Open mike 04/12/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 4th, 2012 - 148 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

148 comments on “Open mike 04/12/2012 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. BillODrees 1
    4 December 2012 at 7:02 am

    There are some very concerning trends in the TV3 Poll that have been ignored or even mis-represented in the MSM. In my view these will be worsened by the unpopular decision to bring Tamihere into the already unstable mix. 

    “Less people think Mr Shearer is doing well. That’s down to 31.6 percent. And more people think Mr Shearer’s doing a poor job, at 34.4 percent – that’s a 2.9 percent rise.”
    Patrick Gower yesterday:   http://www.3news.co.nz/Poll-shows-possible-change-of-Govt/tabid/1607/articleID/278887/Default.aspx

    43% say Shearer is the best Labour Leader, but only 9% say Shearer is their preferred PM. However 12% say Cunliffe s the best Labour Leader and 6% Little. 
    That 43% for Shearer will be a reflection of the wider public while the 12% for Cunliffe will reflect a less populist leaning sub-set, given this is Cunliffe’s first significant outing in the Leadership stakes.  (Thank to Patrick Gower and Chris Hipkins: did Cunliffe pay these two?)

    Only 1 in 3 of Labour’s 33% see Shearer as the preferred PM. But there is a 12% that sees Cunliffe as the best Labour Leader.  
    It is possible that the TV3 Reid Poll found that Cunliffe has a level of support from Labour leaning people close to that of Shearer’s.
    I’d love to see a further breakdown of the Reid Poll results.

    Further concerning trends from Feb 12 to Oct 12 in the TV3 Reid Poll are that the Labour Leader:
    Has more style than substance: 15% to 28%
    Is rather narrow minded:            9%  to 20%
    Tends to talk down to people:      9%  to 18%
    Is too inflexible:                           11% to 19%
    Is rather inexperienced:              65% to 73%
    Has a lot of personality:              35% to 30%

    These details explain the desperate behaviour over the past few weeks of the clique around poor Shearer.  
    The meeting a few of them had last Wednesday, in Vivace on High Street in Auckland, decided that Tamihere was one way of getting a temporary lift in numbers to keep Shearer  from having to face the membership in a few months. Understandable given the polling details above. 

    http://www.reidresearch.co.nz/TV3+POLL+RESULTS.html

     

    • Lanthanide 1.1
      4 December 2012 at 9:00 am

      “The meeting a few of them had last Wednesday, in Vivace on High Street in Auckland, decided that Tamihere was one way of getting a temporary lift in numbers to keep Shearer from having to face the membership in a few months.”

      I’m sorry but that doesn’t make any sense at all. Tamihere is merely a member. He has nothing to do with the caucus vote that would trigger the leadership competition that enables members to vote. If members do vote, his vote would count as 1, just as any other member’s would.

      • BillODrees 1.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 12:20 pm

        The reference was to Popularity numbers, not Caucus numbers.  
        Camp Shearer believes that if they improve the Labour support to high 30s that he can avoid having the awful members have a say on his tenure. 

  2. Red Rosa 2
    4 December 2012 at 7:13 am

    Tamihere has kicked off predictably…

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8030417/Tamihere-calls-journalist-stupid-little-girl

    Shearer? ‘Unavailable for comment’.

    Put the guy out of his misery.

    • karol 2.1
      4 December 2012 at 7:32 am

      And JT says politics has been “dumbed down” …. as if his comments, and talk-back radio hosts, are the height of in-depth, and considered thinking?

      • vto 2.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 7:48 am

        Yep, Tamihere claims to be a straight talker, but there aint nothing straight about his talk. He does not call a spade a spade. He does not speak clearly. He does not make his opinion known on the matter at hand.

        For example – Is Tova, the “stupid little girl”, stupid? Well from what can be gleaned she is most definitely not stupid.

        Is Tova little? Well, I wouldn’t know actually but presumably not. Probably average size. Besides Tamihere, what has her size got to do with anything.

        Is Tova a girl? Well, no, she is a grown woman. So, wrong again Tamihere. You need to learn to speak clearly and in black and white.

        John Tamihere – first burst to his ego and looky at that – not a straight word spoken anywhere, not a spade a spade, not one ounce of clear statement on anything, not able to decipher between black and white. He does not speak with any authority, he does not call a spade a spade, and in fact it is entirely impossible to decipher what he was saying there.

        John Tamihere – last person in the world to call a spade a spade.

    • David H 2.2
      4 December 2012 at 9:49 am

      Nice one JT. You like to be called JT, makes you sound like one of the boy’s, Eh, JT? Well, JT you are a misogynistic, Racist, Brain Dead Moron who really is more suited for the ACT party (you’d fit right in). So please do us a favour (just by joining Labour you have probably alienated most women that vote Labour, and the article in today’s paper just finished the job). And leave.

      David H
      A MALE

    • millsy 2.3
      4 December 2012 at 9:56 am

      Only confirms that he is pretty much a brown …[RL:Deleted.]

  3. JazzaBelle 3
    4 December 2012 at 7:36 am

    Tamihere at his usual bullying ignorant level alas off a lady reporter yesterday calling her a stupid little girl.
    Darien Fenton (junior whip to angry-boy Hipkins) says — I wouldn’t say it didn’t upset me, but don’t want to make a comment. In Stuff.
    Darien, that is up there with the most useless responses of all times.
    At the Annual Conference in Ellerslie you abused Service Workers who supported the shift to democratic selection of a Leader. You ranted at one til she was in tears. You had heaps of invective for union and labour members: but not an ounce for a bully like Tamihere. Shame on you.
    With Tbe new processes your placing on the list must be under threat. After the conference gig you will not get union support again. Swallowing a rat for a whip position was not one of your better moves. You need to win back the membership and union support u once had. Go to the backbenches with Cunliffe.

    • insider 3.1
      4 December 2012 at 7:57 am

      Why would an opposition whip have to have a view on someone who isn’t even an MP?

      • Ramlea 3.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 10:53 am

        3.1 insider asks
        Why would an opposition whip have to have a view on someone who isn’t even an MP?

        because the decision to have Tamihere back into Labour is not a simple decision about a simple Joe Average member. It was a major decision that involved conversations with Twyford, Cosgrave, Robertson, Shearer and more.
        They think all the anti-PC element who disliked Helen will now flock to planet Shearer. And despite what Shearer and Tamihere say, giving JT a shot at a seat was discussed between them in a very positive manner. Phil, my MP, thinks it is an inspired idea. (It settles an old score)
        So it should be of considerable interest to a whip how Tamihere behaves.
        Many ordinary Joe Average members got bolickings at the Conference from senior MPs for supporting the 40% threshold for a wider leadership vote. Why should Tamihere have special exemptions?

        • Murray Olsen 3.1.1.1
          4 December 2012 at 5:20 pm

          The idea of giving Tamihere a shot at a seat to grab back the anti-PC voters is as inspired as giving John Ansell a shot to link with poor whites who blame their plight on the “Treaty Industry”. Why not go the whole hog and get Kyle Chapman? Maybe the “Beast of Blenheim” could be coopted as well? When all we see from the ruling faction of Labour is this sort of inspiration, and the totally incompetent gagging of anyone who says something slightly progressive, I would have to think very hard before even giving one of them an electorate vote.
          What’s the difference between John Tamihere and John Banks apart from a few years in age? It seems they both support charter schools, probably both like Harley Davidsons, and both have problems seeing “front bums” anywhere but the kitchen. Well, I’ll call them “back pussies” and they can go and —— each other as far as I’m concerned.

    • Te Reo Putake 3.2
      4 December 2012 at 7:57 am

      “At the Annual Conference in Ellerslie you abused Service Workers who supported the shift to democratic selection of a Leader. You ranted at one til she was in tears.”
       
