Spring flowers are out. At least they are here in Papakura
So early?
Goodness me, summer hasn’t even ended yet.
In other micro-climate change news.
Because of the dryer conditions the ground has been shrinking and cracking right across the Auckland region. This has effected footpaths and in some circumstances even house foundations and retaining walls.
Landscape contractors are looking forward to a big boom in retaining wall construction, especially when the rain, when it does come, gets into the cracks in the ground.
Playing fields are very hard for this time of year.
Will this result in more sports injuries?
Has anyone in the media looked into this?
I am no expert. And all these things may have nothing whatsoever to do with climate change. But who would know? All the journalists who should be asking these hard questions have gone silent.
Glad to see that the propganda is being rolled out…What a load of nonsense.
Yes the skies are the result of CC /sarc, but what else is contributing to climate change?
The journos have gone silent (because the media owners have instructed it, but no worries they can’t keep geo-engineering off limits much longer, its become too obvious, so they drip it into the mindset, using various methods, like pics of dramatic sky to fool people with ), because if it gets stirred up, then they are going to have to talk about geo-engineering Jenny, perhaps then people will really begin to join those dots.
You can’t discuss these subjects in a silo, they’re linked!
Oh and Jenny – Officially summer finished some time back, but hard ground is not uncommon at time of year, which is why we have schedule cricket tours, like the one just finished eh!
“Ummm, ahhhh, I dunno. Ummm…”
Umperator Fish fails to perform The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 4 April 2013
Jim Mora, Jock Anderson, Scott York
This government is on the ropes. Scandal after scandal has left its major asset, the affable John Key, looking tired, harried and confused. His inability to tell lies convincingly has been embarrassingly exposed with the Ian Fletcher/GCSB scandal; for the first time, Key has been faced with relentless and concerted questions from journalists, who can sense blood.
Regular listeners to the Panel will know that, almost always, at least one of the two guest Panelists will be a right winger and reflexively a Key supporter, and that the host (usually Jim Mora) will almost always support that right winger. So the program is usually stacked against the liberal or left voice, if there happens to be one that day.
However, as has been shown by the likes of Gordon Campbell, Anna Chinn, Bomber Bradbury and Gordon McLauchlan, one liberal voice having the gumption to challenge the indolent and poorly thought out assertions of right wingers can be extremely effective.
So it would be enormously damaging to the Government, and enormously helpful for the rest of us, if an articulate person went on National Radio’s Panel show and simply restated the facts of this scandal, eloquently and courageously.
Unfortunately, though, the representative for the liberal left today was one Scott York….
JIM MORA: First topic today is, unsurprisingly, the Ian Fletcher/GCSB scandal. John Key has had ANOTHER memory lapse; how damaging could this one be for the Government? SCOTT YORK: I, uh, dunno. You know, uhhh, the Labour government had its problems too, with Clare Curran. But ummmm, I dunno. Yeah, I guess…. JOCK ANDERSON: This is a story that has been promulgated by twenty-five wild-eyed journalists. JIM MORA: John Armstrong from the New Zealand Herald joins us. John, is Jock Anderson correct when he says it’s just twenty-five wild-eyed journalists that are pushing this story? JOHN ARMSTRONG:[speaking slowly to indicate great seriousness] It’s a bit wider than that, but not much. JIM MORA: So you think it’s a bit too much to suggest there is a danger of oligarchy in this country? Thats too long a bow to draw. JOHN ARMSTRONG: Yes, but this is corrosive. This will worry the National Party hierarchy. MORA: It sounds impulsive what he did, saying “I’ll pick up the phone and ring the guy.” So this will not hurt John Key. As we said yesterday, people will say this is the way the world works. It will not hurt John Key will it. ARMSTRONG: It doesn’t go far beyond the Beltway. JOCK ANDERSON: As Rob Hosking said in the NBR, this is only of concern to the Bowen Triangle, which is the Wellington equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle! MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! John Armstrong on the Panel! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Topic 2: The Census…
Jock Anderson spends several minutes boasting about how he did not fill out his census form. Then Jim Mora decides it’s time to turn into Mr. Nasty, except he doesn’t do it with much conviction….
JIM MORA: Carol Slappendel is the General Manager of the 2013 Census. She joins us now. I see you are still allowing people to fill in their census forms more than a month late. Shouldn’t we call it the March-April census and dispense with the urgency of the night? CAROL SLAPPENDEL: Actually, the completion rate has been exceptionally good. And there has been a very high number of people doing it online. MORA:[skeptically] Yeah. Can I ask you about that? How did it go in Oamaru where participating online was ENCOURAGED? CAROL SLAPPENDEL: Very well, actually. MORA: Carol Slappendel, thank you. It’s 4:30, time for the news.
….4:30 News and Weather….
JIM MORA: Time for the Soapbox. What’s been on your mind, Scott? SCOTT YORK Ummm, I’d like to give a bit of a plug for a new website. Ummm, it’s a satirical site called The Civilian. JIM MORA: The Civilian? SCOTT YORK: Yes. Some say it’s a Kiwi equivalent of the Onion. JIM MORA: It’s nice to see a blog with a sense of humor, isn’t it. Some of these political sites have no sense of humor. SCOTT YORK: Yeah! Ummmm. Yeah. JIM MORA: Good luck to them! Jock what’s been on YOUR mind? JOCK ANDERSON: Well, this is something I complained about on this program a few weeks ago, and that is the way that Len Brown’s Auckland Council keeps shutting its citizens out on the weekends. I object to the Auckland Council closing down the city centre for these events all the time. Last weekend Queen Street was closed for a wild-eyed bunch of sweaty zealots racing in the Golden Mile.
MORA: Ummm, thank you, ummmm, Jock. I’d like to move onto North Korea. THAT’s a serious topic. The state’s warlike rhetoric follows the recently imposed U.N. sanctions. Are you getting a bit worried now? JOCK ANDERSON: I am. JIM MORA: Just before we get Professor Al Gillespie, Scott, your thoughts. SCOTT YORK: Ummm, North Korea is such an odd country, ummmmm, cut off from the rest of the world. We’ve got a new, inexperienced North Korean leader, ummmmm, next thing you know, ummmm, it’s World War Three. JIM MORA: Are we right to be nervous, do you think, Al? AL GILLESPIE: America is being particularly belligerent at this point. JOCK ANDERSON: Are there any similarities to the Cuban missile crisis?
[This discussion continues for a further few minutes, then the music starts to swell, signalling the impending end of the show…]
MORA: Just before we go, your thoughts on the Christchurch Cathedral? SCOTT YORK: Ummm, ahhhh, I dunno. Ummm. MORA: It’s five o’clock. Gotta go!
No it’s not. He gives the impression that talking to Carol Slappendel took all of 2 minutes, but it was much much longer than that.
Which means so far, every single transcript of Morrissey’s that I’ve read where I had actually heard the interview itself, he has mischaracterised in some way. So I don’t trust anything he writes any more.
You might have a poor reception down there Lanth, I listen to ‘the panel’ most days and when Morrissey reports on it he gets it 99.9% correct 99.9% of the time.
With regard to the Carol Slappendel segment he did omit the tired ramblings of Jock Anderson who tried to put listeners asleep with his paranoid recollections of avoiding filling out census forms (he must have much to hide).
I always enjoy Morrissey reporting on ‘the panel’ farce and find his version matches what I have heard.
“You might have a poor reception down there Lanth, I listen to ‘the panel’ most days and when Morrissey reports on it he gets it 99.9% correct 99.9% of the time.”
No, all I’ve said is that every single transcript for which I’ve read that I had also heard the actual interview at the very least mischaracterised what went on, if not completely changed the works spoken so as to not be a transcript at all.
Note that that is a sample of about 4. But 4 out of 4 is not good.
“With regard to the Carol Slappendel segment he did omit the tired ramblings of Jock Anderson”
Um, no, he omitted many question and answer responses from Carol. Perhaps you need to check your reception.
He gives the impression that talking to Carol Slappendel took all of 2 minutes, but it was much much longer than that.
I think any intelligent reader would realise that I had not included everything these people said on the programme. My purpose is of course to capture something of the pervading tone of shallowness and flippancy. My approach is little different from the great Tom Frewen’s legendary Today in Parliament—which can still, by the way, be heard on Community Radio stations.
Which means so far, every single transcript of Morrissey’s that I’ve read where I had actually heard the interview itself, he has mischaracterised in some way.
