Open mike 05/04/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 5th, 2016 - 113 comments
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113 comments on “Open mike 05/04/2016 ”

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  1. Mike S 1
    5 April 2016 at 2:14 am

    Sorry, this link is off topic (although is bound to be somehow relevant most probably), but I didn’t know where else to put it and I’m sure many will find it interesting

    Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz describes the TPP as “worst trade deal ever”.

    He’s coming from a Canadian perspective but all of his points are relevant for New Zealand.

    If the link has already been posted somewhere on The Standard then sorry again! 🙂

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/joseph-stiglitz-tpp-1.3515452

    [lprent: there is always a place. OpenMike. ]

  2. Jenny 2
    5 April 2016 at 6:24 am

    There are some things we just don’t talk about.

    Like Su’a Williams Climate Change Taskforce to Tuvalu and Kiribati.

    Or the Unaoil “Bribe Factory” scandal

    The silence over a leading Labour MP trying to raise the issue of climate change caused by fossil fuel use is deafening.

    The only mainstream media mention of Su’a William Sio’s Climate Change Task Force, that I have seen was a small segment on Radio NZ.

    However….

    Listen to the report and notice the hostile line of questioning taken by RNZ.

    Brigit Grace for RNZ attacks the Climate Change Taskforce for not including Tokelau in their tour of the front line states.
    In my opinion this is a side issue. In answer to this criticism, SWS said that cost and logistics had prevented the inclusion of Tokelau. He said that Tokelau and the other affected islands should be visited by government MPs, to investigate and publicise what is going on in these islands.) In my opinion that this is not being done fully, should not be a criticism of Su’a William Sio but of the whole establishment.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201793795/nz's-labour-puts-focus-on-pacific-climate-change-threat

    In my opinion, we need to help break through the silence and hostility that faces any main stream politician that dares to break ranks and tries to confront the realities of climate change caused by fossil fuel use. And give them all the encouragement and support we can.

    UNAOIL:

    The silence around the Unaoil scandal by our politicians and political commentators reveals another glaringly obvious blindspot around the activities of the fossil fuel industry.

    In Australia the media that have bravely dared to publish this story, have called on the Turnbull government to make a statement.

    “The revelations place intense pressure on the Turnbull government to respond to corporate corruption scandals with the same ferocity they have attacked corrupt unionists.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/78443333/unaoil-bribery-scandal-draws-in-worleyparsons.html

    Until the moment Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post hit the publish button revealing how the oil industry really works, our investigative team was on tenterhooks.

    This was more than simple pre-publication nerves, the questions we invariably ask ourselves about whether we have got it right, and what we had missed in the hundreds of thousands of documents we’d read over the previous months.

    No, our concern was more specific: that an Australian court, an unsympathetic judge, might stop us publishing this global story. It would have left The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers with seven blank pages each, and thousands of words of crucial information unable to be published online.

    It may have meant a story that Fairfax Media’s reporters had worked on solidly for months would be broken overseas by our collaborator, The Huffington Post, not by the reporters who sourced, corroborated, combed and read hundreds of thousands of emails.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/78443235/how-bribe-factory-unaoil-tried-to-stop-us-telling-their-secrets

    The Standard has to make the same decision that Fairfax had to make; Should we courageously cover these important stories before our competitors do, or should we risk being left behind?

    Or are we too deep in the Labour Party’s pocket to raise issues that might challenge the Labour Party’s rigid unwavering support for coal mining and deep sea oil drilling?

    • McFlock 2.1
      5 April 2016 at 10:43 am

      “The Standard” does not make decisions.
      If you want a topic covered, write a post.

      Just avoid the TS gmail address, it’s a black hole. I think TRP (?) has made their email address available to prospective authors, I contact Bill.

      • Te Reo Putake 2.1.1
        5 April 2016 at 4:19 pm

        I’m always happy to help. tereoputake@gmail.com is the go.

