We banked more rainwater in our soil last night, in readiness for any summer drought that might occur in the South. Plenty of lightning in the air over the past few days. Askew, Deow, Icarus and co. made a beautiful job of the walls of our village over the 4 days they were here painting; they finished just as the first peals of thunder began to roll, having enjoyed hot, sunny weather all the while they worked.
(As an aside, has anyone here ever search Google for the word “askew” 🙂
Nearly finished the article on water systems. It’s becoming clear part of ‘how to get there’ will also be part of my ‘multifunctional shelter belts’ (working title) which the nitrogen fixers in turn are part of…
My only concern is I retain rights to the material posted here as some of it will wind up in the book.
Been looking over the PDC, some of it… I can’t wait! The AK bio-region stuff, the tree crops stuff, you never know what you’ll learn.
Thinking about expanding more sub-tropicals up here, bananas and Taro definitely, they love the water. Any suggestions?
Are you not going to be an “open source” writer 🙂
We called our heritage apple project, “Open Orchard” with the thought that all of our findings could be freely accessed and developed and that’s going well.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen this archive here on The Standard. /search/forest+gardens/
Bananas and taro are well out of my sphere, for the moment, but I’ve heard great praise for taro (might have been from you 🙂
A visitor gave me two white sapote seeds recently and while I’m unlikely to succeed in growing them, I have them soaking, ready for planting in pots in the tunnelhouse. There are some really interesting tree crops people up your way – I met them when speaking at their annual hui last year (I think it was). Great depth of experience and knowledge; enthusiasm too.
May I quote you?
“Thinking about expanding more sub-tropicals up here, bananas and Taro definitely, they love the water. Any suggestions?”
Yep. Give ’em plenty!
🙂
Hi RG and WTB
Good to see you. Further discussion on a permanent site and how to organise it coming? I sent my email to you Robert, you are in touch with WTB – can we have a discussion and with TS mods?
Open Mike is not a permanent depository. This is needed for the useful material already presented on how NZ will green up and grow up using helpful, co-operative ways. So if you want to turn TS potential for bringing positive, human-loving and environment-caring people together we can move together on this; starting talking now and with a plan for New Year start. We can learn what we need to know in the interim.
Robert Guyton and WetheBleeple
I’m waiting to hear from you that’s if you want me to be involved. If you don’t fine, and if I don’t hear anything by late Friday I will back off.
Hi greywarshark – fret not, good friend! I/we surely do want you and I’ve just finished talking with trp about our launch time – more about that soon. Don’t pack your bags on Friday, I’m angling for the weekend as a start time – whadda ya reckon? There are others, emailing me behind the TS scenes, who are keen to play. I reckon it’s worth giving it a go. I’m pretty keen not to set a topic each time – let the first poster try to do that 🙂 I’m happy to roll out of bed early on a weekend day and have a go at herding cats, though we may be sloths our turtles, being all happy-flappy and that…not disgruntled malcontents…or ARE we??? 🙂
Should be fun. Thanks for being our archivist and Overseer – I need that…I can…drift….
Waiting to hear now from Te Reo Putake and his mates. Fingers crossed (anything could happen in the next half hour!).
Robert
Didn’t see that series of yours no. Loved part one. Will read more later as time allows.
My plant collecting has been limited for ages by budget but is getting better now. I killed a lot too as I learned how not to do it. The gardens have reduced the food budget drastically so more plants can come in now. I like that it builds itself in this way.
The gardens did receive a major setback via contractors bulldozer blades, diggers, path making, painting… ah the life of a renter. This year (2 later) it’s back to lots of food, before that it was cover crops and healing the mess. Lost a lot of species had no idea their idea of ‘cleaning up’ was with a dozer blade.
Great landlord, cowboy contractors.
I imagine meeting the permies up here will allow access to swap cuttings and methods, I also look forward to this.
Open source… I don’t have much of a clue with the legal stuff. My ideas have been taken and turned to profit before. I want open access, and people can use, share and disseminate information to help themselves and their community, but I retain the right to use the stuff I write for my book, not whatever website/s use it.
Make sense? I’ve incurred a lot of debt getting to the point I feel I have no idea professionally, it would be nice to bumble along from here without abject poverty. Things’ll work out…
Yes. For my work project timelines get off track due to holidays so there is always a panic to get things finished. It doesn’t really change anything as the projects often take years. Some irrational human behavour induced by people wearing suits and reporting KPIs to other suits.
In 1996 when I was first elected my MP salary was virtually the same as my salary as an associate professor. Except it wasn’t. There were so many non taxable extras added on that my total MP package was effectively 50% higher. That method of padding remuneration was even more so in the 1970’s.
This all got changed in the mid 2000’s, when all the extras were included in the basic MP salary. The effect was that when I left parliament, a basic MP salary was 50% higher than an associate professor salary. But in truth there had been no effective change in relativity since 1996.
Most people should let their local MPs know that so that the Government does something about it.
Sadly, they like all their post ’84 predecessors will do fuck all until we demand proper change. Not this smiling bullshit kind of capitalism that they are progressing.
Most people should let their local MPs know that so that the Government does something about it.
Is there a process available that easy to use, can be counted and have the count publicly available?
Something like, say, Loomio but run by government to actually give people an active voice in government?
That’s part of the problem with maintaining a paper process designed in the 19th century. It’s far too hard to actually bring about the level of political participation that we need both for the general populace and the people doing the counting.
My comment was more of just a rant about how so many people don’t challenge this government to do better. As long as Labour are in power it seems to some people that the problems will sort themselves out and we should just clap from the sidelines as absolutely no bold reforms ever look like being introduced.
I become more frustrated every day with how it just seems like business as usual. The status quo remains and the 1% have hardly have a dent laid against them…..yet somehow we are all happy?
Contractors, Sub-Contractors should have a risk-free account of funding provided by the company at the start of the job. If the job doesn’t go ahead, the company has lost nothing. If the company goes under, the contractors, sub-contractors have retained their income. This funding should include future loss because the contractors, sub-contractors have chosen that job over others.
Where are the consequences for these handsomely renumerated men?
I’m pretty sure that you’ll find that they’ve been legally protected from the decisions for decades if not centuries. After all, having the rich held accountable for their actions wouldn’t help the capitalists become ever richer.
Hence we have trusts and business structures that hide the wealth and the people who own it.
Trusts aren’t just used to hide assets. They have a valuable place when used properly to make sure certain assets stay within a family.
My father died recently and used a trust to keep many important family heirlooms within the family so his ex partner couldn’t try make a claim on them (which she tried)
They have a valuable place when used properly to make sure certain assets stay within a family.
Which, of course, is fully free-market doctrine. People are supposed to be able to lose from their bad decisions.
My father died recently and used a trust to keep many important family heirlooms within the family so his ex partner couldn’t try make a claim on them (which she tried)
So, what you’re saying is that, although she had a valid claim, her ownership rights were shorted by the trust?
After all, if she didn’t have a valid claim then the courts would have thrown her case out.
Trusts aren’t just used to hide assets.
That may be true but the fact that trusts are used to hide assets makes trusts nothing but another vehicle for corruption.
Well, no. She may have had a legal claim but that doesn’t mean she had a valid claim. You yourself have said several times legal doesn’t mean right or ethical.
Secondly this just plays right into your idea that because something can be used for purposes antethical to their original purpose then they should be banned. Like I said before – the benefit can be used for corruption/dishonesty but you wouldn’t advocate banning it because of those reasons.
She may have had a legal claim but that doesn’t mean she had a valid claim.
Court was still the place to sort it out.
Secondly this just plays right into your idea that because something can be used for purposes antethical to their original purpose then they should be banned. Like I said before – the benefit can be used for corruption/dishonesty but you wouldn’t advocate banning it because of those reasons.
As far as I can see trusts have never had a valid reason to exist. Protecting people’s wealth is not valid. Under the capitalist system people are supposed to lose for their bad decisions. Under socialism even if people lose they’re not going to lose their life due to poverty.
And everything I’ve seen indicates that trusts are used primarily for unethical purposes. Just look at how the number of foreign owned trusts in NZ dropped once more information was required.
Dude, I don’t think anybody should be able to own property (except for small personal stuff) as it sets up unearned income which is detrimental to society.
That is what a family trust does. It means that all the beneficiaries including those not born yet have rights to the property.
If you don’t think there should be private property then you should say that, but that is something different from saying that there are no valid reasons for trusts.
Well – we don’t need the courts to sort it out because there was a trust in place. And there was a completely valid reason which was to make sure important family heirlooms were kept within the family.
Valid, not for the purposes of wealth protection, and legal
And it doesn’t apply to my fathers ex it also applies to my ex wife. She doesn’t want anything from the family – we sorted everything amicably and without the need for lawyers but the trust means important Selway (not my real name of course) family items stay within the family.
It should be noted that the only person willing to be properly questioned is the one who laid the charges. The woman staffer who is defending MB and claiming she never knew about the recordings is only prepared to issue a statement. That alone indicates which one is telling the truth.
‘National Party justice spokesman Mark Mitchell said she gave him a six-page letter that contained permission to speak on her behalf. He said she had been threatened by gangs and was “genuinely scared”.
She was taking a massive risk speaking out and said she was forced to write the letter of support so her convicted smuggler husband did not get deported from New Zealand.’
“She came to the Opposition through a retired Labour minister, and it is my job as opposition to make sure the Government is held to account. And now she’s got the deputy Prime Minister making cheap political attacks and shots at her.”
That really takes us back, doesn’t it micky.
Those were the days when Labour attracted skilled and competent people to their ranks.
Now the best they can manage is idiots like Lees-Galloway and Twyford.
Oh for the good old days.
Michael Bassett, Richard Prebble and Roger Douglas were acting as act in 1984; no amount of nonsense from you will change that fact.
‘ Douglas had an epiphany on mt pelerin and decided to let the markets rule. That has never been a true Labour value. Even Lange finally realised what douglas and co were up to. Labour was thrown out in 1990 – and I have always seen that decade as the biggest nat/extreme right set up I have ever seen. (politics of deception)’
Apparently, he was working with treasury on his plans a year before Labour came into government; can’t see national letting him do that unless they were in on it.
I am not saying that I agree with your evaluation of them but I would say that even a “half-wit” would be far beyond the mental capacity of the Lees-Galloway and Twyfords of this administration.
I’m guessing (because I’ve never been threatened or coerced by gangs) that shes scared and that Labour is in power and Labour MPs are in charge of police and corrections whereas National aren’t or are you suggesting that because her partner is a member of National she shouldn’t get any help at all?
‘On page five of the 12 page case file summary, it was indicated that Sroubek was an excluded person because of his convictions in the Czech Republic. But Lees-Galloway claims he was not asked to consider convictions outside New Zealand.’
‘In response to a question on whether Sroubek’s case file had enough to warrant an informed decision, he said: “We provide what we can do.”
However, he said the staff do not provide advice or recommendation on cases, as standard practice, and any decision would be made on the discretion of the minister.’
He’s the minister, its his responsibility and he should know the immigration act
The Minister covered himself well, as Peters again pointed out in the House yesterday, by using ‘codicils and caveats’ which covered the eventuality that arose when the full facts were disclosed.
The opposition is trying to beat up a storm when it is already in a hurricane of its own making, with a leaking boat and the skipper already outfitted for instant bail-outs, which we observed today in the House- the dummy spitting the dummy.
I am sure that you can, Puckish Rogue, with your adept way with video clips, source the Stones with Jumping Jack Flash born in a force five hurricane, and Split Enz spending six months in a leaking boat………
‘One of the biggest questions that needed to be answered was how immigration officials tracked the woman down, when she was in a police safe house, Mitchell said.’
I dunno, Paula Bennett? Cameron Slater? Luigi Wewege? Mark Mitchell himself? or the fella from the National Party she is currently rooting? any guesses are just as ridiculous as your attempt to give this thing legs. It seems to me it is the National Party playing politics with these peoples lives. Good on Minister Lees-Galloway for reversing his original decision after finally being given the additional information. (which, it seems, the National Party already knew from pillow talk)
“Good on Minister Lees-Galloway for reversing his original decision after finally being given the additional information. ”
He had the information to make the decision but he skimmed over the report, didn’t ask questions, didn’t know the immigration act and made the wrong decision but won’t admit to it
In answers to questions in Parliament today, Winston Peters, answering on behalf of the Prime Minister, said Iain Lees-Galloway was ‘setting out, having made only one mistake in a year, to fix it up’.
From the article you refer to “There were elements of the case that were not available to the minister at the outset, at the time of making his original decision, she said.” Thanks for proving my point, PR. Original decision made, new information given, decision altered. Fixed up. Well done Iain Lees-Galloway.
The words you quote were of course, as is quite clear from the article, a quote from Ms Ardern.
Do you really think they have any relation to reality or are they just a desperate claim from someone who is trying to hide from the reality that one of her Ministers is an idiot who is simply to lazy to do his job?
The only sensible comment from any of the Labour MPs is by Greg O’Connor. He has obviously decided that he isn’t going to get into the Cabinet and is setting out to tell truth to power in the Party.
He is starting to remind me of Gordon Christie who was a very good back bench MP for Napier from 1966 to 1981.
lucky he ‘got off’ on those kidnapping charges too
What a nice guy, sarcastically. We are not desperate for bums on seats into NZ are we??? Any bum, any seat, even prison seems to be our immigration policy APART from highly skilled, well educated people who are too honest and then it sounds like all manner of things will be held against them and they can’t reside in NZ.
In general it sounds like too little brain power, too much process that is broken completely and nonsensical that only cheats and liars and third party consultants who are cheats and liars can get success in the immigration department and surrounding areas like MP’s…
For a minute there I thought you were quoting Collette Devlin as the source of the true oil, the real story, the total facts of ALL the ins-and-outa of the Sroubek – Lees-Galloway episode.
The first sign of trouble that Minister Lees-Galloway should have noticed was that Sroubek was already in PRISON, if you don’t work out something is wrong with granting him residency, then something is very wrong with you!
At the very least, read the entire report and ask more questions!!! There are victims out there who are going to be impacted, by criminals being allowed free reign in NZ, and it’s about time our government thought of them, not the wannabe crims who want to be Kiwis getting all the ‘compassion’.
Not only that, general knowledge of how many member states in the EU that Sroubek can return too could have been helpful if the excuse is that he was ‘scared’ to go back to one of the member states. Being a criminal can be dangerous, who knew, now we have to turn NZ into a criminal drugs filled paradise to cope with all these international drug smugglers who want a slice of the highly profitable NZ drugs pie.
The woman married a man who appears to have been a career criminal and during the relationship she likely lived pretty fucking high on the hog, courtesy of his rather dubious means.
He was busted, she kicked him to touch, and now she’s being portrayed as an innocent in distress.
So, JAQing off;
Is she a police witness?
Did she benefit from the proceeds of crime?
Have there been applications for forfeiture of any of her assets?
Is the top end of town closing ranks to protect one of their own darlings?
I obviously did not follow the Sroubek saga as closely as I thought in its early days, as I have just now read this intriguing “Follow the Money” Stuff article dated 8 Nov 2018 which is relevant to some of the questions you have posed.
“or the fella from the National Party she is currently rooting?”
Wow. Can you imagine the fuss there would be if this sort of thing was said about a “friend” of one of the randier Labour male MPs.
Awh sorry Alwyn, Didn’t see you as a delicate PC snowflake. Is that the correct terms y’all like to use. You are right of course, I should have said something like, the fella from the National Party she is suspected to be having carnal relations with. Happy now sweetie.
I couldn’t possibly comment but a cast of thousands could tell you that many of the decisions made in that bugger’s muddle would have been better if they’d involved a dart board or a set of dice
Maybe you should also listen to Dr Dean Knight (Co-Director of the NZ Centre for Public Law, Victoria University of Wellington). Probably Soimon and Mr Pomp Wodehouse should do too.
It’ll be up soon on RNZ Noin-ta-Noon Podcast.
