Good morning Duncan on the AM Show TV3 m
Mark said Labour and Green support the ttp 11 contract.
The greens are not supporting the ttp11
And i have seen poles that show 54% of people are against this connetract.
We have seen what companies do in country’s with now laws this contract is going to give these companies the power to act behave as if they are above the law in New Zealand.
Ka kite ano
Read the following in a stuff comment. Woukd be interested to know if others are hearing the same whispers?
“Worse still NZ, the Waitangi Estate, that 1000 acres gifted to the people of NZ by Lord Bledisloe all those years ago – you know, the place that a small piece of paper was signed by many that made NZ a nation, the place that we all own. Well, there are plans afoot, under the radar right now of course, to build a hotel complex for the same type of people that are spoken of in this article, the elite. Coincidentally there happens to be a decent golf course frequented by many Kiwis out for a hit and a giggle within metres of this proposed complex that will also be gobbled up. No doubt for the good of all NZers of course, but only for the super rich of good character for sure.
Too bad about the views that are unrivalled in this country, the historic significance, the serenity, or the fact that it is a place enjoyed by everyone. No, we will likely see high fences and gated areas to protect the privacy and enjoyment of those few able to afford it.
Every Kiwi should be talking about this – friends, neighbours, even visitors to our land that such a proposal could even be considered. Write to your MP, even you deep south people, because once this starts, where will it stop? There is a reason this is being kept quiet you know.
I would be very surprised if this was true in light of the nature of the land, its status vis a vis the gifting of it by the Bledisloes in 1932, the legislation relating to the land and its historical significance.
Why don’t you do some research yourself , tracey? A quick Google brought up a number of links which look worth following through but I’m not doing it as have other priorities. But here is one I looked at which gives some good background to the Waitangi Estate and its two types of land etc
This is a PDF which is a Departmental Submission in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to the Maori Affairs Select Committee re proposed changes to the Waitangi National Trust Act 1932. The WNT Act incorporated the Waitangi National Trust Board, vested the 500-hectare WNT estate in it, and conferred powers on the Board. The proposed 2015 amendments related to technical changes to the Board membership provisions relating to the Governor-General, PM etc.
I don’t know whether these membership provisions were passed by Parliament in 2015 (haven’t checked) but the PDF contains some very clear explanations about the 506 hectares owned by the WNT; and the adjourning 545 hectare Endowment land also gifted by the Beldisloes in 1932.
These explanations start at para 18 onwards and there is also a good map on page 18. So there is a good start for someone to do more research.
Hi veutoviper, hope your’e getting on top of the cause of your pain. So understand. Our youngest son now 50, was diagnosed with coeliac disease 8 mths ago. That often causes irritable bowel and diviticulitus along with the illness which goes with it.
He has done everything to help himself now he knows, and it is 6 months since he was last in hospital with dehydration. He is well now as he shops online from the coeliac’s section of his supermarket in AUS, and got his own toaster,bread knife etc. But some conditions people think of as minor can have major impacts.
Those who kindly told me the timetable to a hip operation. Well I have had my Xrays 2 weeks back. Have been told it is in a dangerous state by my Dr. So now I am awaiting the Specialist to “Look” and “Date stamp” my application as being in the next 4 months for an operation. Long slow wait.
Hi Patricia – much better and caused by similar but different autoimmune disease to your son, Want to discuss this (and hip) more but conscious that this is in no way related to the subject of tracey’s post and thread. LOL
Will figure out how we can talk more elsewhere …
Don’t be so mean James.
The MPs we are blessed(?) with are meant to represent the people of New Zealand. Thus they have to include some who are, shall we say, a few cards short of a full deck.
Any current MP who wants to go in for this show clearly qualifies as a representative of those citizens.
I asked but I was assured the person they were interested in was named Meteria.
My source also told me that the program generally liked to use people who were known to the public. They were very unlikely to have a place for your friend who he said he had never heard of.
Tell her not to get discouraged though. There must be something out there that she can do in the way of real work and she will be able to give up play-acting.
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. P.S I see a couple of post I haven’t seen for a bit here on the standard I wonder what they are going to say about this .
Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
Its a account with know internet axis Kiwi Bank same as Thestandards has for there donations the sandflys have blocked axis to that Australian website that had the book on Ropata Wahawaha .
Ka kite ano
I just really question the ethics of letting someone ask for donations on The Standard without actually being clear what the money is being used for and why.
Just my 2c and I’ll leave it with the site mods and owner from here on in
As a confirmed bibliophile, I’m not fan of Amazon at all, especially not their oppressive labour practises. Now it looks like it’s going to get worse, as this article from The Economist shows:
If you have to buy books online, there are alternatives, such as The Book Depository and Fishpond, while Abebooks and Alibris connect you with independent second-hand booksellers. However, the threat is not just Amazon; it’s likely to become a model for future labour relations and negotiations.
And new disciplinary technologies create an additional risk for workers. Heaps of data about their activities within a workspace are gathered, while their cognitive contribution is reduced. In both ways, such technologies pave the way for automation, much as the introduction of regimentation and discipline in factories facilitated the replacement of humans by machines. The potential for automation increases the power of firms over workers. Anyone thinking of demanding higher pay, or of joining a union in the hope of organising to grab a share of the returns to increased efficiency, can be cowed with the threat of robots.
And just a reminder that it is The Economist:
The high pay of workers with exacting jobs in finance or technology can reasonably be seen as compensation for their burdensome working conditions.
For second-hand and new books, I also use Better World Books. A B-corporation since 2008, with a fairly high rating of 114/200. As with Book Depository – postage is included in the book price.
Like you, usually avoid Amazon, but find the others to be really good.
Book Depository is really just Amazon…owned by Amazon and run on the same ‘principles’.
It was set up by an ‘Ex’ Amazon employee, same tax haven status, left alone for a few years to be established in consumers mind as an ‘ethical alternative’.
Though why anyone thought that I do not know.
Nice font I guess.
The name suggesting rosy cheeked English villagers collecting books in wicker baskets, in a lovely refurbished Victorian warehouse, and then sending those books POSTAGE FREE…presumably the workers paying for our postage out of the goodness of their hearts.
