Did Little stop to consider laughing off the suggestion of moving the party further left would be akin to a kick in the face for those wanting Labour to move further left?
I’m sure a number of left leaning Green supporters won’t be impressed either. Coupled with the reported division within Labour over working with the Greens, it will have more voters questioning how stable will their relationship be?
Perhaps, like me, they won’t read so much into it.
Or maybe they’ll think Little was laughing at the absurdity of the question, or the entire narrative, as being so obviously the sort of irrelevant cak that seems to pass for political journalism these days.
Or perhaps the journalist intended the question as a sort of post-truth joke, and Little found it funny.
I don’t propose to concern myself with it any further. Perhaps you and Pete…?
What’s so absurd about asking a Labour Party leader if he plans to take the Party further left?
The question may have seemed absurd to right-wingers but to a number on the left, we were keen to hear a truthful answer.
There has been a lot of speculation on what direction Little would take Labour. And with Little laughing off moving further left as if it were crazy, he effectively gave his hand away.
Have you ever heard of caucus or members? A leader of a party doesn’t operate as an absolute ruler or even as any kind of autocrat. They have to carry a fair chunk of support or at least resigned acquiescence from a lot of other people. The voters get a say on if they approve when elections arrive (polls are rather useless), but caucus and members are required most of the time.
Really you are just being foolish. The problem you have is that in the Labour membership and caucus there is a limited enthusiasm for moving left or right or too far away from the centre. Having impatient idiots demand immediate change just makes many of us treat such strident and clarion calls to move in a bleeding hurry as being a good enough reason to slow down. If you (or Chris or Quin or Pagani) can’t argue your case about why it would be a good idea, instead calling for revolt and revolution – then clearly you don’t appear to have an argument.
[lprent: For those of you getting caught in whatever is causing comments to go to spam. I just had to release this comment dispatched from Frankfurt airport. You are not alone 😈 ]
What’s so absurd about asking a Labour Party leader if he plans to take the Party further left?
Has anyone ever asked John Key if he plans to take National further right? No, they haven’t. But if they did, I’m betting he would laugh for the same reason Andrew Little laughed.
Its a silly question to ask and no political leader is going to answer it for the simple reason that everyone has a different perspective on what is “left” and what is “right”. Andrew Little knew it was just another attempt to throw him off balance and he didn’t get sucked into responding. He laughed it off instead.
A number of left leaning Green supporters initially switched from Labour to the Greens. This will no doubt entice more to make the move. They will want to ensure Labour get the least seats possible, giving the Greens more power if the two come to form a coalition.
Labour’s biggest concern will be if the Unions also make the shift. A number of members have been questioning why the Unions remain with Labour.
Don’t be ridiculous. This was a stupid media attack line and he treated it with the contempt it deserved. Their framing is an attempt to paint Little and Labour as on the fringe and out of touch wth “the everyman” (as Garner puts it).
Little is running a progressive agenda targeting working class and middle class New Zealanders (not the mythical political centre, note) on core Labour issues of housing, jobs, health, education and community safety. And that’s what won it in Mt Roskill. We should be getting in behind him amd laughing at the media’s bullshit.
It may have been a media attack line but it was also a leading question.
Therefore, while his response was designed to appease the media (laughing off the suggestion as if it were crazy) they suckered him into disappointing those hoping Little would move the Party further left.
As for running a progressive agenda, Labour’s policy is failing to reflect that.
It really is not worth the effort bothering to answer The Chairman, but just to set the record straight – Chris Trotter talks a lot of nonsense, he doesn’t like Labour though he purports to be left, and he doesn’t have any idea of what Labour is doing, at the moment, especially with union workers, or others.
Nonetheless, a number of Labour’s other policy also falls short. Such as their youth employment scheme (a short-term scheme providing the very basic in skills). Their willingness to continue heavily taxing smokers (resulting in a crime wave, damaging properties while putting lives at risk, hence the need to hire more police and build more prisons) Foreign investors in the property market (with new builds driving up the demand for land, hence adding to the overall cost of housing). Education (only providing 3 years of free post-school education for a person’s entire life) as they admit workers will continually require to be retrained.
Sorry chairman,
I am next to disagree with you.
I am sick to the back teeth of responses that have a Crosby textor feel to them.
His laughing, at a stupid question, was human and resonated.
Don’t get me wrong chair, I would love to see labour move left (and accommodate parties further left).
The reason it was a stupid question was that it was based on a leggett utterance. (Leggett, like dunne finds a home in labour or nats… Yuk.)
Not worthy of anything more than a hearty chuckle.
While it was sparked by a Leggett utterance in part, it was also related to the MOU with the Greens. Nevertheless, it was a valid question.
As for Leggett, Labour were still keen to welcome him back into the fold, despite him quitting Labour, standing against Lester and Little calling him a right-winger.
Can someone help me understand why MFAT give 6 million dollars to the Clinton Foundation? Mentioned in Fran O’Sullivan’s op ed in the Herald yesterday.
Isn’t that about pay for play? Ie a foreign entity gives the Clinton foundation money and then gets favours from the secretary of state or Madam President. Oops looks like that is money down the gurgler now that Trump won. Not a good look from MFAT whatever the outcome.
Isn’t that about pay for play? Ie a foreign entity gives the Clinton foundation money and then gets favours from the secretary of state or Madam President.