He’d have probably made the same decision. And @ PR – you do believe in the rule of law and process doncha? Many of I L-G’s ‘officials’ certainly make that claim (as do Mr Pomp and Soimon)
“Why would she reach out via a Labour (person) when she is going out with a Nat insider? ”
Perhaps he/she was one of the Labour traitors who decided to take the opportunity to knife workers in the back in the 1980s.
The Roman phrase ‘Et tu, Brute?’ is appropriate and also as an appropriate adjective from Old French.
Nope, don’t see anyone here blaming the victim, you do know that Reading between the Lines doesn’t mean, making shit up! or do you simply follow the winsome JC herself when shown the truth continues to double down on lies.
Actually, before I leave PR. I, of course, mean the MP for Papakura, and I may have you mixed up with James. One of you fellas has the hots for JC. If I have mixed you up my sincere apologies. cheers
‘National Party justice spokesman Mark Mitchell said she gave him a six-page letter that contained permission to speak on her behalf. He said she had been threatened by gangs and was “genuinely scared”.
She was taking a massive risk speaking out and said she was forced to write the letter of support so her convicted smuggler husband did not get deported from New Zealand.’
I’m assuming that because Mitchell brought it up in the house it has more validity than normal (happy to be educated if this is not the case)
Also I admit to adding the dots together with the house break in = intimidation but it seems the timings a little too convenient to be mere coincidence
… adding the dots together with the house break in = intimidation but it seems the timings a little too convenient to be mere coincidence.
Having been through such a scenario albeit a long time ago I would say it is likely not a coincidence, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it was arranged by Sroubeks or that he knew anything about it.
Not sure where to reply to you @ PR because you seems to be in every ‘space’ there’s an opportunity to contest your bull/cowshit, but I have a question.
Have you ever considered a career in the Public Service?
MBIE would be right up your alley, and who knows, you could go on to become a real star – maybe even one of those Chief Executioner Orafices sometime in the future.
You might even get to wear a stab proof vest. And if that doesn’t work out, there could be an opportunity when some sad old gNat retires and is called upon to exercise his or her expertise.
Maybe an ‘in tune’ down with the goss player as an underling to a Commissioner? The salaries are high and there aren’t too many challenges.
Maybe you’d have to lerv the coffee in Midland park, and be very careful not to leave a briefcase or a USB stick or laptop. But who knows – you COULD make something of yourself
Just in time for the Xmas break. You’ve fallen on good fortune @ PR.
And is that a full time employment offer, or a revolving contract – possibly arranged through on of those ‘spert’ employment agencies?
Congratulations @ PR. I’m sure you’ll be doing your best to make a name for yourself.
Be sure to read the Code of Conduct if they still have such things.
Life is a funny old thing at times I must say, this is nowhere near what I thought I’d be doing at this stage of my life when I was back in school but…its not bad, its not bad at all
I can see you’re a glass-half-full kinda guy eh.
We just don’t know how lucky we are.
But I noticed you’re reluctant to actually reply to questions and people that challenge you on TS. I mean….nothing to hide, nothing to fear and all that.
And I’m sure you had higher ambitions ‘back in the day’ at school.
Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers I ‘spose. Public Service here you go.
If I replied every single question I get asked you probably have to change the title of Open Mike to The Puckish Rogue Hour (has a nice ring to it) but I like to think I have a more than average answer to question ratio
I still haven’t worked out exactly which of several possibilities it is but am guessing that the most relevant of OWT’s remarks at 6.1.4.1.4 is but that it could apply to a number of those possibilities.
“You might even get to wear a stab proof vest.” LOL.
Is your new group talking about going on strike?
PS – Collins’ chances are looking up – Bridges and Brownlee just got thrown out of the House by the Speaker!
Substitute might with will and you’ll be on the money 🙂
“Is your new group talking about going on strike?”
I don’t know anything about that but I know they have in the past so seeing whats happening at the moment its not out of the realms of possibility
“Collins’ chances are looking up – Bridges and Brownlee just got thrown out of the House by the Speaker!”
National do need someone to lay down the law and instill some discipline but as long as the polls stay roughly where they are I’d prefer it if my macushla didn’t take the reigns until about 6 months out from the election
If they drop alarmingly then the reign of Queen Collins the Just might have to be brought forward
We seem to be getting a whiff of pre-revolutionary ferment out of Britain, after parliament found the Tory Cabinet in contempt: “Brexit: Full legal advice to be published after contempt vote”; “The Commons supported a motion, backed by six opposition parties, demanding full disclosure, by 311 votes to 293.” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46446694
“Labour demanded the attorney general’s advice should be released ahead of next Tuesday’s key vote on Mrs May’s deal. In response Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said the government “would respond” on Wednesday. She told MPs she would refer the issue to Commons Privileges Committee to establish the decision’s constitutional repercussions.”
“The contempt vote move, which is believed to be unprecedented, came as Theresa May prepared to sell her Brexit agreement to MPs at the start of five days of debate on her EU agreement.” So it seems the UK govt has never been found in contempt of parliament before. I suspect the contempt is mutual!
Winston “Peters thinks the “language Nazis” are getting worse – and he’s taking action to stop them. “I’m doing something about it,” he told Sainsbury. “I’m on your show talking to all those common-sense people in your listenership to tell them they should be careful about these Nazis out there who want to control everything we do.” https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/winston-peters-blames-language-nazis-for-bullying-scandals.html
“One case in particular involved a New Zealand woman in Australia who claimed she had been racially discriminated against by being called ‘Kiwi’.” You can imagine how traumatic that must have been for her. Now that aussies are using kiwi as a term of abuse it is becoming synoymous with bludgers & crims over there.
From a sociological perspective, language nazis are a small part of the bullying subculture. However it may be worth pointing out that they are trying to stop others using words to cause offense. Their attempt to control others and dictate social conditions is not just due to the mini-hitler syndrome typical of bureaucrats. They’re do-gooders. Just a little warped.
On Radionz this morning something releveant to this controvery. Too much focus on microaggressions, safe spaces, and trigger warnings could be linked to an increase in anxiety among the young, despite being well intentioned. Moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt talks to Kathryn Ryan about the rise of ‘call out’ culture which he likens to witch hunts. What are the dangers this poses to free speech, mental health, education, and ultimately democracy?
Jonathan Haidt is a Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University. His books include ‘The Righteous Mind’ and ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’.
Audio up later. Worth listening to, as it touches on what goes on in this blog as well as spreading ripples in society.
We are told we are individuals and have to make our individual way in society (and stop expecting government to feather-bed us is the message behind much of this), and at the same time there is a message of group-think, that we ought to fit to a model person to be accepted for a job, as a gender. So what and how to be. It is stressful to work out which group to conform to, and who to disdain, ie perhaps in Oz you disdain those awful kiwis who get put on Manus Island.
Joanthan Haidt said I think that USA stats show that since 2005 girl suicides have gone up 70%!!
Excellent! Thanks for that. Just listened to the first minute or so, and thought it worth reporting that he & a colleague at his university noticed the shift in 2014.
Students began asserting that particular ideas are dangerous. Since he’d been a professor since 1995, he was struck by this sudden peculiar shift.
“Born in the mid-1990s up to the mid-2000s, iGen is the first generation to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. With social media and texting replacing other activities, iGen spends less time with their friends in person—perhaps contributing to their unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.”
“But technology is not the only thing that makes iGen distinct from every generation before them; they are also different in how they spend their time, how they behave, and in their attitudes toward religion, sexuality, and politics. They socialize in completely new ways, reject once sacred social taboos, and want different things from their lives and careers. More than previous generations, they are obsessed with safety, focused on tolerance, and have no patience for inequality.”
“With the first members of iGen just graduating from college, we all need to understand them: friends and family need to look out for them; businesses must figure out how to recruit them and sell to them; colleges and universities must know how to educate and guide them. And members of iGen also need to understand themselves as they communicate with their elders and explain their views to their older peers. Because where iGen goes, so goes our nation—and the world.”
Stunning rise in depression/anxiety/self-harm/suicide stats! First reported in studies in 2016 in the US, I think he said. Kathryn Ryan had asked him what was the definitive evidence of the generational shift. “It first goes up sharply in 2011 and the rise is much bigger for girls.”
Those born in ’95 were age 16 in 2011. That’s the year teenage angst seems most intense: onset relationship inadequacies & crises, peer-group bullying, etc. I recall it well, more than half a century later!
“For boys, the suicide rate increase is 25% [since 2010], for girls, it’s 70%.”
Extrapolating from the US may skew results
The US is peculiar in that its suicide rates have steadily climbed in the last 18 years, while other countrys’ are declining
Yes, good point. That seems a clear indicator of how much such trends are culturally determined. The Economist graph is taken from an institute and fails to show the steep rise Haidt refers to. Presumably different source data was used – or different methodology.
Beehive caught off guard by change of government
8:37 am today
Jane Patterson, Political Editor
@janepatterson jane.patterson@radionz.co.nz
Public servants responsible for the transition between governments failed to support new ministers as no-one had planned for a full scale, new administration.
Officials were caught on the hop after last year’s general election, having planned for change no greater than a Cabinet reshuffle – that caused problems like being unable to supply laptops and mobile phones and a lack of experienced staff for incoming ministers.
State Services Minister Chris Hipkins ordered the review after frustration about the level of staffing and administration support ministers received from Ministerial and Secretarial Support Services (MaSS) upon taking office.
It will be interesting to see. That first sentence seems to say that the people responsible for planning the change over simply didn’t plan for the government to change. That they acted as if the government wouldn’t change which leads to some very serious questions.
After all, you’d expect that the planning would always be based around the government changing and the only reason why this wouldn’t happen is if they had info telling them that the government wouldn’t change.
Good people, honour and encourage those achieving good goals. If we had more of this, there would be a completely opposite tone in this blog.
Radionz
life and society
8:37 am today
Flaxmere celebrates unsung heroes
From Morning Report, 8:37 am today
Listen duration 3′ :04″
An often stigmatised Hawke’s Bay suburb is celebrating it unsung heroes for their successes and contributions to the community. The Flaxmere Heroes calendar for 2019, featuring some of the suburb’s finest, was unveiled at a ceremony in Hastings on Tuesday night. RNZ Hawke’s Bay reporter Anusha Bradley went along.
Apparently she made a statement that she wants zero suicides by some date.
I see this zero thing, the political mind making knowingly fraudulent and simplistic statements that get media headlines and go to people’s hearts by passing their heads. What about saying ‘The present is a disaster, and that immediate measures will be taken to introduce new and better intervention. Our aim is to bring these statistics plunging to near zero. We will do all we can to this end.’
Now that’s what I would like to hear. And that can apply to anything that a Party with integrity should say. But Forbes might not find that so exciting.
@ greywarshark, Maybe the idea is that people just start dying of ‘natural causes’ not suicide, (sarcasm), third world diseases, obesity and diabetes and the months/year long hospital waiting lists and the waiting lists to get on those waiting lists… or being killed by someone on a fake drivers licence or with a truck that did not get proper certification… or dust and air pollution from ill thought our resource consents…https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/nor-west-news/104973877/silica-sand-quarry-given-green-light-much-to-residents-dismay
The irony that our councils back James Hardie (a key player in asbestos mining and manufacturing in Australia through most of the twentieth century, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hardie_Industries ) against the NZ residents and kids…
This is ILG’s answer to a Mitchell supplementary question yesterday.
Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: I only know the matters that are relevant to the decision that I made. Those are that Mr Sroubek’s estranged wife provided a letter of support for him, that media reporting then suggested that there was some question about that support, and that when asked to elaborate on that and participate in the investigation into those matters, she declined.
Seems pretty clear to me INZ offered Mrs Sroubek the opportunity to change her statement of support because the National Party and the media had been claiming she made the statement under pressure from gang members (or something). She declined to change her statement.
Pete at Bore NZ has put it up and in that post he floats the idea that there are direct or indirect links between Sroubek and the Prime Minister. That’s similar strategy to the people who tried to get at Clarke Gayford I would have thought. Pete must be very sure of himself.
I don’t have time to do a search, but IIRC a few weeks ago there were attempts to suggest links between Ardern and Sroubek on the basis of a photo or two taken in the last year or so of Ardern with one or two people who have recently formally supported Sroubek staying in NZ.
I cannot recall the details of the ‘why’s and ‘wheres’ of the photos (an opening of something?) or the names of the people but there have been one or two media or blog mentions of the photos etc over the last few weeks.
The beige one is getting more and more anti-JA so his post this morning hinting at some link (such as my hazy recollection above) did not surprise me.
Mitchell’s questioning is now focussed on the other people who supported Sroubek’s application (apart from his wife that is). I wonder if they too were under pressure from gangs? Perhaps they were in the martial arts scene and loosely gang affiliated?
My recollection is the opposite – ie that they were unrelated to those aspects of Sroubek’s background but were more business men or similar. It’s really bugging me but have other priorities at the moment, but will keep thinking and looking when I can ….
PS – you may be interested in the second half of my comment at 4.1.2 on the Memo from Crosby Textor post which also mentions Sroubek … I have a warped sense of humour!
RadioNZ
World politics
about 1 hour ago (I’m looking at this on Wed 5 Dec 2018)
Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered three Brexit defeats in the Commons as she set out to sell her EU deal to sceptical MPs.
Ministers will be forced to publish the government’s full legal advice on the deal after MPs found them in contempt of Parliament for issuing a summary.
And MPs backed a motion giving the Commons a direct say in what happens if her deal is rejected next Tuesday.
“Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has quit the party in protest at its direction”.
“The privileges committee will now decide which ministers should be held accountable and what sanction to apply, with options ranging from a reprimand to the more unlikely scenario of a minister being suspended from the Commons.”
“Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said the result left the government “on the ropes”, adding: “Theresa May’s majority has evaporated, and the credibility of her deal is evaporating with it.”” Too bad he missed that opportunity to call for the Cabinet to be imprisoned in the Tower of London. Also puzzling that conservative MPs are failing to adhere to the hallowed tradition.
“Tuesday’s vote, in which 26 Tory MPs rebelled, could potentially tilt the balance of power between government and Parliament if, as expected, MPs push for a “Plan B” alternative to Mrs May’s deal and also seek to prevent any chance of a no-deal exit.” I wonder if it will be necessary to bring back the Roundheads?
Has the Queen got any frontroom or backroom ability to step in when the Commons and the Lords manage to make a complete hash of it and put the country at risk of looming destabilisation?
Even if the monarch technically had the power, actually using it would be a fast track to a republic.
Basically, the Queen can have private chats with the PM where nothing is made public, and that’s about it. Any actual verbal public policy interference would be more serious than Brexit.
People in New Zealand are obviously far to mild in their protests about the petrol tax increases and the way the money is filtered off into stupid expenditure by the current Government who have never seen a tax they didn’t love.
Perhaps following the French example is the only way to curb our “leaders”? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46437904
I really don’t think I would be happy to protest in France when the Mobile Gendarmerie were on the streets though.
ok, so it all comes out, we are bankrupting and polluting our cities, spending hours in commuting times with ridiculous congestion, increased pollution across the board in particular in our waterways and air pollution, reducing democracy with poorly thought out changes that our councils can’t even work what to approve anymore (so approve anything) and creating housing that those on local wages can’t afford while, increasing charges like petrol charges for people who can’t afford to live closer in. So we now can see without a doubt that it was never to provide affording housing for residents within the cities and close to them, but for investment opportunities for overseas nationals and to keep the construction Ponzi going…
Auckland ratepayers please open your pockets as well for the airport, cruise ships, America’s cup marina, convention centre, stadiums and all the other tax payer funded infrastructure for all these new luxury apartments and tourists, while bleeding residents dry…
NZ door still open to foreign buyers: The Pacifica apartments granted foreign buyer exemption
They’ve gone to a great deal of effort to say that it wasn’t the polices fault and, I must admit, that the police have been getting a lot of flack for police pursuits that ended in death.
