For those of you who, according to Gosman, know nothing about Derivatives and who like me think that all of this countries finances should be clear, transparent and on the books, here is an excellent article from the prominent blog Washington’s post about how Derivatives to the tune of 20x the Global GDP is going to blow up in our faces and that includes the $ 112 Billion OFF THE BOOKS Derivatives this government has build up over the last couple of years.
Here is an interesting timeline for the Derivatives market and Oops it turns out that Bankers trust bank created the first Credit Default Swap right a the time John Key was working there and that is exactly the Derivative sold to the muppets as the Hedge against the other gabling tools!
Added to that here is an interesting list of people who visited the Bilderberg conference this year. Royalty, Bankers, Ministers (Even the prime minister of Holland) and people like Kissinger all sitting in small rooms discussing how to get rid of the cockroaches.
No conspiracies of course. That would not happen. Our leaders love us.
I wonder if the elite of the Ancien Regime ever got together for secret meetings at Versailles before the revolution. If so it did not prevent their appointments with thhe “national barber”.
I see Chris Trotter in the Press this morning describing how banks simply print money they do not have (fractional reserve banking) and calling for the money-printing factories to be taken out of private hands and placed into public ownership.
It is rare to see a ommentator of any kind raising the subject of fractional reserve banking and its private ownership. This is a sign of the ebbing tide.
Here is a great interactive time line of the development of the Derivatives bubble starting in 1991 when Bankers trust (Yes, the bank John Key was working for at the time) invents the CDS or Collateral Default Swap nick named financial weapon of mass destruction by Warren Buffet.
I agree that cross-party on poverty is important, but it is a much wider, more complex issue. And you could say that the ballooning cost of Super is a significant influence on that.
Perhaps I missed it, but can somebody explain to me exactly WHY Key has taken this intransigent stance concerning Super? I cannot believe it is a sign of “caring” from him. Is it that there are too many wanting to retire who have the vote (he can sagely punish the young who have no vote, of course). The trouble is that many who want to retire continue to demand that “right” at 65 years. This cannot continue, and is in a number of cases selfish. Some government is going to have to “face the music” – and by delaying, Key is making it ever harder for that future body, whoever it might be.
How about pushing for OPENING THE BOOKS so the public can see the ‘devilish detail’ which explains EXACTLY where our public monies are being spent at central (and local) government level – so we can look at where the scalpel can be taken to long-term ‘corporate welfare’ beneficiaries?
What are the NAMES of all the consultants and private contractors carrying out work that used to be provided ‘in-house’ by staff directly employed across the full range of central government services?
What is the SCOPE, TERM and VALUE of these private sector contracts?
If the recent USA research is anything to go by, could NZ cut our central government budget in half by ‘cutting out the contractors’?
“The original Horwath report said 150 jobs could be created over a five-year construction period for a total of 750.”
I read that as saying there are only 150 actual jobs. Surely they wouldn’t be so dishonest to calculate jobs as total employees multiplied by the number of years the jobs last…..
What’s careless about it? People have more to worry about than just the environment. We need to feed & clothe ourselves, pay the bills, raise our kids, save for our retirement… lead a life. Attempts to change this country into a more environmentally friendly one have to work in with that, no-one is prepared to go on the breadline even to save the planet. The naive approach is thinking the Greens can change the country overnight or even in an election cycle. There’s a need for common sense here and IMO the Greens are showing some. I think it’s quite refreshing.
DH I can’t be bothered to read past your first sentence of 10.07am comment. What’s careless about it? People have more to worry about than just the environment. We need to feed & clothe ourselves, pay the bills, raise our kids, save for our retirement… lead a life.
The environment fashions our life can’t you understand you fool. Our food, our health, our living conditions, our everything.
You’ve lost the plot there mate. Like most people I’m fully supportive of protecting our environment. The discussion is about how we’re to achieve it, not whether we need to.
You’ve lost the plot a bit there. Like most people I’m fully supportive of protecting our environment. The discussion is about how we’re to achieve it, not whether we need to.
The Green Party will review its policy on mining after acknowledging the importance of the industry to the economy.
Greens co-leader Russel Norman told TV3’s The Nation today the party would consider approving some mining, which he described as “part of life” for the country’s economy.
“You can’t escape it.”
He said the party did not support new coal mines but “case by case” was unopposed to mining for other minerals.
“I mean obviously you’ve gotta look at the localised environmental impact of a particular mining operation,” he said.
Mr Norman said a transition away from mining for fossil fuels needed to begin: “If we don’t make that transition now it’s going to be very expensive later”.
