had it in four FTAs now, we’ve never ever been sued. New Zealand has never had a case taken against us in investor state.”‘
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72678881/a-good-dairy-deal-under-the-tpp-is-unlikely-as-talks-begin-to-wrap-up
Key: “Well we’ve had it in four FTAs now, we’ve never ever been sued. New Zealand has never had a case taken against us in investor state.”
We’ve not had a trade agreement before with what’s probably the world’s most litigious country though, have we?
Shanghai Maling’s offer (if it gets over the line) will allow them to decide the company’s CEO, the budget and business plan.
http://www.3news.co.nz/tvshows/thenation/clipping-the-ticket-on-nzs-primary-produce-2015100310#axzz3nRUQwwik
Thoughts?
Key photo ops…