But no, just another branch of Amazon for a good few years now.
ABE, also owned by Amazon.
I get regular emails asking me to sell my books through them, and while I occasionally have to buy from ABE if I cannot contact the actual seller overseas, I would rather not have Amazon clicking the ticket everytime I sell a book.
God bless Russia. This is the way to deal with people who defy you. How dare anarchists no less, question the FSB (Russia’s Federal Security Service). Lets have more of this in NZ, and way more closed courts. Capitalism can not be questioned.
The teachers union strike in West Virginia is going real well. It would appear that the teachers themselves are in control of strike, and the corporate union types have lost control of the workers. In other good news, it’s spreading.
A U.S. billionaire threatens to stop further investment in New Zealand if the bill before Select Committee to stop the right of foreign buyers to purchase homes goes ahead.
He has worked assiduously with local Maori on the co-development near Parakai, and wants to do more.
His objection is notably not for himself, but because the luxury dwellings he is building will have too small a pool of buyers to be worth the development risk.
“It seems counter-intuitive to allow me to be a New Zealand resident under existing Immigration Act provisions while requiring me to then sell my residence under Overseas Investment Act provisions,” Kayne complained.
It seems counter-intuitive to consider that a sellers immigration status would impact a foreign ‘buyer’ ban
Yep, apparently those luxury developers in Queenstown have the same problem, Kiwis not rich enough. Maybe they can house swap or perhaps invest in NZ so that people who live here 365 days a year have wages high enough to afford what NZ has to offer.
Personally over all the ‘luxury golf courses’ being built here.
Haven’t we got enough already?
It seems either mines (James Hardie), giant stanching cruel battery chicken farms for Tegel/Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners (http://www.kaipara.org) , Golf courses or Hyatt hotels.
Much of the so called foreign investment seems to be polluting or not really helping the NZ people. Some seem to be doing the opposite.
Maybe rather than breaking foreign investment down in money spent, it should be more focused on foreign money being spent to help the NZ people not just $$$ amounts to make NZ a banana republic to build themselves a hideaway or earn as much profit as possible while polluting as much as possible?
A number of speculative golf developments failed to get buyers on the Gold Coast Aus.
Hotel investments also ended up lemons as an income stream often.
But, many hung on and 10 years later their investment base value rose and the capital gains tax diminished. They often just kept up with inflation though. GST?
He wants to live here? In which case he would only need to purchase one house to live in.
Oh, he doesn’t want to live here he wants to make money here. Living here is the excuse, the ticket to do that. “You’re only worth it if I can make a financial killing.”
No doubt a lovely man like Peter Thiel. In some words what they do is colonisation. Another word could be the horrible G word which people like Trump hate, as well I guess as his mates like Thiel – Globalisation
If America is so great make your money there by investing in US companies who are going to make money by manufacturing in factories at home. You know making all the American stuff at home rather than the poorly paid factories in China.
I wish I spoke Italian so I could read their platform instead of relying on mainstream liberal media, favouring the centrist ground, probably don’t report on the Five Star Movement all that fairly or accurately.
As it stands, I’m not altogether sure whether the Five Star Movement is a good thing, a bad thing, or something that falls between those subjective markers.
I’d done ye olde “page translate” on their web site. But when it came to anything of substance it was all in downloaded pdf form and I couldn’t quite see where the translate option was (if there was one).
In case you were wondering if there was anything more ludicrous than the result, USA based commenters are calling the Italian electoral system a farce.
So it looks like the Russell McVeigh complaint spread through the law industry might be hitting law student clubs: UO law camp could be cancelled.
Thing is, while law students were frequently the worst to work venue security for, 10-15 years back they weren’t the only clubs with dodgy attitudes to alcohol, female freshers and club outings. And nor was it restricted to one university.
Who the fuck reads a story about lots of alcoholic antics and people being pressured to take off their clothes at a minimum when they don’t want to and talks about Victorian morals? Big fucking surprise.
Anyway… shit. I liked Henaghan. I hope he comes up with something more impressive than an apologist saying “15 minutes”.
Don’t know about that, but at this stage the msm is reporting he was present for a skit that involved stripping and also for some liquor stuff, but not the jelly wrestling (so far).
Basically turning up to events, staying a bit, and pissing off, and then things got more visibly out of control. But that’s the situation so far, and he’s being zeroed in on by the ODT and other media. So a bit of a pressure test, and even if that’s the extent the uni might throw him under the bus, anyway.
From what I recall doing venue security for law gigs, there was always a lot of drinking, a lot of hidden pukers (who we had to kick out then sort out), a lot of screwing (who we had to prevent/stop), and a lot of people pissed off they couldn’t one-up the others.
Not fun jobs. Lots of arseholes. But faculty usually kept themselves straight.
I think Labour should, and I was under the impression they’re in their own internal process on this so hopefully the Greens setting the bar high will encourage Labour to do this well.
IMO, for the most part Edwards’ article is a pretty good summation of the situation and the problems.
Like you, however, I disagree with his conflation of the Tracey Bridges’ situation and Dirty Politics as he does in this extract:
“In this sense, the Bridges issue is more akin to some of the issues brought up by Nicky Hager in his Dirty Politics book – about the misuse of government power in political communications.
Surely, it’s time for a bigger conversation about the use of so many PR professionals in the media. Some of these pundits may well have earned their place as respected political commentators in their own right. But is it good for democracy that punditry is awash with people who are representing undeclared vested interests?”
My view is that the current situation with the employment, contracting etc of lobbyists, PR professionals in the public service is a end (possibly unintended) result of the corporatisation of the public service beginning in the 1980s.
As an old ex PS (state Sector) employee whose career spanned both sides of that era, I remember well the strict rules of conduct and integrity applicable in respect of conflicts of interest; engagement with the media; acceptance of gifts, hospitality, etc pre the mid-1980s changes. Sadly, post the changes, I saw the slow erosion of these rules and the integrity of the public service to the point that later generations of PS employee/contractors never receive any training or education in such matters.
Rather than intentional ‘Dirty Politics’, I think some of these conflicts etc now arise from sheer lack of education or consideration of the possible consequences.