        Generally what I’ve done is look at the draft, suggest changes and then put it up. However, whether it’s me or via the ‘contribute’ button, sometimes time can be an issue for the volunteers who run this joint, so if it’s a ‘breaking news’ sort of thing that can be problematic. But if it’s an opinion piece, and a couple of days delay isn’t a worry, then that shouldn’t cause any grief.

  3. Penny Bright 3
    5 April 2016 at 7:05 am

    Let’s see how well Bernie Sanders does in Wisconsin…

    http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/mark-ruffalo-bernie-sanders-media-blackout-1201744788/

    Bernie Sanders’ campaign is rolling out a series of new videos featuring celebrity supporters, with the first debuting on Monday starring Mark Ruffalo and directorMatthew Cooke talking about what they see as a “crisis of credibility” in the political system.
    ____________________________________

    Penny Bright
    2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.

    • Micko 3.1
      5 April 2016 at 7:38 am

      Wow. So the yanks have finally realised there’s a crisis in Western politics. Feel the Bern!

  4. Gangnam Style 4
    5 April 2016 at 7:16 am

    http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/was-class-decisive-factor-in.html

    About ‘that tweet’ about the flag on my uncles bach.

    • BM 4.1
      5 April 2016 at 7:42 am

      That article is is load of utter dross.

      For a start, Moroney is a 1%, good God, the woman owns 4 properties, including a beach house valued at around 800k and earns over 150k a year +perks.

      If she’s that bent out of shape about child poverty she can sell her beach house and donate the money to some child poverty charity, the hypocrisy is just mind boggling.

      Also the fact that she basically crapped all over the close to 1 million people who voted for the alternative flag was another reason she got clobbered.

      • Gangnam Style 4.1.1
        5 April 2016 at 7:59 am

        Child poverty in NZ does exist or only when you in a smearing mood?

        • BM 4.1.1.1
          5 April 2016 at 8:06 am

          It’s not a smear, she’s a very wealthy person.

          The class angle is horse shit, she was just trying to score a cheap political point against Key and National at the expense of some innocent individual expressing his/her view.

          • Gangnam Style 4.1.1.1.1
            5 April 2016 at 8:18 am

            Meh, wealth envy, John Key sent out flags to his supporters & they flew them on their super big beach houses & someone had the temerity to point it out. Big fucking deal. I only mentioned it because of my relative who got sent the flag by his National mates (& yes hes a National supporter through & through – which is what the article is about).

            So child poverty does exist in NZ? Or you avoiding that part of your own comment?

          • happynz 4.1.1.1.2
            5 April 2016 at 8:20 am

            Ah…the flag referendum…the dead parrot that keeps on giving.

          • Anne 4.1.1.1.3
            5 April 2016 at 8:40 am

            Huh? Just because she’s wealthy means she can’t have a working class (90% of us) view on the flag referendum? Because Trotter is dead right on this one. That is exactly what happened. We watched this over-entitled prime minister and his equally over-entitled sycophants dump a flag on us and effectively tell us to… vote for it or else. The anger among those willing to think about it was palpable. Who the bloody hell does he think he is?

            And it wasn’t just confined to the ‘working class’. I live in a part of town not far from where swanky residences are two a penny and I noticed several of them erected flag poles earlier in the year and flew the current flag – Union Jack n’all. So, he didn’t even carry all his own ‘rich pricks’ mates with him this time.

            On yer Sue Moroney.

          • RedLogix 4.1.1.1.4
            5 April 2016 at 10:01 am

            Bullshit BM.

            I’ve never made no bones of being relatively well-off, and the man who shaped my socialist views more than anyone else was probably richer than John Key.

            Singling out an individual to solve a problem we have all created collectively is called scapegoating. Ugly at best.