But there’s another implication or two:
1. That if the police maintained pursuit then perhaps the death could have been prevented.
2. That the death would have happened with or without police pursuit.
Is someone pushing for more Law ‘n’ Order and hardline police policies?
All of Your state and federal income tax returns, including all schedules, attachments, and other forms or supporting documentation completed or submitted with the tax returns.
Also think that companies/governments making weapons that kill civilians used in wars, should be expected to pay the costs for civilian migration and relocation and damages to them or their families for their deaths and injuries.
Funny enough, I think if they stop bombing the crap out of many places, the people that live there would not be forced to relocate and if weapons manufacturers were held responsible for their misuse then we would have a lot less pointless wars and more appropriate ways of resolving disputes between nations!
“Hon Simon Bridges: Has she entirely washed her hands of anything to do with the Sroubek fiasco, and is she ducking and diving to get out of its way? [Speaker stands] Oh, here comes the protection.
SPEAKER: No—the Leader of the Opposition will leave the House.
Hon Simon Bridges withdrew from the Chamber.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: Struck a raw nerve.
SPEAKER: He will be followed by the shadow Leader of the House.
Hon Gerry Brownlee withdrew from the Chamber.”
Spoke when Mallard was on his feet and abused him. Of course he had to go. And Brownlee for the same offence.
The weird thing is that Bridges apparently thought Ardern needed “protection” from his scented shoe-lace flogging.
Maybe their plan B is if their weak attacks are easily deflected, they get their arses kicked out so it looks like they were actually doing so well mallard had to intercede?
IMO, it was about time those two got sent out. Bridges continually snipes from the side when Ministers are replying to questions, including when he himself has asked the question of the PM or DPM. He is forever being warned by the Speaker and it was inevitable that sooner or later he would be thrown out. Brownlee is also very transparent in his constant challenging of Mallard’s decisions as Speaker.
The whole MO of the National Caucus is to disrupt etc rather than show respect for the rules and procedures of the House. I have no doubt that they wanted this type of situation to arise sooner or later, and probably before the House rises for the Summer Recess (originally planned for next Thursday, 13 December but now extended out to Wednesday, 19 December.)
It is in effect nothing more than a publicity stunt.
ADDENDUM – perhaps a PR stunt for this next week? ROFL
You really are being silly.
Did it not occur to you that the ones who stayed were just the whip and the MPs who had questions to ask?
Or do you prefer to look foolish with your mild conspiracy theories?
Yep, I guess we can expect a press conference from Gerry wailing about how unfair the Speaker is and how they should be allowed to act like petulant little babies in the house.
National are running attack lines at the speaker, painting Mallard as the bogey man. Classic deflection tactics, only they will backfire immensely, especially on Simon Bridges.
Bridges and Brownlee attacked the impartiality of the Speaker. Stupid! They got their marching orders and their puppets couldn’t help but lock-step their way out as well.
What on earth were they supposed to have done?
There wasn’t enough time between the last word from Bridges and Mallard dumping on them to have said anything else that might have upset him.
Surely Trev hasn’t got so far up himself that saying someone was “ducking for cover” is supposed to be a slur on the Speaker named Mallard?
Were they getting a little bit close too what Ardern’s real knowledge is?
They have an ‘end game’ which is targeted at the PM’s ‘alleged’ involvement in the original decision. National have been playing a long game with this, including winding up attacks on the PM’s ‘frequent’ absences from the house, much as they did with Curran.
I have no idea whether the rumours about the PM’s connections with Sroubek are correct or not, but if they are, the PM is in trouble.
They both said things the mike did not pick up on. The mike switches off when the Speaker rises. They are meant to then be silent but had a go at Trevor instead.
Alwyn, Bennett and former Speaker Carter both agreed that the Speaker was right. Carter sought an end to the Speaker’s practice of deducting supplementaries for behaviour. The Speaker said that he had already decided that deliberate disrespect to the Speaker would be treated as it had been under previous Speakers.
So, they were given their marching orders.
Was it orchestrated, as Shane Jones alleged, in order to deflect attention away from leaks and bullying, and IMO also poor questioning techniques?
“Bennett and former Speaker Carter both agreed that the Speaker was right.”
Can you confirm when that occurred? I’m interested in the way the opposition are approaching this, and I’d be curious to see the language around what Bennett and Carter said.
I find it very hard to see any possible way you can get such an opinion from what has been reported on the affair.
From Stuff we get, about Carter
“National MP and former speaker, David Carter called a “constructive” point of order.
The events caused him to reflect on the frustration that was building among the Opposition, he said.
He asked Mallard to look carefully at how questions, asked this week, were being framed and the answers given.
If the answers were used to attack the Opposition or the leader, tensions would rise to the extent where frustration would be expressed, he said.
“Your action this week has not been helpful to the order of the House … I ask you to reconsider your policy of deducting questions that is unfair on the Opposition … The Opposition’s job is to hold the Government to account. Those supplementary questions are valuable …”.
If that is saying that Mallard was “right” I think you are on the wrong side of the Looking Glass.
Actually I have now read Bennett’s speech in the General Debate.
That was certainly not agreeing with Mallard that his decision was “right”. She did agree that he was allowed to make it but that it was an extraordinary action.
She also said that she thought the action that got them expelled was “a very benign comment”
Anything more pointed would have got her kicked out as well. https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20181205_054225000/bennett-paula
He agreed with the Speaker on his calls regarding the leader of the opposition and the shadow leader of the House, but as you say sought a change to Mallard’s practice.
“He agreed with the Speaker on his calls regarding the leader of the opposition and the shadow leader of the House, but as you say sought a change to Mallard’s practice.”
No, he didn’t. He agreed generally with the principle of not challenging the impartiality of the speaker. He made no specific comment about the particular decision the Speaker made today.
‘snap’.
I just found them.
You would be very hard pressed to say that they agreed with what Mallard had done.
Agreed with him having the power but certainly not that is was the “right” thing to have done.
Of course she thought Mallard’s judgment wrong, “a benign comment” though he had already been warned. She has fallen foul of him before, and justifiably so ejected then. She acknowledged his power and that remarks had been made.
I was originally responding to Alwyn commenting
above who said that he didn’t think there was enough time for comments to have been made at all.
My point was that remarks had been made, and Carter and Bennett acknowledged that was right (that the Speaker had reacted to comments made to him as Speaker as he was speaking at the time).
Did Bennett really believe that saying that the Speaker was protecting a government MP was ‘benign’? Or is libelling another’s probity and fair-handedness a benign action in her caucus?
Their caucus is toxic. That behaviour was further exhibited today and they were justifiably mocked during the following miscellaneous debate.
I have to say that I now eschew popcorn when watching Parliament but the sound of the popping of mental corks was analogous to making popcorn.
Carter’s point of order referenced the general principle of speaker impartiality. He made no mention of today’s decision at all.
It is obvious the speaker is protecting certain government MP’s, and it has been obvious for some time. That he is doing it for the PM is actually quite a serious matter. I’m not surprised the Speaker tossed Bridges, but it doesn’t get away from the reality that Mallard is making a total hash of the job.
“Parliament’s Speaker, Trevor Mallard, has an inbuilt bias against National Party leader Simon Bridges and a soft spot for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
That much has been clear since Mallard took the chair just over a year ago. Bridges gets under his skin.
But what is also clear is that Bridges crossed a line in the House today and cannot credibly object to having been thrown out by Mallard.”
“Agreed with him having the power but certainly not that is was the “right” thing to have done.”
Hi Alwyn
I can’t agree. MP’s know they can’t impugn the Speaker’s impartiality. I can’t stand Mallard’s OTT oversight of QT, but the position of Speaker does need to be respected, if not the person holding the position.
Agree. This is dead cat on the table stuff. They are so desperate to distract from their toxic internal culture they’re willing to disrupt parliament itself.
Not getting the answers she wants equals questions not being answered. For someone who’s served an apprenticeship with weasels it’s strange she wouldn’t recognise a weasel if it bit her on the arse. And now she sees weasels in everything.
And she talks about being ‘straight’ with people. Well dear go into your caucus, you’re apparently one of the senior people there, eyeball them all, and ask them straight “Who is the leaker?”
…or probably he’s added some more points to National in the next poll if most NZers think that Mallard was over zealous and that JA can’t fight her own battles.
I think what made them dump on her for supposedly refusing to answer is that she kept responding with much the same answer… it is not appropriate for me to comment on operational matters.
Its my view they were deliberately asking questions that fall into this category knowing she was not at liberty to answer them.
Its up the Jacinda Ardern to put the record straight. If she doesn’t then some people will assume Bridges is telling the truth.
They were deliberate. The Speaker advised them that such questions were out of order and even advised Mitchell how to ask a question that was in order.
The question from Simon preceding the ejection was just a joke. It wasn’t Parliamentary, it was something you’d read on Kiwiblog. That’s how juvenile Bridges is.
“Hon Simon Bridges: Has she entirely washed her hands of anything to do with the Sroubek fiasco, and is she ducking and diving to get out of its way?”
It may be one man, one opinion, democratically, Chris T, but not the same relevance or quality. For example, your views on fungal associations with trees might not be of the same value as that of a mycologist – do ya reckon??
Kia ora The Am Show The new employments laws are a good start to employment law reforms the employers can get away with a lot of bad ——.
Wealthy schools poaching players is not on they will win all the competitions unfairly
what they are teaching our tamariki is its ok to cheat when one is wealthy really .Eco knows what side the paraoa is buttered on. Solution cap import players to school teams.
That wahine who gave birth of a baby with a donated womb shows how fast the health sector is advancing the next 20 years is going to be very exciting on that front .
Eco Thanks Waiheke Islanders for championing going electric cars only on the Island it is a good move that will boast the trend of saving our grandchildren’s environment Ka pai .Sea level rise is a serious problem we are building to many houses in low lying areas building in NZ is expensive considering in Europe they have to have walls a foot wide full of 2 to 3 layers of insulation and they build them cheaper there.
Ka kite ano
The Senate president, Scott Ryan, warned it would undermine parliamentarians’ ability to keep their work secret from police, because extending covert surveillance powers to police agencies would prevent parliamentarians having an opportunity to claim parliamentary privilege over material seized under warrant. Its been proven many times there some sandflys that cannot be trusted not to use this massive power for there own monetary gains I.E Being payed by the carbon barons to stuff someone who is making changes for the good of all Environmental advocate groups been spied on. All Australians will lose there RIGHTS TO PRIVACY
The Communications Alliance argued it could harm Australians $3.2bn information technology export sector, Eco Maori say it will cause there tec sector crash
The Communications Alliance chief executive, John Stanton, said the definition was “too narrow” and would still allow a weakness to be built – for example – in all devices in Victoria, or all users who select a push notification to install an upgrade in a particular language.
The Greens digital rights spokesman, Jordon Steele-John, said the bill “will have the unintended consequence of diminishing the online safety, security and privacy of every single Australian”.
“Furthermore, any individual – whether that be a politician or a journalist – who uses encrypted messaging services to ensure the privacy of their sources, or the privilege of their policy discussions, should feel threatened by this bill’s potential unintended consequences.” P.S They are signing YOUR rights away like shonky did in Aotearoa this is being pushed by trump and his control go oil party. Ka kite ano. Like I said the word terrorist is used as a tool to make you feel insecure so they can change laws to have more control on the 99.9 % when they control you well there is less of a threat to the 99.9 % hold on POWER.
shonky became a mp because he want to make it easier for his rich crooked M8 to launder there trillions through shonky did not become a mp to serve the majority he was in Parliament to serve his bank ballance and his super wealthy M8 video below.
Kai ora Newshub I agree with Brian he we need to come up with solution to lift all Maori out of jails and provery.
MPI needs to put more effort into protecting OUR Fisheries minister if one can cheat without being prosecuted well it just snowballs into a collapsed fisheries no fish for the grandchildren.
The Farmers are loving this weather they are making hay Melisa = a small feed bill more proft’s .
That young boy was cute meeting our Queen shy as lol.
Tiwai point smelter opening the forth line is good I Jacinda the purest and hydro renewable energy aluminum made in the world cars and batteries are being made from aluminum now they also have a new way to make aluminum that produces less carbon it will take a few years to get from lab to production lines.
Ka kite ano
Kai ora James & Mulls from the Crowd Goes Wild
Good luck on your new journey Shawn Johnston you will be cutting them up on the field soon.
Good call Wairangi on the boxing.
Anna Marcuse has a cool ebike good on you for your vegan journey and your words about Kiwi farming.
The soccer the dog blocking that goal lol .I made a choice not to play to much video games guys my time is to valuable to me .Ka kite ano
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Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
The Ombudsman has been surveying people about their knowledge of the OIA and the right to information. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that widespread:The Chief Ombudsman says too many New Zealanders were in the dark over their right to access official information. Peter Boshier said an independent survey released yesterday on ...
In the wake of last Friday's climate strike, Peter McKenzie had an article in The Spinoff about protest strategies. The school strike movement is "polite" and cooperates with those in power because that's its kaupapa - its led by schoolkids who understandably don't want to risk arrest. But there's more ...
So, the latest ruminations on the gnews from Westminster (Again, sorry; I'll stop making that pun right now). This follows on from, and likely repeats bits of, my last post, on the suggestion that a Government of National Unity (GNU) should be set up and then oversee a referendum before ...
New Zealand likes to think of itself as not a racist country (despite being founded on the racist dispossession and subjugation of Maori). But for years, we've had a racist refugee policy, which basicly excludes refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have relatives here. Now, the ...
Several people have asked me whether a particular repeat litigant could be declared a vexatious litigant, in light of their recent decision to appeal an adverse High Court ruling. My nascent tweet thread was getting ridiculously long, so it became this blog post instead.The short answer is: no. The particular ...
Appealing To The Past: Action Zealandia, like so many of the organisations springing up on the far-Right, across what they call the “Anglosphere”, is born out of the profound confusion over what a man is supposed to be in the twenty-first century and, more importantly, what he is supposed to do.THE STATUE OF ...
The attempts of anti-democratic transactivists to (often violently) disrupt women’s rights organising is largely ignored by those sections of the left most prone to misogyny and authoritarianism in New Zealand. In Britain, however, scores of trade union and left activists added their names to a letter in July, defending ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill. The Bill would establish an independent, quasi-judicial body to investigate and review potential miscarriages of justice, and refer them back to the Court of appeal if required. It would be a vital backstop to our judiciary, help ...
by The Spark On September 14, a total of 22 drones and cruise missiles struck two oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais oil field. Abqaiq is the largest oil production facility in the world. For a few days afterwards, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi national ...
How much will NeoLiberal irregulation of the building sector and subsequent leaky homes crisis cost us? $47 billion, according to a new book:The total cost to fix all of New Zealand's leaky homes would be $47 billion, probably. The estimate comes from a new book, Rottenomics written by journalist Peter ...
Below is the start of another excellent article on the Freer Lives blog. Click onto the link at the end of this extract to read the full article. The punch-a-terf, kill-a-terf message pervades social media, always righteously delivered, chin held high. By contrast, the dehumanised “terfs” themselves, that is gender-critical ...
The Reserve Bank is currently planning tighter banking regulation, requiring banks to hold enough local capital to survive a 1-in-200 year financial crisis in order to protect consumers. The big Aussies banks, those foreign leeches who suck $5 billion in profit out of our economy every year, don't like that, ...
Its the usual story: a police officer beats a handcuffed suspect so hard they break one of their own fingers. The IPCA investigates and concludes that the use of force was unlawful. And the police refuse to do anything about it:A man punched repeatedly in the face by a police ...
From time to time we add links to our blogroll. The latest blog we have added is Freer Lives. This is a Marxist gender-critical blog, based in Melbourne, Australia. On it you will find a bunch of excellent articles which use the tools of Marxist analysis to critique the rise ...
Last Friday say the largest protest in a generation, as 170,000 people joined the school strike and marched to demand real action on climate change. The demands of the school strike were simple and clear: declare a climate emergency, set a climate target of net-zero by 2040, impose a total ...