      Citation needed. And Fenton voted for the change to a (party wide) democratic leadership election. Everyone did. However, what you meant is that she voted for the normal union position of 50% plus one.
       
      “After the conference gig you will not get union support again.”
       
      And yet Darien remains a life member of the SFWU and a popular and active participant in the union’s activities. Funny old world, eh?
       
       

      • Anne 3.2.1
        4 December 2012 at 5:42 pm

        “At the Annual Conference in Ellerslie you abused Service Workers who supported the shift to democratic selection of a Leader. You ranted at one til she was in tears.”

        While Darien is capable of robust debate, I don’t believe for a moment she would behave like that.

  4. Draco T Bastard 4
    4 December 2012 at 7:50 am

    How Banking Harms the Environment

    One of the greatest pressures being placed on the environment today is due to the need to sustain the required economic growth that ensures the stable functioning of our current economic system.

    To then service that debt requires future earnings over and above what is required merely to continue the existing level of economic activity. So economic growth, often in the form of more debt, must accompany debt service.

    This is the elephant in the room. The only reason why we need growth in our economy is to feed the greed of the banksters and by doing that we destroy the environment.

    Time to change the financial system to a positive money system and the economy to a stable state. That way we can provide for our children and grand children rather than destroying any hope they have.

    • Slartibartfast 4.1
      4 December 2012 at 8:03 am

      Agree. Stable societies of the past all had some means of re-distributing accumulated income back into the “tribe”. We don’t, quite the opposite.

    • thatguynz 4.2
      4 December 2012 at 10:40 am

      Couldn’t agree more DTB.  Reminds me of the old proverb that I can’t seem to find attributed to anyone in particular – “We do not inherit our world from our parents, we borrow it from our children.”

  5. muzza 5
    4 December 2012 at 7:54 am

    Finlayson judged top politician

    Guess who has done the best job of *fixing* establishment problems lately…

    You have to read through these awards, then take a look at who got to vote, and why they might want to be propping up CF.

    • Tigger 5.1
      4 December 2012 at 11:06 am

      A gay man who votes against gay marriage – he’s the right wing’s wet dream.

      • Ennui in Requiem 5.1.1
        5 December 2012 at 5:04 pm

        Ven Young is sitting over there in Heaven…National Party man who tried to decriminalize homosexuality back when Norm Kirk (Labour) was very disparaging of gays…..he looks a little puzzled with the “right wing wet dream” bit, he is asking why “lefties” align anti gay politics with the Right? I said to him to ask that of Marilyn Waring…another National Party person.

  6. muzza 6
    4 December 2012 at 9:05 am

    Syria violence pushes UN from Damascus – Todays reuters propaganda report

    Syria has said it would not use chemical weapons against its own people after the United States warned it would take action against any such escalation.

    The statements came amid media reports, citing European and US officials, that Syria’s chemical weapons had been moved and could be prepared for use in response to dramatic gains by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

    Reviving old claims first made months ago – “”Syria has stressed repeatedly that it will not use these types of weapons, if they were available, under any circumstances against its people,” the foreign ministry said.”

    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier warned that Washington would take action if Syria used the weapons.

    “I am not going to telegraph any specifics what we do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people, but suffice to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur,” she said during a visit to Prague on Monday.

    Setting the scene for more action based on BS, just in case..

    The rebels have begun to advance quickly in recent weeks after months of slow sieges to cut off army routes and supplies.

    Read: The rebel sponsors have imported more AQ fighters, and probably armed them to the teeth also.

    In the past few weeks, they seized several military bases around the country, and an oil field and hydro-electric dam in the northeast. Rebels are using anti-aircraft weapons to attack the military helicopters and fighter jets that have bombarded their positions with impunity until now

    Yup, tooled up with some big guns – where did they get the armoury I wonder!

    The opposition-linked Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army was trying to take over Daraya, on the southern outskirts of Damascus, and was attacking rebels with rockets as it advanced into some parts of the town

    Opposition linked – Must make them impartial *good guys* by default then eh!

    Whats interesting is that there is no UN mandate which says they can interfere in domestics, only international, does not seem to rate a mention in the MSM reports though!

    • Pascal's bookie 6.1
      4 December 2012 at 10:14 am

      Wellll, yeah nah. eh.

      They call it ‘oppositon linked’, because it is.

      It’s like they’d call the state run media chanels ‘state run’.

      Or are you saying that they shouldn’t have mentioned the outfit’s affiliations, or that they shouldn’t have run what they had to say, or what, exactly?

      And on the chem weapons stuff, again this is standard MO right?

      The govt is moving the weapons, for whatever reason.

      Western intel. sees that they are moving the weapons.

      At this point, they are going to say that there will be consequences if those weapons are used.

      That’s not because they are itching to get in there, (they’d be in there already if that was the case), it’s because if they don’t say that, then the regime might take that as a signal that they would be ok with their use.

      It’s all about signals.

      Like when Saddam wasn’t told directly that invading Kuwait would be met with consequences, he took it as a green light.

      Same thing. If the regime resorts to using chems, the west doesn’t want there to have been any ambiguity about where they stood.

      • Colonial Viper 6.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 12:07 pm

        Same thing. If the regime resorts to using chems, the west doesn’t want there to have been any ambiguity about where they stood.

        I believe you are mistaken in thinking that this media messaging is for the consumption of the Syrian ‘regime’.

        As in the case of Iraq’s supposed WMD, the media messaging is for our consumption.

        The Archdruid has written recently about the nature of nuclear deterrence. Many of the rules apply to chemical weapons as well. Assad knows that any use of chemical weapons on Turkey will trigger a massive and immediate NATO campaign that he would be lucky to survive a week of.

        • Pascal's bookie 6.1.1.1
          4 December 2012 at 12:19 pm

          Not sure what Turkey has got ot do with it, goes without saying that if someone uses Chems against a NATO member there are going to be consequences.

          This is really obvious.

          He’s moving his stockpiles.

          We know that.

          He knows that we know.

          So, you say ‘We see you moving them weapons, don’t you be thinking about using them now y’hear’.

          What’s the alternative.

          You say nothing. He hears you say nothing.

          That is also a signal.

          So what’s your theory?

          If the west wanted to be in there. they’d be in there now.

          • vto 6.1.1.1.1
            4 December 2012 at 12:23 pm

            Sheesh p’s b, it sounds like you believe everything you read in the paper…

            • Pascal's bookie 6.1.1.1.1.1
              4 December 2012 at 1:04 pm

              Not at all.

              I just don’t take everything I read in the paper as being proof of something else.

        • Johan 6.1.1.2
          4 December 2012 at 8:18 pm

          Nato will be hard pressed to get involve in this messy business. The stumbling block for NATO involvement is Russia, who has just recently setup a naval base in Syria in the exchange of at least six billion dollars worth of armaments. Now, much of the arms are sent from Iran. Many of the rebels are an assortment from different groups and heavily sponsored by the Arabs.

  7. Johnm 7
    4 December 2012 at 9:33 am

    “Easily the most important development of “late monopoly capitalism” is the triumph of the rentiers or the absentee owners, as Veblen called them. These people are less “entreprenuers” than economic barons. They call themselves “venture capitalists,” “investment bankers,” “hedge fund managers,” “brokers” and “financial analysts.” But the term “bankster” is as good a descriptor as any other, as i
    t captures the predatory venality of what is essentially organized criminality. As a political force, the banksters rule the realm through a combination of graft, propaganda, legalized extortion and outright thievery. As creditors, they have made “serfs” out of millions with their insidious usurious policies. As legal activists, they have manipulated the tax codes to engross a larger share of social wealth. As ideologues, they have pushed the view that government indebtedness, rather than unemployment, is the true measure of “crisis.” And as class warriors, they are currently using the big stick of “austerity” to smash the welfare state.

