Open mike 05/06/2023
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- Treasury warns deeper recession worsening Budget deficit
The gift that keeps giving: David Seymour has now opened a split in the coalition over the future of National’s promise to build a new medical school. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / TheKakaKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...4 hours ago - Weekly Roundup 22-November-2024
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Record Numbers: The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, which began at the tip of the North, and the tail of the South, on 11 November, culminated outside Parliament on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, in one of the largest demonstrations in New Zealand’s political history.ACCORDING TO TE ARA, the Ministry of Culture ...6 hours ago - The Rush To Blame “The Activists”
Activists are such easy scapegoats. The right and center have been conditioned for decades to roll their eyes at all protests. The left are easily aggravated over students leading movements they see as belonging to grownups, who have more important concerns like the economy and whether the trains come on ...6 hours ago - Cutting Through An Inundation of Dipshit Racists
Hi,Watching New Zealand from afar offers a strange perspective. It can be a good thing — distance from Aotearoa helped keep me sane while I reported on abuse at New Zealand’s biggest megachurch over the course of a year. It helps fuel my silly podcast. But it can also be ...6 hours ago - This is bad news
The speech yesterday by Treasury’s Chief Economic Advisor warning that the books are in worse shape than forecasted looks like it’s part of a softening-up process for either more cuts or a longer wait to get back into surplus. The speech was a highly unusual public preview of Treasury’s Half-Yearly ...8 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
Open access notables Projected increase in the frequency of extremely active Atlantic hurricane seasons, Lopez et al., Science Advances: Future changes to the year-to-year swings between active and inactive North Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) seasons have received little attention, yet may have great societal implications in areas prone to hurricane ...17 hours ago - Chicken Kiev
Chatting in the supermarket this morning, I found I needed to lunge for the chicken drumsticks.Coping mechanisms: who hasn’t felt a greater need for them lately?When it all gets too much, I turn to demonstrating handy butchery hacks.It wasn’t that she’d said anything wrong, our friend, not at all. We ...20 hours ago - The year is 2024 and it’s 1984
This is written in response to the highly significant open letter from a group of economists that was today addressed to Christopher Luxon. The year is 2024, and it’s 1984. The country is reeling from a record Olympic medal gold haul, while the globe grapples with the choice of the ...21 hours ago - The IPCA has failed
Back in 2022, RNZ took an in-depth look at the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority and its handling of killings by police. These are the most serious test of oversight, and you would expect the police's use of lethal force to receive the most severe scrutiny. But despite the police regularly ...1 day ago - Thursday 21 November 2024
The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrived at Parliament on Tuesday – the size is being debated but estimates range from 42,000 to 100,000. The Prime Minister is defending not attending due to some of the organisers being affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. The national gang patch ban came into force ...1 day ago - ‘These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no sense’
I spoke to former Productivity Chair Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable ...1 day ago
- ACT’s Astroturfing & A Co-ordinated Attack on Te Pati Māori
Unity on the Streets / Unity at the TableAfter the Hīkoi, all three right wing Coalition leaders came together to push the idea that the 42,000 - 50,000 + strong Hikoi was somehow less potent and brave, and more illegitimate than the energy and crowd displayed.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 20-November: ...1 day ago - Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink The world is emitting over 40 gigatons of CO2 per year, contributing to an accelerating warming of the planet. The world needs to cut emissions rapidly to be remotely on track to meet our Paris Agreement goals of limiting warming to well-below 2C, and we ...1 day ago
- Throwback Thursday: Will “Auckland Transport” Survive?