      • ScottGN 4.1.2
        5 April 2016 at 8:00 am

        I don’t recall Moroney’s tweet mentioning child poverty so that’s just an irrelevant distraction.
        As for Trotter’s piece, I think it sums up the way the flag referendum panned out quite well. Certainly in Queenstown, where I live, it was hard to escape the conclusion that die-hard National supporters were flying the Lockwood flag because Key wanted it rather than any burning desire on their part to change the flag or, God forbid, update our constitutional arrangements.

          • ScottGN 4.1.2.1.1
            5 April 2016 at 8:28 am

            Fair enough – I never saw the hashtag.
            Trotter’s piece still underlines the way the voting in the referendum turned out correctly though. There was decided whiff of class division in the voting.

          • maui 4.1.2.1.2
            5 April 2016 at 8:31 am

            A quick google search shows that’s what she’s trying to do and has been doing it for years.

          • adam 4.1.2.1.3
            5 April 2016 at 8:32 am

            Feeling like a bad few weeks ah BM…

            • BM 4.1.2.1.3.1
              5 April 2016 at 8:39 am

              It’s a piece of cloth, I moved on rather quickly.

              The biggest disappointment for me was the way Labour politicized the flag issue, seriously, arguing against your own policy, what a ridiculous party.

              • ScottGN …
                5 April 2016 at 8:50 am

                The biggest disappointment for me was the way the PM and his cohorts tried to get a flag change past the public, who made it clear they didn’t really see the need for change, for no other reason than personal vanity.

              • Sabine …
                5 April 2016 at 8:55 am

                Yes dear.

              • weka …
                5 April 2016 at 10:12 am

                “The biggest disappointment for me was the way Labour politicized the flag issue, seriously, arguing against your own policy, what a ridiculous party.”

                Ah, the lies. I’d say the past few weeks have been disappointing for the neoliberals for many reasons in addition to the flag.

              • McFlock …
                5 April 2016 at 10:47 am

                Totally looks like you’ve moved on, dear. Have another slurp of chardonnay and tell us all about it. Nasty, mean, Moroney dared to link $26M on a teatowel campaign and child poverty in NZ, what a bitch. But you’re over it now, thank goodness…

              • Draco T Bastard …
                5 April 2016 at 10:52 am

                It’s a piece of cloth, I moved on rather quickly.

                Yeah, that would be why you came out so vehemently against Trotters post.

              • adam …
                5 April 2016 at 1:54 pm

                But you know I care little for labour Bro, the few weeks are the gaffs one after another after another, the hits for this national government keep coming.

                Hell the had to reach for Auntie Helen (TM) to curb the current crisis. A bad few weeks bro, and they just going to keep commming.

                Oh look this gaff from the PM, http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/05/keys-colonial-daze/

                More to come bro, more to come. So funny to watch.

                P.S. who cares about the labour party, they own their own waka, not the one about half of us lefties here are sailing on – they a least a better type of liberal than the Tory idiots on the other side of the house.

      • North 4.1.3
        5 April 2016 at 8:15 am

        Trust troll BM to froth off into a wild “Metiria’s Got A Flash Coat” rave. As a response to his/her Mr Gauche Tea Towel Promoter wasting $26 million.

        • Gangnam Style 4.1.3.1
          5 April 2016 at 8:20 am

          You cannot be rich & care about the poor apparently. Or if you do care about the poor you yourself have to go about in threadbare rags. All surface stuff for the righties.

          • BM 4.1.3.1.1
            5 April 2016 at 8:32 am

            Bagging a fellow bach owner is not caring about the poor.

            • Anne 4.1.3.1.1.1
              5 April 2016 at 8:48 am

              The fact the mealy mouthed bach owners complained (probably because they were still smarting over the great unwashed not doing what they were told) shows they were deserving of being bagged.

              • Puckish Rogue …
                5 April 2016 at 10:54 am

                So a bach owner flies the flag they prefer and they get bagged for it, well that’s a nice thing for a politician to do

                Can’t see any issues with at all

            • McFlock 4.1.3.1.1.2
              5 April 2016 at 10:50 am

              I once lived in a bach. That, my good sir, is no “bach”.