I have mischaracterised nothing. In the transcript that heads this thread, I have endeavoured to capture at least a hint of the essential nastiness of Jock Anderson, the refusal to be serious of Jim Mora, and the timidity and mealy-mouthedness of Scott York. You are trying to say that is not a valid approach, and that every single thing they say should have been included. That’s nonsense.
So I don’t trust anything he writes any more.
In March 2011 you trusted the demonstrable lies of the Japanese government and you trusted the integrity of the Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe when he came on television to insist there was “absolutely no danger” from radiation around Tokyo. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether they trust YOUR judgement.
Sorry, I don’t “know it” because what you have produced and claimed to be a transcript, is, to borrow one of your words, “demonstrably” not a transcript.
“I think any intelligent reader would realise that I had not included everything these people said on the programme. ”
No, any intelligent reader who reads something that purports to be a transcript would expect it to be a transcript. There is absolutely nothing in your post that suggests the sections that show dialogue are not actually the complete dialogue that was spoken. All you need to do is put “…” in there or “later” or anything, but you deliberately choose not to do so.
“I have mischaracterised nothing. In the transcript that heads this thread, I have endeavoured to capture at least a hint of the essential nastiness of Jock Anderson, the refusal to be serious of Jim Mora, and the timidity and mealy-mouthedness of Scott York. You are trying to say that is not a valid approach, and that every single thing they say should have been included. That’s nonsense.”
You mischaracterised the interview with Carol Slappendel by making it look like Mora had her on for less than a minute to ask her one question and then bid her off. That DID NOT HAPPEN and so you are mischaracterising what did happen. It really is very straight forward.
“In March 2011 you trusted the demonstrable lies of the Japanese government and you trusted the integrity of the Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe when he came on television to insist there was “absolutely no danger” from radiation around Tokyo. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether they trust YOUR judgement.”
Sure, I’ve no problem with that. All you have to do is show that the people flying in those flights to Japan have somehow gone on to suffer ill health effects. Then you might actually have some evidence.
Just a thought, the massive pay increases to the Mighty River Power directors is a more important issue than Key’s bastardising the process to have his mate appointed as head of the GCSB.
The second issue certainly has raised considerable concerns about his honesty but the first issue shows the never ending process whereby the rich get more and the poor and workers get less.
Out in middle New Zealand I think many will find the nuances of the Fletcher issue too difficult to comprehend whereas the greed shown by the MRP directors is clear to see.
Even Key’s stuff-ups on sideshow stories protect him from the bigger stories; GCSB beltway oddity covers New Zealand’s largest single pending industrial closure, and also smothers the big MRP prospectus launch together with price range. He may go down in history for nothing except being our luckiest PM.
True, no one gives a toss about “the process”.
Key rung his mate,big deal.
It’s widely accepted, that it’s who you know, not what you know when it comes to getting a job, people don’t have an issue with that, it’s just the way the world works.
Lots of it, by the same people, and now an everyday event!
Certain types love it, because it validates the lies they tell to themselves, and others on a daily basis!
Thats why lying is *no big deal* – Look at BM, liar apologist, pity those around you son, cos you is a liar too, which is why you are looking at semantics, and offerign excuses for the biggest liar ever to lead a government in NZ history, which is no mean feat for JK!
so from now on whenever key says ‘to the best of my recollection’ or ‘from what i can recall’ you are gonna believe him? what a sucker. also, ‘key rang his mate’, key still has not confirmed they were ‘mates’, thats just what everyone knows but key wont admit it, just weasel words about his mum & grant robertson & everything else. why didnt he, when first asked, say ‘yep, we are mates, so what?’, maybe hes incapable of telling the truth? his first instinct is to lie, duck & cover. speaking of which, hes on radiolive this afternoon with willie & jt, could be interesting but usually its just whitewash & weak.
Yep, they do. And that’s a Stuff online poll so, although unscientific, it’s also leaning to the right, i.e, the people you’d most expect to support JK and National.
The Liberal Conspiracy (which claims to be the most popular left of centre political blog in the UK), has an article reporting on a poll about people’s views on climate change.
Last week the site Carbon Brief released information on their extensive energy and climate change polling, which you can read about on their site. …
1. Doubts about climate change aren’t rising …
2. ‘Belief’ in climate doesn’t mean that much anyway
One of my favourite charts is from a post-Copenhagen poll that showed that, even among those who said they don’t think global warming has been proven, a majority wanted a reduction in worldwide emissions….
2. ‘Belief’ in climate doesn’t mean that much anyway
One of my favourite charts is from a post-Copenhagen poll that showed that, even among those who said they don’t think global warming has been proven, a majority wanted a reduction in worldwide emissions.
That’s what I like about Key, he’s a go getter, bugger the process that’s for dull old people, public servants and Labour party politicians.
He didn’t get rich sitting around writing stuff in triplicate and filling out a zillion forms, he gets out there and makes it happen.
Jesus H Christ! Next you’ll be talking about how firm his buttocks are and how flowers grow where his feet touch the earth. You bloody right wingers make me think that you have real daddy issues, thinking that everything can be solved by a man’s man with a firm hand.
BM – Knows little to nothing about Keys career, or how he made his money, other than what he reads on wiki or the herald!
If he did, then he would know that same system, which made Key *rich*, by stealing, because thats what the banking system is, theft of other peoples lives/futures, BM would understand that same financial systems are taking him, his mates, and his family down too!
I may have been a bit over the top there, but that is how the public perceive John Key , which is why he gets away with what he does.
Facts are most people despise politicians, yet Key is still the most liked of all current politicians by a loooong way and that’s because he doesn’t behave like a politician.
I’m getting really sick of this meme. Half the country didn’t vote for him or his party. When you say the ‘public’ in this context, what you mean is some people + the MSM.
You could say the same about half the folk in Paremoremo.
Which is probably where Key should be, if he treated his financial speculations in the way you describe he treats the country today.
Ah yes. Everyone loves a go-getter who says damn the process … right up until it’s your house being compulsorily acquired or your kids getting expelled or your taxes getting raised or the Police knocking on your door.
If you have lived in this country long enough you hear every vile, disgusting comment made against Māori – every low and slimey slur and put-down and even though we have heard it all, it still hurts to hear another.
We let these people off too lightly – and trying to get out of it by using the ‘joke’ defence is as bad as using the ‘should have thought harder’ defence – they are not a defence they are just useless excuses.
Hi Marty – These comments are genuine insight into the types which are *in charge* of us, this is what they’re into!
They get away far too lightly, for many reasons, a couple if core reasons, IMO are.
1: People are not paying attention
2: Reality tv, and glossy trash mags/reporting, means that those who are paying attention have become numbed to such comments, because it so *normalised* now.
The shear hatred these comments reek of, need a seeing to, I agree 100%
‘Open Letter’ / OIA request to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key :
“How are you ‘inducted / familiarised’ with your statutory duties arising from the Public Records Act 2005?”
_______________________________________________________________________________
Prime Minister of New Zealand
John Key
Dear Prime Minister,
Given your previous background at the highest levels of the private sector/ banking and finance corporate world (being the former Head of Derivatives for Merrill Lynch, and a former Foreign Exchange Advisor for the New York Federal Reserve), it may have been your custom and practice to ‘do’ internationally significant deals over dinner or over the phone?
However, you are now Prime Minister of New Zealand, ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the 2012 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’, along with Denmark and Finland).
As New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ – we should arguably be the most ‘transparent’?
Arguably, the laws, regulations and culture which apply in the private, corporate world – are NOT the same which should and do apply to the public sector, of which you are now in charge, as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
May I respectfully remind you of the pivotal legislation which covers the public sector / public service, as outlined on the NZ State Services Commission website:
Contents
Title page
Crown Entities Act 2004
Human Rights Act 1993
NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990
Official Information Act 1982
Protected Disclosures Act 2000
Public Finance Act 1989
Public Records Act 2005
State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986
State Sector Act 1988
________________________________________________________________________________
In particular – may I draw your attention specifically to the Public Records Act 2005:
Part 1
Purpose, other preliminary provisions, and key administrative provisions
Subpart 1—Purpose and other preliminary provisions
3 Purposes of Act
The purposes of this Act are—
(a)to provide for the continuation of the repository of public archives called the National Archives with the name Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga); and
(b)to provide for the role of the Chief Archivist in developing and supporting government recordkeeping, including making independent determinations on the disposal of public records and certain local authority archives; and
(c)to enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained; and
(ii)providing for the preservation of, and public access to, records of long-term value; and
(d)to enhance public confidence in the integrity of public records and local authority records; and
(e)to provide an appropriate framework within which public offices and local authorities create and maintain public records and local authority records, as the case may be; and
(f)through the systematic creation and preservation of public archives and local authority archives, to enhance the accessibility of records that are relevant to the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand and to New Zealanders’ sense of their national identity; and
(g)to encourage the spirit of partnership and goodwill envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), as provided for by section 7; and
1) What is / was the process by which you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with this above-mentioned key legislation which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand?