Labour is a rather middle of the road capitalist party and earlier this year we discussed how far from being ‘transformative’, Ardern’s government is. An article published this week in the Guardian, by Bryce Edwards (political scientist and commentator at Victoria University), looks at Ardern’s business as usual performance. Where ...
In the hours since my last interminable wittering about the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain, there has been a slight maybe development:A Corbyn-led caretaker government could then sit for several months while it enacted and delivered a referendum with the support of smaller parties and ...
Jeremy Clarkson says much like Greta Thunberg, Anne Frank “didn’t like what was going on”, but “she didn’t have a tantrum about it.” Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has offered praise to historical figure Anne Frank, comparing her favourably to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who he attacked in ...
Press release by Speak Up For Women Lesbians from women’s rights group Speak Up For Women are furious at reports that Rainbow Tick are threatening Massey University with the removal of their ‘tick’ if they let the group’s event go ahead. The group has been under attack from trans ...
By Duncan Garner Before you jump down my throat, nobody cares about the environment more than me. I have a garden, and since my wife and I broke up, I’ve let it grow wildly out of control, so please don’t tell me I’m not doing enough for plants. They’re ten ...
Local government elections are upon us again. It is a fair bet that, when they are over, we will have all the usual complaints that, despite their undoubted importance, the turnout was depressingly low. So, why do local elections attract so little attention and involvement from the general public? I ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says Air New Zealand has "an obligation to look after Kiwis", and urged the national carrier not to hike up their prices after Jetstar airline announced their withdrawal from regional flights this week. The Provincial Champion also expressed his disappointment at Jetstar’s decision on ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help fund a new dredge for the Port of Greymouth to ensure the regional fishing fleet have a reliable and productive harbour, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “Last year the movements of ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
An additional $2.7 million has been announced for the Government Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation on the first anniversary of the strategy’s launch. Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson gave the opening address to the first Sport NZ Women + Girls Summit in Wellington today, ...
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. The move will: support skilled migrants who help fill New Zealand’s skills gaps by providing a pathway for ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has today announced Major General Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force has been selected as the commander of a significant, longstanding peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. In December, Major General Williams takes over as Force Commander for the Multinational Force and Observers ...
A record number of nurses are now working to deliver health services to New Zealanders as the Government’s increased funding and new initiatives rebuild key workforces start to show results, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. • 1458 more DHB nurses since the Government took office • 106 more midwives ...
Farmer and former Nuffield scholar Mel Poulton has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, announced today. The position supports key Government objectives, including raising the value of New Zealand agricultural goods and services. Mel is ...
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne. “Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 ...
“Fijian Language Week starts on Sunday and the theme reminds us how important it is that we each have something to anchor ourselves to, something that can help us pause and feel in control in a rapidly changing world,” says Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. “Family, culture, faith, ...
The Government is establishing an Airspace Integration Trials Programme to support the safe testing and development of advanced unmanned aircraft and accelerate their integration into the aviation system, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced today. The Government will work with leading, innovative aviation industry partners to test and ...
It’s the end of an era at Three as MAFS NZ and Guy Williams’ new show canceled and 7 Days cut to bone, writes Duncan Greive.A trio of shows which have been amongst Three’s most important local productions are either being canceled or severely cut back, as the channel’s agonising ...
'Joker' expects viewers not only to understand its cruelty, but to understand the justified violence of a white man when the protests of black men and women in the US are regularly met with condemnation, vilification and exclusion. ...
She runs the women's Aussie Rules and netball programmes at one of Australia's oldest sports clubs, so why is Jane Woodlands-Thompson sitting on the Silver Ferns bench? ...
As someone with a severe chronic illness, Hannah McGowan has a vested interest in getting to the bottom of what cannabis can and can’t do for her health. The reality, she discovers, is complicated.Woo [colloq.]: Mystical, supernatural or pseudo-scientific beliefs not backed up by evidence. I crave a well informed, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The last PM shock jock Alan Jones slapped down was Jacinda Ardern. His language was particularly offensive, advertisers deserted his program and he apologised to New Zealand’s leader. But at least Ardern didn’t have to ...
By Michael Andrew and Sri Krishnamurthi The true story of one of the Pacific’s great waka builders and sailor has been captured in a stirring and visually gripping documentary. Loimata: The Sweetest Tears follows the final years of Ema Siope, a Samoan born kiwi who endured a tumultuous past ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Cowie, Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Around one-third of Australians living with hepatitis C have been cured in the last four years. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is ...
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. Image AsiaPacificReport.nz/RNZ.Commentators across the political spectrum seem to agree – the Labour-led Government’s popularity is being damaged by its failure to deliver in Jacinda Ardern’s self-proclaimed “Year of Delivery”. Instead, the delivery of bad news to Labour and the Government has come in ...
Internet Service Providers have cautiously greeted the news that the Government is exploring an internet filter for violent extremist and terrorist content. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Polls Richard Harman (Politik): Ardern now dependent on Peters Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern still standing, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Austin, Professor UNSW Canberra Cyber, UNSW This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them and how these measures are impacting society. Read other stories in the series ...
Researchers from Lincoln University are investigating how to use nanotechnology in agriculture to increase productivity and reduce environmental impact. ...
The increased presence of anti-trans and white supremacist stickers around the University of Auckland campus is proof that inaction is enabling hate groups, write Anisha Sankar and Max Whitehurst.Anisha Sankar is a Chennai-born, Te Awakairangi-raised, South Indian Tamil studying at the University of Auckland. Max Whitehurst is a transgender Pākehā ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Following the Christchurch mosque shootings, the New Zealand government’s first response was to ban the firearms the alleged gunman had used to murder 51 people. Seven months later, the second tranche of this process ...
The nine members for the next three year term of the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) for Auckland have been appointed by the statutory Selection Body. Their appointments begin on 1 November 2019 and continue to 31 October 2022. Mana Whenua ...
“If we are truly to solve the challenge of poverty within the Te Ao Maori world we must lift our people from the low wage and low skills growth side of the economy. At the same time we must continue to ensure our people, no matter where they are, ...
Alex Casey asks Rose Stewart from Family Planning every single question she can think of about New Zealand’s new free IUDs. Listen up, womb-owners who love free shit and long-term contraceptive options: Pharmac announced that they will be fully funding two new long-lasting, reversible contraceptives in New Zealand from November 1, ...
Patients are increasingly being turned away for treatment and there can be no more excuses from the Government over properly funding district health boards to boost specialist numbers in public hospitals, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the ...
Today’s Council of Trade Unions’ report, Fair Pay Agreements: A Framework for Fairness , provides a much-needed pathway to fair wages and conditions across several major industries, and the Government must deliver on its promise to introduce FPAs ...
The Speaker has limited the number of questions Simon Bridges can ask in the House as a punishment for the National Party defying Trevor Mallard by not pulling down their attack ads. ...
Sunshine capital? Check. Rich artisan tradition? Check. Incredible sausages? That’s a big check. We’ve put together a list of all you need to know before you explore the truly gorgeous Nelson region this summer. If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should be sorting out their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University In the four years since the Paris climate agreement was adopted, countries have debated the fine print of how emissions reduction should be tracked and ...
The flight drink company 1Above, partly-owned by the high profile, venture capital fund Movac and businessman Gareth Morgan, is in liquidation owing almost $10 million. ...
In recent weeks Responsible Campers Association Incorporated (RCAi) has become involved in some high level discussions about our right to camp. This began out of discussion about the disabled who which to participate in Sport and Recreation activities. ...
In their quest for a cashless society the Japanese have beaten New Zealand to its own next-gen shopping experience.New Zealanders are missing out to the Japanese on a Kiwi technology that is set to eliminate supermarket queues.The first store to implement the SmartCart cashierless shopping system will be in Osaka, ...
If you don’t like Shortland Street, or you’re unconvinced that Michael Galvin actually is a doctor, does that mean all New Zealand television is rubbish? Some say yes. Tara Ward says an emphatic no. The world is our TV oyster, but lately it seems not everyone in Godzone is feeling the ...
The National Party is accusing the Immigration Minister of a "Sroubek 2.0" after revelations he granted residence to a man with multiple drink-driving convictions. ...
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu urges the Crown to ensure that the Establishment Board of the newly formed Institute of Skills and Technology meets its Treaty obligations and addresses the statutory role of iwi as Treaty partners in redesigning the education ...
The top-selling food magazine in New Zealand is closing its print operation. Niki Bezzant, Healthy Food Guide‘s former editor, reflects on the challenges the title faced.The news that after 14 years and 176 issues Healthy Food Guide magazine is closing its print operation came as a shock to some. It ...
A unique deal saw Sky buy the rugby rights and sell some of itself to NZ Rugby. Trevor McKewen breaks down what it all means.The news came thick and fast over a remarkable five-day corporate slugfest, starting last Thursday. First, Spark Sport struck, gobbling up New Zealand Cricket’s domestic broadcasting ...
In what’s thought to be the last piece of writing Peter Wells completed before he died, he wonders about his great-grandfather, and the locket he wore all his life. ‘The Story of a Locket’ is published in part here, and features in the extraordinary collection of essays Queer Objects, released this ...
Relationship expert Holly Dixon explains why the entire Married at First Sight franchise is based on bunk science.As the third MAFS NZ season has come to an end, I thought it relevant to answer the question upon which the entire MAFS enterprise is built: Is it possible to predict attraction and ...
SkyCity Casino workers will be on strike and picketing today as Rob Campbell, the Chair of SkyCity Casino talks to other employers about making pay fair at a “Wellbeing at Work” conference today. ...
He was the prototypical high school nerd, hanging on Don Brash’s every word. Then the financial world turned upside down. This is the story of how Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr became a most unconventional economist.In 2008, Jarrod Kerr was working at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia when the global financial crisis ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriela D’Souza, Affiliate, Monash department of business statistics and econometrics, Monash University For most people the second week in October probably doesn’t hold much promise. Longer days for some, perhaps. But for those is us in the economics profession, come the second ...
One of the important parameters of the agreement’s aims was to ensure there was no threat to food production from the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. ...
A monument to Winston Peters and Think Big projects would both boost the economy, but Argentina learned the hard way they can also impoverish a nation, writes Tony Burton.Everyone who loves New Zealand should visit Argentina. There are more similarities than you might think – large areas of wild natural ...
The Salvation Army foodbank in Waitakere ran out of food last week; an indication of the strain many New Zealand whanau are under as they struggle to afford the cost of living. Wednesday, October 16 is World Food Day, and as demand for services offered ...
Phil Goff was re-elected by a huge margin on Saturday. How will he put that mandate to use this term? Hayden Donnell asks the questions.Phil Goff is once again Auckland’s mayor. Preliminary local election results show him with a lead of nearly 100,000 votes over his nearest challenger, John Tamihere. ...
Catherine Bindon from Ban the Boom has created these colourful and positive posters for you to use to show you don't support the use of fireworks in your neighbourhood over the next few weeks distressing our animals and birds. ...
On Tuesday morning the Operation Burnham inquiry hearing resumed after it was suspended three weeks ago. The hearing is being held at Royal Society of New Zealand, 11 Turnbull St, Thorndon, Wellington on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland It’s not uncommon for science and religion to be framed as two opposing forces. The Catholic church has famously struggled to accommodate scientific research in its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cat Pausé, Senior Lecturer in Human Development, Massey University The British Psychological Society is calling for changes for how we talk about fatness, suggesting we should no longer use the phrase “obese people”, but instead, “people with obesity” or “people living with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The federal government’s much-vaunted Snowy Hydro expansion is supposed to smooth out the bumps in electricity supply as Australia transitions to renewables. But not only is the project a bad deal for taxpayers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By María Yanotti, Lecturer of Economics and Finance Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania The housing market is moving again. In the past month, national prices have climbed 0.9%. What matters most to buyers (and especially to investors), along with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne It seems appropriate that a painting titled Feng Shui dominates the new exhibition of Guan Wei’s work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Matthews, Lecturer in Digital Media and Popular Culture Researcher, Auckland University of Technology According to a recent study, the sixth leading cause of death for young men in the United States is the warranted and unwarranted use of police force. With ...
The Council of Trade Unions has today released its report - Fair Pay Agreements: A Framework for Fairness . The report details the six key principles needed for Fair Pay Agreements to deliver real change for working people, and democratic agreements ...
Too many New Zealanders endure poor working conditions in jobs that don’t pay enough and offer few opportunities for career progression, and the union movement is calling for change. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the latest polls which show a drop in support for Labour are not a concern when it comes to forming a government. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A pair of polls put pressure on the Labour Party, a wild night of weather in the North Island, and Shane Jones snapped brandishing a semi-automatic.Parliament resumes today after a fortnight recess, and MPs were given a welcome-back present in ...
Mandy Hager, the newly elected head of the New Zealand Society of Authors, is lobbying the government to improve the lot of writers - to no avail, despite the Prime Minister's championing of the arts. ...
Given the vast impacts that poor diet have had on global health, a deficit in nutrition education in medicine represents a big problem, writes Dr Jennifer Crowley. ...
Any time Olympian Luuka Jones needs advice or encouragement in her pursuit of more canoe slalom success, she doesn’t have to look far. Jones’ coach, Campbell Walsh, is also her partner. ...
Competition for the rights to broadcast sports matches involving NZ’s top teams has produced a bonanza for the sporting bodies, forcing media companies to be a lot more innovative. ...
The Wellington suburb’s successful opposition to a proposed Bottle-O shows how the system is biased towards communities with the organisation, capacity and resources to protest effectively, says Jenesa Jeram.For those unfamiliar with Wellington geography, Khandallah is a Very Nice place to live (Aucklanders: think Remuera). So when it was reported ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission conducted an inquiry into mortgage pricing as recently as last year. Now Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has asked it to do another, broader one, in order to ensure the banks’ ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsThe results of the local government elections appear to show that New Zealanders are generally supportive of a more diverse range of representatives, having voted in greater numbers for candidates from traditionally under-represented groups. The elections have therefore modernised our councils in a small but very significant ...