If it was that straightforward the people involved would be pondering how to rebuild their lives after they’re released. It’s actually just about engendering vague feelings of goodwill and the impression of dealing with someone you know because you’ve had previous dealings – there’s no actual quid pro quo, but like advertising, people wouldn’t do it if it didn’t work.
Also, it won’t be money down the gurgler because the effect of the above is on a lot more people than Hillary Clinton, and all of them are influential in one way or another. We may find it annoying, but until someone comes up with a way to run the planet that doesn’t involve humans, we’re stuck with it.
Like I said, if it were bribery, the participants would be in prison. There’s no quid pro quo. Get on your high horse if you want, but high horses are easy to get on when you’re not responsible for anything. A Labour government will do as much of this as a National one.
One wonders if such a donation is ‘acting in the nations’ interest’. In fact, the only way it could be construed as being that is if they expected to get something back from it which would make it a bribe.
Hell, it could just come under NZ’s general overseas aid package if it goes to things like quake relief or AIDS treatment. In other words, the “bribe” is to the charity so that good works get done in (partially) our name.
The imaginary shadow cast by weavers of bullshit and hoaxes.
Hey, it might be the most corrupt organisation since the cosa nostra began, but that is completely unrelated to anything said about the Clinton Foundation during the election campaign. Just noise, independant of reality.
Fortunately, neither governments nor MFAT are populated with literalists such as yourselves, as it would make diplomacy a fraught business.
…the only way it could be construed as being [in the national interest] is if they expected to get something back from it which would make it a bribe.
Wrong. First, the payment was to a charitable foundation, so went towards “good works” of various descriptions, which means it didn’t benefit some individual and falls within the kind of charitable expenditure we expect our government to make; second, that kind of charitable giving improves foreign diplomats’ perceptions of NZ, which is in our interest; third, it’s human nature to prefer to deal with people you know or have some connection with, so this helps make it easier for MFAT to deal with influential people in the USA, which is beneficial to NZ but doesn’t involve the kind of quid pro quo that could be called a bribe.
Some people think that ethics should go out the window when politics or business are involved.
There’s nothing unethical about donating to a charity, but there is something stupid about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
First, the payment was to a charitable foundation, so went towards “good works” of various descriptions, which means it didn’t benefit some individual and falls within the kind of charitable expenditure we expect our government to make;
True – to some degree. I expect our government to provide aid. What I don’t expect them to do is to give to foreign private charities.
second, that kind of charitable giving improves foreign diplomats’ perceptions of NZ, which is in our interest;
Except the only diplomats that would have been aware of that particular giving would have been the Clintons. It wasn’t general knowledge – We certainly didn’t know about it.
it’s human nature to prefer to deal with people you know or have some connection with
Maybe so but giving to a charity doesn’t engender any such connection.
The Commerce Commission is warning women to steer clear of the circles, which claim to be women’s empowerment groups that have the power to transform lives.
The National Party and its allies have just voted down a bill to help NZ businesses. Andrew Little’s bill to give preferred procurement to NZ companies for government contracts was defeated by the National block including Peter Dunne. Just think what a boost this would be to local businesses and employment. But did anyone see headlines complaining about this in the media business pages? This government is not local business friendly.
Looks like we’re all going to find out what happens when the US president can’t be bothered with the advice of thousands of career experts and just follows his whim of the moment that happens to align with his business interests.
It would be nice if people who prefer totalitarian dictatorships to democracy would stop calling themselves “progressive” – there’s nothing remotely progressive about totalitarianism, in fact it’s the death of progress.
You are on shaky ground PM. Democracy is good if everyone is educated, so that gets a big ‘fail’ now.
Totalitarian Dictatorship….. many people have pondered the ‘Benevolent Dictator’ as a good alternative to what has become a farcical form of real democracy.
Ya reckon the Orange Messiah agrees with that, so that’s why he’s picked an Education Secretary that’s very likely to further dumb down the education system?
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT.
No. 3: Kevin Roberts’ performance on TV3 chat show The Panel, late 2001.
Anyone with a taste for the absurd, the creepy and the pretentious should check out the “inspirational” website of Saatchi advertising supremo “Doctor” Kevin Roberts. The man who has, to this writer’s knowledge, never uttered a sentence that is not complete and unmitigated bullshit, offers up, for our edification, the complete list of his public speeches and his exciting, radical and deep personal philosophy, which can be summed up thusly: New Zealand is “on the edge”, and we’re all CRA-A-A-A-A-A-AZY, ma-a-a-a-a-aan, and that’s COOL. That, and something even dopier, about “love brands”.
In 1999, Roberts attracted almost universal condemnation and ridicule by somehow persuading Air New Zealand to have one of its jumbo jets painted with a huge, grotesque, distorted mural of the All Black front row. This mortified, shamed and humiliated the players, angered the All Black coach John Hart, and disgusted the fans. However, Roberts, having clout because of his inordinate influence and power on the NZRFU board, forced it through, and the jet was daubed with the atrocity.
Two years after that, on September 11, 2001, Roberts watched the WTC collapse from the Saatchi offices, in a nearby building. Undaunted by any notions of common sense or legality, he then wrote an open letter to the New York Times urging the governor George Pataki to suspend the law and extend the reign of the criminal, Mafia-connected mayor Rudolf Giuliani. Of course, Governor Pataki ignored the inane petition.