Not denying that some cases may be intentional, but without clear rules of engagement, conduct etc and training in these, it is hard to identify and isolate such cases.
But it is actually good to see these issues being brought into the public arena for discussion- even though it was the National opposition that brought the Tracey Bridges case to notice to diss the new government!
Not holding my breath, but perhaps this – and the Greens announcing rules for their Ministers and MPs re transparency and banning treating and similar perks (as used to be the case for all public servants) – may be a first step to moving back to a better overall public service based on clear rules re integrity and conduct.
Good comment vv.
Especially re consideration given to codes of conduct et al.
We no longer have a public SERVICE. We have a series of CEOs and their enterage running little feifdoms with coal face peons doing all the work and taking the blame when thinhs go tits up.
Where has there been ANY accountability by Snr Management in MSD, or NZTA, or MPI, or MoBIE or……..
Bradbury is correct in his claim that this govt’s biggest enemy will be parts of the PS.
David Farrar never owns up to, and is never introduced as, the pollster for the National Party when he goes on The Panel. Similarly it should be made clear that the Taxpayers Union is a right wing lobby group when Jordan Williams appears, but it never is.
He probably deserves a stronger warning than that – he’s a far-right agent. He involved himself in a couple of takedowns – Colin Craig and Len Brown – he didn’t confine himself to lobbying.
“Ms Bright has made wild and inaccurate accusations about the council and its probity and is using this as the basis for not paying her fair share to the ongoing running of Auckland.
These assertions are completely unfounded and her actions are at the expense of all Aucklanders,” says council chief executive Stephen Town.
My latest formal request to Auckland Council elected representatives to ‘do their jobs’ and INSTRUCT the CEO to provide details of awarded contracts to be made available for public scrutiny.
27 February 2018
Finance and Performance Ctte.
Scroll through to 1.50 minutes for my 5 minute presentation:)
“Ms Bright, a former boilermaker turned “anti-corruption whistle blower”, is unschooled in the intricacies of law, but won 21 of the 22 trespass cases brought against her by the former Auckland City Council.”
The final Fonterra dividend for the year was paid in September 2016 and an interim dividend paid in April 2017.
The offences allegedly occurred between October 2016 and April 2017 at Hukanui, a small settlement just off State Highway 2 between Eketāhuna and Pahiatua in Northern Wairarapa.
Although the 11 different charges all relate to cows, they come under two broad categories – lameness and surgical bandages.
One charge alleges the trio and their company failed to ensure the health of 74 cows by failing to both protect them from, and diagnose them with, lameness.
They are also charged with reckless ill-treatment of 54 cows suffering from chronic lameness by failing to get them appropriate treatment.
A different charge alleges 25 cows were recklessly ill-treated to the point where they had to be euthanised.
Seven of the 11 charges related to surgical bandages not being removed from specific cows, with one of those cows having to be euthanised.
No excuse whatsoever for that level of disregard for animal welfare, if true/proven.
I am not quite sure what to read into the coincidence between the Fonterra dividend payments dates and the period between which the alleged offences occurred.
I am getting a bit of deja vu in respect of this situation, however. I seem to recall a similar situation with another MP some years ago – but cannot remember who at the moment.
The early morning tRump twitter tantrum’s going to be monumental.
The grand jury investigating alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has issued a subpoena seeking all documents involving the president and a host of his closest advisers, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by NBC News.
According to the subpoena, which was sent to a witness by special counsel Robert Mueller, investigators want emails, text messages, work papers, telephone logs and other documents going back to Nov. 1, 2015, 4½ months after Trump launched his campaign.
[…]
n addition to the president, the subpoena seeks documents that have anything to do with these current and former Trump associates:
Steve Bannon, who left the White House as chief strategist in August.
Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for Trump who testified before congressional investigators in October.
Rick Gates, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, who pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and lying to the FBI.
Hope Hicks, who resigned last week as Trump’s communications director.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager until June 2016.
Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager and Gates’ business partner, who pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and making false statements last week.
Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.
Keith Schiller, a former bodyguard for Trump who left as director of Oval Office operations in September.
Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political operative and Trump campaign adviser who sources have told NBC News is the focus of investigators interested in his contacts with WikiLeaks during the campaign.
If anyone in Auckland is interested in joining with a great big series of practical ecological activisms and efforts at the very very flaxroots level, there’s a month of them occurring in Auckland’s west:
Inside this link is a fat set of events and groups to hang with.
Personally I love Ecoday festival itself simply as a great trackmeet of the good and the great working through all sorts of orgamisations to green the world.
But also with the impending closure of all tracks in the Waitakere Ranges, we are also a focus for national and regional biosecurity efforts. This gets pretty important towards central and local budget time coming up in the next two months.
Just WoW, maybe this is why h.r.c lost. Communications, yeah right – racist and xenophobic – gotta ask, when are these people going to leave? I’m supposed to believe 13 russian did it, when Jennifer Palmieri can write this on twitter?
“You guys. I just got into unmarked gypsy cab at sfo airport with a Russian driver. If I disappear- it’s a tan Lincoln continental.”
The project I can see the sandflys are shaking in there boots now a .
I can remember when your opposition was reading the weather on 3 there was some subliminal messaging going on back then ECO MAORI picked that up that sort of behavior just added to discrimination against lady’s Ana to kai P.S one just has to look at old footage to back up my claims Ka kite ano
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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 ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
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. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
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 ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
Asia Pacific Report Two Palestinian resistance groups have condemned “the brutal assault” on prisoners at Ofer Prison, saying it was “barbaric criminal behaviour that reflects the fascist and terrorist nature of” Israel. In the joint statement, Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called the attack a “miserable attempt” by Israel ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown hopes to have “an opportunity to talk” with the New Zealand government to “heal some of the rift”. Brown returned to Avarua on Sunday afternoon (Cook Islands Time) following his week-long state visit to China, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia R. Grover, Clinical Professor of Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Menstruation, or a period, is the bleeding that occurs about monthly in healthy people born with a uterus, from puberty to menopause. This happens when the endometrium, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ella Barclay, Senior Lecturer, School of Art and Design, Australian National University Despite the perceived outrage at Khaled Sabsabi’s depiction of Hassan Nasrallah in his 2007 work You, Australian art has long made subjects of outlaws and questionable figures. And it is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Honorary Research Associate, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney Lisa Tomasetti/Opera Australia “It’s an old song”, Hermes (Christine Anu) sings at the opening of Hadestown, but “we’re gonna sing it again and again”. Based on a ...