With Auckland Transport’s future up in the air under Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposed CCO reform, we’ve dug way back into the archives, to unearth this post originally published in March 2010. As you’ll see, many of the debates that were being had when AT was first proposed continue to ...1 day ago
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Nicola Willis’ budget cuts are under fire from economists for having no clear rationale and worsening the recession. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 21: The news at ...1 day ago
- The end of policing by consent
National has appointed a new police commissioner. And he explicitly rejects policing by consent: Asked if he subscribed to policing by consent, he said he did not. “I don’t talk about policing by consent. I talk about trust and confidence, and it is fundamentally important that the police have ...2 days ago
- The Treaty Principles Bill: A Who’s Who
David Horatio Waterbed SeymourFringe politician and dweeb transformed successfully by ThinkTank money into a well-oiled soundbite robot.Currently programmed to say: Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Was previously programmed to say:I am a proud libertarian andI am a ...2 days ago - Kinleith mill closure shows need for industrial strategy
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to deliver an economic and industrial strategy for regional manufacturing, rather than just expressing sympathy for job losses, following the announced closure of Kinleith mill in Tokoroa. “The closure Kinleith mill in Tokoroa is not just devastating for ...2 days ago
- 27% of kids going hungry, up from 21% in a year
One in four Kiwi children live in households where food runs out often or sometimes. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20: The lead: The official annual Health Survey found sharp ...2 days ago - Transport modelling is an illusion
This guest post by Tim Adriaansen, an advocate for accessibility and sustainable transport, originally published on LinkedIn and cross posted here with permission. People prefer cars, right? Probably not. Here’s why. Granted, most people in English-speaking countries use a car to get around. This simple reality underpins our transport ...2 days ago
- Young Maori take over
Neither Wellington nor Parliament has ever seen anything like it before. The Police said there were more than 40,000 but however many there were, yesterday’s Hikoi to Parliament was a monumental event. It was almost three times the Foreshore and Seabed martch of 2004 and many,many times bigger than ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Aftermath
The euphoria from yesterday’s hikoi may be transitory, but is no less valuable for that. It is pretty rare for the left to feel itself to be in the overwhelming majority, and speaking as the voice of the people. Lest that momentum be lost, the organisers will no doubt be ...3 days ago - Sabin 33 #3 – Solar panels generate too much waste and will overwhelm landfills
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Mr David Seymour crawling up to the ceilingThe sun don't shine the sun don't shine the sun don't shine at allMamma Pappa say you should go to school, I don't know what forNow that I've grown up and seen the world and all its liesSong: Southside of Bombay"Ake, ake, ake" ...3 days ago - Submit to defend te Tiriti!
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on National's racist and constitutionally radical Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Submissions can be made at the link above or by post, and are due by Tuesday, 7 January 2025. But I'd get in quick, in case National grows a spine ...3 days ago
- We need to talk about Kevin
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family has a Drunk Uncle Kevin in there somewhere. If your Kevin is anything like the ones I know, he was getting along happily enough without having to think too much about the Treaty Principles Bill apart from bloody good job, onya guys ...3 days ago - The hikoi
Like everyone else (everyone who wasn't there, anyway), I've spent the morning watching the hikoi march on Parliament. The pictures are astounding: parliament grounds and the surrounding streets are full, and there are still people backed up along Lambton Quay. The police are estimating 35,000 people, and that's a floor ...3 days ago
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3 days ago - Discount Code for Webworm Merch!
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There were urgent moves yesterday at Parliament to try and defuse the tension building up over ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill. The Bill’s author, ACT leader David Seymour, told reporters that he understood the Justice Select Committee met yesterday to discuss how long it should take to consider submissions on the ...3 days ago
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3 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Arrival, And Tyler Childers
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In a manner of speakingI just want to sayThat I could never forget the wayYou told me everythingBy saying nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me everythingSongwriter: Winston TongNext Tuesday, the subscription price for Nick’s Kōrero will ...4 days ago - Monday 18 November 2024
The NZNO have announced a nationwide strike for December over its pay dispute with Health NZ, who have put a 1 per cent cap on pay rises. The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti and Treaty Principles Bill remain front and centre in the media, with the impacts of the Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke-led ...4 days ago
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- National’s support base is wobbling
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Take the baitYou pay the priceIt's much too lateFor good adviceYou know and I know that our good things' throughBecause there's consequences for what we doConsequences for me and youWriters: Kevin Robert Hayes, David Nagier, Bonnie Adele Hayes.Fallout from the first readingOne News began last night by saying that tens ...6 days ago - Thank you, driver!