Shortly after that embarrassment, Roberts was back in New Zealand, appearing as a guest on the dismal TV3 chat show, The Panel. Even his half-drunken fellow-panelists were visibly shocked by Roberts’ performance that night: putting aside such troublesome notions as restraint, sensitivity or decency, Roberts said this:
“You know what New Zealand should have done after September 11? We should have sent a planeload of soldiers in an Air New Zealand jumbo jet, all dressed in black bomber jackets with a silver fern on them, and taken them to Ground Zero, because we’re good at urban disasters. And they would have danced a haka on the site and then started digging. The WORLD’S MEDIA would have filmed this, and the publicity would have been absolutely PRICELESS.”
At this point, there was utter silence on the set. The usual guffawing and chuckling had stopped. You could truly have heard a pin drop. Every panelist, including the inebriated Pam Corkery, was struck dumb.
Eventually one female panellist spoke up: “Isn’t that…. isn’t that a bit…..cynical?”
The normally smiling Roberts mien clouded over wrathfully: “No, it’s not cynical,” he snarled, clearly angry that anyone had had the temerity to question his brilliance. “It would have been a massive gesture of LOVE.”
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT is an occasional series highlighting some of the worst moments in our pretty shameful history of broadcasting mediocrity and downright failure.
N.B. Loath as I am to advertise anything on TV1, keen Roberts-watchers will be eagerly awaiting tonight’s edition of Sunday at 7 p.m. It is billed thusly: “Advertising guru Kevin Roberts on the scandal that brought him down. Dying prisoner Vicky Letele on how she was really treated in prison.” So that’s two fraudsters in half an hour—good value, kind of.
A look at things to come Nationwide? Or just a precursor to the privatisation of our police force? Either way pretty disturbing stuff going on in our Far North.
“The BID is designed to improve CBD business and amenity through agreed regular improvements to the town’s physical, operational or security infrastructure within the town centre. The BID is a partnership between local government (mainly through regular liaison with the Community Board) and local businesses funded through a quarterly levy, by way of an FNDC targeted rate.
Local businesses within the BID area (or those outside the area who choose to join) contribute an amount of money each year through a proportional system which is determined by BID regulations via their rateable property value. The average BID levy for a Kaitaia CBD business is about $200 per annum; but smaller businesses may only be levied a $100 (or so) rise in rates, larger businesses (such as the JNL mill) have proportionately higher levies.
Projects currently undertaken by the KBA are:
Community Patrol New Zealand – Working in conjunction with the Neighbourhood Policing team Kaitaia to improve the safety and security of our town. There is currently a Community Patrol vehicle which is policing our CBD, with a rotating roster of volunteers;
Kaitaia CCTV Cameras and monitoring upgrade – The previous CCTV system funded and installed by the KBA 10 years ago at a cost of $140,000 has become outdated and nearly unusable. The KBA, in partnership the Kaitaia Police, are looking to increase the system’s coverage to eventually include the entire BID area, with upgrades to newer technology, which are anticipated to cost in excess of $250,000.00;
New valuation papers were sent out and Wellington/Porirua with very high council housing suburbs and low income family dwellings were waked with an average of 24 %!
This does smell fishy. I don’t have to join any women spiritual movement, this alone will just give me a rush for all the wrong reasons.
Aotea, the new suburb with new build houses and a footprint of 2 council dwellings was “booming” with 23%. So how on earth can the old weatherboard houses rise 24%. Or is this done so that the council houses getting more interest in the market? They say it will not impact the rates but it will and always does. Porirua has already one of the highest rates in the country.
Can someone enlighten me what is going on?
Rates are based on the relative values of property, so if property values are up 24% on average, there will be no impact on rates. If property values are up 30% on average, your rates will probably drop, or remain static.
Rateable Values are calculated by QV based on general property changes in the same area. If you think it’s wrong, challenge it.
In fact, if anything, my forecasts were too conservative. The solar prices I expected have been smashed by bids in the Middle East and in Latin America. I will need to update the model above in a future post.
The latest record is an incredibly low bid of 2.42 cents / kwh solar electricity in Abu Dhabi. That is an unsubsidized price.
Let me put that in perspective. The cost of electricity from a new natural gas powerplant in the US is now estimated at 5.6 cents / kwh. (pdf link) That is with historically low natural gas prices in the US, which are far lower than the price of natural gas in the rest of the world.
[…]
Nor is it limited to just Abu Dhabi.
In Chile, just a month ago, a new record low price for solar was set, at 2.91 cents / kwh. That record lasted less than 5 weeks.
In Mexico, the average price of new solar bids in April was 5.1 cents per kwh, and the cheapest solar bid in Mexico was 3.5 cents per kwh.
Have just been watching Q & A which I had taped. Jessica Mutch interviewing Andrew Little was a disgrace. Such a biased interviewer, prattling on about polls (as if they matter) and not acknowledging the victory in Mt Roskill. Attacking his personality and him lacking in charisma and not being a “show pony” like the outgoing PM – as if that mattered for Christ’s sake, his antics are a disgrace and cringe material for all of us.
After the litany of botch ups the outgoing PM has done over the years and his mangling of the English language it is absolutely disgusting that our interviewers keep criticising Andrew Little and cannot be impartial and actually conduct an intelligent interview. They are all paid monkeys doing what the right wing political masters require of them.