    The “financialization” of capitalism is a catastrophic turn. In many ways, it is the institutionalization of barbarism. When “austerity” is the ideal, it becomes normal: to see people homeless on the streets; to see the elderly working in menial jobs when they ought to be comfortably retired; to see children going hungry; to see young people without prospects, crushed by debt; to see poverty “feminized” as familes collapse, or never get going, under the strain; to see people die prematurely for want of health care; to see crime rampant, as social bonds wither; to see “tribalism” return in sinister forms, as people turn to “race,” “nation” and “religion” in search of authentic identity; to see addiction grow apace; to see the general spread of mindlesssness and meaninglessness as “the market” colonizes every social space. We are already experiencing many of these social pathologies. It’s an open question whether a society of this nature has any real future.”

    • Johnm 7.1
      4 December 2012 at 10:45 am

      “Neoliberalism is a philosophy which construes profit making as the essence of democracy and consuming as the only operable form of citizenship. It also provides a rationale for a handful of private interests to control as much as possible of social, economic, and political life in order to maximize their personal profit. Neoliberalism is marked by a shift from the manufacturing to the service sector, the rise of temporary and part-time work, growth of the financial sphere and speculative activity, the spread of mass consumerism, the commodification of practically everything.

      Neoliberalism combines free market ideology with the privatization of public wealth, the elimination of the social state and social protections, and the deregulation of economic activity. Core narratives of neoliberalism are: privatization, deregulation, commodification, and the selling off of state functions. Neoliberalism advocates lifting the government oversight of free enterprise/trade thereby not providing checks and balances to prevent or mitigate social damage that might occur as a result of the policy of “no governmental interference”; eliminating public funding of social services; deregulating governmental involvement in anything that could cut into the profits of private enterprise; privatizing such enterprises as schools, hospitals, community-based organizations, and other entities traditionally held in the public trust; and eradicating the concept of “the public good” or “community” in favor of “individual responsibility.”

      It is a form of terrorism because it abstracts economics from ethics and social costs, makes a mockery of democracy, works to dismantle the welfare state, thrives on militarization, undermines any public sphere not governed by market values, and transforms people into commodities. Neoliberalism’s rigid emphasis on unfettered individualism, competitiveness and flexibility displaces compassion, sharing and a concern for the welfare of others. In doing so, it dissolves crucial social bonds and undermines the profound nature of social responsibility and its ensuing concern for others. In removing individuals from broader social obligations, it not only tears up social solidarities, it also promotes a kind of individualism that is almost pathological in its disdain for public goods, community, social provisions, and public values. Given its tendency to instrumentalize knowledge, it exhibits mistrust for thoughtfulness, complexity, and critical dialogue and in doing so contributes to a culture of stupidity and cruelty in which the dominant ethic is organized around the discourse of war and a survival of the fittest mentality. Neoliberalism is the antithesis of democracy.

      • Draco T Bastard 7.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 11:29 am

        +1

        Describes neo-liberalism perfectly. We, as a society, need to see it as the threat that it is.

      • Colonial Viper 7.1.2
        4 December 2012 at 11:39 am

        This should be a post in it’s own right.

          • Ennui in Requiem 7.1.2.1.1
            4 December 2012 at 4:46 pm

            “Hell” of an eternity here in Purgatory…just saw some recently deceased resident of the Hamptons trudging back from the Pearly Gates, in a delicious piece of irony St Peter has employed Thorsten Veblen and some spear wielding New Guinea natives to escort Wall Streets finest back to Purgatory.

            On the note of larceny there was one “hell” of a row coming out of there, a fellow called Tetzel and several of the numerous Dominicans down there were arguing with John Law that they deserved the credit for the invention of derivatives…indulgences that specified spiritual repayment at some unspecified future date…the Devils agents on Earth report that Goldman Sachs execs are filing a class action for damages against this claim to their IP in “virtual” financial instruments. Just after that we all got boiled in oil, Lucifer decided that the cost of litigation should be “socialized”. Financial crime it appears does pay, and we, like you on Earth got the bill.

  8. millsy 8
    4 December 2012 at 10:12 am

    Didnt seem much comment here about it, but Fonterra shareholders fund kicked off on Friday. Say what you like about it, but it is essentially a stockmarket listing through the backdoor. I read on another site that farmer-suppliers cannot just ring one of the directors and have a chat with them about the company anymore because they are now bound by insider trading laws.

    One of the strengths of Fonterra is that it is a co-op, collectively owned by its suppliers, and provides a wide range of support for them. (I also note that Fonterra EMPLOYS its tanker drivers, and doesnt have them as owner operators – one of the few companies to do so). Co-ops have been a mainstay throghout agriculture — Ballance, Ravensdown, LIC, RD1, and so on — even the Farmer’s chain store used to the the Farmers Co-Op Trading Society.

    However, a few people high up on Fonterra’s board have decided that co-ops some how resemble Stalinist collective agriculture, and want to undermine it, and there are come stupid hayseed cockies singing their praises.

    No good will come of this.

  9. millsy 9
    4 December 2012 at 10:26 am

    Call for a review of Tomorrow’s Schools

    I also think we need to re-look at the Tomorrow’s Schools (TS) reforms of 23 years ago, schools pretty much lost a lot of support when this happened, causing a lot of students to fall through the cracks, plus the whole consept of winner and loser schools, and the white flight from schools in smaller areas.

    I have to also mention that TS may have also resulted in more central control of education, ie by the minister, and that with the old Education Boards in charge, the restructuring of Christchurch schools might have gone a bit differently, (not to mention Mallards school closing frenzy last decade).

  10. Professor Longhair 10
    4 December 2012 at 10:42 am

    Apple Inc. censors anti-drone application

    Apple Inc., which has received over $9 million in Pentagon contracts in recent years, has rejected from its App Store, and therefore from all iPhones, a simple informative application.

    Drones+ is an application that shows no depictions of the carnage of war and reveals no secret information. It simply adds a location to a map every time a drone strike is reported in the media and added to a database maintained by the U.K.’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

    Apple has rejected the app as “objectionable and crude.”

    Drone wars continue because the U.S. public is unaware what is being done in our name with our money. We are interested in knowing where our government is using drones and has killed people, not in celebrating that killing.

    The people in Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere living under the drones can’t ignore what’s being done to them. Neither should we, as it’s done with our money and in our names.

    A recent study by Stanford and NYU found that drones traumatize innocent populations, who have no way of knowing how to protect themselves from drone strikes. Further, only 2% of victims of these strikes are high-level targets. The drones kill civilian men, women, and children, are being used to target rescuers, schools and funerals, and create significant anti-U.S. hostility — exactly as the Pakistani and Afghan governments have said they do.

    Ask Apple to stop hiding the simplest of facts.

    http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6750

  11. travellerev 11
    4 December 2012 at 10:44 am

    Here is a link to a newly published scientific research paper which comes to the conclusion that the seismic information collected from the Palisades seismic station on 9/11 does not support the official assertion that 2 planes were responsible for the collapse of the two twin towers and WTC7.

    • McFlock 11.1
      4 December 2012 at 11:59 am

      Here is a link to a newly published scientific research paper which [begins its analysis on the assumption]  that the seismic information collected from the Palisades seismic station on 9/11 does not support the official assertion that 2 planes were responsible for the collapse of the two twin towers and WTC7.

      FIFY

      • travellerev 11.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 12:10 pm

        Great, two links for the price of one! Thanks McFuck.

        And for those of you who are interested, seismic data is a pretty robust kind of science about what kind of forces are unleashed around the globe. It’s how we know about the strength of Nuclear explosions, Earthquakes and Volcanic eruptions.