An additional $13 million will be invested in tourism infrastructure, including upgrading huts and resolving the backlog in Milford Sound concessions. ...
The reality is that we have no obligation to tolerate the intolerant. They are using violence to shut down and silence others. The result of tolerating intolerant views is the loss of everyone’s freedom of speech except for the one who most effectively ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University Adwo/Shutterstock Humans have been poisoning rodents for centuries. But fast-breeding rats and mice have evolved resistance to earlier poisons. In response, manufacturers have produced second generation anticoagulant rodenticides such as bromadiolone, widely ...
Alex Casey unearths Simon Court’s full sales pitch for how menstrual cups could end poverty. On Friday last week, Act MP Simon Court was accused of “mansplaining” during a parliamentary committee hearing about benefit sanctions. After submitter Rachel Dibble shared her concerns about period poverty and the impact that sanctions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted February 10–14 from a sample of 1,244, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the previous Newspoll, ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you enjoy whip-smart satire: The White Lotus (Neon, February 17) HBO’s award-winning The White Lotus is back for what critics are calling “an absolutely exquisite third ...
NZPF called for a slowdown of the curriculum change, asking for one subject at a time, so that teachers and principals could be fully trained and feel confident and competent to implement the changes, New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) President ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Indonesia’s TVOne launched an AI news presenter in 2023.T.J. Thomson Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has taken off at lightning speed in the past couple of years, creating disruption in ...
Many of the young vapers interviewed by a team of public health researchers said they felt unable to resist the pro-vaping environment that surrounded them. New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree ...
Analysis: While most Wellingtonians enjoyed a rare but unbeatable sunny day on Saturday, some New Zealand diplomats will have been briefly shocked by a screenshot making the rounds on social media showing US President Donald Trump calling us a “third world country”.The image, it appears, was a fake – certainly a ...
ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp says that the Treaty Principles Bill has galvanised the biggest movement in support of Te Tiriti in modern history. ...
While it is in the interests of Wellington ratepayers to sell off this subsidy for the rich, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point. The council should have never spent a penny on this programme, and the $3.4 million spent is a flagrant abuse ...
A search for the person behind a social media account ridiculing Māori.Last week, while scrolling Facebook, I came across a post shared to the New Zealand Centre for Political Research group. The post began, “From Matua Kahurangi on X”, before pasting his critique of iwi leadership – particularly Ngāpuhi ...
On the heels of The White Lotus season three, Tara Ward travels to Koh Samui, Thailand, to live her best life as a five-star wannabe. I’ve never been one for luxury travel. Despite religiously watching TV shows like Luxury Escapes: World’s Best Holidays and harbouring grand dreams of one day ...
The Treaty Principles Bill submission hearings continue at Parliament today with a range of submitters expected including councils, iwi, community organisations and individuals. ...
It’s become of one of Christchurch’s most famous landmarks online, but why? Alex Casey steps through the portal of the brutalist Timezone. Ask anyone what Christchurch’s most iconic building is and you might expect to hear some of the dusty old classics like the Cathedral, or the Town Hall, or ...
New Zealand’s alignment with the White House is further underscored by its refusal to oppose Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is a serious blow to the soft power of the United States and disastrous for many poor countries ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Hoek, Professor in Public Health, University of Otago Shutterstock/Aliaksandr Barouski New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree generation would have ended sales of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Disney, Research Fellow, Social Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne Edwin Tan/Getty Images When the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established in 2013, one of its driving aims was to make disability services and support systems fairer. However, our new ...
The resignation of the director general of health is the latest departure in what Labour is calling a ‘purge’ of health leadership. Another day, another health resignation It’s a dangerous time to be a top health executive. On Friday, Dr Diana Sarfati announced her resignation as director general of health ...
Labour and the Greens say the government should focus spending on tourism infrastructure like tracks, toilets and protection of nature instead of more advertising. ...
Good morning Duncan on the AM Show TV3 m
Mark said Labour and Green support the ttp 11 contract.
The greens are not supporting the ttp11
And i have seen poles that show 54% of people are against this connetract.
We have seen what companies do in country’s with now laws this contract is going to give these companies the power to act behave as if they are above the law in New Zealand.
Ka kite ano
Mark was a cricket player. Now he “i reckon” for a living. Nuff said.
Read the following in a stuff comment. Woukd be interested to know if others are hearing the same whispers?
“Worse still NZ, the Waitangi Estate, that 1000 acres gifted to the people of NZ by Lord Bledisloe all those years ago – you know, the place that a small piece of paper was signed by many that made NZ a nation, the place that we all own. Well, there are plans afoot, under the radar right now of course, to build a hotel complex for the same type of people that are spoken of in this article, the elite. Coincidentally there happens to be a decent golf course frequented by many Kiwis out for a hit and a giggle within metres of this proposed complex that will also be gobbled up. No doubt for the good of all NZers of course, but only for the super rich of good character for sure.
Too bad about the views that are unrivalled in this country, the historic significance, the serenity, or the fact that it is a place enjoyed by everyone. No, we will likely see high fences and gated areas to protect the privacy and enjoyment of those few able to afford it.
Every Kiwi should be talking about this – friends, neighbours, even visitors to our land that such a proposal could even be considered. Write to your MP, even you deep south people, because once this starts, where will it stop? There is a reason this is being kept quiet you know.
“
I wouldn’t put too much weight on the comments section of stuff.
Which is why I am throwing it out there to see what has been heard. This seems quite specific.
So every comment’s shite?
Not at all. But I would be surprised if it’s true. It just doesn’t pass the “sniff test”.
I would be very surprised if this was true in light of the nature of the land, its status vis a vis the gifting of it by the Bledisloes in 1932, the legislation relating to the land and its historical significance.