If this is all MSM can offer with talent and calibre with their interviewers then we are all the poorer for it. I haven’t watched Q & A and The Nation for weeks now and I wish I hadn’t watched it tonight.
Celebrate the Mt Roskill win and give a decent interview and acknowledge the win – not be an attack dog negative interviewer with a bad loser attitude.
Also – Michelle Boag should be released from her contract – what a nightmare of a woman and the convener of the panel needs to learn to keep her under control and not allow her to dominate the panel like the witch that she is. She is enough to keep one awake at night.
Anti-democratic Fiji strongman Frank Bananarama has been scammed by a Las Vegas conman. I wonder what Frank’s friends John Key and slug-boy have to say about this?
The Horrid has posted yet another story on MH370 – a plane crash which cannot be found despite several hundred million dollars having been spent on the effort. A crash involving one New Zealander who was on his way to work in a Mongolian mine – wtf?
Contrast this with the zero dollars having been spent on a Pike River mine rescue where the 29 victims of corporate greed and government incompetence still wait for justice.
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A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Manurewa Marae acknowledges should have done better at handling completed census forms, following an inquiry into steps government agencies took to protect data. ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
Two long-awaited reports into alleged personal data misuse, centred on census collection and Covid-19 vaccination efforts at Manurewa Marae, were released yesterday. Here’s what you need to know.“Very sobering reading” was how public service commissioner Sir Brian Roche described his organisation’s long-awaited report into the alleged misuse of census ...
Backbench MPs reached new levels of patsy questions in an extraordinarily dull question time on Tuesday. Echo Chamber is The Spinoff’s dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. “MPs ask questions to explore key issues ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 19 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The New Zealand Government says the Cook Islands must share more information about the deals it has signed with China, following the release of an ‘action plan’ in the face of protests in the Pacific nation’s capital.The Cook Islands government has also revealed plans to spend $3 million on a ...
Comment: The recent attack by Destiny Church front groups on a Drag science show at Te Atatū library crossed a line. This wasn’t the first time that Brian Tamaki, the multimillionaire self-appointed ‘apostle’, has ordered acts of aggression against the queer community. Last year, Drag Story Time events were targeted, ...
Martina Salmon is well versed in the fast-paced action on a netball court, but even she was caught by surprise with the speed at which her career changed tack last year.Staying in the fast lane is only part of her drive this season.Fresh off a nine-day camp in Sydney with ...
Last night I may as well have been in Taihape. Or, closer to home, for me at least, somewhere in the Wairarapa. Or Tūrangi, even – which is near where we used to spend the summer when I was a child. For there was that same gorgeous small town feeling ...
Having Auckland’s food scraps dumped onto your rural backyard sounds scandalous, but in the North Island town of Reporoa there’s no fuss about the thousands of tonnes carted here every week.From the same site as one truck drops the waste, another truck picks up fertiliser to spread on local sheep ...
Negotiating rights over freshwater in Treaty settlement negotiations could have extended negotiations a decade, a Ngāi Tahu leader says.Tribal leaders, and its umbrella body, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, have taken the Attorney-General to court in a bid to have the Crown recognise its rangatiratanga (chiefly authority) over wai māori ...
Analysis: Poor safeguarding of New Zealanders’ data could be a widespread practice within the public service and certainly within the health system, according to the findings of an independent inquiry into allegations of misused census and Covid-19 vaccination information.The Public Service Commission’s review, led by consultant Pania Gray and former ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Stone, Principal Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Having dense breasts is a clear risk factor for breast cancer. It can also make cancers hard to spot on mammograms. Yet you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The National Anti-Corruption Commission will finally investigate whether six people referred to it by the royal commission into Robodebt engaged in corrupt conduct. This follows an independent reconsideration by former High Court judge Geoffrey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Last week in Europe, the United States sent some very strong messages it is prepared to upend the established global order. US Vice President JD Vance warned a stunned Munich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates on Tuesday, the first decrease in four years, saying inflationary pressures are easing “a little more quickly than expected”. However, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan Fels, Professor Allan Fels, Professor of Law, Economics and Business at the University of Melbourne and Monash University., The University of Melbourne Australia is creeping towards adding a divestiture power to its Competition and Consumer Act. Under such a law, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Australia’s minister for home affairs announced on Sunday that the federal government has struck a deal with Nauru to “resettle” three non-citizens from what’s come to be known as the “NZYQ cohort”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University (From left to right): Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.German Federal Archives/Wikimedia Commons Ukraine ...
The purpose was to establish the facts and provide an independent assessment of government agency activity in relation to allegations that personal data may have been misused during the 2023 General Election. ...
Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said he is carefully reviewing the referrals raised in the two reports. That work will be done in the context the Privacy Act and the need to ensure individuals’ rights to privacy is protected and respected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhavna Middha, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The average Australian household size has decreased from 4.5 people per household in 1911 to 2.5 people in 2024. At the same time, the average house size has increased, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Page Jeffery, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney suriyachan/Shutterstock When the Australian government passed legislation in November last year banning young people under 16 from social media, it included exemptions for platforms “that are primarily for the purposes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leslie Roberson, Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland If you’ve ever been stopped by quarantine officers at the airport, you might think Australia’s international border is locked down like a fortress. But when it comes ...