          • Puckish Rogue 4.1.3.1.2
            5 April 2016 at 8:35 am

            Its more the hypocrisy of Moroney to talk about rich people when she herself is rich and then following it up by pretty much saying anyone elses opinion on the flag is wrong if it differs from hers

  5. Tautoko Mangō Mata 5
    5 April 2016 at 8:50 am

    Does anyone else get the impression that the PM is pushing the Helen Clark nomination a bit early as a smokescreen and to provide himself with an antiseptic character-wash by being associated with a more principled person than himself? Note the combined Tracy Watkins, Audrey Young PR team plus the name dropping of Lorde and Lydia Ko. Subtle, not!
    (He probably couldn’t work out how to fit Ed Hilary into his patter as well.)

    • Anne 5.1
      5 April 2016 at 8:55 am

      Does anyone else get the impression…

      Yes, yes, yes and yes!

    • ScottGN 5.2
      5 April 2016 at 9:03 am

      Yep, though it lovely to think how conflicted the upper echelons of the National Party must be with this, given how many years they spent telling anyone stupid enough to listen what what an evil, socialist bitch she was.

    • Northsider 5.3
      5 April 2016 at 9:21 am

      Helen Clark being rushed by John Key!!

      Oh Diddums! You don’t know Helen Clark.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.4
      5 April 2016 at 10:54 am

      Does anyone else get the impression that the PM is pushing the Helen Clark nomination a bit early as a smokescreen and to provide himself with an antiseptic character-wash by being associated with a more principled person than himself?

      As a distraction from the fact the he and National have turned NZ into a tax haven?

    • Puckish Rogue 5.5
      5 April 2016 at 10:57 am

      Its why he’ll get his fourth term in power, pragmatism above ideology…also considering how many lesson hes took off Helen Clark its no real surprise he rates her

      • Gristle 5.5.1
        5 April 2016 at 8:00 pm

        Key has moved from pragmatism to mendacity. And the sad thing is that he probably doesn’t see what he has become as he has transited from being amoral to immoral.

        I’m not saying that being amoral is good, but it sure as hell is better than treating everybody else as fools and toys to manipulate. It’s aptitude him and Mike Laws didn’t inhabit the same beehive as it surely would have inverted into Dantes Inferno.

        (I have never trusted him since he told the story of how he used to piss into a milk bottle rather than leave his trading screens.)

      • left for dead 5.5.2
        6 April 2016 at 9:09 am

        I have noticed, you’ve cut of that ponytail Puckish Rogue. :kiss:

    • McFlock 5.6
      5 April 2016 at 11:01 am

      Frankly, I became concerned that he was trying to nobble a more successful NZer than he will ever be.

      John Key giving Clark advice on how to act in an international forum is fucking hilarious – wandering around lobbies in a dressing gown and running a campaign that’s “pretty legal” (according to the campaign manager) might be enough if you’re the big fish in the small pond, but the UN is a very deep ocean…

      • Puckish Rogue 5.6.1
        5 April 2016 at 11:34 am

        The UN without the USA is a toothless tiger, John Key knows how to schmooze and knows how to get on with people and win people over

        Yes the UN is a big ocean so for Helen Clark to succeed it’ll help to have the Americans in your corner and John Key is pretty good mates with someone from the USA that’s got a bit of influence

        Don’t let your KDS colour you blind

        • McFlock 5.6.1.1
          5 April 2016 at 11:56 am

          lol

          In other words, if Clark needs help from a lickspittle toady, she can ask Key for help.

          If having the Americans in your corner helps so much, why does the general assembly keep voting against Israel? How do you think Russia will vote regarding the favoured US candidate?

          Clark’s best bet is to run between the veto powers, not get identified as the candidate of one or the other. Be the compromise candidate, solid, reliable and with a good track record. Which she has.