Why? He’s right, it is an important part of the economy. You can’t turn a country green overnight. When the NZ economy recovers sufficiently we can get rid of mining & fix all the environmental problems. Until such time we have to get by on what we have. I think it’s great that the Green Party seem to recognise this. Labour need to start watching their back, if they don’t get their act together they might be a minor coalition partner after the next election.
Actually, it’s a clear indication of what some people here are saying is wrong with the Greens at the moment: moving towards the center.
Basically, the greens as a one-issue party can achieve significant environmental improvement by refusing to recognise economic realities, so the realities have to be proved rather than just being accepted.
Look at the Maori Party: by being focussed on one issue they are actually managing gains for Maori even out of a nat govt. The Greens can do more in coalition with labour as the extreme minority party than they can as a broad-focus party on 20+%. The reason being that to get the broader focus, they need to water down their principles.
Look at “Labour”: nine years’ moderate progress undone in less than four, simply because they didn’t want to alienate their broad support with sweeping changes. The nats don’t really care – they know that the policy outcome (money for their mates) is the objective, so they’ll spend their support on getting policy in for their mates.
You can have a Green minor party, or a majority party “Green” in name only. Going for broader support by definition lessens its focus on principle.
Not so much a policy change as a change in emphasis. Slightly more business-friendly, slightly less adamant about environmental principles.
But given that I’ve never voted for them, I don’t really care. I’m just not sure how “green” they’ll be in ten or fifteen years if they start consistently getting 20-30% in the polls.
Personally I think the Left could do more with 5 issue-based parties with 11% each than two or three broad-appeal parties with ~20% each.
It’s not even a political reality, merely reality. We do need to do some mining to maintain the resources that we need but we don’t need to mine as much as we do.
But if the Greens go moderate (sorry, “recognise the practicalities”), who shift the debate beyond the practical into the aspirational?
Yeah, the nats have given “aspirational” a bad rap by using it as a euphamism for “failed to achieve even the most simple task”, but I think true policy change comes from a mixture of the idealogues and the practical – the apirational keep the practical from being merely mediocre.
Are the Greens against deep sea drilling for oil?
Deep sea drilling for minerals? And if so can it be done with less danger of pollution from blowouts etc than with oil and gas which tend to go together I understand?
Some mining is fine, probably essential, with the proviso that it is NOT on “conservation land”. Greens have assured me that this is a rule they would abide by.
Fact is if you want your metals, your computers, your batteries and many if not all of your modern conveniences you need to mine somewhere for something.
Just idle speculation. I agree that certain resources must be mined from somewhere. But what quantity was simply landfilled in various forms during the past 50-60 years? And if the quantity is substantial, how recoverable would it be?
The Green Party will review its policy on mining after acknowledging the importance of the industry to the economy.
Pretty much as expected… Whether he’s right or wrong, he’s showing his true colours – blue-green!
The Greens are all about identity politics and the baubles of office.
Seems like the Prime Minister has been economical with the truth once again, this time with the number of jobs that the Sky City convention center would provide.
This whole Sky City convention center idea appears to be giving of an aroma that is far from plesant. What with Banks undeclaired donations, increaseing the number of gambling machines for problem gamblers to play with in return for a new bute convention center, and now we hear that Mr Keys assesment of available work and job creation for this project are exagerated.
What else is going to come out of this? and do we need it.
Katy. Another illuminating column by David Fisher. Of course it won’t be Mr Key’s fault that he grossly inflated the figures for Sky City so someone else will front the spin-explanation.
If you employ 100 people for 10 years, then clearly that is 1,000 jobs. Simple.
Housing problems were referred to on Radionz this morning. An advocate for needy families talked about their having to resort to caravans in their driveways to provide bedrooms and how cold and damp they are. Response from NZ Housing from one Ms Fink (good name) – a statement about this being against the tenancy agreements and that this use of caravans would result in an order to summarily remove them or else… What a vicious cold-blooded approach to essential need from what was once a welfare provision department providing state houses.
And it is interesting how many women are getting into positions of power that detract from living conditions for poorer people. The judgmental model of early colonial days seems a default position for so many university trained women coming to notice through the media. Is that what the feminist movement in the 1970’s was about – agitating so that individual middle class women could get better opportunities and pay rather than out of concern for improvements in conditions for all women and society in general?
prism, I agree with the concerns you express in the first paragraph.
But your second paragraph? WTF?! Long-bow, much!? Would you follow any comment about the callousness of JK, Brownlee, English etc, with the failure of the women’s women to prevent the rise of such types?