Duncan Sarkies’ latest novel, Star Gazers, is about the collapse of democracy in a society of alpaca breeders. Here are some things his intensive research revealed. 1 How greed works, psychologicallyYes, I guess I already understood greed, but I could never understand why people who already have everything they ...
Did Little stop to consider laughing off the suggestion of moving the party further left would be akin to a kick in the face for those wanting Labour to move further left?
Doesn’t Petty George have a monopoly on looking for things to be offended by?
Not that I’m aware of.
Very funny – the hypocratic oaf tries to strike again.
This one’s too small: catch and release.
Little stopped to consider opening a cold beer as he took the last two weeks of commentariats, and smiled like he earned it.
It’s no time to be complacent. He’s going to have trouble trying to reconcile this gaffe.
The media will hammer any attempts he makes to appease the left. But failing to will also cost him votes.
I’m left, and I thought Andrew’s response was both funny, and appropriate, Mr Chairman.
Why did you find it funny?
With the Party struggling in the polls, one didn’t think the Party could afford to so easily write off their left-wing voting block.
I’m sure they are grateful for your concern. Or Green voters.
I’m sure a number of left leaning Green supporters won’t be impressed either. Coupled with the reported division within Labour over working with the Greens, it will have more voters questioning how stable will their relationship be?
Perhaps, like me, they won’t read so much into it.
Or maybe they’ll think Little was laughing at the absurdity of the question, or the entire narrative, as being so obviously the sort of irrelevant cak that seems to pass for political journalism these days.
Or perhaps the journalist intended the question as a sort of post-truth joke, and Little found it funny.
I don’t propose to concern myself with it any further. Perhaps you and Pete…?
What’s so absurd about asking a Labour Party leader if he plans to take the Party further left?
The question may have seemed absurd to right-wingers but to a number on the left, we were keen to hear a truthful answer.
There has been a lot of speculation on what direction Little would take Labour. And with Little laughing off moving further left as if it were crazy, he effectively gave his hand away.
Have you ever heard of caucus or members? A leader of a party doesn’t operate as an absolute ruler or even as any kind of autocrat. They have to carry a fair chunk of support or at least resigned acquiescence from a lot of other people. The voters get a say on if they approve when elections arrive (polls are rather useless), but caucus and members are required most of the time.
Really you are just being foolish. The problem you have is that in the Labour membership and caucus there is a limited enthusiasm for moving left or right or too far away from the centre. Having impatient idiots demand immediate change just makes many of us treat such strident and clarion calls to move in a bleeding hurry as being a good enough reason to slow down. If you (or Chris or Quin or Pagani) can’t argue your case about why it would be a good idea, instead calling for revolt and revolution – then clearly you don’t appear to have an argument.
[lprent: For those of you getting caught in whatever is causing comments to go to spam. I just had to release this comment dispatched from Frankfurt airport. You are not alone 😈 ]
What’s so absurd about asking a Labour Party leader if he plans to take the Party further left?
Has anyone ever asked John Key if he plans to take National further right? No, they haven’t. But if they did, I’m betting he would laugh for the same reason Andrew Little laughed.
Its a silly question to ask and no political leader is going to answer it for the simple reason that everyone has a different perspective on what is “left” and what is “right”. Andrew Little knew it was just another attempt to throw him off balance and he didn’t get sucked into responding. He laughed it off instead.
@ Anne
The manner in which he laughed it off suggested the notion was ludicrous. He did make a comment after that, but I don’t have the full clip on hand.
As for anyone asking Key, I’m pretty sure they did when he first became leader and was relatively unknown.
Does that mean the green supporters won’t vote labour??
A number of left leaning Green supporters initially switched from Labour to the Greens. This will no doubt entice more to make the move. They will want to ensure Labour get the least seats possible, giving the Greens more power if the two come to form a coalition.
Labour’s biggest concern will be if the Unions also make the shift. A number of members have been questioning why the Unions remain with Labour.
Then we will have a Green led Government.
No problem.
“As for anyone asking Key, I’m pretty sure they did when he first became leader and was relatively unknown.”
and being Key he wasn’t to be taken at his word so it was a pointless exercise.
@ Pat
His cups of tea with ACT showed us he’s willing to accommodate the far right.
actions speak louder than words…especially mendacious words
Don’t be ridiculous. This was a stupid media attack line and he treated it with the contempt it deserved. Their framing is an attempt to paint Little and Labour as on the fringe and out of touch wth “the everyman” (as Garner puts it).
Little is running a progressive agenda targeting working class and middle class New Zealanders (not the mythical political centre, note) on core Labour issues of housing, jobs, health, education and community safety. And that’s what won it in Mt Roskill. We should be getting in behind him amd laughing at the media’s bullshit.
It may have been a media attack line but it was also a leading question.
Therefore, while his response was designed to appease the media (laughing off the suggestion as if it were crazy) they suckered him into disappointing those hoping Little would move the Party further left.
As for running a progressive agenda, Labour’s policy is failing to reflect that.
Take the Future of Work for example, apparently Unions have no role to play in Labour’s Future of Work.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/83656652/Chris-Trotter-Do-unions-have-a-place-in-the-future-of-work
It really is not worth the effort bothering to answer The Chairman, but just to set the record straight – Chris Trotter talks a lot of nonsense, he doesn’t like Labour though he purports to be left, and he doesn’t have any idea of what Labour is doing, at the moment, especially with union workers, or others.