          • Puckish Rogue 5.6.1.1.1
            5 April 2016 at 1:18 pm

            lol

            A fourth term PM you mean and yeah its like such a disgrace being able to get on with people eh

            • McFlock 5.6.1.1.1.1
              5 April 2016 at 5:00 pm

              Fourth term – we’ll see.

              “Get on with people” – well, people from whom he can gain patronage. Hospo staff and other people he sees no use for? Not so popular amongst them.

  6. maui 6
    5 April 2016 at 9:11 am

    30 min video on child poverty in NZ, for people who care.
    https://youtu.be/4kzoxiDYcgA

  7. Anne 7
    5 April 2016 at 9:50 am

    Hope I’m the first on this site to offer my congratulations to Helen Clark for being nominated for the position of UN Secretary General.

    Having had the good fortune to witness Helen growing in stature from the time she was a young university student to the present day, I can say none of it was accidental. An extraordinary ability to work hard, total dedication to a cause, and a sparkling clarity of vision and foresight has got her to this high point in her life. Add to that an equally extraordinary physical constitution and the United Nations will hopefully be the lucky recipient of a fantastic woman Secretary General.

    I wish her the very, very ,very best of luck with her nomination.

    • RedLogix 7.1
      5 April 2016 at 10:09 am

      Very satisfying. Most warming news in ages.

      When the left abandoned internationalism, and allowed the financial elites unlimited space to create truly global networks, we made a terrible mistake. Helen Clark is one of the few to have attempted to retake it.

    • Jenny Kirk 7.2
      5 April 2016 at 4:13 pm

      Lovely comments, Anne. We, too, up here in the north hope Helen succeeds to this important position.

  8. pat 8
    5 April 2016 at 9:54 am

    where are all RWNJ trolls defending the latest example of the failed neolib model this morning?….it is strangely quiet.

    • Stuart Munro 8.1
      5 April 2016 at 10:59 am

      They are waiting for the pandas – but the pandas won’t be rushed.

    • TC 8.2
      5 April 2016 at 11:03 am

      Waiting for direction and spin lines

    • Puckish Rogue 8.3
      5 April 2016 at 11:14 am

      Firstly there are no RWNJ trolls, that’s a label left-wing nut bars use in an attempt to silence dissenting views and secondly can you be a little more specific?

      • adam 8.3.1
        5 April 2016 at 2:25 pm

        Oh please look in the mirror Puckish Rogue – you have got the nut bar label – quite deservedly on many occasions.

        And now you trying a lame twisting of it.

        So you far bot’s of few marbles, let me reminded you that if you are talking nort but ideological clap trap. I’m going to call you a right wing nut job or RWNJ for short.

      • Stuart Munro 8.3.2
        5 April 2016 at 5:18 pm

        Next you’ll be telling us there are no pandas or baby elephants. Really!

  9. Olwyn 9
    5 April 2016 at 11:08 am

    It seems worth observing that MMP is not living up to our original hopes in it. It seems to have morphed into a form of FFP on the right, with the smaller parties functioning as subsets of National, pitted against a diverse left that is inherently unable to achieve a unity of purpose matching that of the FFP-like right.

    One of the reasons we found MMP so attractive was the belief that it would curb the tendency toward elected dictatorships, which allowed Roger Douglas to transform the economy without public consent. But once again, we have a PM determined to recreate NZ in his own preferred image. The bolt hole for the rich and famous and the “safe” tax haven are not intended to improve the lives of the majority of New Zealanders – they are surplus to requirements. This is NZ as an abstract entity, there to be filled with whatever the person at the helm sees fit – the very thing we sought to prevent when we voted for MMP.

    I do not ask that we get rid of MMP, only whether there is a way of making it work more as we originally envisaged. It seems to rely too much on good faith, reverting to FFP like results where that is lacking.