2) What was / is the role of the NZ State Services Commission, in ensuring that you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with this above-mentioned key legislation, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand?
3) What is / was the process by which you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with the above-mentioned Public Records Act 2005, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand to:
“enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained ”
4) What was / is the role of the NZ State Services Commission, in ensuring that you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with the above-mentioned Public Records Act 2005, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand to:
“enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained”
5) How many staff are employed in your ‘Prime Minister’s Department’?
6) Please confirm that you have staff in your ‘Prime Minister’s Department’, who have the responsibility for ‘diary notes’ / memos / minutes (and the like), of affairs of State, in order to ensure that your above-mentioned statutory duties as Prime Minister of New Zealand, under the Public Records Act 2005, are carried out in a proper way.
7) Please provide the information which explains why you are relying upon your (proven to be unreliable) memory, for matters such as your role in the appointment of Ian Fletcher as Director of the GCSB, when you have a statutory duty as Prime Minister to:
“..enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained”
from now on john key isnt going to answer questions from journalists unless he has time to research an answer. radiolive. 12:15. infact he just said he will ask for it in writing first.
In that alternative reality known as wingnut land yes, but back here on real earth Helen was legendary for knowing her stuff and answering questions truthfully.
Wasn’t that the reason she got so pissed at John Campbell regarding the corn gate incident because he altered the questions during the interview and made her look like a bit of a clown because she didn’t have a pre constructed answer.
Anyway it makes sense to know the questions before hand, especially since every reporter is out there trying to get a scoop and make a name for themselves.
No.
If I recall correctly, it is routine for exclusive interview topics to be identified beforehand, so the interviewee can prepare. I think the corngate one pissed clark off because they were broad with the topic outline (said it would be about nz horticulture or something), and JC leapt almost immediately into a very narrow field of “on this date GM corn escaped” (or whatever).
yes, key said the omission was an answer to a supplementary question (‘i only had 15 seconds to answer!’), not a written first question. so if he was asked it in writing, he could have told the truth. but didnt someone on the standard say that gerry brownlee answered on behalf of john key another question that was certainly written? is john key biding his time to get out the country before any journalist (i wish) digs up that information.
& yes, not answering questions in parliament, stand ups or to journalists, if we want an honest, factual answer, he will want it in writing first. thats what he said. he even said it as a warning basically. & tv3 have got it in for him.
john key was being ‘boo hoo me’ & how hard it is being prime minister, up at 6:30am, bed at 12:30am, & do you remember what you had for breakfast last week?
yes Brownlee made an answer on the PM’s behalf the following day
p.s. having all sorts of long delays (up to twenty seconds) accessing The Standard since about 1pm, other sites all ok, anyone else? downforme says it is down for everyone
As the email leaks seem to get bigger,(the latest being bigger then Ben hur ie 2million) and this is very interesting as it details who uses offshore tax havens.
I will have a look at it. But it has been running OK for me when I have been scanning it today. I’m currently having a long awaited beer, listening to the news on natrad, and reading comments on the nexus7 – via the cellphone to the net…
I’ve had problems – especially when I was updating the Fletcher post before 6pm-ish. And I couldn’t get the paragraph formation right on the update – looked correct on the “visual”, then no space between the end of the original post and the update on the post actual.
i know, its real hard to listen to. also another funny thing in the john key interview, tamaheri mentioned a news scoop that the australians have told ppl to get out of south korea, & tamaheri asked john key what he was going to do, & john key said ‘why? whats happening over there?’. he didnt know about the bird flu news coming out of china also. but who knows, maybe he was lying again.
and touching on the ancient topic of the PM rarely fronting to National Radio and the increasing evidence that Auckland is New Zealand whilst the rest of us are just potential tourists there, I noticed the Station ID
“This is Auckland’s RadioLive”
and this is the only station the PM can be said to front to regularly
An interesting perspective on this is the lost revenue for the Crown. There’s over 400,000 households in Auckland and I assume that each one lives in a house so one expects there’s 400k houses of all types. An increase of 12% in the average price would be about $55k per house. That’s a capital gain of $22billion on 400,000 houses, if gains were taxed it would realise tax of around $5billion. And that’s just from Auckland. Quite staggering numbers really.
Hey I have found this ideal investment for the Government. The shares are rock solid and are predicted to give between a 6 and 7.7 % yield each year for the next couple of years. The Government can borrow money at less than this and it could make a real killing. If it acquires all of the shares then it does not have to worry about minority shareholders rights.
Oh wait, we own these fecking things and we are paying merchant bankers huge amounts of money to sell something that we already own to pay down debt that could be paid quicker if we kept control of them.
And, as it happens, the promo material is misleading about how risky these shares are. over to Russel Norman:
The offer document lists risks including the Tiwai Point smelter closing, regulatory changes, and Treaty claims but makes no attempt to quantify these risks or assess their likelihood.
“National has been pushing Kiwis to invest their savings in Mighty River, so it has a duty to properly inform them of the risks,” said Dr Norman.
“There is a very real danger that the closure of Tiwai Point, Treaty claims, and reforms by a future government will reduce the value of these shares significantly but National has failed to give potential investors an estimate of the size of those risks.
I want to give a big thank you to all The Standard especially karol for getting information and links to this Prime Minister of ours and his lies. More to come I’m sure – thanks again.
I also want to say to Bryce Edwards that he is really shows some poor judgement in his (very good) article in NZ Politics daily. Every person who has made comment is quoted by him, such as – whaleoil, kiwiblog, John Minto, Julie Fairey, journalists, The Green Party, all good, but I noticed one group of blogger missing, yes everyone except The Standard and the bloggers who have researched and asked very searching questions about the goings on, in fact some new original information that illuminates seems to come up every day. No, no quoting any of those articles – he’d rather put in Pete George Twice!!! That has got to be a WTF moment if ever there was one – but nothing from over here. I pretty disapointed about that.
Bryce Edwards appears to be working on becoming more “mainstream” and more “commonly acceptable” in my eyes. Maybe he has a high paying job here or in Aus on his mind??? There are fewer and fewer journalists and commentators I bother with or even trust. And it is only the Standard, the Daily Blog and a few others that I still bother to read now.
Looking forwards to Morrissey’s next entry after listening to Brian Edwards and Michelle Boag’s comments about Ferguson’s appointment on the Bora hour.
Listening to Michelle Boag always leaves me underwhelmed. She seems sure to say something crass each time. The discussion I heard on Jim Mora was about class in Britain and New Zealand. The latest strata identification in GB was seven, but that’s the way of the world since the year dot she thinks. Nothing new here, or to concern oneself about.
Her own parents were ‘hard working’ and so she had a good grounding for becoming the idol that she is. This hard working epithet seems a loaded description, there’s a suggestion that they were outstanding and perhaps deserving, because most others weren’t hard working.
If you become deserving through long hours then the caregivers and low income people working multiple jobs should be due for a decent bonus anytime. The figures show that NZs are working long hours. Just as well the pubs are allowed to open all hours unless there is lots of hoo hah about it. What about rewarding these low-paid hard working people with a Christmas bonus for not being layabouts like most of those beneficiaries under 65, possibly make that 70? And could volunteers doing a minimum period for community and social betterment be included?
They must have been talking about the article Draco posted on a couple of days back, based on a major survay. It was different from previous class levels, like the UK Registrar General’s one, used for official stats.
The important thing is that it shows “the precariat” has become a significant class of low income struggling people at the bottom of the system.
Should have put this here rather than on the other topic”
Dr Brian Edwards on the Panel totally agreed with Michelle Boag that the whole fuss about Mr Key was absolutely ridiculous. Should never have happened. He thinks that the behaviour of John Campbell in his interview with Mr Rennie was a disgrace. There was no story here and John Key should get tough and tell ‘em like it is. It is totally understandable for a very busy PM to forget things. After all both Michelle and Brian forget things so why shouldn’t the PM?
I think that the issue was really about how Mr Key handled or mis-handled the situation.