And what of such university educated women campaigning against poverty? Sue Bradford, Metiria Turei, Annette King et al….?
And on the issue of lack of adequate housing in Sth Auckland and elsewhere…. doesn’t the buck stop with the Minister of Housing, Phil Heatley? And it’s more a feature of comfortably-off Tories, male and female, to have such a callous attitude to the less well off.
But this is a crucial issue. Adequate housing for all should be a priority in a democracy. And there should be much more attention paid to it by the media and government. Instead, we get much more attention being given to the housing market – something of most interest to the wealthier classes. Those at the bottom of the income/wealth hierarchy just want somewhere warm, dry and safe to rent.
Hi Carol
I have an uneasy feeling about women’s advance in the world since feminism and how I seem to hear female voices saying all the mean things there are to say from business and government (I note that the women you refer to are all politicians!). No figures to support it. I just know I hate hearing prissy, judgmental women who have found a place in the paid work force which apparently suits them, ie not being forced to do and say things from the urgent necessity to get any job.
I was interested! to see that Dame Margaret Bazley got another gong – she was already a Dame wasn’t she? I think handing out recognition for being one of these judgmental prissy-lipped women as one of the handy small cleaner fish suckers to the great body of government detracts from their lustre.
“an uneasy feeling” not based in any figures? Could that be just a wee bit of prejudice?
One thing that is clear with this, and many past, Tory governments, is that they allocate women to front the nastiest of their social policies, while the main power behind them, pulling all the strings, are mostly men.
I have long been a feminist, but for as long, or even longer, I have been left wing. As far as I am concerned, feminism means fair access for ALL women (and men) to all that’s necessary to live in our society. It has always been my understanding that was also the aim of the 2nd wave women’s movement. Successful Tory women don’t seem to subscribe to that view. They seem to be first and foremost, Tories.
What’s careless about it? People have more to worry about than just the environment. We need to feed & clothe ourselves, pay the bills, raise our kids, save for our retirement… lead a life.
I have a feeling that you are right though I haven’t figurers to back it.
Yes, I figured there was some glitch there, prism. Meanwhile, my last long comment on the topic is stuck below in moderation. Maybe because it includes the com….ism word? It took a while to put together, too.
What I am going to say takes in a thread from yesterday as well, about John Pilger and gay marriage. In the nineteenth century, in the English-speaking world, protestant Christianity provided the set of ideas with which power clothed itself. Ministers gave homilies on how the poor must know their place, and the same sort of women who now occupy boardrooms and government benches issued the same sort of spite at tennis parties and the like, usually with spurious Christian justifications. In the present day, the garment that clothes power has become a similarly degraded form of liberalism. It is not degraded that gay people should get married, but it is degraded to use gay marriage to divert eyes from very grave injustices. It is not degraded for women to share power, but it is degraded when that power is used to crush the vulnerable, and the inclusion of female crushers is presented as reason for self-congratulation.
In the face of this, liberals can do as Dickens did in relation to Christianity, and distinguish the purer, more progressive form of liberalism from its degraded equivalent. But you cannot get away from the fact that the degraded version now provides quasi-justification to an increasingly nasty status quo.
One thing that is clear with this, and many past, Tory governments, is that they allocate women to front the nastiest of their social policies, while the main power behind them, pulling all the strings, are mostly men.
It’s tempting to simply view the church hierarchy as a cult of misogyny. But at its heart, it’s a cult of power; misogyny is but one tool for securing that power.
“And it is interesting how many women are getting into positions of power that detract from living conditions for poorer people. The judgmental model of early colonial days seems a default position for so many university trained women coming to notice through the media. Is that what the feminist movement in the 1970′s was about – agitating so that individual middle class women could get better opportunities and pay rather than out of concern for improvements in conditions for all women and society in general?”
I think this is a good point, as I see the feminist movement and Maori sovereignty movement helping to create neoliberalism.
The feminist movement not bad itself, it was needed, but its outcome has been a disaster. Women may have found greater degree of freedom, but many are now incarcerated by our economic system…many of them went from one kind of oppression to another. The previous for of oppression was hard-power….now it is a soft-power which uses stigmatised assumptions…our myth of equality does not exist, but there are claims we are all equal and this just perpetuates the notion of individual responsibility.
“And what of such university educated women campaigning against poverty? Sue Bradford, Metiria Turei, Annette King et al….?”