“it really is not worth the effort bothering to answer The Chairman”……..+1
“He doesn’t have any idea of what Labour is doing, at the moment, especially with union workers, or others.”
Feel free to enlighten us, Jenny.
Has Labour countered his assertion? Surely they would want to set voters straight?
Rather than quote the hysterical Chris Trotter, you should read the actual report, which has a section on collective bargaining.
Exactly.
Some people should read the originals before commenting rather than rely on Journalists, of any type.
Exactly.
Some people should read the originals before commenting, rather than rely on Journalists, of any type.
Journalism seems to be a lost profession these days.
Rather than reporting to us. They now seem to think their job is telling us, what to think.
Seems I should of. There is a section in there.
Nonetheless, a number of Labour’s other policy also falls short. Such as their youth employment scheme (a short-term scheme providing the very basic in skills). Their willingness to continue heavily taxing smokers (resulting in a crime wave, damaging properties while putting lives at risk, hence the need to hire more police and build more prisons) Foreign investors in the property market (with new builds driving up the demand for land, hence adding to the overall cost of housing). Education (only providing 3 years of free post-school education for a person’s entire life) as they admit workers will continually require to be retrained.
Future of Work is not (Labour) policy, it is aimed at developing policy.
Sorry chairman,
I am next to disagree with you.
I am sick to the back teeth of responses that have a Crosby textor feel to them.
His laughing, at a stupid question, was human and resonated.
Why do you believe it was a stupid question?
Little’s response reinforced the notion that Labour moving left was crazy.
Don’t get me wrong chair, I would love to see labour move left (and accommodate parties further left).
The reason it was a stupid question was that it was based on a leggett utterance. (Leggett, like dunne finds a home in labour or nats… Yuk.)
Not worthy of anything more than a hearty chuckle.
While it was sparked by a Leggett utterance in part, it was also related to the MOU with the Greens. Nevertheless, it was a valid question.
As for Leggett, Labour were still keen to welcome him back into the fold, despite him quitting Labour, standing against Lester and Little calling him a right-winger.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11725623
You and Leggett need to get together and decided just exactly where Labour is. He says too far left, you say not left enough.
Seems then they are just about right where they should be.
If you consider National lite is where Labour should position themselves (I don’t of course) then I guess you’re right.
Can someone help me understand why MFAT give 6 million dollars to the Clinton Foundation? Mentioned in Fran O’Sullivan’s op ed in the Herald yesterday.
Isn’t that about pay for play? Ie a foreign entity gives the Clinton foundation money and then gets favours from the secretary of state or Madam President. Oops looks like that is money down the gurgler now that Trump won. Not a good look from MFAT whatever the outcome.
Isn’t that about pay for play? Ie a foreign entity gives the Clinton foundation money and then gets favours from the secretary of state or Madam President.
If it was that straightforward the people involved would be pondering how to rebuild their lives after they’re released. It’s actually just about engendering vague feelings of goodwill and the impression of dealing with someone you know because you’ve had previous dealings – there’s no actual quid pro quo, but like advertising, people wouldn’t do it if it didn’t work.
Also, it won’t be money down the gurgler because the effect of the above is on a lot more people than Hillary Clinton, and all of them are influential in one way or another. We may find it annoying, but until someone comes up with a way to run the planet that doesn’t involve humans, we’re stuck with it.
In the real world this is called bribery.
But corruption is fine when National do it.
Like I said, if it were bribery, the participants would be in prison. There’s no quid pro quo. Get on your high horse if you want, but high horses are easy to get on when you’re not responsible for anything. A Labour government will do as much of this as a National one.
They did it to, is not an excuse.
Governments don’t need an excuse to act in the national interest – it’s what we elect them for.
One wonders if such a donation is ‘acting in the nations’ interest’. In fact, the only way it could be construed as being that is if they expected to get something back from it which would make it a bribe.
Nope.
Hell, it could just come under NZ’s general overseas aid package if it goes to things like quake relief or AIDS treatment. In other words, the “bribe” is to the charity so that good works get done in (partially) our name.
Giving to the charity simply as part of our general aid package makes more sense than acting in the nations interest.
Of course, the problem is the shadow that’s now been cast over that particular charity.
The imaginary shadow cast by weavers of bullshit and hoaxes.
Hey, it might be the most corrupt organisation since the cosa nostra began, but that is completely unrelated to anything said about the Clinton Foundation during the election campaign. Just noise, independant of reality.
Some people think that ethics should go out the window when politics or business are involved.
I am not one of them.
Fortunately, neither governments nor MFAT are populated with literalists such as yourselves, as it would make diplomacy a fraught business.
…the only way it could be construed as being [in the national interest] is if they expected to get something back from it which would make it a bribe.
Wrong. First, the payment was to a charitable foundation, so went towards “good works” of various descriptions, which means it didn’t benefit some individual and falls within the kind of charitable expenditure we expect our government to make; second, that kind of charitable giving improves foreign diplomats’ perceptions of NZ, which is in our interest; third, it’s human nature to prefer to deal with people you know or have some connection with, so this helps make it easier for MFAT to deal with influential people in the USA, which is beneficial to NZ but doesn’t involve the kind of quid pro quo that could be called a bribe.
Some people think that ethics should go out the window when politics or business are involved.
There’s nothing unethical about donating to a charity, but there is something stupid about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
True – to some degree. I expect our government to provide aid. What I don’t expect them to do is to give to foreign private charities.