Forget “egalitarianism” in NZ, which Boag and Edwards and Mora tried to imply, has existed, and to some degree still exists (withing limits or boundaries). Boag justified that socialist experiments failed, and that there will always be social classes. Edwards accepted he would now be privileged, but came from a more “egalitarian” background. Mora spoke a lot of common drivel.
In all honesty, there has never been true “egalitarianism” in NZ, although the colonial heritage has provided for a fighting and working mentality of most, if not all, to try to prove they do their best, do survive, or have a right to exist.
Egalitarianism is something different though.
We see the farce of this now, where beneficiaries are largely – and actually by wide parts of society (incl. working poor and “middle class”, whatever that means now) SHAMED for not “pulling their weight”!
Is this “egalitarianism”, or giving all an equal chance to start and succeed?
NO, I am sorry, dear friends, I think that too many in NZ claim something that is a bit of a farce.
It is everyone out there for their own “betterment” and “advantages” as they “see fit”, not much of a truly caring society. It never was. The absence of rigid class systems like in Britain and some other countries does NOT mean there never were any classes here. There clearly have been, and stop dreaming fluffy nonsense, thank you.
Also Maori and Pacifica people, to some degree other new migrants have always been used to do the dirty and undesirable work here, while the “middle class” think they get what they deserve. Look at the many Asians working extra hours now, sometimes on low pay, like Filipinos and Filipinas in supermarkets, elder care and on farms.
NZers who think they are so “great” should wake up, and in some cases feel ashamed!
A shameless Government plug masquerades as a news item
NewstalkZB, Friday 5 April 2013, 8:00 A.M.
“There is NO DANGER that the prospect of the smelter closing will affect the price for Mighty River Power shares!”
No, that was not, as you might think, a Government-paid advertisement; it was a chirpy and bright announcement by one Niva Retimanu reading the 8 a.m. “news” on the government mouthpiece NewstalkZB.
The “news” item that followed that gushing headline consisted of an interview with a very upbeat Brian Gaynor, who amplified the positivity of the advertisement, errr, headline. According to the financial guru, there is nothing but good news to be had from the flogging off of this asset.
There will have been many—maybe most—listeners to that piece of bright positive “analysis” who will have imagined that Gaynor was a trustworthy and disinterested commentator on this matter. In fact, he is the chairman of Milford Asset Management’s Investment Committee and head of Milford’s portfolio management and investment analysis, and as such stands to trouser some handsome fees from his involvement in the selling off of the publicly owned power company.
It is difficult to decide which party comes out of this sordid little charade looking shabbier and dodgier. Nobody really expects serious or reliable journalism from NewstalkZB, but surely Gaynor has a reputation to think about; mouthing dishonest platitudes on a notoriously partisan radio station is certainly not going to enhance it.
. . . In what is believed to be one of the largest ever leaks of financial data, the Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has received nearly 30 years of data entries, emails and other confidential details from 10 offshore havens around the world . . .
It has the potential change the face of politics in some countries, currently the premier of Georgia is scrambling. It looks like there’s going to be a coordinated slow release of names.
The consortium of journalists includes Nicky Hager.
I’ve just watched TV3 News coverage of the funeral of Bruce Hutton, perjurer, fabricator of false evidence, liar and perverter of the course of justice.
Utterly disgusted and sickened to observe police officers, in dress uniform , attending the funeral “as a mark of respect”.
Was it as sickening as all those broadcasters and politicians competing to make the most fulsome insincere tribute to “Sir” Paul Holmes a few months back?
Why don’t we hear more from those eloquent Wellington mandarins?
“Focus on Politics”, Radio NZ National, Friday 5 April 2013
I used to think that the people working in the highest echelons of the Wellington civil service were, apart from one or two obvious duds like Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, possessed of superior intellect, impeccable manners and of course an effortlessly superior dress sense. They were seen only occasionally in public, attending symphonic concerts, spectating languidly at cricket tests or race meetings, dining at the most exclusive eateries, and gracing the best and toniest private functions. To this outsider’s untutored eye, these men and their elegant women moved in a rarefied, privileged world, somehow finding the time to read the classics to such a level that they could wittily allude to something from Homer as easily as they could discern whether the wine they had been proffered was worth quaffing. And they could probably speak several languages to boot. In other words they moved on a higher plane than the rest of us mere mortals.
I’ve just heard State Services Commissioner Ian Rennie speaking at length on National Radio’s superb “Focus on Politics” programme. It is now painfully apparent just why there is a long-established tradition of keeping these mandarins away from the public gaze.
Here’s an excerpt, taken at random, but entirely representative of everything else he said….
“We certainly did not have, ahhh um prescience… it was becoming ahhh clear…. there was a need aahhh to change ahhhh, ummmmm, internal structures…. ahhh, ummmm, not just the ahmmmm traditional ahhh ahhh military community ahh, ummmm…”
Really, if we actually introduced a free-market profits would disappear over night. Same way that wages are dropping in fact (labour doesn’t get the same protections as businesses).
She is a MONTH ahead of the rest of us, going by the “news” page on the Labour website.
The most “current” post by her is dated 30 April 2013. I am impressed, does she know the future and whether Shearer will still be leader a month of more ahead???
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
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‘
One good thing about climate change. More dramatic skies
At least it seems so to me.
Also Has anyone else noticed this?
Spring flowers are out. At least they are here in Papakura
So early?
Goodness me, summer hasn’t even ended yet.
In other micro-climate change news.
Because of the dryer conditions the ground has been shrinking and cracking right across the Auckland region. This has effected footpaths and in some circumstances even house foundations and retaining walls.
Landscape contractors are looking forward to a big boom in retaining wall construction, especially when the rain, when it does come, gets into the cracks in the ground.
Playing fields are very hard for this time of year.
Will this result in more sports injuries?
Has anyone in the media looked into this?
I am no expert. And all these things may have nothing whatsoever to do with climate change. But who would know? All the journalists who should be asking these hard questions have gone silent.
Tell us what’s happening to us
*More dramatic skies*
Glad to see that the propganda is being rolled out…What a load of nonsense.
Yes the skies are the result of CC /sarc, but what else is contributing to climate change?
The journos have gone silent (because the media owners have instructed it, but no worries they can’t keep geo-engineering off limits much longer, its become too obvious, so they drip it into the mindset, using various methods, like pics of dramatic sky to fool people with ), because if it gets stirred up, then they are going to have to talk about geo-engineering Jenny, perhaps then people will really begin to join those dots.
You can’t discuss these subjects in a silo, they’re linked!
Oh and Jenny – Officially summer finished some time back, but hard ground is not uncommon at time of year, which is why we have schedule cricket tours, like the one just finished eh!
well, freesias have come up already…hmmm
“Ummm, ahhhh, I dunno. Ummm…”
Umperator Fish fails to perform
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 4 April 2013
Jim Mora, Jock Anderson, Scott York
This government is on the ropes. Scandal after scandal has left its major asset, the affable John Key, looking tired, harried and confused. His inability to tell lies convincingly has been embarrassingly exposed with the Ian Fletcher/GCSB scandal; for the first time, Key has been faced with relentless and concerted questions from journalists, who can sense blood.
Regular listeners to the Panel will know that, almost always, at least one of the two guest Panelists will be a right winger and reflexively a Key supporter, and that the host (usually Jim Mora) will almost always support that right winger. So the program is usually stacked against the liberal or left voice, if there happens to be one that day.
However, as has been shown by the likes of Gordon Campbell, Anna Chinn, Bomber Bradbury and Gordon McLauchlan, one liberal voice having the gumption to challenge the indolent and poorly thought out assertions of right wingers can be extremely effective.
So it would be enormously damaging to the Government, and enormously helpful for the rest of us, if an articulate person went on National Radio’s Panel show and simply restated the facts of this scandal, eloquently and courageously.
Unfortunately, though, the representative for the liberal left today was one Scott York….
JIM MORA: First topic today is, unsurprisingly, the Ian Fletcher/GCSB scandal. John Key has had ANOTHER memory lapse; how damaging could this one be for the Government?
SCOTT YORK: I, uh, dunno. You know, uhhh, the Labour government had its problems too, with Clare Curran. But ummmm, I dunno. Yeah, I guess….
JOCK ANDERSON: This is a story that has been promulgated by twenty-five wild-eyed journalists.
JIM MORA: John Armstrong from the New Zealand Herald joins us. John, is Jock Anderson correct when he says it’s just twenty-five wild-eyed journalists that are pushing this story?