Today, Saturday 16th of November, is Auckland Transport’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Saturday 16 November marks the third annual Auckland Transport (AT) ‘Bus Driver Appreciation Day’, and this year we are encouraging all of New Zealand to thank their driver or let the bus go first if you are in ...6 days ago
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Hi,If I was to accurately sum up my mental state over the week, I’d just say that I got a huge fright from my own shadow.I’d nipped out for an 11pm neighborhood stroll, just to calm down after a day of stress and screens. The Cure and Fazerdaze’s new record ...6 days ago - We Are Not Listening
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
7 days ago - More lawlessness from National
On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...7 days ago
- National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law
Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...7 days ago
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A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...1 week ago
- Adding up the climate cost
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The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...1 week ago
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Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...1 week ago
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The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...1 week ago
- Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...
The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...1 week ago - The Weight of the World
As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
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- An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch
As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...1 week ago
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As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...20 hours ago
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The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...21 hours ago
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- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...24 hours ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...24 hours ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...1 day ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...1 day ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
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A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...2 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...2 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
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- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
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- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
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The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...1 week ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
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Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
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The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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Nicky Hager gets an ONZM. In your eye, SIS.
Ok…j.ardern deserves recognition for her initial work on the pandemic..
But for the incrementalist work done on child poverty..(all long since eaten up by the massive increases in rents/cost of living)..?
Really..?….really..?
Look she was no Helen Clark, but she was effective in a crisis, and we had plenty.
Also the actual stats show that child poverty since 2018 went down in 8 of 9 poverty measures.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/child-poverty-statistics-show-no-annual-change-in-the-year-ended-june-2022#:~:text=Child%20poverty%20rates%20for%20the,population%20insights%20Sean%20Broughton%20said.
And that's not bad for the worst economic crisis we've had since the Great Depression.
Look she was no Helen Clark,
Thank God.
After the black decade of the nineties, when voters held their noses and voted for the Rogergnomic betrayers in the hopes of even modest improvement, Helen did nothing.
No..j.ardern wasn't as bad as h.clark..
H.clark…with her 'deserving' (read working) and 'undeserving' poor…
I was a sole parent in the clark years…
Which automatically put me in the 'undeserving' poor category..
And following the lead given by h.clark..the iteration of winz then waged war against us 'undeserving' poor…and treated us like shit…
I viewed that state support as a contract I made with the state..for me to do the best I could to fulfill my end of that contract..
And I was not perfect..but I tried..and the child I raised just got an a-grade for his master's thesis..and has been asked if he will publish it in book form…
I feel I held up my end of that contract…
And feel quite bleak towards h.clark…for the state sanctioned abuse she perpetrated/fostered against me..and the other 'undeserving poor'..
That both h.clark and j.ardern have minor-deity status with labour supporters..kinda sticks in the craw..
And now j.ardern being honoured for what by any measure she didn't do…just increases that craw-blockage…
Congratulations to your son Phil you must be very proud.
Chrs..!…yep..!..
It does gladden the heart..
Clark also transferred huge amounts of prime southern farm land into private ownership so she could chase sheep out of the hills and have them grow Wilding pines instead
Congratulations to your son Phil.
I wonder have you taken into account the many obstacles Jacinda faced, plus badmouthing and online abuse of the worst kind, which still continues.
She was unstinting in her work ethic, and many of us are here because of the choices made during her time in office.
As Ad pointed out, strides were made in the worst of times. Such complaints about her at this stage lack grace imo.
Rewriting history with bile is rather unfair, as she was one person doing her best 'till she could not offer that any more, and then she said so.
@patricia..
I have said here previously that what can never be taken away from j.ardern is the number of citizens lives she saved by her actions early on in the pandemic…this is backed up by international comparisons..
And the amount of personal hate/abuse she had to endure cannot in any way be excused..it was/is irrational and vile…and I won't have a bar of it..and if I hear it verbalised I call out the speaker..
I am surprised at you calling what I write on this as "bile'..
What I am doing is comparing what j.ardern promised so fervently..to do..with what was delivered..or not delivered..in this case..
You cite 'obstacles' j.ardern faced ..my reply to that is 'walking and chewing gum at the same time'…
All gummints encounter obstacles..and I fail to see how that excuses those cornerstone policies/promises..not being fulfilled..
And I would urge you to read/scroll that link that ad provided..it will confirm for you that everything/anything actually done was incremental at best..and that was 2022…and we all know it has only got much worse since then..eh..?