        Planes ramming into buildings at a significant distance from the ground are pretty insignificant details in the scheme of things. Explosions activating the seismic recorder in a seismic station 34 km away from these explosions on the other hand are not so insignificant.

        • McFlock 11.1.1.1
          4 December 2012 at 12:57 pm

          Nor are the assumptions around which one starts one’s analysis. The dude, for example, ruled out other types of waves based on assumptions of what waveforms the collisions would have caused, made assumptions about the average speeds of those assumed waveforms through the ground, and only those assumptions enabled him to draw the conclusion of a time discrepancy. “Scientific” my arse.
                   
          But feel free to continue making a hobby out of peoples’ deaths.

          • travellerev 11.1.1.1.1
            4 December 2012 at 1:25 pm

            The “dude” is:
            André Rousseau and he is a Doctor of Geophysics and Geology, a former researcher in the French National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS), who has published 50 papers on the relationships between the characteristics of progressive mechanical waves and geology.
            Dr. Rousseau is an expert on measurement of acoustic waves.
            I would say that’s doctor Dude to you.

            There were no other events that would qualify as seismic triggers and if we talk about the refusal to consider reasons for why the three buildings collapsed maybe we should have a look at NIST which refused to look at the possibility for the use of explosives because nobody they said had heard any loud bangs.

            And in response to your last remark. It is the survivors who want a new and independent investigation and with some 70.000 first responders dying and two wars started in the aftermath of the attacks so your comment is callous and sow a severe disregards for the fact that these people are not making a hobby out of other peoples deaths you sad excuse for a human being.

            • One Tāne Huna 11.1.1.1.1.1
              4 December 2012 at 1:29 pm

              Who cares who he is? His “analysis” starts by assuming its conclusion.

            • McFlock 11.1.1.1.1.2
              4 December 2012 at 1:41 pm

              I would say that’s doctor Dude to you.
                     
              That’s sweet. And yet the doctors who don’t agree with you are government conspiracists. I was simply pointing out that the “scientific” paper explicitly states that it seeks to demonstrate alternative theories. He successfully does this by making unreferenced assumptions about waveforms and propagation speeds.  This is not “scientific”. It is borderline reasonable.

               There were no other events that would qualify as seismic triggers
              According to his theory, based on uncited assumptions.
                         
              Some survivors do not believe that the official explanation is enough to explain the deaths of their loved ones. Fair enough.
              Two illegitimate wars were started using the incidents as an excuse. Fair enough.
              Not sure on the actual numbers, but it’s fair to say that thousands of first responders have been seriously harmed or killed by inhaling the debris while trying to save lives. No argument.
                 
              My last point was simply pointing out that you, personally, have made a fucking hobby out of seeing patterns in clouds and thereby stating as fact that there is a big man in the sky. Stamp your moral outrage all you want, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you drool at the sight of the latest piece of bullshit that you happen to agree with – as we all know, anything else is black propaganda.
                 

               

              • Murray Olsen …
                4 December 2012 at 3:00 pm

                I also have a PhD. I’ve published 75 papers in the peer reviewed literature. I do not think chemtrails exist and have serious doubts about WTC theories. I am apparently “Too blind to see denier brainwashed dude.” Ah well, I never liked the word dude anyway.
                By the way, I just read the article. It does indeed start out with a premise or an assumption. This is not typical of French scientists I have known and worked with. Especially in forensic investigations, which this purports to be, any investigator should be led by the evidence. They should not lead the evidence.

                • travellerev …
                  4 December 2012 at 7:56 pm

                  Hey Murray, I saw a congrats is in order! It seems you and your team will be transporting atoms along fiber optics in oh, the next four years or so. Way to go! Can’t wait to see that happen! LOL.

                  • Murray Olsen …
                    4 December 2012 at 8:20 pm

                    Actually, the basics of what we described in our article have already been done in a couple of laboratories. What you have linked is an old press release from the university PR department and is not from the scientific literature, but I understand you have trouble telling the difference. Maybe you’ve been staring at chemtrails that were a bit close to the Sun? If you find the actual article, you might be able to find someone who can explain it to you.
                    Nice piece of stalking, by the way. Says heaps for your talents as a fearless investigator and noble truthseeker. It also creeps me out a little, but maybe I’m just over sensitive.

                    • McFlock …
                      4 December 2012 at 8:37 pm

                      Nah, you’re not over-sensitive, but try not to let it concern you. You’ve just been googled by the Keystone Kooks.

                    • thatguynz …
                      5 December 2012 at 1:15 am

                      I apologise Murray – This should have been appended to McFlock’s comment.

                      And there again you attack the “hypothesiser”. I sure hope it doesn’t come back to bite you in your bum. Is it so wrong that Ev has such a different view from you that you need to lambast her so repetitively? Different != wrong necessarily..

                      And McFlock “Keystone Kooks” – unnecessary don’t you think?

                    • travellerev …
                      5 December 2012 at 11:03 am

                      Oh dear, A simple Google search and you feel stalked? You who jumps on every thing I write here? Who couldn’t wait to get me dumped of a facebook page? It’s one thing to do the stalking but not so funny when it happens to you isn’t it?

                      Your university puts out PR about you and your team developing “Beam me up” technology while you can’t get your head around simple Newtonian laws is what makes this search result funny though. 😀

                    • Murray Olsen …
                      5 December 2012 at 12:20 pm

                      Funny, when I studied Mathematics and the different ways of proving stuff, I missed proof by vilification, repetition, dishonesty and character assassination. They must be reserved for those who see further than the rest of us.
                      Yawn. Ding dong.

                    • travellerev …
                      5 December 2012 at 12:46 pm

                      I so agree Murray, so why don’t you stop?

                    • McFlock …
                      5 December 2012 at 10:57 pm

                      TGNZ- keystone kooks?

                      On the same if not higher level than “mcfuck”. What’s good for the kander is good for the kook.

        • One Tāne Huna 11.1.1.2
          4 December 2012 at 1:08 pm

          That’s a very pretty red herring. How does it alter the fact (since you’re all about truthiness) that – as McFlock says – the “analysis” starts by assuming its conclusion? Is that how they do science on your planet?

          Eleven years. No evidence. Pitiful.

          • travellerev 11.1.1.2.1
            4 December 2012 at 1:36 pm

            And for those of you interested to find out why I find OTH to be an absolute and total bore, read the very detailed research submitted by André Rousseau a Doctor of Geophysics and Geology, a former researcher in the French National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS), who has published 50 papers on the relationships between the characteristics of progressive mechanical waves and geology. Dr. Rousseau is an expert on measurement of acoustic waves. Here is the link to the PDF.

            • One Tāne Huna 11.1.1.2.1.1
              4 December 2012 at 1:48 pm

              Start by assuming the conclusion. Is that how they do science in France?

              • travellerev …
                4 December 2012 at 2:13 pm

                For those of you not familiar with the layout of a scientific paper here are some ground rules on how to present your work. The first thing you do is to write an Abstract when you begin to assemble the results of your research in order to present it to your scientific peers.
                An Abstract is nothing more than an introduction to your research and an explanation of the thesis you have been working on. This is not the same as starting with an idea and bending the science in order to proof your thesis.

                The proper response is to read the paper and to either refute the paper with scientific arguments or if you have no such arguments to hold your tongue.

                For OTH and McFlock to suggest that the Abstract is anything other than that is to say the least disingenuous. However I am very happy to hear their proper scientific response. With a paper starting with:

                Abstract: In this paper we aim to refute the findings of Dr. Roussau with regards to his assertions that only controlled demolitions could have brought down the Twin towers and WTC 7 on 11/9/2001. We aim to show that only two planes flown into the Twin towers can be held responsible for the freefall collapse of both the twin towers and WTC 7…. Oh wait, you can’t!

                • travellerev …
                  4 December 2012 at 2:14 pm

                  Only one link and no swear words and still in purgatory?
                   