JOHN ARMSTRONG: [speaking slowly to indicate great seriousness] It’s a bit wider than that, but not much.
JIM MORA: So you think it’s a bit too much to suggest there is a danger of oligarchy in this country? Thats too long a bow to draw.
JOHN ARMSTRONG: Yes, but this is corrosive. This will worry the National Party hierarchy.
MORA: It sounds impulsive what he did, saying “I’ll pick up the phone and ring the guy.” So this will not hurt John Key. As we said yesterday, people will say this is the way the world works. It will not hurt John Key will it.
ARMSTRONG: It doesn’t go far beyond the Beltway.
JOCK ANDERSON: As Rob Hosking said in the NBR, this is only of concern to the Bowen Triangle, which is the Wellington equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! John Armstrong on the Panel! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Topic 2: The Census…
Jock Anderson spends several minutes boasting about how he did not fill out his census form. Then Jim Mora decides it’s time to turn into Mr. Nasty, except he doesn’t do it with much conviction….
JIM MORA: Carol Slappendel is the General Manager of the 2013 Census. She joins us now. I see you are still allowing people to fill in their census forms more than a month late. Shouldn’t we call it the March-April census and dispense with the urgency of the night?
CAROL SLAPPENDEL: Actually, the completion rate has been exceptionally good. And there has been a very high number of people doing it online.
MORA: [skeptically] Yeah. Can I ask you about that? How did it go in Oamaru where participating online was ENCOURAGED?
CAROL SLAPPENDEL: Very well, actually.
MORA: Carol Slappendel, thank you. It’s 4:30, time for the news.
….4:30 News and Weather….
JIM MORA: Time for the Soapbox. What’s been on your mind, Scott?
SCOTT YORK Ummm, I’d like to give a bit of a plug for a new website. Ummm, it’s a satirical site called The Civilian.
JIM MORA: The Civilian?
SCOTT YORK: Yes. Some say it’s a Kiwi equivalent of the Onion.
JIM MORA: It’s nice to see a blog with a sense of humor, isn’t it. Some of these political sites have no sense of humor.
SCOTT YORK: Yeah! Ummmm. Yeah.
JIM MORA: Good luck to them! Jock what’s been on YOUR mind?
JOCK ANDERSON: Well, this is something I complained about on this program a few weeks ago, and that is the way that Len Brown’s Auckland Council keeps shutting its citizens out on the weekends. I object to the Auckland Council closing down the city centre for these events all the time. Last weekend Queen Street was closed for a wild-eyed bunch of sweaty zealots racing in the Golden Mile.
MORA: Ummm, thank you, ummmm, Jock. I’d like to move onto North Korea. THAT’s a serious topic. The state’s warlike rhetoric follows the recently imposed U.N. sanctions. Are you getting a bit worried now?
JOCK ANDERSON: I am.
JIM MORA: Just before we get Professor Al Gillespie, Scott, your thoughts.
SCOTT YORK: Ummm, North Korea is such an odd country, ummmmm, cut off from the rest of the world. We’ve got a new, inexperienced North Korean leader, ummmmm, next thing you know, ummmm, it’s World War Three.
JIM MORA: Are we right to be nervous, do you think, Al?
AL GILLESPIE: America is being particularly belligerent at this point.
JOCK ANDERSON: Are there any similarities to the Cuban missile crisis?
[This discussion continues for a further few minutes, then the music starts to swell, signalling the impending end of the show…]
MORA: Just before we go, your thoughts on the Christchurch Cathedral?
SCOTT YORK: Ummm, ahhhh, I dunno. Ummm.
MORA: It’s five o’clock. Gotta go!
Who the fuck is Scott York? Speaking of satire…you made this up, yes? I mean, this is just crazy sauce.
Unfortunately, he has not made any of it up. I heard the broadcast, and that is a pretty accurate transcript.
No it’s not. He gives the impression that talking to Carol Slappendel took all of 2 minutes, but it was much much longer than that.
Which means so far, every single transcript of Morrissey’s that I’ve read where I had actually heard the interview itself, he has mischaracterised in some way. So I don’t trust anything he writes any more.
You might have a poor reception down there Lanth, I listen to ‘the panel’ most days and when Morrissey reports on it he gets it 99.9% correct 99.9% of the time.
With regard to the Carol Slappendel segment he did omit the tired ramblings of Jock Anderson who tried to put listeners asleep with his paranoid recollections of avoiding filling out census forms (he must have much to hide).
I always enjoy Morrissey reporting on ‘the panel’ farce and find his version matches what I have heard.
p.s. Scott York is a bit of a smelly fish.
“You might have a poor reception down there Lanth, I listen to ‘the panel’ most days and when Morrissey reports on it he gets it 99.9% correct 99.9% of the time.”
No, all I’ve said is that every single transcript for which I’ve read that I had also heard the actual interview at the very least mischaracterised what went on, if not completely changed the works spoken so as to not be a transcript at all.
Note that that is a sample of about 4. But 4 out of 4 is not good.
“With regard to the Carol Slappendel segment he did omit the tired ramblings of Jock Anderson”
Um, no, he omitted many question and answer responses from Carol. Perhaps you need to check your reception.
No it’s not.
Yes it is, and you know it is, just as you knew my rush transcript of Hekia Parata’s embarrassingly inept interview back in August 2011 was accurate….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369467
He gives the impression that talking to Carol Slappendel took all of 2 minutes, but it was much much longer than that.
I think any intelligent reader would realise that I had not included everything these people said on the programme. My purpose is of course to capture something of the pervading tone of shallowness and flippancy. My approach is little different from the great Tom Frewen’s legendary Today in Parliament—which can still, by the way, be heard on Community Radio stations.
Which means so far, every single transcript of Morrissey’s that I’ve read where I had actually heard the interview itself, he has mischaracterised in some way.
I have mischaracterised nothing. In the transcript that heads this thread, I have endeavoured to capture at least a hint of the essential nastiness of Jock Anderson, the refusal to be serious of Jim Mora, and the timidity and mealy-mouthedness of Scott York. You are trying to say that is not a valid approach, and that every single thing they say should have been included. That’s nonsense.
So I don’t trust anything he writes any more.
In March 2011 you trusted the demonstrable lies of the Japanese government and you trusted the integrity of the Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe when he came on television to insist there was “absolutely no danger” from radiation around Tokyo. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether they trust YOUR judgement.
I think everyone on this thread frankly needs to google the definition of “transcript”.
“Yes it is, and you know it is, just as you knew my rush transcript of Hekia Parata’s embarrassingly inept interview back in August 2011 was accurate….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369467”
Sorry, I don’t “know it” because what you have produced and claimed to be a transcript, is, to borrow one of your words, “demonstrably” not a transcript.
“I think any intelligent reader would realise that I had not included everything these people said on the programme. ”
No, any intelligent reader who reads something that purports to be a transcript would expect it to be a transcript. There is absolutely nothing in your post that suggests the sections that show dialogue are not actually the complete dialogue that was spoken. All you need to do is put “…” in there or “later” or anything, but you deliberately choose not to do so.
“I have mischaracterised nothing. In the transcript that heads this thread, I have endeavoured to capture at least a hint of the essential nastiness of Jock Anderson, the refusal to be serious of Jim Mora, and the timidity and mealy-mouthedness of Scott York. You are trying to say that is not a valid approach, and that every single thing they say should have been included. That’s nonsense.”
You mischaracterised the interview with Carol Slappendel by making it look like Mora had her on for less than a minute to ask her one question and then bid her off. That DID NOT HAPPEN and so you are mischaracterising what did happen. It really is very straight forward.
“In March 2011 you trusted the demonstrable lies of the Japanese government and you trusted the integrity of the Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe when he came on television to insist there was “absolutely no danger” from radiation around Tokyo. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether they trust YOUR judgement.”
Sure, I’ve no problem with that. All you have to do is show that the people flying in those flights to Japan have somehow gone on to suffer ill health effects. Then you might actually have some evidence.
Regrettably not only Key but his supporters too clearly have severe and regular lapses in memory.
Just a thought, the massive pay increases to the Mighty River Power directors is a more important issue than Key’s bastardising the process to have his mate appointed as head of the GCSB.
The second issue certainly has raised considerable concerns about his honesty but the first issue shows the never ending process whereby the rich get more and the poor and workers get less.
Out in middle New Zealand I think many will find the nuances of the Fletcher issue too difficult to comprehend whereas the greed shown by the MRP directors is clear to see.
