Open mike 05/04/2025

22 comments on “Open mike 05/04/2025 ”

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1. PsyclingLeft.Always 1

   5 April 2025 at 8:20 am

   Ex FedFarm Pres, turned Act MP, Food Safety Minister, Andrew Hoggard. IMO dodgy.

   Minister Andrew Hoggard’s sister lobbied him opposing tougher baby formula rules

   Hoggard was among senior ministers who were lobbied intensively by a handful of companies opposing trans-Tasman infant formula standards, which were later dropped by the government.

   Hoggard's sister, Kimberly Crewther, is the executive director of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ), which represents dairy manufacturers and exporters.

   He wasnt…aware? Fuck off !

   An RNZ investigation has found she was invited to industry meetings with Hoggard and emailed his office with advice against the standards.

   Hoggard, an ACT MP, dairy farmer and former president of Federated Farmers, said he was not aware his sister had emailed his office opposing the standards, and they did not usually discuss business.

   Nothing to hide?…..OIA needed !

   Hoggard had initially refused to say whether he had declared a conflict of interest regarding his sister, withholding the information requested by RNZ under the OIA.

   From an expert who's opinions on Health, I Respect and Value..

   Lobbying regulation and greater transparency around how conflicts of interests were managed in government was needed, said Health Coalition New Zealand co-chair Boyd Swinburn.

   "We're losing trust in government, we're losing confidence in, in our transparency and in our corruption-free systems. The government actually needs to take special special attention to ensure that conflicts of interest are well managed."

   And a Green MP I also Respect and Value..

   The Greens' food safety spokesperson Steve Abel said the revolving door between industry and politics was concerning.

   "You end up with situations like this where the most obvious thing to prioritise, which is food safety in terms of infant formula, is actually being deprioritised because of the huge influence of a dairy lobbyist."

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/557200/minister-andrew-hoggard-s-sister-lobbied-him-opposing-tougher-baby-formula-rules

   An earlier RNZ ( who I also Respect and Value ) story….

   How multinational dairy companies convinced ministers to back away from new rules for baby formula

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/556997/how-multinational-dairy-companies-convinced-ministers-to-back-away-from-new-rules-for-baby-formula

   Reply
   • Psycho Milt 1.1

     5 April 2025 at 5:06 pm

     It beats me how NZ maintains such high anti-corruption ratings when we often have cabinet ministers declaring a conflict of interest and then just continuing to work in the area of their conflict of interest, along with some hand-waving about "managing it."

     Reply
2. Adrian 2

   5 April 2025 at 10:34 am

   This place is turning into a mini USA. Chokka bloc with arseholes.

   Reply
3. Adrian 3

   5 April 2025 at 10:36 am

   Sorry don’t know why it doubled up and there is no edit function

   Reply
   • Incognito 3.1

     5 April 2025 at 10:37 am

     I’ve deleted one of the duplicates.

     Reply
   • weka 3.2

     5 April 2025 at 11:47 pm

     I had a duplicate comment the other day, pretty random, I didn't think that was possible (usually the system blocks the duplicate).

     Reply
4. Incognito 4

   5 April 2025 at 10:50 am

   How does the Atlas network operate in NZ (and everywhere)? By running stealth campaigns and false-flag operations. You would think that the Free Speech Union is about honesty, fairness, and justice, but they are obviously not.

   But this isn’t really about domain governance. It’s a broader culture war campaign. The FSU has used similar tactics elsewhere – encouraging members to buy shares in media companies, for example, to push conservative agendas.

   Sound familiar? It should. Echoes of this strategy are reverberating through NZME, publishers of The New Zealand Herald.

   Critics argue the FSU’s mission has less to do with defending free speech, and more to do with seizing influence over civil society institutions. It may sound vaguely Pythonesque, but the stakes are real.