Open Mike 05/12/2018 
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...13 hours ago
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...15 hours ago
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...16 hours ago
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...20 hours ago
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...4 days ago
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...5 days ago
https://mailchi.mp/7d9133add053/closing-the-gap-october-2019-newsletter ...6 days ago
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...6 days ago
Local government elections are upon us again. It is a fair bet that, when they are over, we will have all the usual complaints that, despite their undoubted importance, the turnout was depressingly low. So, why do local elections attract so little attention and involvement from the general public? I ...2 weeks ago
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...15 hours ago
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...16 hours ago
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...17 hours ago
It’s the end of an era at Three as MAFS NZ and Guy Williams’ new show canceled and 7 Days cut to bone, writes Duncan Greive.A trio of shows which have been amongst Three’s most important local productions are either being canceled or severely cut back, as the channel’s agonising ...25 mins ago
A preview of the public lecture to be given at the National Library in Wellington this week by distinguished playwright Dean Parker. ...49 mins ago
Zhang Jun looks at how China can move beyond imitating its more developed counterparts to leading the world in innovation. ...49 mins ago
After two bad polls, Jacinda Ardern was greeted by a friendly crowd of unionists - but one eager for faster and greater progress. ...49 mins ago
'Joker' expects viewers not only to understand its cruelty, but to understand the justified violence of a white man when the protests of black men and women in the US are regularly met with condemnation, vilification and exclusion. ...49 mins ago
She runs the women's Aussie Rules and netball programmes at one of Australia's oldest sports clubs, so why is Jane Woodlands-Thompson sitting on the Silver Ferns bench? ...49 mins ago
Is the Government going soft on its so-called Electric Vehicles pledge? The University of Auckland's Basil Sharp doesn't think so. ...49 mins ago
Volunteer drug testers must tip-toe around a legal grey area to be able to spell out the risks of drug-taking to festival-goers. ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The last PM shock jock Alan Jones slapped down was Jacinda Ardern. His language was particularly offensive, advertisers deserted his program and he apologised to New Zealand’s leader. But at least Ardern didn’t have to ...8 hours ago
Internet Service Providers have cautiously greeted the news that the Government is exploring an internet filter for violent extremist and terrorist content. ...11 hours ago
The proceeds from the sale of Trump-style "Make Ardern Go Away" hats are being used to promote far right Facebook pages. ...13 hours ago
Support has risen for the general arming of police officers in the wake of March 15, but the police minister is opposed. ...13 hours ago
Researchers from Lincoln University are investigating how to use nanotechnology in agriculture to increase productivity and reduce environmental impact. ...13 hours ago
Information spread by the Coalition of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) and picked up by ACT’s David Seymour is incorrect. ...14 hours ago
The Speaker has limited the number of questions Simon Bridges can ask in the House as a punishment for the National Party defying Trevor Mallard by not pulling down their attack ads. ...15 hours ago
The real estate market has sprung back into life, but national sales volumes were flat. ...16 hours ago
The flight drink company 1Above, partly-owned by the high profile, venture capital fund Movac and businessman Gareth Morgan, is in liquidation owing almost $10 million. ...16 hours ago
Mandy Hager, the newly elected head of the New Zealand Society of Authors, is lobbying the government to improve the lot of writers - to no avail, despite the Prime Minister's championing of the arts. ...24 hours ago
An ancient Polynesian form of resource management is helping rejuvenate areas in the Cook Islands. ...1 day ago
Competition for the rights to broadcast sports matches involving NZ’s top teams has produced a bonanza for the sporting bodies, forcing media companies to be a lot more innovative. ...1 day ago
Ongoing drama surrounds the Māui and Hector's dolphin threat management plan, with worries key information is not being made public promptly. ...1 day ago
We banked more rainwater in our soil last night, in readiness for any summer drought that might occur in the South. Plenty of lightning in the air over the past few days. Askew, Deow, Icarus and co. made a beautiful job of the walls of our village over the 4 days they were here painting; they finished just as the first peals of thunder began to roll, having enjoyed hot, sunny weather all the while they worked.
(As an aside, has anyone here ever search Google for the word “askew” 🙂
Haha that’s neat.
Nearly finished the article on water systems. It’s becoming clear part of ‘how to get there’ will also be part of my ‘multifunctional shelter belts’ (working title) which the nitrogen fixers in turn are part of…
My only concern is I retain rights to the material posted here as some of it will wind up in the book.
Been looking over the PDC, some of it… I can’t wait! The AK bio-region stuff, the tree crops stuff, you never know what you’ll learn.
Thinking about expanding more sub-tropicals up here, bananas and Taro definitely, they love the water. Any suggestions?
Are you not going to be an “open source” writer 🙂
We called our heritage apple project, “Open Orchard” with the thought that all of our findings could be freely accessed and developed and that’s going well.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen this archive here on The Standard.
/search/forest+gardens/
Bananas and taro are well out of my sphere, for the moment, but I’ve heard great praise for taro (might have been from you 🙂
A visitor gave me two white sapote seeds recently and while I’m unlikely to succeed in growing them, I have them soaking, ready for planting in pots in the tunnelhouse. There are some really interesting tree crops people up your way – I met them when speaking at their annual hui last year (I think it was). Great depth of experience and knowledge; enthusiasm too.
May I quote you?
“Thinking about expanding more sub-tropicals up here, bananas and Taro definitely, they love the water. Any suggestions?”
Yep. Give ’em plenty!
🙂
Hi RG and WTB
Good to see you. Further discussion on a permanent site and how to organise it coming? I sent my email to you Robert, you are in touch with WTB – can we have a discussion and with TS mods?
Open Mike is not a permanent depository. This is needed for the useful material already presented on how NZ will green up and grow up using helpful, co-operative ways. So if you want to turn TS potential for bringing positive, human-loving and environment-caring people together we can move together on this; starting talking now and with a plan for New Year start. We can learn what we need to know in the interim.
Robert Guyton and WetheBleeple
I’m waiting to hear from you that’s if you want me to be involved. If you don’t fine, and if I don’t hear anything by late Friday I will back off.
Hi greywarshark – fret not, good friend! I/we surely do want you and I’ve just finished talking with trp about our launch time – more about that soon. Don’t pack your bags on Friday, I’m angling for the weekend as a start time – whadda ya reckon? There are others, emailing me behind the TS scenes, who are keen to play. I reckon it’s worth giving it a go. I’m pretty keen not to set a topic each time – let the first poster try to do that 🙂 I’m happy to roll out of bed early on a weekend day and have a go at herding cats, though we may be sloths our turtles, being all happy-flappy and that…not disgruntled malcontents…or ARE we??? 🙂
Should be fun. Thanks for being our archivist and Overseer – I need that…I can…drift….
Waiting to hear now from Te Reo Putake and his mates. Fingers crossed (anything could happen in the next half hour!).
Robert
Okey dokey Robert.
Didn’t see that series of yours no. Loved part one. Will read more later as time allows.
My plant collecting has been limited for ages by budget but is getting better now. I killed a lot too as I learned how not to do it. The gardens have reduced the food budget drastically so more plants can come in now. I like that it builds itself in this way.
The gardens did receive a major setback via contractors bulldozer blades, diggers, path making, painting… ah the life of a renter. This year (2 later) it’s back to lots of food, before that it was cover crops and healing the mess. Lost a lot of species had no idea their idea of ‘cleaning up’ was with a dozer blade.
Great landlord, cowboy contractors.
I imagine meeting the permies up here will allow access to swap cuttings and methods, I also look forward to this.
Open source… I don’t have much of a clue with the legal stuff. My ideas have been taken and turned to profit before. I want open access, and people can use, share and disseminate information to help themselves and their community, but I retain the right to use the stuff I write for my book, not whatever website/s use it.
Make sense? I’ve incurred a lot of debt getting to the point I feel I have no idea professionally, it would be nice to bumble along from here without abject poverty. Things’ll work out…
Creative commons is the copyright use many open source projects use.
Allows for the use, distribution and changes to material when no profit is to be made from it.
Anne Askew is a small part of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall story – tortured and burnt at the stake for heresy. She was one feisty woman!
Is anyone else experiencing a really bonkers-intense lead up to Christmas?
Work is nuts
Hospo in palmy is going gang busters.
No such thing as a quiet night currently.
Two record weeks in a row…..
Its been full on since late Nov. There is something scheduled just about every day. Kids are getting frazzled
A.
Yes. For my work project timelines get off track due to holidays so there is always a panic to get things finished. It doesn’t really change anything as the projects often take years. Some irrational human behavour induced by people wearing suits and reporting KPIs to other suits.
Bonus for me is my contracts get extended.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/109066831/teachers-and-principals-vote-on-governments-latest-contract-offers
“We know the public is still on our side, and that we have solidarity across schools and now also with our PPTA colleagues.”
I wouldn’t be too confident about having the support of the public the longer this goes on……
I wouldn’t bank on you knowing WTF you’re talking about.
Most people understand that teachers are just as important as politicians and should be paid as much.
We’ll see
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/education/news/article.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=12031240
And apparently in 1979 that was the case:
If we turn the pay clock back to 1979, Backbenchers and experienced teachers earned roughly the same amount ($18,000 a year) Now the basic MP’s salary is more than twice as much as what a senior teacher earns. – Bryan Bruce, 2017.
I’d be ok with that
Molly,
It is a truth that disguises a lie.
In 1996 when I was first elected my MP salary was virtually the same as my salary as an associate professor. Except it wasn’t. There were so many non taxable extras added on that my total MP package was effectively 50% higher. That method of padding remuneration was even more so in the 1970’s.
This all got changed in the mid 2000’s, when all the extras were included in the basic MP salary. The effect was that when I left parliament, a basic MP salary was 50% higher than an associate professor salary. But in truth there had been no effective change in relativity since 1996.
Thanks for posting Wayne, always good to get an “insiders” perspective
Thanks Wayne, but your personal example comes after more than a decade of Rogernomics.
I have had a quick search to see if I can find a historical record, but perhaps you would have a better idea where to look.
I’d be interested, though, in what kind of padding was allowable when you were MP in 1996.
Most people should let their local MPs know that so that the Government does something about it.
Sadly, they like all their post ’84 predecessors will do fuck all until we demand proper change. Not this smiling bullshit kind of capitalism that they are progressing.
Is there a process available that easy to use, can be counted and have the count publicly available?
Something like, say, Loomio but run by government to actually give people an active voice in government?
That’s part of the problem with maintaining a paper process designed in the 19th century. It’s far too hard to actually bring about the level of political participation that we need both for the general populace and the people doing the counting.
Agreed
My comment was more of just a rant about how so many people don’t challenge this government to do better. As long as Labour are in power it seems to some people that the problems will sort themselves out and we should just clap from the sidelines as absolutely no bold reforms ever look like being introduced.
I become more frustrated every day with how it just seems like business as usual. The status quo remains and the 1% have hardly have a dent laid against them…..yet somehow we are all happy?
/agreed
Another failure of the neo liberal way of doing things.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/109076540/corbel-subbie-owed-700k-didnt-know-about-longstanding-problems
There is something manifestly unjust about the building industry.
Company directors can run subcontractors even when they know they are not able to pay them.
Meanwhile the people who actually do the work have pay denied them leading into Christmas.
Yet these same company directors ceo’s etc get to pick up another well paid job while others clean up their mess
Where are the consequences for these handsomely renumerated men?
gsays
Your points – so true.
Contractors, Sub-Contractors should have a risk-free account of funding provided by the company at the start of the job. If the job doesn’t go ahead, the company has lost nothing. If the company goes under, the contractors, sub-contractors have retained their income. This funding should include future loss because the contractors, sub-contractors have chosen that job over others.
I vote for that.
Who would be a subbie?
Myself I dont let accounts go more than a few weeks in arrears. I know not everyone has this luxury though
A.
I’m pretty sure that you’ll find that they’ve been legally protected from the decisions for decades if not centuries. After all, having the rich held accountable for their actions wouldn’t help the capitalists become ever richer.
Hence we have trusts and business structures that hide the wealth and the people who own it.
It’s a beautiful irony that folk who are hard to trust, have trusts.
Trusts aren’t just used to hide assets. They have a valuable place when used properly to make sure certain assets stay within a family.
My father died recently and used a trust to keep many important family heirlooms within the family so his ex partner couldn’t try make a claim on them (which she tried)
Exactly
They can form a shied in more ways than one
My mother died about the same time my step father turned into a prick when I was young.
It stopped him from stripping her side of their assets so they could be passed to her children
Which, of course, is fully free-market doctrine. People are supposed to be able to lose from their bad decisions.
So, what you’re saying is that, although she had a valid claim, her ownership rights were shorted by the trust?
After all, if she didn’t have a valid claim then the courts would have thrown her case out.
That may be true but the fact that trusts are used to hide assets makes trusts nothing but another vehicle for corruption.
Well, no. She may have had a legal claim but that doesn’t mean she had a valid claim. You yourself have said several times legal doesn’t mean right or ethical.
Secondly this just plays right into your idea that because something can be used for purposes antethical to their original purpose then they should be banned. Like I said before – the benefit can be used for corruption/dishonesty but you wouldn’t advocate banning it because of those reasons.
Court was still the place to sort it out.
As far as I can see trusts have never had a valid reason to exist. Protecting people’s wealth is not valid. Under the capitalist system people are supposed to lose for their bad decisions. Under socialism even if people lose they’re not going to lose their life due to poverty.
And everything I’ve seen indicates that trusts are used primarily for unethical purposes. Just look at how the number of foreign owned trusts in NZ dropped once more information was required.
There is no valid reason to have trusts.
So you don’t think families and extended families should be able to own property collectively?
What has that got to do with a trust?
Dude, I don’t think anybody should be able to own property (except for small personal stuff) as it sets up unearned income which is detrimental to society.
The items we have protected in our trust are personal items Draco. Some of them have real monetary value but isn’t the reason for the protection.
That is what a family trust does. It means that all the beneficiaries including those not born yet have rights to the property.
If you don’t think there should be private property then you should say that, but that is something different from saying that there are no valid reasons for trusts.
Well – we don’t need the courts to sort it out because there was a trust in place. And there was a completely valid reason which was to make sure important family heirlooms were kept within the family.
Valid, not for the purposes of wealth protection, and legal
And it doesn’t apply to my fathers ex it also applies to my ex wife. She doesn’t want anything from the family – we sorted everything amicably and without the need for lawyers but the trust means important Selway (not my real name of course) family items stay within the family.
Cracking interview on Morning Report with one of Maggie’s disgruntled ex-staffers – includes claims to have physical evidence of being directed to do purely political work (11mins): https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018674179/maggie-barry-bullying-claims-ex-staffer-speaks-out
Expect some scrambling today ..
On the basis of that interview, Barry’s toast! The more so because he claims to be able to produce evidence.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer person!!
It should be noted that the only person willing to be properly questioned is the one who laid the charges. The woman staffer who is defending MB and claiming she never knew about the recordings is only prepared to issue a statement. That alone indicates which one is telling the truth.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/109089925/Karel-Sroubeks-estranged-wife-is-afraid-for-her-life?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
‘National Party justice spokesman Mark Mitchell said she gave him a six-page letter that contained permission to speak on her behalf. He said she had been threatened by gangs and was “genuinely scared”.
She was taking a massive risk speaking out and said she was forced to write the letter of support so her convicted smuggler husband did not get deported from New Zealand.’
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/winston-peters-criticised-for-over-comments-about-karel-sroubeks-wife/
“She came to the Opposition through a retired Labour minister, and it is my job as opposition to make sure the Government is held to account. And now she’s got the deputy Prime Minister making cheap political attacks and shots at her.”
Dang this story has legs
Why would she reach out via a Labour person when she is going out with a Nat insider? Does not stack up.
Former Labour ministers include Michael Bassett, Richard Prebble and Roger Douglas …
That really takes us back, doesn’t it micky.
Those were the days when Labour attracted skilled and competent people to their ranks.
Now the best they can manage is idiots like Lees-Galloway and Twyford.
Oh for the good old days.
So this is where you got to alwyn.
Michael Bassett, Richard Prebble and Roger Douglas were acting as act in 1984; no amount of nonsense from you will change that fact.
‘ Douglas had an epiphany on mt pelerin and decided to let the markets rule. That has never been a true Labour value. Even Lange finally realised what douglas and co were up to. Labour was thrown out in 1990 – and I have always seen that decade as the biggest nat/extreme right set up I have ever seen. (politics of deception)’
Apparently, he was working with treasury on his plans a year before Labour came into government; can’t see national letting him do that unless they were in on it.
‘By the end of 1983, his thinking had shifted markedly to the economic right.[27]
In late 1983, Labour’s Caucus Economic Committee adopted a paper that Douglas named the economic policy package.’
Alwyn – of those three, only Bassett isn’t a half-wit. (in my opinion). But he more than makes up for it with his incandescent nastiness.
I am not saying that I agree with your evaluation of them but I would say that even a “half-wit” would be far beyond the mental capacity of the Lees-Galloway and Twyfords of this administration.
I’m guessing (because I’ve never been threatened or coerced by gangs) that shes scared and that Labour is in power and Labour MPs are in charge of police and corrections whereas National aren’t or are you suggesting that because her partner is a member of National she shouldn’t get any help at all?
Not at all. Just struggling to see the path. Wonder which ex-Ministers/MPs with justice/police portfolio connections she has encountered?
Or ILG could stop blaming others for his own mistakes and apologize on behalf of the government
The more obstinate he acts the longer this’ll carry on and it seems theres still more information to come
I still have not seen a good explanation of what he has done wrong, other than receive poor advice.