                • McFlock …
                  4 December 2012 at 4:17 pm

                  For OTH and McFlock to suggest that the Abstract is anything other than that is to say the least disingenuous. 
                       
                  [much laughter]
                  Hey, you might want to check whether the abstract conforms to your own source’s description.
                      
                  The main issue is that there is no consideration of a “question”. The aim isn’t to examine the seismic records and their consistency with current literature. It’s not even to examine other possible explanations. It explicitly sets out to refute previous conclusions. 

                  In addition to that BIG issue,  the methodology description is absent, and as for the rest of the “article” conventional science tends to keep the methodology, discussion and commentary on the conclusion separate, just to ensure that preconceptions do not taint the analysis.
                            
                  But I’m sure you know all that.
                           
                   

                • Wisewoman …
                  4 December 2012 at 8:58 pm

                  How much experience do you have with writing scientific papers Traveller Ev?

                  • travellerev …
                    5 December 2012 at 11:43 am

                    Wrong question oh, Wisewoman (Rofl)! The question should be how much experience do I have in reading them and…. even more important understanding them. 
                    Too wit, Murray Olsen says he has written 75 scientific papers but he still has a problem understanding Newtons laws of Physics.

                    • McFlock …
                      5 December 2012 at 12:18 pm

                      Funny.
                      You’ve probably got 10 years’ experience in part A of your question, but  the answer to part B is likely somewhere approaching zero.
                         
                      But who needs a decade of formal scientific training when they have an ego like your… 

                    • Wisewoman …
                      5 December 2012 at 1:00 pm

                      I love how you hate personal attacks but are more than happy to deal them out. You are a funny little thing. Ignorant. But amusing

          • Te Reo Putake 11.1.1.2.2
            4 December 2012 at 2:46 pm

            Y’know, I’d completely forgotten about 9/11 these last few months. Maybe I was being overly optimistic, but the whole Obama winning thing seemed to have not only caused the internal collapse of the Republican Party (faster than freefall?), but also the end of the associated birther/truther/CCD axis. The end of the racist birther movement is clearly linked to the election; what point is there in moaning after Obama’s been elected a second time? None. may as well put the white sheet back on the bed now. Shame about the eyeholes though.

            As I’ve pointed out previously, mad conspiracy theories usually only last a generation or so. Elvis, JFK, the Lindberg baby … all had a decade or so of currency, then became irrelevant through the passage of time. 9/11 truth deniers have already hit their peak and its a long slide through disinterest, eye rolling and derision and into a deserving obscurity that awaits the remaining acolytes.

            • thatguynz 11.1.1.2.2.1
              4 December 2012 at 3:30 pm

              It seems to me TRP that you are awfully keen to universally pan “conspiracy theories”.  I can only assume this MAY be because there seems to be a belief that “theorists” are nutbar right wingers whereas I don’t actually think there is a relevant or common point on the political spectrum and the “nutbar” descriptor is subjective.
               
              Perhaps it might be beneficial to look at (just a handful) of historical “conspiracy theories” which were later proven to be fact.  There are probably of course countless others however these are perhaps some of the more prominent.

              Project MKULTRA
              Bay of Pigs
              Operation Northwoods
              Gulf of Tonkin

              Accordingly, irrespective of whether you agree with Ev’s assertions and/or hypotheses, it may not be prudent to universally discount what she suggests as these may (or may not) also be proven to be correct in retrospect.

              • vto …
                4 December 2012 at 3:37 pm

                .
                Humans have been conspiring ever since they stepped off the spaceship onto planet earth.

                It is one of our most common traits. We do it as much as work, love, game, construct, destruct, plot, plan, play, plop, and plunder. It is as old as the hills.

                Everybody conspires, and consequently every organisation conspires. Look it up in the dictionary.

                People who roundly dismiss “conspiracy theorists” as fools are in fact themselves the fools.

              • McFlock …
                4 December 2012 at 3:46 pm

                (some_conspiracy_theories == true) != (all_conspiracy_theories == reasonable) 
                     
                This is where critical thinking comes in. And the fact is that interpreting facts to support your hypothesis is not a way to reliably determine the truth of your hypothesis.
                          
                It’s possible that aliens destroyed the twin towers with nano-thermite. The problem is that we then have to develop a theory to explain away hundreds of millions of people watching on TV as a plane apparently flew into a goddamn building. It’s possible that twenty floors of each tower were painted with explosives cunningly disguised as wallpaper paste. The trouble is that at the moment there’s no evidence of either scenario. All we have are people staring at pixelated images for ten years, interpolating the dots with assumptions and wishful thinking.

              • Pascal's bookie …
                4 December 2012 at 3:48 pm

                No one denies that conspiracies do happen. But that isn’t evidence for every touted conspiracy being real.

                The widely accepted theory for what happened on 9/11 is of a conspiracy as well.

                The question is, which conspiracy theory best fits all the observed and known facts.

                The widely accepted theory posits that a terrorist group did it. That group admits they did it.

                I’ve not seen how truthers fit the fact of AQ involvement into their theory. In fact, I haven’t seen anything resembling an actual theory from them at all.

                It’s been a long time.

              • MikeD …
                4 December 2012 at 4:24 pm

                ThatguyNZ:

                I don’t universally pan conspiracy theories, because, as you point out, some turn out to be true. I am pretty down on the 3 recent rightwing ones (Birther/Truther/CCD) because they are (in order) racist, fantastical and in denial about observable fact.

                As P’s B notes, 9/11 was a conspiracy. So was the Chilean 9/11. So were Watergate, Iran Contra and the Hollow Men. Add to that professional cycling and most Italian football games in recent years. It’s really just the offensive or downright stupid ones I tend to take against.

                • thatguynz …
                  5 December 2012 at 1:20 am

                  Mike, I respectfully ask what differentiates a right wing conspiracy theory from a left wing one? Assuming I’m missing something obvious, examples of each would be useful to help me understand.

                  Cheers.

              • Wisewoman …
                4 December 2012 at 9:03 pm

                All too often the tricky thing about conspiracy theorists is that they take actual incidents and twist and manipulate until they become far fetched. I hate it when they do that

                • Colonial Viper …
                  4 December 2012 at 10:42 pm

                  Shit the irony. On Sept 10 anyone talking about hijacked Boeings being crashed into the Twin Towers would have considered delusional, twisted, far fetched conspiracy theorists.

                  But after Sept 11 it’s merely an “actual incident”.

                  • McFlock …
                    4 December 2012 at 11:06 pm

                    Actually a guy tried to do it to the fedex building in the 1990s. And a guy tried to hijack a plane to do it when nixon was in the White House, but got shot while the plane was still on the ground. And the PFLP was doing simultaneous hijackings in the 1960s.

                    A bit of an evolution, really.

                    But no worries, I’m sure it was completely out of the blue to someone who thinks they know everything…

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      4 December 2012 at 11:22 pm

                      I hand’t realised that there had been so many similar style attempts in the past, albeit smaller scale ones.

                      Given what you said you’d have thought they’d be far more ready for big one on 9/11 eh? Wonder how they never managed to intercept a single hijacked plane with an F15 or F16 even an hour after the first incident was confirmed.

                    • McFlock …
                      4 December 2012 at 11:46 pm

                      you mean like the two F16s that were scrambled from Washington DC towards flight 93 when they figured out that an unknown number of other aircraft might be involved?
                             
                       

        • Wisewoman 11.1.1.3
          4 December 2012 at 9:11 pm

          McFuck. Wow. Mature

  12. Jackal 12
    4 December 2012 at 11:38 am

    Well the good news for today is that it looks like Petrobras has pulled out of oil drilling in the Raukumara basin on the East Coast of New Zealand, likely a result of pressure from environmental groups and local Iwi plus the fact that Petrobras has major financial problems at the moment.