You cite the work ethic of j.ardern..i have no idea either way on that..but don't see how that excuses inaction on what was promised…
And I don't think I am 'rewriting history'..
I am citing history..to make the point..
(And I haven't even mentioned that other cornerstone ignored.. broken promises on the environment..!!)
In this case I actually see you as attempting to 'rewrite history'..
To gloss over such failures to such a degree that j.ardern is praised/cited for doing what she didn't do…is a big lie..
So..yeah..nah..eh..?
In this matter we will agree to disagree.
You were supported (poorly) by the state while you parented your child. She gave up 5 years with her child, but is damned because she didn't achieve all.
Perspective and grace is needed not abuse.
Show me where I have used 'abuse' against her…
And all politicians sacrifice family time..it comes with the job..
There is nothing personal in my critique of her time as pm..
It is purely political..
Those in state houses had their rents based on income not market rate. Those in low wage jobs got increases in the MW. Families on low incomes – WFF tax credits.
Yes..some things were done..
(And of course they were better than the meanspirited tories..with their standard 75 cent increases in the minimum wage just one example of how fucked they are..)
But she didn't do nearly enough..
And came nowhere near being the 'transformational' that she promised us..
(Y'see..I believed her at the time..and then looked on in increasing dismay..as milestone after milestone passed by…and the promises weren't delivered on..
And really..how can anyone defend that after six years of a labour government..we have one in four pacific island children..one quarter of them..living in poverty..
That is hang head in shame stuff..
The major flaw has been the lack of a two year rent freeze – 2022-2024.
Taking in all those migrant workers required some mitigation action of that sort. Rents are too high. They will be higher than mortgages when the rates come back down.
I recall getting a pledge card with a handful of crap on it I neither needed nor wanted, and Labour voices claiming they'd under promised and over delivered. As a consumer of their services I would have characterized their performance rather differently.
@ ad .
From your link..)
Just above your quote is a quote from 2022 stating nothing had changed in the previous 12 months..( this with ardern/labour majority govt..)
And scrolling down in your link brings up the stats for maori/p.i…and they make grim reading..by the markers used one in four/one in five p.i. children live in poverty..
I think I am past asking 'really?'…re j.arden being hailed in the citation for her gong..for her work on child poverty..
I am more at 'what a sick effing joke..!'..
Daniel Stride puts it well…
https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/06/05/kings-birthday-grumpiness-dame-jacinda-ardern/
Helen Clark bought in the “Jobs Jolt” where by various beneficiaries could have their entitlements cut if they moved to a number of provincial towns or areas. This was on the basis of supposedly less employment opportunities, even if bennies were moving for health or childcare reasons, or just to be closer to family. It was heartless monetarism of the “work will set you free” variety.
Labour did do a number of incremental reforms but would never go near the Reserve Bank Act or State Sector Act etc.
Congratulations Nicky Hager.
“Good people who, via me and sometimes at considerable personal risk, have helped expose dishonesty, wrongdoing and abuse of power, and who by doing so have helped make a better society.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kings-birthday-and-coronation-honours-2023-jacinda-ardern-among-new-dames/3QHWF7HXGNFQZJ2HFFJDNKOK2I/
Nicky has done a superb job bringing the guilty to the public's attention. But the biggest story has still not been written. I refer to [Sir] Robert Muldoon and his little private band of merry men….
Go right ahead and tell it.
I can give you one word only for starters – Erebus.
The rest will hopefully come out in due course.
There must be former Air NZ staff still alive who saw exactly what went on in the aftermath of the disaster. Who got the job of destroying the personal notes made by Capt Collins at the pre-flight briefing about the path his aircraft would take?
Collins’s pocket ringbinder was recovered with the notes intact and the writing clear, as the police recovery team confirmed. Those notes never made it to the Royal Commission.
Yes Hunter Thompson. I have been researching the Erebus story on and off for years. That was a disgraceful episode the like of which has rarely been seen in this country.
The oft repeated cliché that NZ is one of the "least corrupt countries in the world" might be generally true, but the period between the mid 1970s and the mid 1980s was a different story. Justice Mahon's observation:
"It was an orchestrated litany of lies"
is only part of the truth.
Very strange event and it's aftermath was even stranger. Davis and Muldoon had a lot to answer for IMHO.