Take your blinkers off then
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/108941440/Immigration-Minister-Iain-Lees-Galloway-already-had-Interpol-information
‘On page five of the 12 page case file summary, it was indicated that Sroubek was an excluded person because of his convictions in the Czech Republic. But Lees-Galloway claims he was not asked to consider convictions outside New Zealand.’
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/375487/immigration-minister-made-sroubek-decision-in-just-one-hour
‘In response to a question on whether Sroubek’s case file had enough to warrant an informed decision, he said: “We provide what we can do.”
However, he said the staff do not provide advice or recommendation on cases, as standard practice, and any decision would be made on the discretion of the minister.’
He’s the minister, its his responsibility and he should know the immigration act
If we wanted MP’s who were rubber stampers then maybe we should be paying them the same wages as librarians from the 1990’s.
Women in a position of vulnerability, like ‘the ex wife’ are easily mislead and taken advantage of.
A new partner whispering in ones ear is all it takes.
national want to be in power no matter what, politics is a big competition for them, collateral damage is all part of their course and game.
Feeling sad for the ‘ex wife’ she’s been used as a pawn in a national party power hungry game.
simon didn’t have to bring her into it yesterday, he could have left it alone after last week, but nooooooo.
Or Ian Lees Galloway could have admitted his mistake (like the PM laready has) and apologized for it
But as you say power and collateral damage. ILG is obviously as big picture kind of guy.
The Minister covered himself well, as Peters again pointed out in the House yesterday, by using ‘codicils and caveats’ which covered the eventuality that arose when the full facts were disclosed.
The opposition is trying to beat up a storm when it is already in a hurricane of its own making, with a leaking boat and the skipper already outfitted for instant bail-outs, which we observed today in the House- the dummy spitting the dummy.
I am sure that you can, Puckish Rogue, with your adept way with video clips, source the Stones with Jumping Jack Flash born in a force five hurricane, and Split Enz spending six months in a leaking boat………
Too easy, first we’ll start with the obvious:
then we’ll go with what everyones thinking right about now:
and you can never have too much Phil Collins which also encapsulates probably what the majority of New Zealanders think of these beltway issues:
And this one today!
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/watch-cheeky-winston-peters-cracks-funny-expense-lifejacket-wearing-national-mp?fbclid=IwAR3JFizxmbjVgWup8R7L_67oiWa6LaaGO-BSx_2Mb8xY_plzyDKOD4xFk-I
Does Winston get his laugh lines from The Standard?
They’re trying to put some distance between themselves and the information flowing.
On that just how did the immigration service manage to visit her?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/109089925/Karel-Sroubeks-estranged-wife-is-afraid-for-her-life
‘One of the biggest questions that needed to be answered was how immigration officials tracked the woman down, when she was in a police safe house, Mitchell said.’
So who leaked her whereabouts?
I’d suggest she’s not “in a police safe house”, and never has been.
Of course you’d suggest that, anything to deflect from a piss poor performance from a Labour minister
That letter of support she wrote and has now changed her mind about seems to have been a big part of the decision.
If the gangs were pressuring you, you’d write the letter they wanted you to write as well
“If the gangs were pressuring you, you’d write the letter they wanted you to write as well”
Wonder if she is feeling the same re national and their involvement, pressured.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/108433564/house-tied-to-drug-smuggler-karel-sroubek-withdrawn-from-sale-after-alleged-burglary
I’m sure this was a coincidence and not a message at all
Pucky did they catch the burglar? If not it’s all hear-say.
PS Phil Collins is awesomesauce.
I dunno, Paula Bennett? Cameron Slater? Luigi Wewege? Mark Mitchell himself? or the fella from the National Party she is currently rooting? any guesses are just as ridiculous as your attempt to give this thing legs. It seems to me it is the National Party playing politics with these peoples lives. Good on Minister Lees-Galloway for reversing his original decision after finally being given the additional information. (which, it seems, the National Party already knew from pillow talk)
“Good on Minister Lees-Galloway for reversing his original decision after finally being given the additional information. ”
He had the information to make the decision but he skimmed over the report, didn’t ask questions, didn’t know the immigration act and made the wrong decision but won’t admit to it
But hey don’t take my word for it
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/108976779/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-says-immigration-minister-iain-leesgalloway-staying-put
In answers to questions in Parliament today, Winston Peters, answering on behalf of the Prime Minister, said Iain Lees-Galloway was ‘setting out, having made only one mistake in a year, to fix it up’.
From the article you refer to “There were elements of the case that were not available to the minister at the outset, at the time of making his original decision, she said.” Thanks for proving my point, PR. Original decision made, new information given, decision altered. Fixed up. Well done Iain Lees-Galloway.
The words you quote were of course, as is quite clear from the article, a quote from Ms Ardern.
Do you really think they have any relation to reality or are they just a desperate claim from someone who is trying to hide from the reality that one of her Ministers is an idiot who is simply to lazy to do his job?
The only sensible comment from any of the Labour MPs is by Greg O’Connor. He has obviously decided that he isn’t going to get into the Cabinet and is setting out to tell truth to power in the Party.
He is starting to remind me of Gordon Christie who was a very good back bench MP for Napier from 1966 to 1981.
Yes, the article did report Prime Minister Ardern making that statement. If you are calling her a liar on this quote, please provide proof.
You’re right he didn’t have all the information but heres what we know:
Drug dealing, drug manufacturing, drug importation, gang association and violence
Which of the above do you think should have suggested to ILG that he shouldn’t grant residency
lucky he ‘got off’ on those kidnapping charges too
What a nice guy, sarcastically. We are not desperate for bums on seats into NZ are we??? Any bum, any seat, even prison seems to be our immigration policy APART from highly skilled, well educated people who are too honest and then it sounds like all manner of things will be held against them and they can’t reside in NZ.
In general it sounds like too little brain power, too much process that is broken completely and nonsensical that only cheats and liars and third party consultants who are cheats and liars can get success in the immigration department and surrounding areas like MP’s…
I’m just waiting for someone to say something along the lines of “I’d rather have him living next door to me than John Key hur hur hur”
For a minute there I thought you were quoting Collette Devlin as the source of the true oil, the real story, the total facts of ALL the ins-and-outa of the Sroubek – Lees-Galloway episode.
Looked at it, it wasn’t.
Que?
The first sign of trouble that Minister Lees-Galloway should have noticed was that Sroubek was already in PRISON, if you don’t work out something is wrong with granting him residency, then something is very wrong with you!
At the very least, read the entire report and ask more questions!!! There are victims out there who are going to be impacted, by criminals being allowed free reign in NZ, and it’s about time our government thought of them, not the wannabe crims who want to be Kiwis getting all the ‘compassion’.
Not only that, general knowledge of how many member states in the EU that Sroubek can return too could have been helpful if the excuse is that he was ‘scared’ to go back to one of the member states. Being a criminal can be dangerous, who knew, now we have to turn NZ into a criminal drugs filled paradise to cope with all these international drug smugglers who want a slice of the highly profitable NZ drugs pie.
Is someone ” taking one for the team “. Sounds like typical Nat modus operandi.
Hey its ok, just read between the lines
Righto then.
The woman married a man who appears to have been a career criminal and during the relationship she likely lived pretty fucking high on the hog, courtesy of his rather dubious means.
He was busted, she kicked him to touch, and now she’s being portrayed as an innocent in distress.
So, JAQing off;
Is she a police witness?
Did she benefit from the proceeds of crime?
Have there been applications for forfeiture of any of her assets?
Is the top end of town closing ranks to protect one of their own darlings?
I have just posted a few details of her Nat party friend on the Memo from Crosby Textor post. See the second half of this link.
I also read this earlier today re the Sroubek wedding …
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/czech-drug-smuggler-married-queenstown
More here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12152619
AND (Breaking….) just found this article which is particularly interesting for this snippet –
“Sroubek’s in-laws, who appear to be based in Russia, are listed as the property’s owners, …”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12156732
EDIT – Please note I totally draw the line at the language used by RBO which I consider totally unacceptable.
Cheers for the links VV, very interesting.
I obviously did not follow the Sroubek saga as closely as I thought in its early days, as I have just now read this intriguing “Follow the Money” Stuff article dated 8 Nov 2018 which is relevant to some of the questions you have posed.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/108459347/police-seized-190k-from-drug-smuggler-karel-sroubek
The Money trail section at the bottom is a Must Read IMHO – although no dates for these transactions etc are given.
“Money trail
Karel Sroubek deposits $161,000 into a loan account held by his in-laws, Alexander and Natalia Bozhenko
The Commissioner of Police freezes Sroubek’s assets, including cash held in a business bank account
The Commissioner also applies for freezing orders of a Remuera property owned by Mr and Mrs Bozhenko
The Bozhenkos agree to pay the Official Assignee $161,000 to avoid the Commissioner’s freezing orders
Commissioner agrees to pay the Bozhenkos back $100,000
Commissioner reaches a settlement with Sroubek and keeps $190,000.:
Perhaps “Read between the lines” was not quite the right expression – more relevant could be “Follow the Money”?
“or the fella from the National Party she is currently rooting?”
Wow. Can you imagine the fuss there would be if this sort of thing was said about a “friend” of one of the randier Labour male MPs.
Awh sorry Alwyn, Didn’t see you as a delicate PC snowflake. Is that the correct terms y’all like to use. You are right of course, I should have said something like, the fella from the National Party she is suspected to be having carnal relations with. Happy now sweetie.
Is it any wonder why more woman don’t speak up, just reading some of the comments on here makes it quite clear why they don’t
Yes. Nice people aren’t they?
Well they’re not all bad to be fair 🙂
You do realise that MBIE is full of ex cops in enforcement/compliance don’t you?
Or perhaps they just called on a mate at Thompson and Clark.
In both cases they’re anxious to be all butch and show just who is boss.
Is that why MBIE is piss useless?
I couldn’t possibly comment but a cast of thousands could tell you that many of the decisions made in that bugger’s muddle would have been better if they’d involved a dart board or a set of dice
Maybe you should also listen to Dr Dean Knight (Co-Director of the NZ Centre for Public Law, Victoria University of Wellington). Probably Soimon and Mr Pomp Wodehouse should do too.
It’ll be up soon on RNZ Noin-ta-Noon Podcast.
He’d have probably made the same decision. And @ PR – you do believe in the rule of law and process doncha? Many of I L-G’s ‘officials’ certainly make that claim (as do Mr Pomp and Soimon)
Can you meet new partners in police safe houses ?.
Only if they’re National MPs.
National MPs bullied by Maggotty may get their own safe houses.
“Why would she reach out via a Labour (person) when she is going out with a Nat insider? ”
Perhaps he/she was one of the Labour traitors who decided to take the opportunity to knife workers in the back in the 1980s.
The Roman phrase ‘Et tu, Brute?’ is appropriate and also as an appropriate adjective from Old French.
Shes been threatened by gangs, had her house broken into (intimidatory tactics) so its good to see the left rally around the victim
Oh wait sorry, its the left blaming the victim
Nope, don’t see anyone here blaming the victim, you do know that Reading between the Lines doesn’t mean, making shit up! or do you simply follow the winsome JC herself when shown the truth continues to double down on lies.
“Nope, don’t see anyone here blaming the victim, you do know that Reading between the Lines doesn’t mean, making shit up!”
Might want to send that message to this address then:
iain.lees-galloway@parliament.govt.nz and CC in w.peters@ministers.govt.nz for good measure
WHAT, those two gentlemen are HERE! well I’ll be damned. You need to stop reading between the lines and actually read the lines.
Ok I will. What did the PM mean when she said to “read between the lines”, what was she trying to tell us?
Why are you asking me? Sorry I’m bored with playing with you now, give my love to the MP for Pakuranga. May her knives always remain sharp. Bye bye.
Actually, before I leave PR. I, of course, mean the MP for Papakura, and I may have you mixed up with James. One of you fellas has the hots for JC. If I have mixed you up my sincere apologies. cheers
Its quite simple to tell us apart, James likes BBQs and Ed, I like Jude 🙂
Can you link to these claims PR ? I haven’t seen them. If they are true then has she gone to police? Genuine questions.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/109089925/Karel-Sroubeks-estranged-wife-is-afraid-for-her-life
‘National Party justice spokesman Mark Mitchell said she gave him a six-page letter that contained permission to speak on her behalf. He said she had been threatened by gangs and was “genuinely scared”.
She was taking a massive risk speaking out and said she was forced to write the letter of support so her convicted smuggler husband did not get deported from New Zealand.’
I’m assuming that because Mitchell brought it up in the house it has more validity than normal (happy to be educated if this is not the case)
Also I admit to adding the dots together with the house break in = intimidation but it seems the timings a little too convenient to be mere coincidence
… adding the dots together with the house break in = intimidation but it seems the timings a little too convenient to be mere coincidence.
Having been through such a scenario albeit a long time ago I would say it is likely not a coincidence, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it was arranged by Sroubeks or that he knew anything about it.
Yeah that is true, I mean proving that kind of thing would be…interesting
PR
has managed to spin this item out for the RW with 16 comments. Is that a ‘flame ‘war’ or just ‘trolling’?
Mark Mitchell is da police!
She claims she’s been threatened by gangs puckers. I guess she’ll have passed on names/descriptions to the police.
Not sure where to reply to you @ PR because you seems to be in every ‘space’ there’s an opportunity to contest your bull/cowshit, but I have a question.
Have you ever considered a career in the Public Service?
MBIE would be right up your alley, and who knows, you could go on to become a real star – maybe even one of those Chief Executioner Orafices sometime in the future.
You might even get to wear a stab proof vest. And if that doesn’t work out, there could be an opportunity when some sad old gNat retires and is called upon to exercise his or her expertise.
Maybe an ‘in tune’ down with the goss player as an underling to a Commissioner? The salaries are high and there aren’t too many challenges.
Maybe you’d have to lerv the coffee in Midland park, and be very careful not to leave a briefcase or a USB stick or laptop. But who knows – you COULD make something of yourself
“Have you ever considered a career in the Public Service?”
ROFL. Love it!
I assume you have not been following “The Adventures of Puckish Rogue in Changing Careers/Employers” over the last year?
And where he worked before and what he is going into in the New Year?
The paperwork just came through so all I have to do is sign it and send it back and I start on the 14th
Fair bit of paperwork included about unions to get through though I have to admit it’d be a hoot if just after I join they go on strike 🙂
Just in time for the Xmas break. You’ve fallen on good fortune @ PR.
And is that a full time employment offer, or a revolving contract – possibly arranged through on of those ‘spert’ employment agencies?
Congratulations @ PR. I’m sure you’ll be doing your best to make a name for yourself.
Be sure to read the Code of Conduct if they still have such things.
Life is a funny old thing at times I must say, this is nowhere near what I thought I’d be doing at this stage of my life when I was back in school but…its not bad, its not bad at all
I can see you’re a glass-half-full kinda guy eh.
We just don’t know how lucky we are.
But I noticed you’re reluctant to actually reply to questions and people that challenge you on TS. I mean….nothing to hide, nothing to fear and all that.
And I’m sure you had higher ambitions ‘back in the day’ at school.
Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers I ‘spose. Public Service here you go.
If I replied every single question I get asked you probably have to change the title of Open Mike to The Puckish Rogue Hour (has a nice ring to it) but I like to think I have a more than average answer to question ratio
Congratulations!
I still haven’t worked out exactly which of several possibilities it is but am guessing that the most relevant of OWT’s remarks at 6.1.4.1.4 is but that it could apply to a number of those possibilities.
“You might even get to wear a stab proof vest.” LOL.
Is your new group talking about going on strike?
PS – Collins’ chances are looking up – Bridges and Brownlee just got thrown out of the House by the Speaker!
“You might even get to wear a stab proof vest.”
Substitute might with will and you’ll be on the money 🙂
“Is your new group talking about going on strike?”
I don’t know anything about that but I know they have in the past so seeing whats happening at the moment its not out of the realms of possibility
“Collins’ chances are looking up – Bridges and Brownlee just got thrown out of the House by the Speaker!”