Why don’t you do some research yourself , tracey? A quick Google brought up a number of links which look worth following through but I’m not doing it as have other priorities. But here is one I looked at which gives some good background to the Waitangi Estate and its two types of land etc
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/51SCMA_ADV_00DBHOH_BILL12851_1_A421951/31106c55f6c5ab0ff8165497c8db74cc2c79bdd4
This is a PDF which is a Departmental Submission in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to the Maori Affairs Select Committee re proposed changes to the Waitangi National Trust Act 1932. The WNT Act incorporated the Waitangi National Trust Board, vested the 500-hectare WNT estate in it, and conferred powers on the Board. The proposed 2015 amendments related to technical changes to the Board membership provisions relating to the Governor-General, PM etc.
I don’t know whether these membership provisions were passed by Parliament in 2015 (haven’t checked) but the PDF contains some very clear explanations about the 506 hectares owned by the WNT; and the adjourning 545 hectare Endowment land also gifted by the Beldisloes in 1932.
These explanations start at para 18 onwards and there is also a good map on page 18. So there is a good start for someone to do more research.
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/51SCMA_ADV_00DBHOH_BILL12851_1_A421951/31106c55f6c5ab0ff8165497c8db74cc2c79bdd4
A bit more about the WNT here, including more background re the Bledisloe gifting of the land.
http://www.waitangi.org.nz/waitangi-national-trust/about-the-trust
But the Act is probably the key to whether any of that could be dispersed for the uses suggested. I very much doubt it.
Hi veutoviper, hope your’e getting on top of the cause of your pain. So understand. Our youngest son now 50, was diagnosed with coeliac disease 8 mths ago. That often causes irritable bowel and diviticulitus along with the illness which goes with it.
He has done everything to help himself now he knows, and it is 6 months since he was last in hospital with dehydration. He is well now as he shops online from the coeliac’s section of his supermarket in AUS, and got his own toaster,bread knife etc. But some conditions people think of as minor can have major impacts.
Those who kindly told me the timetable to a hip operation. Well I have had my Xrays 2 weeks back. Have been told it is in a dangerous state by my Dr. So now I am awaiting the Specialist to “Look” and “Date stamp” my application as being in the next 4 months for an operation. Long slow wait.
Hi Patricia – much better and caused by similar but different autoimmune disease to your son, Want to discuss this (and hip) more but conscious that this is in no way related to the subject of tracey’s post and thread. LOL
Will figure out how we can talk more elsewhere …
Cheers.
Morning Rumble Rock radio Roger I have just made a check m8 move against the sandflys the music on the weekend was excellent Kia kaha guys Ka kite ano
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/cptpp-fears-the-government-has-rolled-over-says-critic-jane-kelsey.html
The Government has rolled over – Dr Jane Kelsey.
Reading the article it would be interesting to know what’s suspended and will be back in the agreement if the US decides to join.
It could be a very smart move by the US to get a stronger position.
Of course they have rolled over. I am just surprised a supporter of the Nats now cites Kelsey to support their premise 😉
I disagree with her on the benefits of the TPP – but agree that this government has done a complete back flip.
whereas she can’t know if they’ve “rolled over”, or to what degree, without the additional side letters.
You got plenty of room for your jig on that pin, James?
No dancing. I’ve always been for the tpp.
So do you think that labour have done a U – turn on the tpp now they are all for signing it ?
All politicians should keep out of crap like dancing with the stars.
Now we have a labour MP actively asking to be on it.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/the-labour-mp-who-wants-to-be-on-dancing-with-the-stars.html
Love the fact he didn’t click the article was satire (especially as the have satire in bold as the first word).
What? No Max Key or Mark Richardson?
Perhaps they are both smarter than the MPs who are dumb enough to go (or try to go) on this show.
Don’t be so mean James.
The MPs we are blessed(?) with are meant to represent the people of New Zealand. Thus they have to include some who are, shall we say, a few cards short of a full deck.
Any current MP who wants to go in for this show clearly qualifies as a representative of those citizens.
I’ve heard a rumour that a Meteria Turei was keen on the idea though.
Hasn’t got much on her plate these days apparently.
Any relation to Metiria Turei? I expect not, seeing as that Turei’s still busy working for the Green Party.
I asked but I was assured the person they were interested in was named Meteria.
My source also told me that the program generally liked to use people who were known to the public. They were very unlikely to have a place for your friend who he said he had never heard of.
Tell her not to get discouraged though. There must be something out there that she can do in the way of real work and she will be able to give up play-acting.
To be fair James, he obviously didn’t read the article, but had received information that came from the article.
But yeah. Maybe NZ Politics should come with a satire tag all of its own.
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. P.S I see a couple of post I haven’t seen for a bit here on the standard I wonder what they are going to say about this .
Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
I’m not sure of the wisdom in putting up your bank acc on a public forum
Its a account with know internet axis Kiwi Bank same as Thestandards has for there donations the sandflys have blocked axis to that Australian website that had the book on Ropata Wahawaha .
Ka kite ano
* shakes head with confusion. Backs away slowly *
I think Eco Maori is trying to say that he has had difficulties with Give-a-little and paypay and is now taking direct donations to his bank account.
James you sound like a kind fellow, how about you start the ball rolling for Eco?
Because I do not believe in the cause they are fund raising for.
Not saying that they are right or wrong – but I cannot donate to something I disagree with.
As far as I can tell Eco is looking for some insect repellent, extra strength.
I just really question the ethics of letting someone ask for donations on The Standard without actually being clear what the money is being used for and why.
Just my 2c and I’ll leave it with the site mods and owner from here on in
I have Dimp.
Shh.
As a confirmed bibliophile, I’m not fan of Amazon at all, especially not their oppressive labour practises. Now it looks like it’s going to get worse, as this article from The Economist shows:
https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21737507-pushing-back-against-controlling-bosses-leaves-workers-more-likely-be-replaced?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/labourmonitoringtechnologiesraiseefficiencyandhardquestionsfreeexchangeproductivity
If you have to buy books online, there are alternatives, such as The Book Depository and Fishpond, while Abebooks and Alibris connect you with independent second-hand booksellers. However, the threat is not just Amazon; it’s likely to become a model for future labour relations and negotiations.