Yes a true national treasure Mr Hager. He shames the official spies with his opaque interview techniques and obtaining information seemingly without leaving a trace.
“many more projects yet”…excellent news Nicky, though some of those pinged in “The Hollow Men”, “Dirty politics”, NZ Defence and more may be checking their document shredders are still working.
5 June 2023 at 10:43 am
"…may be checking their document shredders are still working."
Back in the day, those shredders were likely being well used.
I will add a little more to my story. Since Nicky had the guts to do it, so should I.
In my reply to Ad, I was referring to burglaries, break-ins, covert threats, abuse and general violation of certain people's personal and professional lives. In my case it also included violence to pets.
How I came to be involved is a complex story. Suffice to say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and became a sort of witness to the criminal activity – not that I knew it at the time.
Since you have mentioned them TM, I should point out that the SIS had nothing to do with the Erebus Affair at the time of the tragedy or in the aftermath. It did not come under their job description. It was the work of a group of insiders plus a few desultory characters who were likely paid for the role they played eg. the break-ins and burglaries et al. I knew one of the participants.
Seeing Nicky Hager get this official recognition for his work pits me in mind of another NZ immigrant 'stirrer' who got his recognition in 1936 by being appointed to the Legislative Council as its 'conscience'.
Mark Briggs MLC. Standing up to the establishment. I honour them both.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/mark-briggs-great-war-story
Brilliant, Nicky so deserves that.
We are having a holiday for Charlie's birthday. Even though it doesn't occur till November.
Personally I'd like to trade 3 Charlie's birthdays for one 3 yearly public holiday for election day. It would always need to be on a Wednesday so it doesn't become just another long weekend. Close all retail except maybe eats and ales after 2pm. Rather like Anzac day.
If it is made an occasion with limited other activities available it may concentrate the mind of non voters and increase participation on what is, to my mind, a far more important event than Charlie's birthday.
Good idea. Early voting seemed nice at first to up participation, but really it lets employers off the hook, the ones that don’t release workers to vote. Plus if people hold off till voting day it keeps pressure on the various parties to not pull stunts.
I overheard someone at yesterday’s Kaitaia market say “that Charles is a wanker”, and a stall holder shot back “no he’s not, someone is paid to do it for him!”…
An extension of the role of the royal 'groom of the stool..'..?
Yeah, Nah. Losing another public holiday would be just as popular with the electorate as when National proposed ditching Labour weekend to make up for the new Matariki Day.
Really, workers are happy with their long weekend (or additional pay for working the Monday) – and don't care what the 'reason' is. Also, workers want a long weekend – 3 days off in a row is much more attractive, than 2 day weekend with a day or so at work, then a holiday).
Having a day off isn't going to encourage people to vote. They either think it's important, or they don't. And, plenty of essential workers won't get the day off in any case (nurses, electricity workers, police) – don't their votes matter?
No Joy for voters hoping for improvements in freshwater quality.
You've got to laugh when the party that's always preached the need for small government now wants to increase its size by creating a new "Ministry of Regulation" https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/491317/act-party-conference-a-new-ministry-to-sort-jungle-of-red-tape-speaking-out-against-te-tiriti-o-waitangi
And apparently we need to go back in time to consult the public over the consequences of the creation of the Treaty of Waitangi.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/red-tape-police-act-to-promise-enhanced-powers-to-ditch-excess-regulation-if-successful-at-election/WOZMX52YYNEWLOIT63PJXBOVIQ/
The ‘Ministry for Regulation’ has an Orwellian ring to it and coming from the man who calls a discussion document on proposals to make media and online content safer for all New Zealanders “hate speech laws 2.0” it is no longer funny but downright chilling.
There's definitely a chilling core to the class clown exterior he seemingly cultivates.
If he were honest, he'd name it the Regulation Removal Ministry. It's just not fair that rules and regulations are preventing some from making money at peoples and environmental expense.
TOW will be the first to go under ACT, that should start the pot boiling.
I did a “what the?” when scanning the RNZ news and read that ACT proposes creating a new Ministry to reduce the activity of other Ministries…”red tape” apparently.
The Epsom Twerker is no less a worry than other would be authoritarians around the globe.