Except the only diplomats that would have been aware of that particular giving would have been the Clintons. It wasn’t general knowledge – We certainly didn’t know about it.
Maybe so but giving to a charity doesn’t engender any such connection.
They didn’t want a sheep farm.
The Commerce Commission is warning women to steer clear of the circles, which claim to be women’s empowerment groups that have the power to transform lives.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/86993820/highflying-women-lose-money-in-secret-spiritual-movement-with-hallmarks-of-pyramid-scheme
Who needs new ways to commit fraud when the old ones recycle so easily?
The National Party and its allies have just voted down a bill to help NZ businesses. Andrew Little’s bill to give preferred procurement to NZ companies for government contracts was defeated by the National block including Peter Dunne. Just think what a boost this would be to local businesses and employment. But did anyone see headlines complaining about this in the media business pages? This government is not local business friendly.
Looks like we’re all going to find out what happens when the US president can’t be bothered with the advice of thousands of career experts and just follows his whim of the moment that happens to align with his business interests.
https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-unusual-phone-call-is-great-for-his-business-dangerous-for-america-36a0ec355202#.yrym4uwk3
As the effects of giving too much power to too few people in our Western system of rotating Dictatorship, become horribly apparent.
Democracy is the perfect backdrop for the Iron Law of Oligarchy.
It would be nice if people who prefer totalitarian dictatorships to democracy would stop calling themselves “progressive” – there’s nothing remotely progressive about totalitarianism, in fact it’s the death of progress.
You are on shaky ground PM. Democracy is good if everyone is educated, so that gets a big ‘fail’ now.
Totalitarian Dictatorship….. many people have pondered the ‘Benevolent Dictator’ as a good alternative to what has become a farcical form of real democracy.
“Democracy is good if everyone is educated”
Ya reckon the Orange Messiah agrees with that, so that’s why he’s picked an Education Secretary that’s very likely to further dumb down the education system?
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/schooled/2016/12/the_damage_donald_trump_could_do_to_public_education.html
http://www.vox.com/2016/11/23/13735102/betsy-devos-education-donald-trump
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT.
No. 3: Kevin Roberts’ performance on TV3 chat show The Panel, late 2001.
Anyone with a taste for the absurd, the creepy and the pretentious should check out the “inspirational” website of Saatchi advertising supremo “Doctor” Kevin Roberts. The man who has, to this writer’s knowledge, never uttered a sentence that is not complete and unmitigated bullshit, offers up, for our edification, the complete list of his public speeches and his exciting, radical and deep personal philosophy, which can be summed up thusly: New Zealand is “on the edge”, and we’re all CRA-A-A-A-A-A-AZY, ma-a-a-a-a-aan, and that’s COOL. That, and something even dopier, about “love brands”.
In 1999, Roberts attracted almost universal condemnation and ridicule by somehow persuading Air New Zealand to have one of its jumbo jets painted with a huge, grotesque, distorted mural of the All Black front row. This mortified, shamed and humiliated the players, angered the All Black coach John Hart, and disgusted the fans. However, Roberts, having clout because of his inordinate influence and power on the NZRFU board, forced it through, and the jet was daubed with the atrocity.
Two years after that, on September 11, 2001, Roberts watched the WTC collapse from the Saatchi offices, in a nearby building. Undaunted by any notions of common sense or legality, he then wrote an open letter to the New York Times urging the governor George Pataki to suspend the law and extend the reign of the criminal, Mafia-connected mayor Rudolf Giuliani. Of course, Governor Pataki ignored the inane petition.
Shortly after that embarrassment, Roberts was back in New Zealand, appearing as a guest on the dismal TV3 chat show, The Panel. Even his half-drunken fellow-panelists were visibly shocked by Roberts’ performance that night: putting aside such troublesome notions as restraint, sensitivity or decency, Roberts said this:
At this point, there was utter silence on the set. The usual guffawing and chuckling had stopped. You could truly have heard a pin drop. Every panelist, including the inebriated Pam Corkery, was struck dumb.
Eventually one female panellist spoke up: “Isn’t that…. isn’t that a bit…..cynical?”
The normally smiling Roberts mien clouded over wrathfully: “No, it’s not cynical,” he snarled, clearly angry that anyone had had the temerity to question his brilliance. “It would have been a massive gesture of LOVE.”
Read more, if you can bear Kevin Roberts a second longer…
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06092013/#comment-692268
Great Moments in Broadcasting. NOT is an occasional series highlighting some of the worst moments in our pretty shameful history of broadcasting mediocrity and downright failure.
N.B. Loath as I am to advertise anything on TV1, keen Roberts-watchers will be eagerly awaiting tonight’s edition of Sunday at 7 p.m. It is billed thusly: “Advertising guru Kevin Roberts on the scandal that brought him down. Dying prisoner Vicky Letele on how she was really treated in prison.” So that’s two fraudsters in half an hour—good value, kind of.
A look at things to come Nationwide? Or just a precursor to the privatisation of our police force? Either way pretty disturbing stuff going on in our Far North.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/201826014/insight-can-police-tackle-the-'lawless-north‘
Yep. Kaitaia has this….http://www.kaitaia.net.nz/bid.htm
“The BID is designed to improve CBD business and amenity through agreed regular improvements to the town’s physical, operational or security infrastructure within the town centre. The BID is a partnership between local government (mainly through regular liaison with the Community Board) and local businesses funded through a quarterly levy, by way of an FNDC targeted rate.