    • Puckish Rogue 9.1
      5 April 2016 at 11:30 am

      Basically you don’t like that John Key will get a fourth term and because the Left in NZ are useless you want a way to change the results you don’t like

      Once again the true colours of the left come out, we loooove democracy, democracy is great right up until a government we don’t like gets elected and then its “It seems worth observing that MMP is not living up to our original hopes in it”
      and “making it work more as we originally envisaged”

      Who says its not, who says its not working as envisaged? Why should National be penalised because of the hopelessness of the Left?

      You would foist a useless government on NZ simply because Nationals too good and you don’t like it?

      Heres an idea, get a decent leader, get some decent policies costed and some decent MPs to talk about it, convince the Greens to continue to be the bridesmaid and support whatever Labour says and the Left will win the next election (2020)

      It makes me really mad when I hear s**t like this, its not Nationals fault the left lose, its not John Keys, the medias, the VRWC, the fault for the lefts sad showing the last couple of elections is down to the Left and the Left alone

      My god how many of you pinned hopes on KDC taking down John Key or Hone Harawira riding in to save the day or Winston suddenly wanting to deal with Labour and the Greens instead of taking a long hard look at where the problems lie

      • McFlock 9.1.1
        5 April 2016 at 11:33 am

        yes, dear

      • Olwyn 9.1.2
        5 April 2016 at 11:53 am

        You have missed my point, which is that Key is able to treat NZ as if it were his personal fiefdom. We voted for MMP to prevent that kind of thing. Therefore, MMP is not currently doing what we hoped it would. This is still nominally a democracy, which assumes a leader that tries to act on behalf of all New Zealanders, believing that his or her position on the right-left spectrum is the one best suited to serving that end. In what sense does a tax haven and an influx of super-rich refugees benefit all New Zealanders?

        • Puckish Rogue 9.1.2.1
          5 April 2016 at 1:16 pm

          We voted for MMP to prevent that kind of thing

          – What, that someone that’s won three elections can actually go about implementing what they say they’re going to do

          In what sense does a tax haven and an influx of super-rich refugees benefit all New Zealanders?

          – You mean following the rules since 1988?

          You want the “right” kind of democracy, the kind of democracy where the minority gets to dictate to the majority

          • adam 9.1.2.1.1
            5 April 2016 at 2:34 pm

            RWNJ.

            Or let me rephrase that,

            Puckish Rogue you dribbling a lot of ideological clap trap today.

            Get why I’m going for a short cut response?

          • Olwyn 9.1.2.1.2
            5 April 2016 at 3:34 pm

            So you hold that an elected dictatorship is the best thing, so long as it ends up being a dictator you like. I think that the leader of a country should have the broader public good in mind, whether they are of left or right persuasion. And Key frequently implements policies he has not campaigned on, often under urgency so they will not even get to be debated. So you can hardly claim that in these cases that he is doing what he said he was going to do.

            • Puckish Rogue 9.1.2.1.2.1
              5 April 2016 at 4:17 pm

              I think that whoever gains enough seats to form the government should form the government irrespective of my own personal feelings

              The left will probably gain power in 2020 but I guarantee you that I won’t be calling for a change in the democratic process simply because I don’t like whose in

      • DoublePlusGood 9.1.3
        5 April 2016 at 2:27 pm

        It’s more like we’re just sad and angry that the country is being ruined because of nincompoops like you voting for National.

      • Expat 9.1.4
        5 April 2016 at 4:01 pm

        PR

        Read the RM poll, their is no fourth term for Key, 45% doesn’t cut it in a democracy, the next govt won’t include your dearly beloved leader so both of you will have to throw your toys out the window.