Great cartoon!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10875469
Even Key’s stuff-ups on sideshow stories protect him from the bigger stories; GCSB beltway oddity covers New Zealand’s largest single pending industrial closure, and also smothers the big MRP prospectus launch together with price range. He may go down in history for nothing except being our luckiest PM.
True, no one gives a toss about “the process”.
Key rung his mate,big deal.
It’s widely accepted, that it’s who you know, not what you know when it comes to getting a job, people don’t have an issue with that, it’s just the way the world works.
Power prices though, that irks people.
And I am so tempted to do a Godwin….. nuff said.
Funny how the right want this to be an arcane debate about “process” when it’s about their Prime Minister lying to Parliament and the nation.
+1,
I don’t think he lied, he’s a very busy man, Key can’t be expected to remember every trivial detail.
Funny how he remembered all the trivial little details a few days later though eh.
memory how does that fucking work.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10875435
well last night Kate Shuttleworth explained it using fluff and scotch tape
Trivial detail is remembering if it was 4 peices of fish and $6 chips or 3 fish and $7 chips.
Phoning a mate to tap him into a very sensitive job is not trivial.
You have a bizzare sense of triviality
Thats right Bloke – This is about lying!
Lots of it, by the same people, and now an everyday event!
Certain types love it, because it validates the lies they tell to themselves, and others on a daily basis!
Thats why lying is *no big deal* – Look at BM, liar apologist, pity those around you son, cos you is a liar too, which is why you are looking at semantics, and offerign excuses for the biggest liar ever to lead a government in NZ history, which is no mean feat for JK!
so from now on whenever key says ‘to the best of my recollection’ or ‘from what i can recall’ you are gonna believe him? what a sucker. also, ‘key rang his mate’, key still has not confirmed they were ‘mates’, thats just what everyone knows but key wont admit it, just weasel words about his mum & grant robertson & everything else. why didnt he, when first asked, say ‘yep, we are mates, so what?’, maybe hes incapable of telling the truth? his first instinct is to lie, duck & cover. speaking of which, hes on radiolive this afternoon with willie & jt, could be interesting but usually its just whitewash & weak.
Yeah, actually, they do. Especially when it’s becoming obvious the amount of corruption involved in this appointment.
Yep, they do. And that’s a Stuff online poll so, although unscientific, it’s also leaning to the right, i.e, the people you’d most expect to support JK and National.
Power prices irk some people, not many enough as yet however!
The Liberal Conspiracy (which claims to be the most popular left of centre political blog in the UK), has an article reporting on a poll about people’s views on climate change.
More about the poll on the Carbonbrief website.
So in 2009 what job was he shoulder tapped for http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10875494
That’s what I like about Key, he’s a go getter, bugger the process that’s for dull old people, public servants and Labour party politicians.
He didn’t get rich sitting around writing stuff in triplicate and filling out a zillion forms, he gets out there and makes it happen.
are there any pages left in your Planet Key passport?
Jesus H Christ! Next you’ll be talking about how firm his buttocks are and how flowers grow where his feet touch the earth. You bloody right wingers make me think that you have real daddy issues, thinking that everything can be solved by a man’s man with a firm hand.
I think I know where BM gets his inspiration from:
http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/
BM – Showing what an online liar looks like.
One way or another BM, you are lying here!
BM – Knows little to nothing about Keys career, or how he made his money, other than what he reads on wiki or the herald!
If he did, then he would know that same system, which made Key *rich*, by stealing, because thats what the banking system is, theft of other peoples lives/futures, BM would understand that same financial systems are taking him, his mates, and his family down too!
Idiots and liars, are close relatives!
That’s right BM, Key gets out there and makes it happen, and lies and lies and lies and lies.
Where the hell is your moral compass man ?
That said I suspect you’re just taking the piss. Even you know Key’s a liar.
FIFY
I may have been a bit over the top there, but that is how the public perceive John Key , which is why he gets away with what he does.
Facts are most people despise politicians, yet Key is still the most liked of all current politicians by a loooong way and that’s because he doesn’t behave like a politician.
Except for the last fortnight when he been politicianing like all get the fuck out.
“but that is how the public perceive John Key”
I’m getting really sick of this meme. Half the country didn’t vote for him or his party. When you say the ‘public’ in this context, what you mean is some people + the MSM.
+1
Well, at least BM is willing to admit that JK is getting away with doing questionable stuff and lots of it.
BM and Key idolater, please reveal precisely HOW your god went about out there (where?) to make it happen (gross wealth).
lol
You could say the same about half the folk in Paremoremo.
Which is probably where Key should be, if he treated his financial speculations in the way you describe he treats the country today.
excuse the impertinence, but as I read your posts I keep wondering if your initials stand for ‘bowel movement’ ?
Ah yes. Everyone loves a go-getter who says damn the process … right up until it’s your house being compulsorily acquired or your kids getting expelled or your taxes getting raised or the Police knocking on your door.
“Police find vehicle connected to shooting of George Taiaroa .” More news later according to the Dom.
That was a Stop Press banner on the Dom around 10am. Gone now. No news?
Breakthrough in roadworker killing case
Thanks Jackal.
If you have lived in this country long enough you hear every vile, disgusting comment made against Māori – every low and slimey slur and put-down and even though we have heard it all, it still hurts to hear another.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8513218/Sterilise-smokers-comment-outrage
We let these people off too lightly – and trying to get out of it by using the ‘joke’ defence is as bad as using the ‘should have thought harder’ defence – they are not a defence they are just useless excuses.
http://mars2earth.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/comment-about-maori-not-joke.html
And stuff’s headline that it was directed at smokers is part of the problem.
yep they changed the headline to take ‘Māori’ out
Hi Marty – These comments are genuine insight into the types which are *in charge* of us, this is what they’re into!
They get away far too lightly, for many reasons, a couple if core reasons, IMO are.
1: People are not paying attention
2: Reality tv, and glossy trash mags/reporting, means that those who are paying attention have become numbed to such comments, because it so *normalised* now.
The shear hatred these comments reek of, need a seeing to, I agree 100%
Normalised is very true and that is what we have to fight – I will say though that the outrage is there although dissipated by the ‘joke’ excuses.
If that’s a joke, just think what he’s like when he’s being serious.
Dark age stuff.
Better send that out to the zoological community: “new species of dinosaur discovered, still alive…”…form of raptor methinks looking at the photo.
“Doing research on the Web is like using a library assembled piecemeal by pack rats and vandalized nightly.”
Roger Ebert.
Sad to read of Ebert’s death, he was a truly great film critic and, as the article below notes, a real influence on the net commentariat:
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/04/03/roger-ebert-movie-critic-cancer-leave-presence
5 April 2013
‘Open Letter’ / OIA request to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key :
“How are you ‘inducted / familiarised’ with your statutory duties arising from the Public Records Act 2005?”
_______________________________________________________________________________
Prime Minister of New Zealand
John Key
Dear Prime Minister,
Given your previous background at the highest levels of the private sector/ banking and finance corporate world (being the former Head of Derivatives for Merrill Lynch, and a former Foreign Exchange Advisor for the New York Federal Reserve), it may have been your custom and practice to ‘do’ internationally significant deals over dinner or over the phone?
However, you are now Prime Minister of New Zealand, ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the 2012 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’, along with Denmark and Finland).
http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results
As New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ – we should arguably be the most ‘transparent’?
Arguably, the laws, regulations and culture which apply in the private, corporate world – are NOT the same which should and do apply to the public sector, of which you are now in charge, as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
May I respectfully remind you of the pivotal legislation which covers the public sector / public service, as outlined on the NZ State Services Commission website:
http://www.ssc.govt.nz/legislation
Contents
Title page
Crown Entities Act 2004
Human Rights Act 1993
NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990
Official Information Act 1982
Protected Disclosures Act 2000
Public Finance Act 1989
Public Records Act 2005
State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986
State Sector Act 1988
________________________________________________________________________________
In particular – may I draw your attention specifically to the Public Records Act 2005:
http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2005/0040/latest/DLM345536.html
Part 1
Purpose, other preliminary provisions, and key administrative provisions
Subpart 1—Purpose and other preliminary provisions
3 Purposes of Act
The purposes of this Act are—
(a)to provide for the continuation of the repository of public archives called the National Archives with the name Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga); and
(b)to provide for the role of the Chief Archivist in developing and supporting government recordkeeping, including making independent determinations on the disposal of public records and certain local authority archives; and
(c)to enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained; and
(ii)providing for the preservation of, and public access to, records of long-term value; and
(d)to enhance public confidence in the integrity of public records and local authority records; and
(e)to provide an appropriate framework within which public offices and local authorities create and maintain public records and local authority records, as the case may be; and
(f)through the systematic creation and preservation of public archives and local authority archives, to enhance the accessibility of records that are relevant to the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand and to New Zealanders’ sense of their national identity; and
(g)to encourage the spirit of partnership and goodwill envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), as provided for by section 7; and
(h)to support the safekeeping of private records.