Local businesses within the BID area (or those outside the area who choose to join) contribute an amount of money each year through a proportional system which is determined by BID regulations via their rateable property value. The average BID levy for a Kaitaia CBD business is about $200 per annum; but smaller businesses may only be levied a $100 (or so) rise in rates, larger businesses (such as the JNL mill) have proportionately higher levies.
Projects currently undertaken by the KBA are:
Community Patrol New Zealand – Working in conjunction with the Neighbourhood Policing team Kaitaia to improve the safety and security of our town. There is currently a Community Patrol vehicle which is policing our CBD, with a rotating roster of volunteers;
Kaitaia CCTV Cameras and monitoring upgrade – The previous CCTV system funded and installed by the KBA 10 years ago at a cost of $140,000 has become outdated and nearly unusable. The KBA, in partnership the Kaitaia Police, are looking to increase the system’s coverage to eventually include the entire BID area, with upgrades to newer technology, which are anticipated to cost in excess of $250,000.00;
Hasn’t been altogether successful…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/311344/far-north-criminals-becoming-brazen,-says-local
But a number of locals who struggle to get full time work have been employed by a local security firm…
http://www.fnscc.co.nz/security-team/
..although, I hear that wages are low and hours are long, often in areas with poor cellphone cover…..
Standing Rock, still going…
More updates if you missed it – Standing Rock
New valuation papers were sent out and Wellington/Porirua with very high council housing suburbs and low income family dwellings were waked with an average of 24 %!
This does smell fishy. I don’t have to join any women spiritual movement, this alone will just give me a rush for all the wrong reasons.
Aotea, the new suburb with new build houses and a footprint of 2 council dwellings was “booming” with 23%. So how on earth can the old weatherboard houses rise 24%. Or is this done so that the council houses getting more interest in the market? They say it will not impact the rates but it will and always does. Porirua has already one of the highest rates in the country.
Can someone enlighten me what is going on?
Rates are based on the relative values of property, so if property values are up 24% on average, there will be no impact on rates. If property values are up 30% on average, your rates will probably drop, or remain static.
Rateable Values are calculated by QV based on general property changes in the same area. If you think it’s wrong, challenge it.
Solar, huh.
In fact, if anything, my forecasts were too conservative. The solar prices I expected have been smashed by bids in the Middle East and in Latin America. I will need to update the model above in a future post.
The latest record is an incredibly low bid of 2.42 cents / kwh solar electricity in Abu Dhabi. That is an unsubsidized price.
Let me put that in perspective. The cost of electricity from a new natural gas powerplant in the US is now estimated at 5.6 cents / kwh. (pdf link) That is with historically low natural gas prices in the US, which are far lower than the price of natural gas in the rest of the world.
[…]
Nor is it limited to just Abu Dhabi.
In Chile, just a month ago, a new record low price for solar was set, at 2.91 cents / kwh. That record lasted less than 5 weeks.
In Mexico, the average price of new solar bids in April was 5.1 cents per kwh, and the cheapest solar bid in Mexico was 3.5 cents per kwh.
http://rameznaam.com/2016/09/21/new-record-low-solar-price-in-abu-dhabi-costs-plunging-faster-than-expected/
It’s not a surprise really. Renewable energy doesn’t destroy anything the way that fossil fuelled generation does and so it must be cheaper.
Have just been watching Q & A which I had taped. Jessica Mutch interviewing Andrew Little was a disgrace. Such a biased interviewer, prattling on about polls (as if they matter) and not acknowledging the victory in Mt Roskill. Attacking his personality and him lacking in charisma and not being a “show pony” like the outgoing PM – as if that mattered for Christ’s sake, his antics are a disgrace and cringe material for all of us.
After the litany of botch ups the outgoing PM has done over the years and his mangling of the English language it is absolutely disgusting that our interviewers keep criticising Andrew Little and cannot be impartial and actually conduct an intelligent interview. They are all paid monkeys doing what the right wing political masters require of them.
If this is all MSM can offer with talent and calibre with their interviewers then we are all the poorer for it. I haven’t watched Q & A and The Nation for weeks now and I wish I hadn’t watched it tonight.
Celebrate the Mt Roskill win and give a decent interview and acknowledge the win – not be an attack dog negative interviewer with a bad loser attitude.
Also – Michelle Boag should be released from her contract – what a nightmare of a woman and the convener of the panel needs to learn to keep her under control and not allow her to dominate the panel like the witch that she is. She is enough to keep one awake at night.
Anti-democratic Fiji strongman Frank Bananarama has been scammed by a Las Vegas conman. I wonder what Frank’s friends John Key and slug-boy have to say about this?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/319516/instacharge,-the-physics-defying-app,-insists-it's-legitimate
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/03/fiji-pm-endorses-instacharge-app-that-claims-to-recharge
Fascinating.
The Horrid has posted yet another story on MH370 – a plane crash which cannot be found despite several hundred million dollars having been spent on the effort. A crash involving one New Zealander who was on his way to work in a Mongolian mine – wtf?
Contrast this with the zero dollars having been spent on a Pike River mine rescue where the 29 victims of corporate greed and government incompetence still wait for justice.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11760240