    • McFlock 12.1
      4 December 2012 at 11:56 am

      nice

    • felix 12.2
      4 December 2012 at 1:51 pm

      John Key promising to subsidise them in 3…2…

    • Murray Olsen 12.3
      4 December 2012 at 2:49 pm

      My only worry about Petrobras pulling out is which bunch of cowboys the government will call in to take their place. For all their faults, and my total opposition to deepwater drilling in our shaky tectonic plates, Petrobras is the technical leader in this field.
      The next lot will be worse. A luta continua.

  13. Rogue Trooper 13
    4 December 2012 at 12:16 pm

    Well, it’s been sackcloth and ashes for a few days 🙁 (there was a coutier attack)
    🙂

  14. Draco T Bastard 14
    4 December 2012 at 1:10 pm

    Missed this bit:

    But it gets worse. Inadequate equipment, untrained crew, no instruction manuals. And the problems were systematic across the entire RNZAF, to the extent that it was unable to “adequately and reliably ensure safe and effective military air operations”. And then there’s this:

    The report found knowledge of problems went to the top of the command chain.

    The Chief of Air Force at the time of the accident, Air Vice-Marshal Graham Lintott, was last year promoted to be New Zealand’s defence attache in Washington.

    So much for accountability.

    So, our air force is inadequately trained and the top brass knew about it but did nothing to correct it. One wonders how they got to be the top brass.

  16. Rosie 16
    4 December 2012 at 2:21 pm

    As a follow on from Karols TPPA article yesterday:

    Good interview with Jane Kelsey and Lori Wallach hosted by Bomber from last week (Apologies if this has already been posted/discussed, it may well have been)

    The three areas covered are:
    Why should New Zealanders be concerend about signing up to the TPPA?
    Why would the Government back a deal that does not benefit New Zealand?
    How much is the TPPA a manifestation of the new USA China cold war?

    http://livenews.co.nz/2012/11/citizen-a-with-martyn-bomber-bradbury-jane-kelsey-lori-wallach-on-the-tppa-negotiations/

    Wayne, if you’re out there, you need to watch this mi amigo.

    • karol 16.1
      4 December 2012 at 5:34 pm

      I did mention it in my TPP post last Friday, Rosie. But it is well worth mentioning again for those who haven’t already seen it. They cover a lot of important ground.

      I also see that the Greens have picked up on the increase of secrecy around the Auckland TPP negotiations this week. 

      • Pascal's bookie 16.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 5:42 pm

        Don’t know if this has been mentioned, but Gordon Campbell has found a hella quote from Groser;

        http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/12/04/gordon-campbell-on-tim-grosers-political-projectile-vomiting-about-the-tppa/

        “I am confident we can find ways that advance U.S. interests [on these two issues] without causing projectile political vomiting in New Zealand, and many of the other countries of the TPP,”

      • Rosie 16.1.2
        4 December 2012 at 7:12 pm

        Thanks for linking your article Karol. My headspace has been elsewhere of late. And yes, I had read today how stakeholders had been locked out of the meetings, which they hadn’t anticipated. Imagine travelling from overseas only to have the rules change on you, on your arrival.!
        Must be a real bad buzz going on inside if negotiaters feel they must lock out previously welcome observers……….

  17. gobsmacked 17
    4 December 2012 at 3:28 pm

    Winston has told Parliament that Brendan Horan is outski.

    Apart from anything else, a useful reminder to those who just want to add NZ First to the Labour-led majority after the election, and confidently assume it’ll all be hunky-dory.

    Minor party lists are a breeding ground for unreliables (Garrett, Copeland, Kopu, etc) and the opposition should be aiming for a majority with a buffer, otherwise Fruity McLoopy MP can hold the balance of power (see John Banks).

    • Draco T Bastard 17.1
      4 December 2012 at 4:14 pm

      Minor party lists are a breeding ground for unreliables…

      Your prejudice is showing. I think you’ll find that there’s just as many unreliables in major parties they just don’t get found out as often probably due to being on the backbench rather than the front bench. Think, Field, Worth, Wong, etc, etc.

      • gobsmacked 17.1.1
        4 December 2012 at 4:52 pm

        Not prejudice. Accurate and deliberate choice of words. Key word: “Lists”.

        Major parties have unreliables too, but more of them have won electorate contests. This is no fail-safe mechanism (e.g. Field), but it makes it more likely that they will come under scrutiny, not least in the original candidate selection.

        Every three years we have presidential-style campaigns which do not match our voting system, and consequently every three years the coat-tails are barely scrutinised. Especially of minor parties.

        • McFlock 17.1.1.1
          4 December 2012 at 5:00 pm

          But list candidates come under candidate selection, too – they don’t just suddenly appear.
               
          Even minor parties now look at their lists carefully – mostly because UF was especially funny after 2002. 
           

          • Pascal's bookie 17.1.1.1.1
            4 December 2012 at 5:13 pm

            Yeah, but;

            NZFirst

            ACT

            United future (who was a a worm like event from having Pete George in the house, for the love of christ)

            • McFlock 17.1.1.1.1.1
              4 December 2012 at 5:34 pm

              NZfirst has no real surprises – the Horan thing seems to be a “could’ve happened to any party” thing, rather than anything on the scale of an MP who turns out not to be eligible to be in parliament, and another who insists on having “Dr” on his office door by virtue of an internet-order degree.
                   
              I’d go so far as to say (and yes, the competition is strong) that ACT’s biggest freak in the last ten years is its current electorate MP.
                   
              Fair call on Pete George, though 😉
                 
               

  18. xtasy 18
    4 December 2012 at 5:03 pm

    An interesting bit of another revelation about the governments “job creation” policies – implemented by WINZ paying grants to desperate young job-seekers to get their passports and tickets, to line up for jobs across the Tasman Sea:

    http://www.labour.org.nz/news/government-aids-export-of-job-seekers-to-oz

    This was for once an excellent performance by Jacinda Ardern in challenging Bennett in the House today.

    Have a look at the link above, and what this is about!

    It puts another “spin” on the “low” registered unemployment figures that Key and Natz love to go on about, in contrast to the Household Labour Force Survey.

    NZ is following the “economic model” of the Philippines, Pakistan, and other poor nations, EXPORTING its work force now.

    • Draco T Bastard 18.1
      4 December 2012 at 5:18 pm

      http://www.3news.co.nz/WINZ-cash-grants-for-tickets-to-Australia/tabid/1607/articleID/279169/Default.aspx

      “Hoping isn’t going to change the fact that roughly 6000 people move off the benefit each year to move overseas, some of whom have apparently done so with help from Ms Bennett,” Ms Ardern said.

      “We have a Government that believes unemployed Kiwis are better off leaving New Zealand because it has given up on finding work for them.”

    • Mary 18.2
      4 December 2012 at 5:47 pm

      Big strategy blunder from Ardern, more like it – just more fuelling of the already entrenched hatred of the poorest of our poor. In fact, I’d say using the transition to work grant to fly a beneficiary over to Australia to take up secured employment would clearly be within the rules because it’s about assisting people into employment. Regardless of this, though, Ardern’s shown a complete lack of judgement with the way she’s gone about things. Following in the footsteps of her leader’s “sickness beneficiary painting the roof” ill-thought out fiasco. I always thought Ardern was a light-weight. Now she’s confirmed it. Dumb, just plain dumb.

      • xtasy 18.2.1
        4 December 2012 at 5:55 pm

        Mary: Of course it is “within the rules”, and Bennett more or less had to admit it.

        I understand your criticism of Ardern, as she tends to pick issues that she believes have “press appeal”. She admittedly fails to raise her voice for the beneficiaries as such, apart from making rather general critical remarks in major speeches.