National do need someone to lay down the law and instill some discipline but as long as the polls stay roughly where they are I’d prefer it if my macushla didn’t take the reigns until about 6 months out from the election
If they drop alarmingly then the reign of Queen Collins the Just might have to be brought forward
Well there’s an opportunity for an ambitious cadet in the bubble to devise one or two questions that’ll come to fruition at QT.
PR…. A public servant in a stab-proof vest.
I’m sure @ PR you’ll insist on the same non-partisan, process-driven flow of events you’re so reluctant to give I L-G.
Interesting times (going forward). Full steam ahead Chippie
Why would anyone want to stab Pucky?
Has Jude a Brute Squad? Is that the role you’ve won? Brute of Jude?
Really happy for you Pucky, congrats.
We seem to be getting a whiff of pre-revolutionary ferment out of Britain, after parliament found the Tory Cabinet in contempt: “Brexit: Full legal advice to be published after contempt vote”; “The Commons supported a motion, backed by six opposition parties, demanding full disclosure, by 311 votes to 293.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46446694
“Labour demanded the attorney general’s advice should be released ahead of next Tuesday’s key vote on Mrs May’s deal. In response Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said the government “would respond” on Wednesday. She told MPs she would refer the issue to Commons Privileges Committee to establish the decision’s constitutional repercussions.”
“The contempt vote move, which is believed to be unprecedented, came as Theresa May prepared to sell her Brexit agreement to MPs at the start of five days of debate on her EU agreement.” So it seems the UK govt has never been found in contempt of parliament before. I suspect the contempt is mutual!
Winston “Peters thinks the “language Nazis” are getting worse – and he’s taking action to stop them. “I’m doing something about it,” he told Sainsbury. “I’m on your show talking to all those common-sense people in your listenership to tell them they should be careful about these Nazis out there who want to control everything we do.”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/winston-peters-blames-language-nazis-for-bullying-scandals.html
“One case in particular involved a New Zealand woman in Australia who claimed she had been racially discriminated against by being called ‘Kiwi’.” You can imagine how traumatic that must have been for her. Now that aussies are using kiwi as a term of abuse it is becoming synoymous with bludgers & crims over there.
From a sociological perspective, language nazis are a small part of the bullying subculture. However it may be worth pointing out that they are trying to stop others using words to cause offense. Their attempt to control others and dictate social conditions is not just due to the mini-hitler syndrome typical of bureaucrats. They’re do-gooders. Just a little warped.
On Radionz this morning something releveant to this controvery.
Too much focus on microaggressions, safe spaces, and trigger warnings could be linked to an increase in anxiety among the young, despite being well intentioned. Moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt talks to Kathryn Ryan about the rise of ‘call out’ culture which he likens to witch hunts. What are the dangers this poses to free speech, mental health, education, and ultimately democracy?
Jonathan Haidt is a Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University. His books include ‘The Righteous Mind’ and ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’.
Audio up later. Worth listening to, as it touches on what goes on in this blog as well as spreading ripples in society.
We are told we are individuals and have to make our individual way in society (and stop expecting government to feather-bed us is the message behind much of this), and at the same time there is a message of group-think, that we ought to fit to a model person to be accepted for a job, as a gender. So what and how to be. It is stressful to work out which group to conform to, and who to disdain, ie perhaps in Oz you disdain those awful kiwis who get put on Manus Island.
Joanthan Haidt said I think that USA stats show that since 2005 girl suicides have gone up 70%!!
RADIONZ link of Jonathan Haidt on the ‘call out’ culture – about it:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018674210/debate-not-hate-what-s-wrong-with-call-out-culture
Excellent! Thanks for that. Just listened to the first minute or so, and thought it worth reporting that he & a colleague at his university noticed the shift in 2014.
Students began asserting that particular ideas are dangerous. Since he’d been a professor since 1995, he was struck by this sudden peculiar shift.
Then he says this book is very important: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501152016
“Born in the mid-1990s up to the mid-2000s, iGen is the first generation to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. With social media and texting replacing other activities, iGen spends less time with their friends in person—perhaps contributing to their unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.”
“But technology is not the only thing that makes iGen distinct from every generation before them; they are also different in how they spend their time, how they behave, and in their attitudes toward religion, sexuality, and politics. They socialize in completely new ways, reject once sacred social taboos, and want different things from their lives and careers. More than previous generations, they are obsessed with safety, focused on tolerance, and have no patience for inequality.”
“With the first members of iGen just graduating from college, we all need to understand them: friends and family need to look out for them; businesses must figure out how to recruit them and sell to them; colleges and universities must know how to educate and guide them. And members of iGen also need to understand themselves as they communicate with their elders and explain their views to their older peers. Because where iGen goes, so goes our nation—and the world.”
Stunning rise in depression/anxiety/self-harm/suicide stats! First reported in studies in 2016 in the US, I think he said. Kathryn Ryan had asked him what was the definitive evidence of the generational shift. “It first goes up sharply in 2011 and the rise is much bigger for girls.”
Those born in ’95 were age 16 in 2011. That’s the year teenage angst seems most intense: onset relationship inadequacies & crises, peer-group bullying, etc. I recall it well, more than half a century later!
“For boys, the suicide rate increase is 25% [since 2010], for girls, it’s 70%.”
Extrapolating from the US may skew results
The US is peculiar in that its suicide rates have steadily climbed in the last 18 years, while other countrys’ are declining
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/11/30/why-the-global-suicide-rate-is-falling
Yes, good point. That seems a clear indicator of how much such trends are culturally determined. The Economist graph is taken from an institute and fails to show the steep rise Haidt refers to. Presumably different source data was used – or different methodology.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018674191/parliament-staffers-weren-t-ready-for-govt-change-report
Politics
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377521/beehive-caught-off-guard-by-change-of-government
Beehive caught off guard by change of government
8:37 am today
Jane Patterson, Political Editor
@janepatterson jane.patterson@radionz.co.nz
Public servants responsible for the transition between governments failed to support new ministers as no-one had planned for a full scale, new administration.
Officials were caught on the hop after last year’s general election, having planned for change no greater than a Cabinet reshuffle – that caused problems like being unable to supply laptops and mobile phones and a lack of experienced staff for incoming ministers.
State Services Minister Chris Hipkins ordered the review after frustration about the level of staffing and administration support ministers received from Ministerial and Secretarial Support Services (MaSS) upon taking office.
Interesting
Sounds like a bit of a balls up if true
Was there not time between the election ane the inauguration of the incoming Govt to sort all these matters?
A.
I suppose that’s why they’re having a review – to find out where things went wrong and how to fix them.
I am curious about what will be discovered
A.
It will be interesting to see. That first sentence seems to say that the people responsible for planning the change over simply didn’t plan for the government to change. That they acted as if the government wouldn’t change which leads to some very serious questions.
After all, you’d expect that the planning would always be based around the government changing and the only reason why this wouldn’t happen is if they had info telling them that the government wouldn’t change.
Tinfoil hat time
A.
No. Logical conclusion.
Or just believed that gummint was so entrenched and the people so docile and settled (NZ being one of the most stable countries in the world, baah).
Good people, honour and encourage those achieving good goals. If we had more of this, there would be a completely opposite tone in this blog.
Radionz
life and society
8:37 am today
Flaxmere celebrates unsung heroes
From Morning Report, 8:37 am today
Listen duration 3′ :04″
An often stigmatised Hawke’s Bay suburb is celebrating it unsung heroes for their successes and contributions to the community. The Flaxmere Heroes calendar for 2019, featuring some of the suburb’s finest, was unveiled at a ceremony in Hastings on Tuesday night. RNZ Hawke’s Bay reporter Anusha Bradley went along.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018674195/flaxmere-celebrates-unsung-heroes
BREAKING NEWS – ANOTHER TEXT FROM SOMEONE CLAIMING TO BE A NAT MP WITH DETAILS OF YESTERDAY’S CAUCUS MEETING
RNZ is reporting that they have received a text as above.
Moved full post to the other post on NATs leaking,
Full post with details of the RNZ report are now on the “Memo from Crosby Textor” post:
Ardern getting thumbs up from Forbes. Does this mean that she sayd nice things to soothe business interests, while not offputting the lower classes?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377533/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-named-as-one-of-most-powerful-women-in-world
Apparently she made a statement that she wants zero suicides by some date.
I see this zero thing, the political mind making knowingly fraudulent and simplistic statements that get media headlines and go to people’s hearts by passing their heads. What about saying ‘The present is a disaster, and that immediate measures will be taken to introduce new and better intervention. Our aim is to bring these statistics plunging to near zero. We will do all we can to this end.’
Now that’s what I would like to hear. And that can apply to anything that a Party with integrity should say. But Forbes might not find that so exciting.
Newshub reports:
The annual list, released by Forbes, “celebrates the icons, innovators and instigators who are using their voice to change power structures and create a lasting impact”.
Jacinda Ardern slots in just one above ‘Australian’s richest citizen’ miner heiress and media player Gina Rinehart. Nice company Jacinda.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/jacinda-ardern-named-in-world-s-most-powerful-women-list.html
@ greywarshark, Maybe the idea is that people just start dying of ‘natural causes’ not suicide, (sarcasm), third world diseases, obesity and diabetes and the months/year long hospital waiting lists and the waiting lists to get on those waiting lists… or being killed by someone on a fake drivers licence or with a truck that did not get proper certification… or dust and air pollution from ill thought our resource consents…https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/nor-west-news/104973877/silica-sand-quarry-given-green-light-much-to-residents-dismay
The irony that our councils back James Hardie (a key player in asbestos mining and manufacturing in Australia through most of the twentieth century, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hardie_Industries ) against the NZ residents and kids…
Can’t see your point save nz but consider that I am not flavour of the month with any of the in-group so don’t expect anything much.
This is ILG’s answer to a Mitchell supplementary question yesterday.
Seems pretty clear to me INZ offered Mrs Sroubek the opportunity to change her statement of support because the National Party and the media had been claiming she made the statement under pressure from gang members (or something). She declined to change her statement.
Pete at Bore NZ has put it up and in that post he floats the idea that there are direct or indirect links between Sroubek and the Prime Minister. That’s similar strategy to the people who tried to get at Clarke Gayford I would have thought. Pete must be very sure of himself.
https://yournz.org/2018/12/05/sroubeks-estranged-wife-afraid-for-her-life-questioning-of-lees-galloway-ardern-continue/
I don’t have time to do a search, but IIRC a few weeks ago there were attempts to suggest links between Ardern and Sroubek on the basis of a photo or two taken in the last year or so of Ardern with one or two people who have recently formally supported Sroubek staying in NZ.
I cannot recall the details of the ‘why’s and ‘wheres’ of the photos (an opening of something?) or the names of the people but there have been one or two media or blog mentions of the photos etc over the last few weeks.
The beige one is getting more and more anti-JA so his post this morning hinting at some link (such as my hazy recollection above) did not surprise me.
Mitchell’s questioning is now focussed on the other people who supported Sroubek’s application (apart from his wife that is). I wonder if they too were under pressure from gangs? Perhaps they were in the martial arts scene and loosely gang affiliated?
My recollection is the opposite – ie that they were unrelated to those aspects of Sroubek’s background but were more business men or similar. It’s really bugging me but have other priorities at the moment, but will keep thinking and looking when I can ….
PS – you may be interested in the second half of my comment at 4.1.2 on the Memo from Crosby Textor post which also mentions Sroubek … I have a warped sense of humour!
Yes I did read your post re Mark Davey and his past involvement with the incontinent pants company VV @ (13.1.1.2). Very appropriate. Love it 🙂
Maybe he is a ‘generous guy’ and likes to ‘donate’ to political or individual causes too…
RadioNZ
World politics
about 1 hour ago (I’m looking at this on Wed 5 Dec 2018)
Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered three Brexit defeats in the Commons as she set out to sell her EU deal to sceptical MPs.
Ministers will be forced to publish the government’s full legal advice on the deal after MPs found them in contempt of Parliament for issuing a summary.
And MPs backed a motion giving the Commons a direct say in what happens if her deal is rejected next Tuesday.
“Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has quit the party in protest at its direction”.
“The privileges committee will now decide which ministers should be held accountable and what sanction to apply, with options ranging from a reprimand to the more unlikely scenario of a minister being suspended from the Commons.”
“Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said the result left the government “on the ropes”, adding: “Theresa May’s majority has evaporated, and the credibility of her deal is evaporating with it.”” Too bad he missed that opportunity to call for the Cabinet to be imprisoned in the Tower of London. Also puzzling that conservative MPs are failing to adhere to the hallowed tradition.
“Tuesday’s vote, in which 26 Tory MPs rebelled, could potentially tilt the balance of power between government and Parliament if, as expected, MPs push for a “Plan B” alternative to Mrs May’s deal and also seek to prevent any chance of a no-deal exit.” I wonder if it will be necessary to bring back the Roundheads?
Has the Queen got any frontroom or backroom ability to step in when the Commons and the Lords manage to make a complete hash of it and put the country at risk of looming destabilisation?
lol just to throw a constitutional crisis on top of an economic one…
It’s already becoming a constitutional crisis isn’t it?
Not of the level of 1640.
Even if the monarch technically had the power, actually using it would be a fast track to a republic.
Basically, the Queen can have private chats with the PM where nothing is made public, and that’s about it. Any actual verbal public policy interference would be more serious than Brexit.
People in New Zealand are obviously far to mild in their protests about the petrol tax increases and the way the money is filtered off into stupid expenditure by the current Government who have never seen a tax they didn’t love.
Perhaps following the French example is the only way to curb our “leaders”?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46437904
I really don’t think I would be happy to protest in France when the Mobile Gendarmerie were on the streets though.
ok, so it all comes out, we are bankrupting and polluting our cities, spending hours in commuting times with ridiculous congestion, increased pollution across the board in particular in our waterways and air pollution, reducing democracy with poorly thought out changes that our councils can’t even work what to approve anymore (so approve anything) and creating housing that those on local wages can’t afford while, increasing charges like petrol charges for people who can’t afford to live closer in. So we now can see without a doubt that it was never to provide affording housing for residents within the cities and close to them, but for investment opportunities for overseas nationals and to keep the construction Ponzi going…
Auckland ratepayers please open your pockets as well for the airport, cruise ships, America’s cup marina, convention centre, stadiums and all the other tax payer funded infrastructure for all these new luxury apartments and tourists, while bleeding residents dry…
NZ door still open to foreign buyers: The Pacifica apartments granted foreign buyer exemption
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12170418&ref=rss
I’ve been wondering why, lately, we’ve been inundated with headlines like this:
Pregnant woman one of two killed in crash after police abandoned pursuit in Christchurch
They’ve gone to a great deal of effort to say that it wasn’t the polices fault and, I must admit, that the police have been getting a lot of flack for police pursuits that ended in death.
But there’s another implication or two:
1. That if the police maintained pursuit then perhaps the death could have been prevented.
2. That the death would have happened with or without police pursuit.
Is someone pushing for more Law ‘n’ Order and hardline police policies?
This is gonna be fun.
All of Your state and federal income tax returns, including all schedules, attachments, and other forms or supporting documentation completed or submitted with the tax returns.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dtm8UDsUwAAJZTR.jpg
I have a suggestion re Alcohol and hospital costs from crashes etc
Hospitals should bill the liquor industry for the cost of treatment
Also think that companies/governments making weapons that kill civilians used in wars, should be expected to pay the costs for civilian migration and relocation and damages to them or their families for their deaths and injuries.
Funny enough, I think if they stop bombing the crap out of many places, the people that live there would not be forced to relocate and if weapons manufacturers were held responsible for their misuse then we would have a lot less pointless wars and more appropriate ways of resolving disputes between nations!
Bridges just got kicked out of the house
Can’t really see what warranted it to be fair
Unless it is Labour getting triggered over a question
He was warned about being disruptive yesterday. He must be under immense pressure.
He made some comments about the Speaker.
First time round he was warned he would get the boot.
Here you go.