        • Puckish Rogue 9.1.4.1
          5 April 2016 at 4:22 pm

          Let me explain why you’re wrong, when you take %s only you fail to take into account that Act + Peter Dunne gain virtually nil votes but provide two seats (I’m betting Act will get two seats this time) which means that plus the Maori Partys possible two seats gives John Key options

          Or National + NZFirst

          Whereas the left have to have Labour + the Greens + NZFirst and possibly the MP and Peter Dunne and even then it still may not be enough

          John Key has more options then Andrew Little

          Remember I’ll be back after the next election to say I told you so

        • Reddelusion 9.1.4.2
          5 April 2016 at 4:44 pm

          Ignoring polls and blind hope, what would you put your house on, a national or labour led government after next election. Be truthful and no wimping out that I don’t bet

          • Expat 9.1.4.2.1
            5 April 2016 at 8:15 pm

            The RM poll is the most encouraging poll for you guys, but is consistently showing (under MMP) that the govt will likely change at the next election, you can mince the numbers anyway you like, but the trend is against you, the sheeple are slowly waking up, the lies are finally catching up with PM.

            If you have a look at the Roy Morgan Site, the historical trend shows clearly, each time there is a fall in consumer confidence, support for National falls and Labour increases, from that you could say that the public has more faith in Labour if the economy goes sour.

            Don’t forget that that last poll from RM, showed Labour 28%, Greens 14% and NZF 9% = 51%, and this is from RM, the most favorable towards your mates, the tide is going out for Key, you may as well prepare yourselves for the inevitable.

    • Bill 9.2
      5 April 2016 at 3:50 pm

      I do not ask that we get rid of MMP, only whether there is a way of making it work more as we originally envisaged.

      A fixed term parliament. I kind of kicked off a short discussion on it yesterday or whenever. http://thestandard.org.nz/building-a-government-in-waiting/#comment-1156059

      • Olwyn 9.2.1
        5 April 2016 at 4:09 pm

        Yes, I have just gone back and had another look at that debate. If I have understood the argument correctly, it would put an end to the FPP-MMP hybrid that we (in my eyes) have now, and demand instead across the board negotiation and participation.

        • Bill 9.2.1.1
          5 April 2016 at 5:36 pm

          I think so. At the moment, it might not be ‘first past the post’ per se. But every bugger is jockeying to be on the winning nag. Just look how Winston Peters or Peter Dunne have sought, in their different ways, to unseat the Greens in the past. Or look at how (arguably) Labour helped kill mana because they couldn’t be seen to share saddle space with them.

          All that shit dies a death with the passing of a fixed term parliament act.

          To be honest, I don’t know why neither Labour or the Greens have put the idea forward. They are the ones who would seem to benefit most from such a change.

      • Stuart Munro 9.2.2
        5 April 2016 at 5:14 pm

        There’s a nice thing they do in Korea, which is limited presidential terms. Five years they get – and that’s it. No ifs or maybes and no coming back. Wouldn’t be a bad thing for quite a few of our pollies, & good to keep in mind should we ever go republic. Fixed term parliaments will need a few safeguards.

  10. weka 10
    5 April 2016 at 12:08 pm

    Anyone know anything about this?

    Legislation will be introduced to rewrite the Social Security Act to reflect a modern, work-focused welfare system and to ensure the law is clear and fit for purpose.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1602/S00098/prime-ministers-statement-to-parliament.htm

    • adam 10.1
      5 April 2016 at 2:37 pm

      Yes, and it is as it stands a rather brutal attack on the poor.

      No doubt PR will tell us how brilliant this national government is, but when they purpose legislation like this, unannounced – it just goes to show what vicious amoral cretonnes the Tory scum really are.

      • greywarshark 10.1.1
        5 April 2016 at 5:01 pm

        I noted this from the scoop link. What does it mean – behind those well chosen words?

        This year,ACC levies will drop by a total of $450 million and the Government will also confirm the funding policy for future levies.
        From 1 April, the average work levy paid by businesses will reduce by 11 per cent to 80 cents per $100 of liable earnings, and the earners’ levy, paid by everyone in the paid workforce, will decrease by 4 per cent to $1.21 per $100 of liable earnings….
        (Me – Does this mean that workers have to pay 50% more than employers towards ACC costs,)

        As part of this approach, the Government has set 10 challenging results for the public service to achieve, including reducing crime, long-term welfare dependency and educational underachievement. Agencies will continue to work to achieve these targets….