   If the FSU takes over, InternetNZ risks becoming a political football rather than a neutral steward of the internet. That could damage its international credibility and jeopardise resource allocation for its public-good work – projects aimed at keeping the internet safe, open, and accessible for all New Zealanders.

   https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/360639288/reasons-be-worried-about-meltdown-gene-testing-company-23andme [the URL seems incorrect but does link to the correct article]

   Reply
   • tc 4.1

     5 April 2025 at 3:04 pm

     FSU is jordan Williams IIRC, a foundation dirty politics member and paid shill for the <1%

     Reply
     • Psycho Milt 4.1.1

       5 April 2025 at 5:10 pm

       You do not remember correctly. He's one of 11 council members. You may be thinking of the Taxpayers' Union, an astroturf group set up by Williams and David Farrar.

       Reply
   • Psycho Milt 4.2

     5 April 2025 at 5:14 pm

     Freedom of speech isn't a "conservative agenda" and I really wish people on the left would stop just ceding that entire ground to the right.

     Reply
     • Dennis Frank 4.2.1

       6 April 2025 at 2:08 am

       Just one of a spectrum of methods the left uses nowadays to limit its own influence, but this too shall pass. As a radical centrist I may as well point to the obvious: everyone has a natural right of free speech, and others will react to it as biased by their evolutionary niche. One could be postmodern about this situation.

       It relativises in the minds of people to suit their operating context, so we get tribalism re-emerging in contemporary form. The Green ethos has been in transition from a minority ratio to the whole for quite a while as it heads toward critical mass. Gladwell, in the Revenge of the Tipping Point, discusses evidence from social science putting it between a quarter and a third of the whole. So the Red & Blue wings of the Green movement need to execute a merger to get the required result asap.

       That's been obvious since 1991, so don't expect collective intelligence to break out anytime soon! We're stuck with the Green movement's bias towards a non-political stance, due to collective aversion to both left and right that prevailed in '68, the year of going global. The positive side of that is progress is always emanating from non-political folk, which keeps optionality at the optimal level in culture…

       Reply
5. Tony Veitch 5

   5 April 2025 at 11:18 am

   Neoliberalism, which knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing, has to go!

   So says Richard Murphy, and I agree with him. 7.17 mins long.

   Reply
6. Kay 6

   5 April 2025 at 11:28 am

   Surveillance- is there any point now in trying to avoid being tracked by CCTV or your phone?

   I just had an interesting engagement with a young man in the supermarket self-checkout, where we both had to wait a bit longer to get a machine that takes cash. He pays cash for everything 'so they can't keep tabs on him' and was not happy about the cameras being used at the checkout, or the store in general. He does have a phone at home, but never goes out with it.

   I pointed out to him that he would've been videoed when withdrawing his cash from an ATM, and he wasn't happy about it. I discussed the fact that it's too late now, we're watched everywhere so there's no point in fighting it. I know Google knows more about me than I know about me, but I prefer that to the Government knowing too much about me.

   I don't think this guy was suffering from paranoia, and our conversation was perfectly reasonable. But I wonder if this is a case of going down a rabbit hole, or a very valid concern and he's doing what he thinks best for himself? I think there are some ways to (slightly) minimise our exposure to tracking- device settings, google settings, not having location switched on. But there's no going back on surveillance.

   Thoughts?

   Reply
   • PsyclingLeft.Always 6.1

     5 April 2025 at 12:00 pm

     Hi Kay. I have had an interest in the Surveilled Society for quite a long time. (read 1984 at school….opened eyes and mind, also always been interested in the alternative : )

     For sure google is becoming increasingly intrusive , i never fell for their fake friend BS (or facebook, twitter et al…)

     I use an alternate browser..but sadly they have become quite connective with google too : (

     There are ways to personalise google settings so "ads" aren't personalised..but geez you have to keep doing it (ads mean money for them) even more lately.

     I would imagine most just either dont bother..or get worn down and give in.

     here some links..

     https://au.pcmag.com/security/47543/how-to-get-google-to-quit-tracking-your-location

     https://adssettings.google.com/anonymous?hl=en_GB&ref=mac-hub&tb=web

     https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04-03-2025/#comment-2027222

     Who actually Watches the Watchers ? At least NZ still does : )

     https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12-09-2024/#comment-2010884

     Best thing..(and you sound like you already are : )… Be Aware!