No doubt his proposed ministry will produce "red tape" of its own.
Congratulations to Jacinda Adern and Nicky Hager, amongst others.
Deserved award winners.
Jacinda for her stalwart leadership in times of crises.
Nicky for his refusal to be cowered into silence by the National Party's hit man squad.
Cheers and congratulations to Jacinda. Her sometimes unpopular calls saved many Kiwi lives during the Covid pandemic. A great leader in times of crisis.
Well done and congratulations Nicky Hager. An award well deserved in every respect.
sad….
Nice bit of narcissism there from the delusional idiot. He was just a bit player used by evil minded people in positions of power. They could have easily found some other useful idiot to do their dirty work for them. I doubt those same people have much respect for him, one would hope they feel ashamed for associating themselves with such a hideous creature.
But at least he's had the sense to put bullets through the only copy ever printed thus erasing it from history hahahahaha
A W….. word comes to mind for Cam!!! Infamous more like!!
"They’re not waving, John, they’re drowning."
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-extinction-of-rebellion.html
An interesting look back from c.trotter..
But I don't share his pessimistic views on the possibility of a mass political movement bringing about great change..
I think that mass movements worldwide will arise in the face of govts doing not nearly enough about climate change..
That is where the next mass movements will be coming from..
And in his nihilistic take.. trotter doesn't even entertain that possibility..
Time will tell
heh
.
The only reasonable way to discuss cancel culture is not “Why are kids these days canceling people?”— it is “Why is this objectively unimportant niche phenomenon suddenly such a large part of mainstream discourse?” The most basic answer is “Because so much of mainstream discourse is produced by a narrow demographic of upper middle class middle aged uncool people who have never worked outside of media or politics or academia or nonprofits and whose nightmare is getting made fun of by college kids.” But on a more fundamental level, it’s that deep yearning for the things that cannot be purchased. Why do Ken Griffin and David Geffen and David Koch spend “charity” money not on feeding the poor, but to plaster their names on public buildings? Because they are thirsty for—above all—that public love. It is a sort of prestige, but not, ironically, the cheap sort of prestige that can be bought; what they desire deep down is the genuine love and respect of humanity. Their performative efforts to earn it are pitiful. But their desire never ebbs. That respect would amount to immortality for them.
You ain’t gonna get it, fuckers. Though it would seem, rationally, that a bunch of not-rich college kids heckling a guy who makes $100 mil a year would mean nothing to him, that is not the case. The idea of being mocked and shouted down by the unwashed masses strikes fear in the heart of the powerful because it is emblematic of their inability to buy that respect that cannot be bought. This goes not just for moguls and billionaires, but for those who have achieved cultural success—the prestigious newspaper columnists who cannot stop writing dumbass columns about this spectacularly asinine topic because it represents their worst fears. Namely, that a lifetime spent worshiping at the altar of careerism and credentialism was all for nothing. When you have long cultivated a resume that demands respect only to be disrespected by a bunch of nobodies, it can shake you to your core. What was the point of it all, if the cool kids think you suck?
https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/these-vampires-can-have-everything
For a bit of light relief from the serious stuff… how about Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's take on the birth of Jesus:
Very funny.
Huge respect to Helen Clark for abolishing the honours system and then refusing to accept the title of Dame when Key brought it back.
It's very disappointing but very on brand for Ardern, someone who claims to be a republican, to accept an archaic title from the royal family.
Hypocrisy has been Arderns brand since the 2017 election where everything from her position on weed reform, welfare reform, tax reform, housing reform, healthcare reform, student loan reform (where is that second free year!?) Mental health reform, public transport all changed the day she became pm so I don't know why Id think she'd stay true to her republican ideals.
Kings honours should be abolished. Labour members accepting them in 2023 are just … It's yuck.
The bike club for mathematicians.
Not everyone, apparently.
@smdiehl
We all know what happens to Ponzi schemes when you starve them of cash inflows.
https://twitter.com/smdiehl/status/1664679805147574273
@smdiehl
It's remarkable how quite literally nothing came out of the crypto mania. Tens of billions of dollars invested and no actual companies or products. Probably the largest glut of malinvestment the United States has seen in the modern era.
https://twitter.com/smdiehl/status/1664557865930031104