(My underlining)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Please provide the following information:
1) What is / was the process by which you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with this above-mentioned key legislation which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand?
2) What was / is the role of the NZ State Services Commission, in ensuring that you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with this above-mentioned key legislation, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand?
3) What is / was the process by which you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with the above-mentioned Public Records Act 2005, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand to:
“enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained ”
4) What was / is the role of the NZ State Services Commission, in ensuring that you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with the above-mentioned Public Records Act 2005, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand to:
“enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained”
5) How many staff are employed in your ‘Prime Minister’s Department’?
6) Please confirm that you have staff in your ‘Prime Minister’s Department’, who have the responsibility for ‘diary notes’ / memos / minutes (and the like), of affairs of State, in order to ensure that your above-mentioned statutory duties as Prime Minister of New Zealand, under the Public Records Act 2005, are carried out in a proper way.
7) Please provide the information which explains why you are relying upon your (proven to be unreliable) memory, for matters such as your role in the appointment of Ian Fletcher as Director of the GCSB, when you have a statutory duty as Prime Minister to:
“..enable the Government to be held accountable by—
(i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained”
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
2013 AucklandMayoral Candidate
from now on john key isnt going to answer questions from journalists unless he has time to research an answer. radiolive. 12:15. infact he just said he will ask for it in writing first.
Aw, poor Johnny, having to answer difficult questions from journalists.
Isn’t that how Helen Clark operated?
i have no idea, nor do i care, shes not the prime minister is she.
Maybe that’s the most effective way to approach the NZ press.
They always seem to be trying to invent stories and put spin on everything.
Did Clark have written questions submitted to her before she went on RNZ most mornings and answered questions?
BM – you kid yourself with your whining that the NZ press invents stories against poor wee Johnny Ambushed etc etc but you kid no one else.
You just look more and more an idiot. A knucklehead indeed, pissing into the wind.
It looks like “Johnny Liar” IS getting locked in, as people have been saying it might. That’s why your idol is having a bit of a tanty right now.
Isn’t that how Helen Clark operated?
In that alternative reality known as wingnut land yes, but back here on real earth Helen was legendary for knowing her stuff and answering questions truthfully.
Wasn’t that the reason she got so pissed at John Campbell regarding the corn gate incident because he altered the questions during the interview and made her look like a bit of a clown because she didn’t have a pre constructed answer.
Anyway it makes sense to know the questions before hand, especially since every reporter is out there trying to get a scoop and make a name for themselves.
No.
If I recall correctly, it is routine for exclusive interview topics to be identified beforehand, so the interviewee can prepare. I think the corngate one pissed clark off because they were broad with the topic outline (said it would be about nz horticulture or something), and JC leapt almost immediately into a very narrow field of “on this date GM corn escaped” (or whatever).
One of the problems re corngate was the media (some) confused the difference between 5% rate and difference at a 5% probabilility level.
is this for real or a late april fools?
btw, did they ask him about lying to Parliament?
yes, key said the omission was an answer to a supplementary question (‘i only had 15 seconds to answer!’), not a written first question. so if he was asked it in writing, he could have told the truth. but didnt someone on the standard say that gerry brownlee answered on behalf of john key another question that was certainly written? is john key biding his time to get out the country before any journalist (i wish) digs up that information.
& yes, not answering questions in parliament, stand ups or to journalists, if we want an honest, factual answer, he will want it in writing first. thats what he said. he even said it as a warning basically. & tv3 have got it in for him.
john key was being ‘boo hoo me’ & how hard it is being prime minister, up at 6:30am, bed at 12:30am, & do you remember what you had for breakfast last week?
yes Brownlee made an answer on the PM’s behalf the following day
p.s. having all sorts of long delays (up to twenty seconds) accessing The Standard since about 1pm, other sites all ok, anyone else? downforme says it is down for everyone
As the email leaks seem to get bigger,(the latest being bigger then Ben hur ie 2million) and this is very interesting as it details who uses offshore tax havens.
http://www.icij.org/offshore/who-uses-offshore-world
I cannot see the Minister of Tax evasion,money laundering,and incompetence providing any solutions.Time to close down the laudrymats.
As an aside one of the journalist is Nicky Hager.
Poission: Just read a few summaries. Now I feel ill!
Anyone else finding ‘The Standard’ glacially slow just now?
I bet the GCSB is running a connection diversion of the site’s traffic …
I will have a look at it. But it has been running OK for me when I have been scanning it today. I’m currently having a long awaited beer, listening to the news on natrad, and reading comments on the nexus7 – via the cellphone to the net…
Hard to test right now.
I’ve had problems – especially when I was updating the Fletcher post before 6pm-ish. And I couldn’t get the paragraph formation right on the update – looked correct on the “visual”, then no space between the end of the original post and the update on the post actual.
Yes! Taking 3 to 5mins to even get into post.
I just tuned in for about thirty minutes of the post PM chat on RadioLive
I quickly considered reaching for the sledgehammer and sacrificing the stereo
already admitted facts seem so irrelevant to these people
i know, its real hard to listen to. also another funny thing in the john key interview, tamaheri mentioned a news scoop that the australians have told ppl to get out of south korea, & tamaheri asked john key what he was going to do, & john key said ‘why? whats happening over there?’. he didnt know about the bird flu news coming out of china also. but who knows, maybe he was lying again.
and touching on the ancient topic of the PM rarely fronting to National Radio and the increasing evidence that Auckland is New Zealand whilst the rest of us are just potential tourists there, I noticed the Station ID
“This is Auckland’s RadioLive”
and this is the only station the PM can be said to front to regularly
This isn’t funny……
“House prices tipped to rise by 12pc”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10875502
An interesting perspective on this is the lost revenue for the Crown. There’s over 400,000 households in Auckland and I assume that each one lives in a house so one expects there’s 400k houses of all types. An increase of 12% in the average price would be about $55k per house. That’s a capital gain of $22billion on 400,000 houses, if gains were taxed it would realise tax of around $5billion. And that’s just from Auckland. Quite staggering numbers really.
Hey I have found this ideal investment for the Government. The shares are rock solid and are predicted to give between a 6 and 7.7 % yield each year for the next couple of years. The Government can borrow money at less than this and it could make a real killing. If it acquires all of the shares then it does not have to worry about minority shareholders rights.
Oh wait, we own these fecking things and we are paying merchant bankers huge amounts of money to sell something that we already own to pay down debt that could be paid quicker if we kept control of them.
Wankers ….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10875576
perhaps KiwiSaver will buy the lot 🙂
at least that would be small buoy of positive atop the tsunami of evil
And, as it happens, the promo material is misleading about how risky these shares are. over to Russel Norman:
And someone at the Wall Street Journal isn’t too impressed.
I want to give a big thank you to all The Standard especially karol for getting information and links to this Prime Minister of ours and his lies. More to come I’m sure – thanks again.
I also want to say to Bryce Edwards that he is really shows some poor judgement in his (very good) article in NZ Politics daily. Every person who has made comment is quoted by him, such as – whaleoil, kiwiblog, John Minto, Julie Fairey, journalists, The Green Party, all good, but I noticed one group of blogger missing, yes everyone except The Standard and the bloggers who have researched and asked very searching questions about the goings on, in fact some new original information that illuminates seems to come up every day. No, no quoting any of those articles – he’d rather put in Pete George Twice!!! That has got to be a WTF moment if ever there was one – but nothing from over here. I pretty disapointed about that.
forgot the link
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-politics-daily-honesty-bigger-issue-cronyism-ck-138154
It is a good article except for the bit I mentioned above.
Bryce Edwards appears to be working on becoming more “mainstream” and more “commonly acceptable” in my eyes. Maybe he has a high paying job here or in Aus on his mind??? There are fewer and fewer journalists and commentators I bother with or even trust. And it is only the Standard, the Daily Blog and a few others that I still bother to read now.