And new disciplinary technologies create an additional risk for workers. Heaps of data about their activities within a workspace are gathered, while their cognitive contribution is reduced. In both ways, such technologies pave the way for automation, much as the introduction of regimentation and discipline in factories facilitated the replacement of humans by machines. The potential for automation increases the power of firms over workers. Anyone thinking of demanding higher pay, or of joining a union in the hope of organising to grab a share of the returns to increased efficiency, can be cowed with the threat of robots.
And just a reminder that it is The Economist:
The high pay of workers with exacting jobs in finance or technology can reasonably be seen as compensation for their burdensome working conditions.
Sigh.
For second-hand and new books, I also use Better World Books. A B-corporation since 2008, with a fairly high rating of 114/200. As with Book Depository – postage is included in the book price.
Like you, usually avoid Amazon, but find the others to be really good.
A can of coke is good for Robots.
A splash here, or a splash there.
I just had a delivery from The Book Depository arrive today.
Mind of Matter – The Images of Pink Floyd:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Pink-Floyd-Mind-Over-Matter-Storm-Thorgerson/9781783056217
A must for any Pink Floyd fan…
I think you’ll find Book Depository is owned by Amazon
Damn. You are right, it was acquired back in 2011..
Book Depository is really just Amazon…owned by Amazon and run on the same ‘principles’.
It was set up by an ‘Ex’ Amazon employee, same tax haven status, left alone for a few years to be established in consumers mind as an ‘ethical alternative’.
Though why anyone thought that I do not know.
Nice font I guess.
The name suggesting rosy cheeked English villagers collecting books in wicker baskets, in a lovely refurbished Victorian warehouse, and then sending those books POSTAGE FREE…presumably the workers paying for our postage out of the goodness of their hearts.
But no, just another branch of Amazon for a good few years now.
ABE, also owned by Amazon.
I get regular emails asking me to sell my books through them, and while I occasionally have to buy from ABE if I cannot contact the actual seller overseas, I would rather not have Amazon clicking the ticket everytime I sell a book.
The Art&Object rare book auctions are good too, especially for New Zealand history, and if you like the live auction experience.
God bless Russia. This is the way to deal with people who defy you. How dare anarchists no less, question the FSB (Russia’s Federal Security Service). Lets have more of this in NZ, and way more closed courts. Capitalism can not be questioned.
https://libcom.org/news/main-thing-moment-situation-was-come-out-alive-03032018
On the good news front.
The teachers union strike in West Virginia is going real well. It would appear that the teachers themselves are in control of strike, and the corporate union types have lost control of the workers. In other good news, it’s spreading.
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=West+Virginia%3A+Teachers&oq=West+Virginia%3A+Teachers&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
A U.S. billionaire threatens to stop further investment in New Zealand if the bill before Select Committee to stop the right of foreign buyers to purchase homes goes ahead.
He has worked assiduously with local Maori on the co-development near Parakai, and wants to do more.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12006548
His objection is notably not for himself, but because the luxury dwellings he is building will have too small a pool of buyers to be worth the development risk.
It was the last bit that caught my eye.
“It seems counter-intuitive to allow me to be a New Zealand resident under existing Immigration Act provisions while requiring me to then sell my residence under Overseas Investment Act provisions,” Kayne complained.
It seems counter-intuitive to consider that a sellers immigration status would impact a foreign ‘buyer’ ban
Sounds like a win win
He wont lose money and we don’t lose land to aliens
So New Zealanders are not rich enough? Wow who would have guessed?
Yep, apparently those luxury developers in Queenstown have the same problem, Kiwis not rich enough. Maybe they can house swap or perhaps invest in NZ so that people who live here 365 days a year have wages high enough to afford what NZ has to offer.
Personally over all the ‘luxury golf courses’ being built here.
Haven’t we got enough already?
It seems either mines (James Hardie), giant stanching cruel battery chicken farms for Tegel/Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners (http://www.kaipara.org) , Golf courses or Hyatt hotels.
Much of the so called foreign investment seems to be polluting or not really helping the NZ people. Some seem to be doing the opposite.
Maybe rather than breaking foreign investment down in money spent, it should be more focused on foreign money being spent to help the NZ people not just $$$ amounts to make NZ a banana republic to build themselves a hideaway or earn as much profit as possible while polluting as much as possible?
A number of speculative golf developments failed to get buyers on the Gold Coast Aus.
Hotel investments also ended up lemons as an income stream often.
But, many hung on and 10 years later their investment base value rose and the capital gains tax diminished. They often just kept up with inflation though. GST?
He wants to live here? In which case he would only need to purchase one house to live in.
Oh, he doesn’t want to live here he wants to make money here. Living here is the excuse, the ticket to do that. “You’re only worth it if I can make a financial killing.”
No doubt a lovely man like Peter Thiel. In some words what they do is colonisation. Another word could be the horrible G word which people like Trump hate, as well I guess as his mates like Thiel – Globalisation
If America is so great make your money there by investing in US companies who are going to make money by manufacturing in factories at home. You know making all the American stuff at home rather than the poorly paid factories in China.
He claims to live here well above the 100 day minimum.
It would be a useful policy goal to eliminate the need for an investor category of migrant.
I see the centre’s holding up well 🙂
The Five Star Movement has garnered the most votes in Italy’s general election.
I wish I spoke Italian so I could read their platform instead of relying on mainstream liberal media, favouring the centrist ground, probably don’t report on the Five Star Movement all that fairly or accurately.
As it stands, I’m not altogether sure whether the Five Star Movement is a good thing, a bad thing, or something that falls between those subjective markers.
Google Chrome offers up a translate option..
https://www.movimento5stelle.it/programma/download.html
..and will translate the pdf files.
Works for me Chrome but not in Firefox
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.movimento5stelle.it%2Fprogramma%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F02%2FAffari-Costituzionali.pdf
Cheers joe90.
I’d done ye olde “page translate” on their web site. But when it came to anything of substance it was all in downloaded pdf form and I couldn’t quite see where the translate option was (if there was one).