        Most sole parents, and partners of beneficiaries, will have to be available for part-time work once their youngest child turns three, rather than five as now.All beneficiaries with part-time work obligations will be expected to find work for 20 hours a week, rather than 15 hours a week as now.

        Childcare subsidies for pre-schoolers and the OSCAR subsidy for out-of-school and school holiday programmes will also increase for lower-income families from 1 April.

        The Government will this year progress legislation to provide better support to 19-year-old parents and other unemployed 18- and 19-year-olds at risk of long term welfare dependence. Legislation will be introduced to rewrite the Social Security Act to reflect a modern, work-focused welfare system and to ensure the law is clear and fit for purpose…..

        A Police-led, multi-agency Gang Intelligence Centre will be established to tackle and prevent gang crime and reduce the harm it causes to families and communities….

        The Government will introduce legislation this year to reform Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, to help unlock the economic potential of Maori land.The Government will also continue to resolve historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, and intends for all willing and able iwi to have settled by 2017….

        In March this year, 2,800 Housing New Zealand homes will be transferred to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company.This will result in at least 7,500 new homes in that area over the next 10 to 15 years, of which more than a third will be for social housing.The transfer of Housing New Zealand properties to community housing providers in Invercargill and Tauranga will happen later this year….

        This year will see a transition to greater local control as the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is wound up. CERA’s functions have been passed to other government departments, and the Government has established two new organisations in its place.

        A new Crown company, Otakaro Ltd, has been established to oversee the development of the central city anchor projects.Another organisation, Regenerate Christchurch, will provide strong local leadership. It will have the ability to propose planning changes and oversee the long-term development of the central city, residential red zone and New Brighton….

        Our approach will remain as it always has been, taking the public with us by clearly outlining our actions and priorities, and always keeping in mind why we are in government – to make this country a better place for New Zealanders and their families.

        edited

        • RedBaronCV 10.1.1.1
          5 April 2016 at 6:21 pm

          Well as far as the ACC goes the payouts from the work (employer funded) and non work (employee funded) pools are about the same. Also no one ever provides a figure for work injuries that wind up in the non work pool. So in theory the levies on a $100 of earnings should be about the same for employer and employee.
          As you point out employees are paying far more and thereby subsidizing employer bad behavior. And it beats me how some industries like forestry remain insurable at all for employers.
          MSM will ask the question – don’t think so.

    • McFlock 10.2
      5 April 2016 at 2:45 pm

      fuck
      Forbes & Coates all over again.

    • Bill 10.3
      5 April 2016 at 3:16 pm

      Something came through on that pesky facebook the other day. Can I find it again? No. Of course not.

      Found this though. https://humanrightsfoundation.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/attorney-general-finds-nzbora-problem-with-social-security-bill/

      Finlayson reckons that totally blind people are being unfairly advantaged in relation to others suffering from disabilities.

      That was in the facebook feed thing.

      So was mention of a provision allowing WINZ to take money from entitlements without the permission of a claimant.

      There was other stuff. All bad stuff.

    • Bill 10.4
      5 April 2016 at 3:19 pm

      I think this is the same as what came through on fb.

      NZCCSS will be working on our analysis and response to this Bill in the coming months and we look forward to networking with others on the issues the Bill raises for vulnerable people and their communities.Watch this space!

      http://nzccss.org.nz/news/2016/03/re-writing-our-welfare-laws/

  12. katipo 12
    5 April 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Meanwhile in Iceland…
    7% of the population have showed up to call for their PMs resignation after recent revaltions in the Panama Papers.

    http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2588234.1459797417!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_635/iceland-offshore-accounts.jpg

  13. ianmac 13
    5 April 2016 at 4:43 pm

    Whangarei. Prominent man’s trial: Defence says girl is liar………. and more. On Stuff.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/78551901/prominent-mans-trial-alleged-victim-says-she-was-scared-of-accused

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