Looking forwards to Morrissey’s next entry after listening to Brian Edwards and Michelle Boag’s comments about Ferguson’s appointment on the Bora hour.
Listening to Michelle Boag always leaves me underwhelmed. She seems sure to say something crass each time. The discussion I heard on Jim Mora was about class in Britain and New Zealand. The latest strata identification in GB was seven, but that’s the way of the world since the year dot she thinks. Nothing new here, or to concern oneself about.
Her own parents were ‘hard working’ and so she had a good grounding for becoming the idol that she is. This hard working epithet seems a loaded description, there’s a suggestion that they were outstanding and perhaps deserving, because most others weren’t hard working.
If you become deserving through long hours then the caregivers and low income people working multiple jobs should be due for a decent bonus anytime. The figures show that NZs are working long hours. Just as well the pubs are allowed to open all hours unless there is lots of hoo hah about it. What about rewarding these low-paid hard working people with a Christmas bonus for not being layabouts like most of those beneficiaries under 65, possibly make that 70? And could volunteers doing a minimum period for community and social betterment be included?
They must have been talking about the article Draco posted on a couple of days back, based on a major survay. It was different from previous class levels, like the UK Registrar General’s one, used for official stats.
The important thing is that it shows “the precariat” has become a significant class of low income struggling people at the bottom of the system.
Should have put this here rather than on the other topic”
Dr Brian Edwards on the Panel totally agreed with Michelle Boag that the whole fuss about Mr Key was absolutely ridiculous. Should never have happened. He thinks that the behaviour of John Campbell in his interview with Mr Rennie was a disgrace. There was no story here and John Key should get tough and tell ‘em like it is. It is totally understandable for a very busy PM to forget things. After all both Michelle and Brian forget things so why shouldn’t the PM?
I think that the issue was really about how Mr Key handled or mis-handled the situation.
Brian Edwards has been captured by the Dark Side!
I think I remember seeing 15% for the significantly poor. And growing under the British Decameron (Thatcher x 10)………
Forget “egalitarianism” in NZ, which Boag and Edwards and Mora tried to imply, has existed, and to some degree still exists (withing limits or boundaries). Boag justified that socialist experiments failed, and that there will always be social classes. Edwards accepted he would now be privileged, but came from a more “egalitarian” background. Mora spoke a lot of common drivel.
In all honesty, there has never been true “egalitarianism” in NZ, although the colonial heritage has provided for a fighting and working mentality of most, if not all, to try to prove they do their best, do survive, or have a right to exist.
Egalitarianism is something different though.
We see the farce of this now, where beneficiaries are largely – and actually by wide parts of society (incl. working poor and “middle class”, whatever that means now) SHAMED for not “pulling their weight”!
Is this “egalitarianism”, or giving all an equal chance to start and succeed?
NO, I am sorry, dear friends, I think that too many in NZ claim something that is a bit of a farce.
It is everyone out there for their own “betterment” and “advantages” as they “see fit”, not much of a truly caring society. It never was. The absence of rigid class systems like in Britain and some other countries does NOT mean there never were any classes here. There clearly have been, and stop dreaming fluffy nonsense, thank you.
Also Maori and Pacifica people, to some degree other new migrants have always been used to do the dirty and undesirable work here, while the “middle class” think they get what they deserve. Look at the many Asians working extra hours now, sometimes on low pay, like Filipinos and Filipinas in supermarkets, elder care and on farms.
NZers who think they are so “great” should wake up, and in some cases feel ashamed!
A shameless Government plug masquerades as a news item
NewstalkZB, Friday 5 April 2013, 8:00 A.M.
“There is NO DANGER that the prospect of the smelter closing will affect the price for Mighty River Power shares!”
No, that was not, as you might think, a Government-paid advertisement; it was a chirpy and bright announcement by one Niva Retimanu reading the 8 a.m. “news” on the government mouthpiece NewstalkZB.
The “news” item that followed that gushing headline consisted of an interview with a very upbeat Brian Gaynor, who amplified the positivity of the advertisement, errr, headline. According to the financial guru, there is nothing but good news to be had from the flogging off of this asset.
There will have been many—maybe most—listeners to that piece of bright positive “analysis” who will have imagined that Gaynor was a trustworthy and disinterested commentator on this matter. In fact, he is the chairman of Milford Asset Management’s Investment Committee and head of Milford’s portfolio management and investment analysis, and as such stands to trouser some handsome fees from his involvement in the selling off of the publicly owned power company.
It is difficult to decide which party comes out of this sordid little charade looking shabbier and dodgier. Nobody really expects serious or reliable journalism from NewstalkZB, but surely Gaynor has a reputation to think about; mouthing dishonest platitudes on a notoriously partisan radio station is certainly not going to enhance it.
Anyone who is interested in complaining about this naked partisanship by NewstalkZB might like to click on the following…
http://bsa.govt.nz/complaints/formal-complaint
‘
Heh!!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/04/03/offshore-data-leak.html
(Moderation!!!! Is it the new email address? I’ve changed providers)
Yeah, I spotted that in The Guardian yesterday.
It has the potential change the face of politics in some countries, currently the premier of Georgia is scrambling. It looks like there’s going to be a coordinated slow release of names.
The consortium of journalists includes Nicky Hager.
I’ve just watched TV3 News coverage of the funeral of Bruce Hutton, perjurer, fabricator of false evidence, liar and perverter of the course of justice.
Utterly disgusted and sickened to observe police officers, in dress uniform , attending the funeral “as a mark of respect”.
That is what the police do. A neighbour of mine had a brother in law who was an assistant commissioner and the police made an appearance.
I heard that the Crewe review contains 90,000 pages of evidence and may be released in two months.
Was it as sickening as all those broadcasters and politicians competing to make the most fulsome insincere tribute to “Sir” Paul Holmes a few months back?
Crewe inquiry worries after eulogy.
Hutton retired in 1976, he was the head of the Crewe investigation.
There was a strong show of police support at the funeral.
“Former MP and police Inspector Ross Meurant, who was criticised in eulogies, said the review had been undone by Mr Bush’s praise for Mr Hutton.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876061
What is it that the police do not see that the public sees when it comes to a cartridge case being planted?
Do you think that the police will attend Clint Rickards funeral and give a eulogy criticising Louise Nicholas? (sorry Louise if you are offended).
Why don’t we hear more from those eloquent Wellington mandarins?
“Focus on Politics”, Radio NZ National, Friday 5 April 2013
I used to think that the people working in the highest echelons of the Wellington civil service were, apart from one or two obvious duds like Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, possessed of superior intellect, impeccable manners and of course an effortlessly superior dress sense. They were seen only occasionally in public, attending symphonic concerts, spectating languidly at cricket tests or race meetings, dining at the most exclusive eateries, and gracing the best and toniest private functions. To this outsider’s untutored eye, these men and their elegant women moved in a rarefied, privileged world, somehow finding the time to read the classics to such a level that they could wittily allude to something from Homer as easily as they could discern whether the wine they had been proffered was worth quaffing. And they could probably speak several languages to boot. In other words they moved on a higher plane than the rest of us mere mortals.
I’ve just heard State Services Commissioner Ian Rennie speaking at length on National Radio’s superb “Focus on Politics” programme. It is now painfully apparent just why there is a long-established tradition of keeping these mandarins away from the public gaze.
Here’s an excerpt, taken at random, but entirely representative of everything else he said….
“We certainly did not have, ahhh um prescience… it was becoming ahhh clear…. there was a need aahhh to change ahhhh, ummmmm, internal structures…. ahhh, ummmm, not just the ahmmmm traditional ahhh ahhh military community ahh, ummmm…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE
This is rather good:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/05/company-profits-welfare-payments-society
!!!
i was just reading that!!!
Ha-joon Chang – that guy is bloody good.
Simple, direct and sums up perfectly.
Really, if we actually introduced a free-market profits would disappear over night. Same way that wages are dropping in fact (labour doesn’t get the same protections as businesses).
stever: Rather interesting!
Darien Fenton is capable of TIME TRAVEL!
She is a MONTH ahead of the rest of us, going by the “news” page on the Labour website.
The most “current” post by her is dated 30 April 2013. I am impressed, does she know the future and whether Shearer will still be leader a month of more ahead???
http://www.labour.org.nz/news
http://www.labour.org.nz/node/6334
One of the problems we opined in the mid-80’s was that National got themselves elected by joining the Labour Party.
See we are not the only ones with the right-wing festooned in the left
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/05/lies-fraud-and-austerity/