     Reply
     • Kay 6.1.1

       5 April 2025 at 1:29 pm

       Some useful links there PLA. I've never had my timeline turned on, and I don't think there's anything positive about that particular setting. I have to wonder how much of this is generational- as an older gen X, I was the last to grow up fully hardcopy (and still use it a lot!) so probably naturally suspicious of big tech and privacy issues.

       I think the ad thing is a lost cause, all we can do is have the self-control not to click on any of them. I don't use SM, but have a fake FB account for some things that can't be done any other way now. I noticed very quickly that any google searches I'd made kept popping up in the FB feed, so clearly the 2 of them are in cahoots.

       I don't think it's worth the fight anymore. So long as no one steals my identity or money, it's easier to go with the flow, but be fully informed about it.

       Reply
     • weka 6.1.2

       5 April 2025 at 1:41 pm

       yep, google are called gevil for good reasons.

       Reply
       • tc 6.1.2.1

         5 April 2025 at 3:17 pm

         For sure, a Google AdWords guru was telling me pre the election they were in some deep doo doo over lifting some click through rates during covid without notifying anyone.

         He has no recollection of it since trump won last year as it sems to have magically gone away. Funny that.

         Reply
   • weka 6.2

     5 April 2025 at 1:41 pm

     it's definitely not too late. On a phone we have more settings now. I have location services turned off.

     There's a lot of algorithm sharing online, between social media platforms (and yes, use the google settings to protect yourself). Don't use face or fingerprint ID on devices, and where possible resist call centres trying to set up voice recognition for customers (WINZ and banks were trying to do this). But that's not connected to the supermarket CCTV, and in NZ the policy can't just go look at SM data. We still have ok privacy laws around medical records and welfare.

     The problem with giving up and telling people it's too late, is that people stop caring as a defence mechanism. That leaves the door open for repressive governments to remove privacy rights.

     Atm the edge is around things like face recognition use by police. In 2017 Bill English was trying to fundamentally change privacy for beneficiaries with his Big Data plans, thankfully stopped by the change in government. We're fortunate that there is no real impetus to shift to electronic voting, which means elections in NZ are robust at the voting level.

     These are things worth preserving, they matter a great deal.

     Reply
     • Kay 6.2.1

       5 April 2025 at 2:48 pm

       You make some good points there Weka, especially around voice recognition and biometrics.

       You no doubt were aware that this was going on?

       https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/530654/government-s-identity-check-facial-recognition-system-cleared-of-significant-racial-bias

       Beneficiaries were being used as guinea pigs, and it's scary to think 70,000 have given themselves up to the State. But of course, that's why we were tested on first- a group of people who can't fight back, have a load to lose for 'not cooperating' and some not aware enough to understand the implications or say no, even though it wasn't compulsory.

       And the DIA think it's a good thing. Unless we never apply for a passport, our facial biometrics are in the system. But I don't like the idea that other government agencies can cross check that way. Proving ones identity can be done in a number of ways, even over the phone. I recently had to prove my ID to ACC by phone in order to discuss a claim, and it was very easy. I was even able to set up the RealMe needed for passport applications, over the phone because the website was being temperamental. I will NEVER use realMe to engage with government services (except passports) but I fear it's only a matter of time before we're forced to.

       Reply
   • gsays 6.3

     5 April 2025 at 6:26 pm

     I take my elderly Mum shopping once a fortnight and sometimes I get a few items too.

     She enjoys the novelty of the self checkouts until… the one time we went to Countdown (to get cod liver oil pills that New World doesn't have). I had done my groceries but because the camera detected other items in the trolley it locked up and refused to let me pay until a checkout supervisor came over.

     While there is 'nothing' to it, Mum felt embarrassed, accused and insulted.

     We haven't been back, New World's cameras are more forgiving.

     What you outline is why I don’t partake in ‘loyalty’ schemes. Just another way of harvesting data.

     Reply
7. Stephen D 7

   5 April 2025 at 8:19 pm

   We never use self checkouts. We’d rather people have jobs.

   Reply
   • Phillip ure 7.1

     5 April 2025 at 8:45 pm

     Aye..!

     Have never used one..for just that reason…

     ..you do what you can..

     Reply

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