But seeing as how you’ve done it for me… 🙂
Alex Coleman
@ShakingStick
In case you were wondering if there was anything more ludicrous than the result, USA based commenters are calling the Italian electoral system a farce.
https://twitter.com/ShakingStick/status/970450931161509888
😉
Anyone in USA calling the Italian system a farce, is just sweet irony.
So it looks like the Russell McVeigh complaint spread through the law industry might be hitting law student clubs: UO law camp could be cancelled.
Thing is, while law students were frequently the worst to work venue security for, 10-15 years back they weren’t the only clubs with dodgy attitudes to alcohol, female freshers and club outings. And nor was it restricted to one university.
Soooo – I wonder how far this will go…
Have a look in yesterdays OM, some interesting comments/links.
Yeah. And if they’re talking about the dude i’m thinking of, I’ll be really disappointed. But I’ve no idea who’s precisely who these days.
this one too,
https://twitter.com/MichelleL0max/status/970398877714010113
Oh FFS.
Who the fuck reads a story about lots of alcoholic antics and people being pressured to take off their clothes at a minimum when they don’t want to and talks about Victorian morals? Big fucking surprise.
Anyway… shit. I liked Henaghan. I hope he comes up with something more impressive than an apologist saying “15 minutes”.
Is he the dude that’s just taken up a post at Ak?
Don’t know about that, but at this stage the msm is reporting he was present for a skit that involved stripping and also for some liquor stuff, but not the jelly wrestling (so far).
Basically turning up to events, staying a bit, and pissing off, and then things got more visibly out of control. But that’s the situation so far, and he’s being zeroed in on by the ODT and other media. So a bit of a pressure test, and even if that’s the extent the uni might throw him under the bus, anyway.
From what I recall doing venue security for law gigs, there was always a lot of drinking, a lot of hidden pukers (who we had to kick out then sort out), a lot of screwing (who we had to prevent/stop), and a lot of people pissed off they couldn’t one-up the others.
Not fun jobs. Lots of arseholes. But faculty usually kept themselves straight.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/04/93965/the-conflicting-interests-of-commentators#
Bryce Edwards using the words labour and possible dirty politics in the same sentence. I fucking hope not
The sewer spent the weekend ginning this up, too.
Funny how this issue of conflict of interest is being talked about more seriously now that we have a centre left govt. 🙄
And Bryce Edwards is part of the problem.
it’s all to complicated for a mere shepherd , maybe labour should open up like the greens
Less sheep sex, more reading.
And less than 2 hours ago you said that most of Ad writes is “just intellectual wank”!? What you call this?
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-05-03-2018/#comment-1457275
I think Labour should, and I was under the impression they’re in their own internal process on this so hopefully the Greens setting the bar high will encourage Labour to do this well.
IMO, for the most part Edwards’ article is a pretty good summation of the situation and the problems.
Like you, however, I disagree with his conflation of the Tracey Bridges’ situation and Dirty Politics as he does in this extract:
“In this sense, the Bridges issue is more akin to some of the issues brought up by Nicky Hager in his Dirty Politics book – about the misuse of government power in political communications.
Surely, it’s time for a bigger conversation about the use of so many PR professionals in the media. Some of these pundits may well have earned their place as respected political commentators in their own right. But is it good for democracy that punditry is awash with people who are representing undeclared vested interests?”
My view is that the current situation with the employment, contracting etc of lobbyists, PR professionals in the public service is a end (possibly unintended) result of the corporatisation of the public service beginning in the 1980s.
As an old ex PS (state Sector) employee whose career spanned both sides of that era, I remember well the strict rules of conduct and integrity applicable in respect of conflicts of interest; engagement with the media; acceptance of gifts, hospitality, etc pre the mid-1980s changes. Sadly, post the changes, I saw the slow erosion of these rules and the integrity of the public service to the point that later generations of PS employee/contractors never receive any training or education in such matters.
Rather than intentional ‘Dirty Politics’, I think some of these conflicts etc now arise from sheer lack of education or consideration of the possible consequences.
Not denying that some cases may be intentional, but without clear rules of engagement, conduct etc and training in these, it is hard to identify and isolate such cases.
But it is actually good to see these issues being brought into the public arena for discussion- even though it was the National opposition that brought the Tracey Bridges case to notice to diss the new government!
Not holding my breath, but perhaps this – and the Greens announcing rules for their Ministers and MPs re transparency and banning treating and similar perks (as used to be the case for all public servants) – may be a first step to moving back to a better overall public service based on clear rules re integrity and conduct.
This is the problem with Edwards. He has generally meaningful analysis, so gets kudos, and then he says stupid shit like that.
That Dirty Politics uses PR and media channels doesn’t mean that all PR and use of media channels is DP.
And too damn right the conversation needs to go wider. No shit Sherlock. What was he saying, and doing, in 2014?
I think Sherlock was well dead in 2014.
Oh, did you mean Edwards? No idea.
It was a rhetorical question. DP was published in 2014.
Good comment vv.
Especially re consideration given to codes of conduct et al.
We no longer have a public SERVICE. We have a series of CEOs and their enterage running little feifdoms with coal face peons doing all the work and taking the blame when thinhs go tits up.
Where has there been ANY accountability by Snr Management in MSD, or NZTA, or MPI, or MoBIE or……..
Bradbury is correct in his claim that this govt’s biggest enemy will be parts of the PS.
Why? Are you saying that they never get involved?
Labour in DP? How about you provide some examples if you think they do.
David Farrar never owns up to, and is never introduced as, the pollster for the National Party when he goes on The Panel. Similarly it should be made clear that the Taxpayers Union is a right wing lobby group when Jordan Williams appears, but it never is.
He probably deserves a stronger warning than that – he’s a far-right agent. He involved himself in a couple of takedowns – Colin Craig and Len Brown – he didn’t confine himself to lobbying.
Where is the EVIDENCE that I’ve ever said ANYTHING about Auckland Council or the Auckland Council CEO that was factually inaccurate?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503367&objectid=11342260
“Ms Bright has made wild and inaccurate accusations about the council and its probity and is using this as the basis for not paying her fair share to the ongoing running of Auckland.