        From my view she is still an “apprentice”, and I fear she may be influenced by the wrong “mentors” and also restrained somehow, re what she can say, and how far she can go.

        Nevertheless it is worth exposing the government’s apologetic explanations of unemployment not being so high, given low numbers on the UB.

        She risks though a fiasco like Shearer with the GCSB story about Key being filmed during a meeting there, and a tape existing that held the footage.

        • Mary 18.2.1.1
          4 December 2012 at 6:33 pm

          That may be right, but Ardern showed total lack of judgement by going down the “sickness beneficiary on the roof” road, which was her main reason for speaking out. Just naive and strategically dumb. Bennett of course responded by saying it wasn’t the intent for the transition to work grant to meet the cost of airfares to Australia, as if they’re made to fly people over for a holiday on the Gold Coast, which of course is not happening. Bennett will now feel justified making it clear in the rules that airfares to even secured employment can’t be covered by the grant, which ironically will have the effect of increasing unemployment by preventing people accepting employment opportunities which they’d otherwise be able to take up. Her effort today I think shows there’s no hope for her. It shows she’s either too naive for the job, or simply too right-wing or both, like her bumbling leader.

          • karol 18.2.1.1.1
            4 December 2012 at 6:45 pm

            I don’t see it as going to the fiddler-on-the-roof narrative.  It seems more that it’s aimed at exposing the fact the our current government is disappearing people of the unemployment register by shipping them to Aussie.  It makes their stats look as though they are increasing the amount of jobs in NZ.

            And it’s IS against the guidelines of the transition to work grant, which includes this stipulation:

             You may get a Transition to Work Grant if you are:
            ·         aged 16 years or over
            ·         looking for a job, moving into a job, or between jobs
            ·         a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.
            You should also normally live in New Zealand and intend to stay here.

            • Mary 18.2.1.1.1.1
              4 December 2012 at 7:48 pm

              Karol, you’re quoting from the policy only, which is often very different from the legislation or principal instrument. In this case the principal instrument is the Transition to Work Grant Programme, in which there’s no reference at all to needing to “normally live in New Zealand and intend to stay here”:

              http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/legislation/welfare_programmes/transition_to_work_grant_programme.htm

              Clause 9 of the programme sets out the types of costs that can be met, and at 9(b) it says:

              “(vi) relocation costs, if the applicant needs to relocate his or her place of residence to take up employment.”

              As I’ve mentioned, there’s no reference to the job being in NZ only, so if the person has secured employment in Australia there’s no bar to the programme being used to assist a person to move there. I’d also go so far as to say that this would be well within the purpose of the grant which surely must be about assisting people to move from receipt of a benefit into employment?

              Regardless of Ardern’s press statement, she should’ve shown the nous not to approach the topic in the way she did because all it will do is stir up what is already an entrenched hatred of beneficiaries, the same resentment that was fueled by Shearer’s “sickness benefit on the roof” remarks. At the very best all Ardern’s done is to push Bennett into changing the programme so that it assists a smaller number of people to move off a benefit and into employment. At the same time she’s helped, unwittingly or not, to grow the anti-poor sentiment that’s become so rife within New Zealand society.

              There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Ardern chose the wrong way.

              • Skinny …
                4 December 2012 at 10:51 pm

                Mary you makes some good points, the opposition benches are buoyed by small gains lately. ‘Fast or last’ when a scoop against National comes along. Its competitive & this plum was rushed, I know it is her portfolio  but Adern wasn’t a good choice to land the hit. Alas this would have been right up DC’s ally & what’s more he would have made it stick! Think i will keep a weekly tab on lost opportunities.  

                • Mary …
                  5 December 2012 at 12:54 am

                  I think you’re right, and there’s a stack of lost opportunities regularly. The issue here, apparently, and if there even was one, was about people leaving for Australia. Instead the social welfare spokesperson went in with her social welfare hat on. What else could we have expected could happen? Like I said before, dumb, just plain dumb. Where the hell are Labour’s advisers? The problem’s not just with benefit/poverty issues – it’s everywhere within Labour. Just look at the leadership / conference fiasco? I mean, fuck, how stupid are these people?

            • Descendant Of Smith 18.2.1.1.1.2
              4 December 2012 at 7:52 pm

              Interesting the legislation doesn’t refer to normally living in NZ and intending to stay here. Nor does it say jobs overseas are ineligible.

              http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/legislation/welfare_programmes/transition_to_work_grant_programme.htm

              edit: I see Mary has posted the same thing while I was typing.

              • karol …
                4 December 2012 at 9:51 pm

                Well, in Question Time today, it seemed to me that the crux of the matter was that Bennett was not fully in touch with an area under her ministerial policy.  She seemed to be caught out that she wasn’t aware whether WINZ staff had been allowing people to get transition allowances to take up a job in Aussie.  Bennett said:

                 Hon PAULA BENNETT: Well, except that it is not the policy intent, and that is very clear to staff.

                Aren’t ministerial directives to staff in her area pretty strong guidelines that need to be followed.  hence the point about being an NZ resident on the WINZ website.

                 It doesn’t look like Bennett will make a rule that the transition allowance never be used for fares to Aussie.  In this NZH article tonight, she gives examples of an occasional extenuating circumstance when it may be in order to pay such fares.

          • Te Reo Putake 18.2.1.1.2
            4 December 2012 at 6:46 pm

            Bollocks, Mary. You are reading waaay to much into this, as your claim to know her motivation for speaking out shows. It is appalling that this government have given up hope of providing work for our young and good on Ardern for sticking it to Bennett. Its bad enough that our education system subsidises the future doctors, scientists and engineers of Australia, Britain and the middle east, but paying for an air ticket out for people who could be training to rebuild Chch maybe the most cynical thing I’ve heard from this witless Government since they first got in.
             
            Brighter Future? Blighted Future!

            • karol 18.2.1.1.2.1
              4 December 2012 at 6:55 pm

              Oh, actually, I’ve now looked at Ardner’s press release.  This part does play into the bludger bennie discourse and is entirely unnecessary.  Ardern doesn’t need it to show up the government’s lack of interest in providing work for the unemployed:

              Revelations today that taxpayers are picking up the tab for unemployed Kiwis to fly to Australia to take up job offers is further proof that the Government has no interest in creating work opportunities here,

                

              • Te Reo Putake …
                4 December 2012 at 7:06 pm

                How does that play into the ‘bludger bennie discourse’ Karol?

                • karol …
                  4 December 2012 at 7:16 pm

                  Because it’s a variation on the line that – beneficiaries are doing [xxx] and getting away with something luxurious that they shouldn’t on tax payer money.   It also draws focus away from the fact that it’s the government in the wrong, and beneficiaries are actually being given a bad deal.  It didn’t need to be said.
                   

                  • Te Reo Putake …
                    4 December 2012 at 7:21 pm

                    No its not a variation on the line, its a straight fact. The Government is illegally using taxpayer funds. There is no explicit or implicit criticism of the unemployed in pointing that out. Remember, these people are going off the benefit and going into work. That’s the direct opposite of the bludger bene meme.

                    • Mary …
                      4 December 2012 at 8:51 pm

                      “Remember, these people are going off the benefit and going into work. That’s the direct opposite of the bludger bene meme.”

                      Yes, it is, but that’s not how the poor-hating right-wing will describe it. Just wait for when the post on Slater’s blog about it arrives. There’ll be no mention of how the one-off grant is dwarfed into insignificance by the savings in ongoing benefit payments, just how the poor are screwing the taxpayer for overseas trips. It’s probably there already.

                    • felix …
                      4 December 2012 at 9:13 pm

                      Sorry Mary, I must have missed a memo. Are we no longer to make any criticism that the government’s goons might object to?