“Hon Simon Bridges: Has she entirely washed her hands of anything to do with the Sroubek fiasco, and is she ducking and diving to get out of its way? [Speaker stands] Oh, here comes the protection.
SPEAKER: No—the Leader of the Opposition will leave the House.
Hon Simon Bridges withdrew from the Chamber.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: Struck a raw nerve.
SPEAKER: He will be followed by the shadow Leader of the House.
Hon Gerry Brownlee withdrew from the Chamber.”
Spoke when Mallard was on his feet and abused him. Of course he had to go. And Brownlee for the same offence.
The weird thing is that Bridges apparently thought Ardern needed “protection” from his scented shoe-lace flogging.
Maybe their plan B is if their weak attacks are easily deflected, they get their arses kicked out so it looks like they were actually doing so well mallard had to intercede?
” his scented shoe-lace flogging.”
Beautiful!
Snap – was just about to post the same extract.
Here is the link to the draft Hansard for Qtime if anyone wants to read more.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20181205_20181205_08
IMO, it was about time those two got sent out. Bridges continually snipes from the side when Ministers are replying to questions, including when he himself has asked the question of the PM or DPM. He is forever being warned by the Speaker and it was inevitable that sooner or later he would be thrown out. Brownlee is also very transparent in his constant challenging of Mallard’s decisions as Speaker.
The whole MO of the National Caucus is to disrupt etc rather than show respect for the rules and procedures of the House. I have no doubt that they wanted this type of situation to arise sooner or later, and probably before the House rises for the Summer Recess (originally planned for next Thursday, 13 December but now extended out to Wednesday, 19 December.)
It is in effect nothing more than a publicity stunt.
ADDENDUM – perhaps a PR stunt for this next week? ROFL
https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/come-along-to-harmony-in-the-house/
Mallard’s been far too nice to Jeery Browneye.
He had to go and get cleaned up after shitting himself christy.
Gerry went too. Lack of discipline.
“Tay” Ko “fotta”?
Really, Judith?
Are those petulant Nat’s walking out of the House as soon as their own question is asked?
I might suggest the leaker is one of those 10…
Ahhhh! Let’s all play, “Spot the Leaker”!
Niki Kaye stayed.
Interesting!
You really are being silly.
Did it not occur to you that the ones who stayed were just the whip and the MPs who had questions to ask?
Or do you prefer to look foolish with your mild conspiracy theories?
So the leaker walked out with the rest? Perhaps you are right – they probably thought it best not to draw attention to oneself.
Kaye stayed after her questions were asked, the others left immediately.
Yep, I guess we can expect a press conference from Gerry wailing about how unfair the Speaker is and how they should be allowed to act like petulant little babies in the house.
David Carter gets up and tries to run defence because poor little Simon is being picked on.
Bridges’ performance today needs defending, it was so pathetic.
National are running attack lines at the speaker, painting Mallard as the bogey man. Classic deflection tactics, only they will backfire immensely, especially on Simon Bridges.
Bridges and Brownlee attacked the impartiality of the Speaker. Stupid! They got their marching orders and their puppets couldn’t help but lock-step their way out as well.
Heres the link to the question, if anyones interested:
What on earth were they supposed to have done?
There wasn’t enough time between the last word from Bridges and Mallard dumping on them to have said anything else that might have upset him.
Surely Trev hasn’t got so far up himself that saying someone was “ducking for cover” is supposed to be a slur on the Speaker named Mallard?
Were they getting a little bit close too what Ardern’s real knowledge is?
I’m thinking theres more to come of this, Nationals doing a good job of drip feeding the information it has
Fixed.
They have an ‘end game’ which is targeted at the PM’s ‘alleged’ involvement in the original decision. National have been playing a long game with this, including winding up attacks on the PM’s ‘frequent’ absences from the house, much as they did with Curran.
I have no idea whether the rumours about the PM’s connections with Sroubek are correct or not, but if they are, the PM is in trouble.
drip feeding is the obvious terminology when dealing with a leak…
They both said things the mike did not pick up on. The mike switches off when the Speaker rises. They are meant to then be silent but had a go at Trevor instead.
Easy decision.
So what was it that they did say?
“Oh, here comes the protection” – Bridges
“Struck a raw nerve” – Brownlee.
And of course its not always just the words that count but the way they say them.
The comments made by Bridges that caused him to be ejected have been reported as ‘here comes the protection’. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12171816
Edit – sorry just saw MS’s response.
Thank you both.
I watched it but didn’t hear anything.
I didn’t realise that they automatically cut the mikes if the Speaker gets up.
Mallard could simply lift his bottom imperceptibly every time Bennett speaks – it’d be a service to the country.
I didn’t know that, good to learn something about how parliament is run
Demeaned the Office of the Speaker – bawling, “it’s unfair (mummy!)”
Alwyn, Bennett and former Speaker Carter both agreed that the Speaker was right. Carter sought an end to the Speaker’s practice of deducting supplementaries for behaviour. The Speaker said that he had already decided that deliberate disrespect to the Speaker would be treated as it had been under previous Speakers.
So, they were given their marching orders.
Was it orchestrated, as Shane Jones alleged, in order to deflect attention away from leaks and bullying, and IMO also poor questioning techniques?
“Bennett and former Speaker Carter both agreed that the Speaker was right.”
Can you confirm when that occurred? I’m interested in the way the opposition are approaching this, and I’d be curious to see the language around what Bennett and Carter said.
I find it very hard to see any possible way you can get such an opinion from what has been reported on the affair.
From Stuff we get, about Carter
“National MP and former speaker, David Carter called a “constructive” point of order.
The events caused him to reflect on the frustration that was building among the Opposition, he said.
He asked Mallard to look carefully at how questions, asked this week, were being framed and the answers given.
If the answers were used to attack the Opposition or the leader, tensions would rise to the extent where frustration would be expressed, he said.
“Your action this week has not been helpful to the order of the House … I ask you to reconsider your policy of deducting questions that is unfair on the Opposition … The Opposition’s job is to hold the Government to account. Those supplementary questions are valuable …”.
If that is saying that Mallard was “right” I think you are on the wrong side of the Looking Glass.
I cannot find anything reported about Bennett
Actually I have now read Bennett’s speech in the General Debate.
That was certainly not agreeing with Mallard that his decision was “right”. She did agree that he was allowed to make it but that it was an extraordinary action.
She also said that she thought the action that got them expelled was “a very benign comment”
Anything more pointed would have got her kicked out as well.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20181205_054225000/bennett-paula
Alwyn, I didn’t get my info from a report.
I watched Carter make his point of order.
He agreed with the Speaker on his calls regarding the leader of the opposition and the shadow leader of the House, but as you say sought a change to Mallard’s practice.
“He agreed with the Speaker on his calls regarding the leader of the opposition and the shadow leader of the House, but as you say sought a change to Mallard’s practice.”
No, he didn’t. He agreed generally with the principle of not challenging the impartiality of the speaker. He made no specific comment about the particular decision the Speaker made today.
Carter raised a point of order at the end of question time today, and Bennett spoke during the debate on miscellaneous business after question time.
‘snap’.
I just found them.
You would be very hard pressed to say that they agreed with what Mallard had done.
Agreed with him having the power but certainly not that is was the “right” thing to have done.
Of course she thought Mallard’s judgment wrong, “a benign comment” though he had already been warned. She has fallen foul of him before, and justifiably so ejected then. She acknowledged his power and that remarks had been made.
I was originally responding to Alwyn commenting
above who said that he didn’t think there was enough time for comments to have been made at all.
My point was that remarks had been made, and Carter and Bennett acknowledged that was right (that the Speaker had reacted to comments made to him as Speaker as he was speaking at the time).
Did Bennett really believe that saying that the Speaker was protecting a government MP was ‘benign’? Or is libelling another’s probity and fair-handedness a benign action in her caucus?
Their caucus is toxic. That behaviour was further exhibited today and they were justifiably mocked during the following miscellaneous debate.
I have to say that I now eschew popcorn when watching Parliament but the sound of the popping of mental corks was analogous to making popcorn.
Carter’s point of order referenced the general principle of speaker impartiality. He made no mention of today’s decision at all.
It is obvious the speaker is protecting certain government MP’s, and it has been obvious for some time. That he is doing it for the PM is actually quite a serious matter. I’m not surprised the Speaker tossed Bridges, but it doesn’t get away from the reality that Mallard is making a total hash of the job.
“Parliament’s Speaker, Trevor Mallard, has an inbuilt bias against National Party leader Simon Bridges and a soft spot for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
That much has been clear since Mallard took the chair just over a year ago. Bridges gets under his skin.
But what is also clear is that Bridges crossed a line in the House today and cannot credibly object to having been thrown out by Mallard.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12171921
A ‘soft spot’! A beautiful understatement.
“Agreed with him having the power but certainly not that is was the “right” thing to have done.”
Hi Alwyn
I can’t agree. MP’s know they can’t impugn the Speaker’s impartiality. I can’t stand Mallard’s OTT oversight of QT, but the position of Speaker does need to be respected, if not the person holding the position.
Agree. This is dead cat on the table stuff. They are so desperate to distract from their toxic internal culture they’re willing to disrupt parliament itself.
He would have a point after that display
I think Paula’s going to spontaneously combust.
Yep. I got that impression too. I watched her stomach anxiously as it pulsated in tune to her heated bellows.
Bennett proving she’s an idiot.
Not getting the answers she wants equals questions not being answered. For someone who’s served an apprenticeship with weasels it’s strange she wouldn’t recognise a weasel if it bit her on the arse. And now she sees weasels in everything.
And she talks about being ‘straight’ with people. Well dear go into your caucus, you’re apparently one of the senior people there, eyeball them all, and ask them straight “Who is the leaker?”
@ Pete (25) … wouldn’t take much for Paula to find the leaker. Standing in front of a mirror might solve the problem.
If Simon thought he’d get sympathy on his Twitter post he was sorely disappointed.
Do you think sympathy was what he was after?
Deflection away from his own parlous standing is what he sought.
Blame, diversion, denial by a dummy spitting the dummy, a shill not even worth ten cents, a lemon supported by lemmings.
Well Slick’s such a big sooky bubby he was prolly after a hug and a sweetie indinana.
…or probably he’s added some more points to National in the next poll if most NZers think that Mallard was over zealous and that JA can’t fight her own battles.
JA can’t fight her own battles.
As everyone knows, JA can fight her own battles.
I think what made them dump on her for supposedly refusing to answer is that she kept responding with much the same answer… it is not appropriate for me to comment on operational matters.
Its my view they were deliberately asking questions that fall into this category knowing she was not at liberty to answer them.
Its up the Jacinda Ardern to put the record straight. If she doesn’t then some people will assume Bridges is telling the truth.
They were deliberate. The Speaker advised them that such questions were out of order and even advised Mitchell how to ask a question that was in order.
The question from Simon preceding the ejection was just a joke. It wasn’t Parliamentary, it was something you’d read on Kiwiblog. That’s how juvenile Bridges is.
“Hon Simon Bridges: Has she entirely washed her hands of anything to do with the Sroubek fiasco, and is she ducking and diving to get out of its way?”
Yes.
That and a poor excuse for an attack on the government.
I think that Mallard has proved to be one of the most biased speakers we have ever had.
Mind you with his history of anger issues, this is hardly surprising
Your opinion is seriously distorted, Chris T, but it’s so lightweight that it doesn’t matter 🙂
While you might not like my opinion, it has the same value as every other persons.
FWIW. The best speaker in my memory span was a Labour dude
It may be one man, one opinion, democratically, Chris T, but not the same relevance or quality. For example, your views on fungal associations with trees might not be of the same value as that of a mycologist – do ya reckon??
Fair call
What doctorate do you have in judging individuals impartiality?
I’ll post a copy to you. There’s a small charge.
Lol
Touche
The most biased speaker we ever had was the one that the Nats had – what was his name again?
I have to say that whoever is writing Simons questions has the political common sense of a Darwin Award winner.
How about. Just for fun.
Is the prime minister concerned at the price of Lawnmowers?
Will her Climate Change is our Nuclear Free comment result in any restrictions on the supply of Lawnmowers?
How many Lawnmowers does she think is enough Lawnmowers for stay at home dads and does she intend to restrict the supply and purchasing of Lawnmowers?
Do we import Lawnmowers from the EU and does she know anybody in that trade?
Kia ora The Am Show The new employments laws are a good start to employment law reforms the employers can get away with a lot of bad ——.
Wealthy schools poaching players is not on they will win all the competitions unfairly
what they are teaching our tamariki is its ok to cheat when one is wealthy really .Eco knows what side the paraoa is buttered on. Solution cap import players to school teams.
That wahine who gave birth of a baby with a donated womb shows how fast the health sector is advancing the next 20 years is going to be very exciting on that front .
Eco Thanks Waiheke Islanders for championing going electric cars only on the Island it is a good move that will boast the trend of saving our grandchildren’s environment Ka pai .Sea level rise is a serious problem we are building to many houses in low lying areas building in NZ is expensive considering in Europe they have to have walls a foot wide full of 2 to 3 layers of insulation and they build them cheaper there.
Ka kite ano
The Senate president, Scott Ryan, warned it would undermine parliamentarians’ ability to keep their work secret from police, because extending covert surveillance powers to police agencies would prevent parliamentarians having an opportunity to claim parliamentary privilege over material seized under warrant. Its been proven many times there some sandflys that cannot be trusted not to use this massive power for there own monetary gains I.E Being payed by the carbon barons to stuff someone who is making changes for the good of all Environmental advocate groups been spied on. All Australians will lose there RIGHTS TO PRIVACY
The Communications Alliance argued it could harm Australians $3.2bn information technology export sector, Eco Maori say it will cause there tec sector crash
The Communications Alliance chief executive, John Stanton, said the definition was “too narrow” and would still allow a weakness to be built – for example – in all devices in Victoria, or all users who select a push notification to install an upgrade in a particular language.
The Greens digital rights spokesman, Jordon Steele-John, said the bill “will have the unintended consequence of diminishing the online safety, security and privacy of every single Australian”.
“Furthermore, any individual – whether that be a politician or a journalist – who uses encrypted messaging services to ensure the privacy of their sources, or the privilege of their policy discussions, should feel threatened by this bill’s potential unintended consequences.” P.S They are signing YOUR rights away like shonky did in Aotearoa this is being pushed by trump and his control go oil party. Ka kite ano. Like I said the word terrorist is used as a tool to make you feel insecure so they can change laws to have more control on the 99.9 % when they control you well there is less of a threat to the 99.9 % hold on POWER.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/05/coalitions-deal-with-labor-on-cracking-encrypted-messages-what-it-means-for-you
P.S change the 99.9 % on the above post to 000.1 % the wealthy rulers
shonky became a mp because he want to make it easier for his rich crooked M8 to launder there trillions through shonky did not become a mp to serve the majority he was in Parliament to serve his bank ballance and his super wealthy M8 video below.
Kai ora Newshub I agree with Brian he we need to come up with solution to lift all Maori out of jails and provery.
MPI needs to put more effort into protecting OUR Fisheries minister if one can cheat without being prosecuted well it just snowballs into a collapsed fisheries no fish for the grandchildren.
The Farmers are loving this weather they are making hay Melisa = a small feed bill more proft’s .
That young boy was cute meeting our Queen shy as lol.
Tiwai point smelter opening the forth line is good I Jacinda the purest and hydro renewable energy aluminum made in the world cars and batteries are being made from aluminum now they also have a new way to make aluminum that produces less carbon it will take a few years to get from lab to production lines.
Ka kite ano
Kai ora James & Mulls from the Crowd Goes Wild
Good luck on your new journey Shawn Johnston you will be cutting them up on the field soon.
Good call Wairangi on the boxing.
Anna Marcuse has a cool ebike good on you for your vegan journey and your words about Kiwi farming.
The soccer the dog blocking that goal lol .I made a choice not to play to much video games guys my time is to valuable to me .Ka kite ano