These assertions are completely unfounded and her actions are at the expense of all Aucklanders,” says council chief executive Stephen Town.
My latest formal request to Auckland Council elected representatives to ‘do their jobs’ and INSTRUCT the CEO to provide details of awarded contracts to be made available for public scrutiny.
27 February 2018
Finance and Performance Ctte.
Scroll through to 1.50 minutes for my 5 minute presentation:)
https://councillive.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/video/270218-finance-and-performance-committee-item-1-5
Documents I had appended to the Minutes of the 27 February 2018 Finance and Performance Committee meeting.
Included are current details of awarded contracts for:
Auckland Council
Auckland Transport
Watercare Services
ATEED
Also includes my invitation to The Hague by the World Justice Project to the 2017 International Rule of Law Forum as a ‘NZ expert’.
Plus the list of names, positions and email addresses of fellow ‘International Rule of Law experts’ who attended this Forum at The Hague.
http://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2018/02/FIN_20180227_MAT_6804.PDF
5.1 Public Input – section 17A ‘value for money’ review of Auckland Council and CCO services – Penny Bright
A. 27 February 2018 Finance and Performance Committee:
Item 5.1: Public
Input, Penny Bright- tabled document
Penny Bright
“Ms Bright, a former boilermaker turned “anti-corruption whistle blower”, is unschooled in the intricacies of law, but won 21 of the 22 trespass cases brought against her by the former Auckland City Council.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11521031
Fwiw Penny, more power to your arm from the Manawatu.
“Ms Bright has made wild and inaccurate accusations about the council and its probity”
The judge must have thought there was enough evidence, given that you lost the case.
The final Fonterra dividend for the year was paid in September 2016 and an interim dividend paid in April 2017.
The offences allegedly occurred between October 2016 and April 2017 at Hukanui, a small settlement just off State Highway 2 between Eketāhuna and Pahiatua in Northern Wairarapa.
Although the 11 different charges all relate to cows, they come under two broad categories – lameness and surgical bandages.
One charge alleges the trio and their company failed to ensure the health of 74 cows by failing to both protect them from, and diagnose them with, lameness.
They are also charged with reckless ill-treatment of 54 cows suffering from chronic lameness by failing to get them appropriate treatment.
A different charge alleges 25 cows were recklessly ill-treated to the point where they had to be euthanised.
Seven of the 11 charges related to surgical bandages not being removed from specific cows, with one of those cows having to be euthanised.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/101972619/national-mps-son-husband-allegedly-failed-to-stop-cows-going-lame
Thanks for the update.
No excuse whatsoever for that level of disregard for animal welfare, if true/proven.
I am not quite sure what to read into the coincidence between the Fonterra dividend payments dates and the period between which the alleged offences occurred.
I am getting a bit of deja vu in respect of this situation, however. I seem to recall a similar situation with another MP some years ago – but cannot remember who at the moment.
IIRC, the 2016 payout wasn’t too flash.
Thanks, but still no excuse for bad animal management/animal welfare.
Poll: Are you for or against the CPTPP, or just don’t know?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2018/03/poll-are-you-for-or-against-the-cptpp-or-just-don-t-know.html
FYI
As part of the “NZ Festival” of Arts (in Wellington), two of our best political cartoonists will be speaking at Circa on Friday
https://www.festival.co.nz/2018/events/political-pricking/
The early morning tRump twitter tantrum’s going to be monumental.
The grand jury investigating alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has issued a subpoena seeking all documents involving the president and a host of his closest advisers, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by NBC News.
According to the subpoena, which was sent to a witness by special counsel Robert Mueller, investigators want emails, text messages, work papers, telephone logs and other documents going back to Nov. 1, 2015, 4½ months after Trump launched his campaign.
[…]
n addition to the president, the subpoena seeks documents that have anything to do with these current and former Trump associates:
Steve Bannon, who left the White House as chief strategist in August.
Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for Trump who testified before congressional investigators in October.
Rick Gates, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, who pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and lying to the FBI.
Hope Hicks, who resigned last week as Trump’s communications director.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager until June 2016.
Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager and Gates’ business partner, who pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and making false statements last week.
Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.
Keith Schiller, a former bodyguard for Trump who left as director of Oval Office operations in September.
Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political operative and Trump campaign adviser who sources have told NBC News is the focus of investigators interested in his contacts with WikiLeaks during the campaign.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/special-counsel-wants-documents-trump-numerous-campaign-associates-n853386?
WOW, just WOW. I gave up watching the debacle happening in what was my second home town for almost 7 years way back when, as it was doing my head in.
This I must watch …
If anyone in Auckland is interested in joining with a great big series of practical ecological activisms and efforts at the very very flaxroots level, there’s a month of them occurring in Auckland’s west:
http://www.ecomatters.org.nz/ecowest-festival?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=down-dirty
Inside this link is a fat set of events and groups to hang with.
Personally I love Ecoday festival itself simply as a great trackmeet of the good and the great working through all sorts of orgamisations to green the world.
But also with the impending closure of all tracks in the Waitakere Ranges, we are also a focus for national and regional biosecurity efforts. This gets pretty important towards central and local budget time coming up in the next two months.
Just WoW, maybe this is why h.r.c lost. Communications, yeah right – racist and xenophobic – gotta ask, when are these people going to leave? I’m supposed to believe 13 russian did it, when Jennifer Palmieri can write this on twitter?
“You guys. I just got into unmarked gypsy cab at sfo airport with a Russian driver. If I disappear- it’s a tan Lincoln continental.”
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/former-clinton-campaign-official-slammed-after-xenophobic-twitter-comments/
The project I can see the sandflys are shaking in there boots now a .
I can remember when your opposition was reading the weather on 3 there was some subliminal messaging going on back then ECO MAORI picked that up that sort of behavior just added to discrimination against lady’s Ana to kai P.S one just has to look at old footage to back up my claims Ka kite ano
Backward Minded you must be one of those Russian Bot Meddlers.
Incendiary comment from our Boring Meme too Weinstien.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]