                    • Mary …
                      4 December 2012 at 10:05 pm

                      No Felix, but Ardern should’ve thought about strategy when picking her battles, that’s all. She clearly didn’t, unless of course she disagrees with the current (and lawful) policy that assists people to move from a benefit into employment.

                    • Adele …
                      4 December 2012 at 10:22 pm

                      Tēnā koe, Mary

                      Who needs enemies when you have someone like Ardern as your advocate. Cheap political point-scoring with beneficiaries as the dart-board, and the ultimate losers.

                    • vto …
                      4 December 2012 at 10:28 pm

                      agreed adele, all most people will hear is some politician having a go at beneficiaries again and good job. bloody beneficiaries. They wont know who Adern even is. Shallow sound bites. Its our times. Adern added an extra layer of political complexity that nobody cares for.

                    • Mary …
                      4 December 2012 at 11:18 pm

                      Nightline on TV3 has just done an anti-beneficiary piece now. They’ve conflated the various types of costs to make it sound not only that the help for the travel is unlawful (by focusing on the policy instruction that says “normally for those staying in New Zealand”, which is wrong because there’s no such requirement in the principal instrument), but they’ve said that the grant is being used to simply travel to Australia to ‘look’ for work, which is also wrong. Relocation costs can only be met if the person has secured employment.

                      So, already we’ve got the media reporting “look at all these thieving beneficiaries getting their airfares paid for by the taxpayer so they can take off to live the life of Reilly in Aussie, and it’s illegal!” So much for the truth, eh? -which is that relocation costs can lawfully be paid, but only for actual costs and capped at $1500 (for example, a ticket to Aussie might only be $300 or $400 so that’s what’s paid – it’s not a standard amount of $1500), and only when employment has been secured (not simply to go somewhere to look for work) thus saving potentially thousands and thousands of dollars of ongoing benefit payments per grant issued.

                      Thanks Jacinda – good thinking. I guess tomorrow you’ll be telling Bennett she needs to “stop giving these bludgers free trips to Aussie – it’s an outrage!” What’s worse, Jacinda, is that Bennett will be only too happy to oblige. In fact, the media beat-up will probably mean she’ll be left with no choice. Nice work.

            • Balanced View 18.2.1.1.2.2
              6 December 2012 at 12:39 am

              Were you aware that this loophole was created by Labour?

          • xtasy 18.2.1.1.3
            5 December 2012 at 12:59 am

            While we are at it, could you tell me any one Labour MP sitting in the House at present, who does clearly and resolutely raise her or his voice for beneficiaries? I admit there may be one or the other, but they do not sit in the front line, and they are not observed as being very vocal to make sufficient impact.

            Fact is: Beneficiaries are for most politicians now a NO GO AREA. The nasty MSM have made sure that beneficiaries do too often get mentioned in the same line with criminal offenders, drug users, alcohol abusers, rapists, robbers, murderers and the likes, and while the recession-like times hit many worker’s pockets, too many of them have developed a lack of sympathy and even hatred for supposed “bludgers” they have to feed through.

            The submission hearing process before the Social Services Committee, presently taking place, is a clear evidence of this.

            There are NO media reports, there is virtually NO press release with sufficient information from any party, apart from one by Ardern on 30 November. It is indeed SCANDALOUS that the most draconian, mean spirited welfare “reforms” are being pushed through like a necessary, undisputed, un-sensational measure, not even worth talking and reporting about.

            Perhaps someone here takes note of this and raise it with “connected” party members or whosoever.

            For many of the remaining activists it is like “the last man (or woman) standing” in a lost battle, I fear. I simply cannot believe what is going on here.

            • Mary 18.2.1.1.3.1
              5 December 2012 at 1:43 am

              Dead right. The debate now isn’t about, for example, the adequacy of benefit levels but about whether benefits should be paid at all. That’s what policies of the 1990s did, that’s what’s pushed us to where we are now, which is it’s every person for themselves. No area has been left unscathed by all of this, not even the judiciary, who’ve also been suckered into the pop-analysis which says “beneficiary=poor=own fault=useless=fuck off and anyone who argues will get dealt to in the same way”.

    • millsy 18.3
      4 December 2012 at 10:23 pm

      It might sound good now, but it will all fall over when the Liberals allow Reinhart to import thousands of workers from Asia to work in her mines.

      Then they will all want to come home.

  19. Draco T Bastard 19
    4 December 2012 at 5:30 pm

    George Osborne’s growth plan relies on us accruing even more debt

    Meanwhile, for all their promises of a new economic model, Britain’s politicians – of right and left – remain stuck on the old debt-fuelled system.

    In 2003, Vince Cable warned of a looming crisis: “The growth of the British economy is sustained by consumer spending pinned against levels of personal debt secured, if at all, against house prices …” A decade on, not much has changed – possibly not even the sticky ending.

    Thing is, that’s exactly what Labour’s KiwiBuild is. NZers getting even deeper into debt to fuel growth. It’s certainly not addressing the problem of debt based money.

    • Neoleftie 19.1
      4 December 2012 at 5:39 pm

      My point exactly nice plan to stimulate growth in an artificial and actual way.
      Artificial due mortgages etc and actual due to down flow effects of building.

      During the boom Clark years most of the boom was off the back of expanding housing prices inflated by various means supply and demand issues, this enabled home owner to remortgage easily and spend spend spend creating artificial growth.

      Labour want to expand the house bubble effect by 1000000 units. Much better to recognise the problem that we face and face it head on.
      We need bold direction and solutions now.

  20. Penny Bright 20
    4 December 2012 at 8:40 pm

    What is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to do about the arguably ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks, the Minister for Small Business, and Regulatory Reform — and Associate Minister for Education, and Commerce, when he appears, (as I understand it) in the Wellington District Court on Tuesday 11 December 2012 at 1.45pm – facing a private prosecution for alleged electoral fraud?

    ( CRN: 12085501327 – the charge relating to the filing of a false return.)
    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2001/0035/latest/DLM94799.html

    134 False return

    (1)Every candidate commits an offence who transmits a return of electoral expenses knowing that it is false in any material particular, and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________
    Is the arguably ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks, the Minister for Small Business, and Regulatory Reform — and Associate Minister for Education, and Commerce, going to be, at the very least, ‘stood down’ as a Minister, by National Prime Minister John Key?

    If not – why not?

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
    http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com

  21. Descendant Of Smith 21
    4 December 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Been interesting watching Ken Burn’s recent documentary on the Dustbowl.

    Apart from some lessons about mis-managing the environment one quote stands out for me.

    “But of all our losses, the most distressing is our loss of self-respect. How can we feel that our work has any dignity or importance when the world places so low a value on the products of our toil?”

    —Caroline Henderson, Oklahoma farmer during the 1932 drought during the Depression.

    I’ve never understood this government and right-wingers penchant for denigrating it’s own citizens and the low paid.

    I’ve never understood employers who pay people a pittance and expect loyalty and dedication.

    I’ve never understood the reason why small businesses support policies that benefit the corporates (including reducing wages, high unemployment and paying a pittance in benefits ) and lead to their own extinction.

    We reap what we sow in more ways than one.

    • millsy 21.1
      4 December 2012 at 11:00 pm

      Ken Burns — excellent film maker. Just finished watching his doco on Prohibition. What a fuck up that was. As if banning booze was going to solve all of societys’ problems – even then there were heaps of loopholes and exceptions.

      • muzza 21.1.1
        5 December 2012 at 2:15 pm

        Remember that banning of anything is fantastic for those who control the supply, then taking control of the black markets!

        When you reverse the ban, the control remains with those who hold effective monopolies!

        Societys problems had nothing to do with anything, other than convenient catch phrases!

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 27

    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    42 mins ago
  • Ticket To Anywhere

    You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 hour ago
  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    19 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-07-27T01:09:16+00:00