True, but I would call Annette King one of the perpetrators, her and Helen Clark could have made a massive difference considering how long they were in power. (but I’m harsh on those two cause I consider the 5th Labour Govt to be one of our worst ever)
Carol….didn’t you make a comment the other day about how women in the National are used to front nasty policies? That was a good point and I think that’s what prism was alluding to.
Carol….didn’t you make a comment the other day about how women in the National are used to front nasty policies? That was a good point and I think that’s what prism was alluding to.
Could be, fatty, but it seemed to me prism was going further than that and putting the blame on women and feminism generally.
I do think there’s evidence that women’s movement into the workforce in numbers, has resulted in a re-working of gendered power relations – women have been accepted more strongly in PR,and HR occupations, and less so in the more dominant positions in business and public services.
Olwyn: In the face of this, liberals can do as Dickens did in relation to Christianity, and distinguish the purer, more progressive form of liberalism from its degraded equivalent. But you cannot get away from the fact that the degraded version now provides quasi-justification to an increasingly nasty status quo.
Well, to me liberalism is a philosophy based on individualism. Liberal feminism was always stronger in the US than in the UK and NZ. In the UK, particularly, socialist feminism was a more dominant part of the women’s movement. Thatcher et al looked to the US form of capitalism, to perpetuate a top-down reworking of the dominant discourses and institutions in the UK, in the form of neoliberalism. (see Stuart Hall’s “The Great Moving Right Show”). Thatcher’s/their aim was to eradicate the more bottom-up, grass-roots, and thriving socialist networks that incorporated feminism, as well as the gay and anti-racist movements.
I think this is a good point, as I see the feminist movement and Maori sovereignty movement helping to create neoliberalism.
We’ve been here before, fatty, and I think we will never agree on this. To me you seem to have a one-dimensional, uni-linear view of history, which starts with the 60s (maybe the 50s), and where boomers were the prime-instigators of all that followed. History didn’t begin with some all-powerful boomer generation – that period was one phase of the ebbs and flows of a long struggle.
I see history more as a series of struggles with some progressive changes as the result of grass-roots agitation from below, followed by various backlashes and attempts by the dominant elites to regain the hegemony (h/t to Gramsci).
One of the achievements of neo-liberalism was to separate the dominant feminist discourses from socialist discourses. They did this in the face of a lot of counter-struggles from feminists and the left generally – ditto for the struggle for Maori sovereignty and by the gay movement. The elites were able to do this by consolidating, co-ordinating and exercising their access to power in various inter-related institutions – government, education, media, financial institutions etc.
The way forward is not to keep accepting this split of feminist causes, Maori movement, LGBT movement etc, from the left, but to re-unite the inter-related, overlapping (sometimes conflicting) issues and work together (i.e. a focus on intersectionality).
Carol: Yes liberal is an ambiguous word. I was using it in distinction from rigid conservatism, but I take your point re the difference between the more individualistic liberal feminism and socialist feminism. I guess the subtext of my post is that tories make very good use of ambiguous concepts in their pursuit and defence of power, wherever they garner them from.
I guess the subtext of my post is that tories make very good use of ambiguous concepts in their pursuit and defence of power, wherever they garner them from.
Indeed they do. But also, the right can be challenged via their own conflicts and contradictions: e.g. the uneasy relationship between neo-liberal libertarians, neo-conservatives and old style nationalistic conservatives.
PS: while Dickens did throw some light on class inequalities, I think he was more of an individualistic liberal than a socialist.
I guess the subtext of my post is that tories make very good use of ambiguous concepts in their pursuit and defence of power, wherever they garner them from.
In other words, they lie through ambiguity. Use words that sound supportive of democracy and freedom while meaning the exact opposite.
“To me you seem to have a one-dimensional, uni-linear view of history, which starts with the 60s (maybe the 50s), and where boomers were the prime-instigators of all that followed.”
…as you say “We’ve been here before, fatty,”…and you know that I have said before that the boomers obsession on social liberalisation was a response to oppressive social conservatism. I have never had a problem with boomers movements for social liberalisation (I am glad that changed)…but I have blamed boomers for economic liberalisation.
“I see history more as a series of struggles with some progressive changes as the result of grass-roots agitation from below, followed by various backlashes and attempts by the dominant elites to regain the hegemony (h/t to Gramsci).”
I agree…that is a good description of what has been happening. If we want that to keep on happening, then we are heading down the right track.
But we need to put the work of past theorists in perspective.Marxist theory is good for pointing out power inequalities, but it was also developed largely before the TINA mantra became embedded in our psyche, so it is not much use for moving forward. It was more useful when there was another option to capitalism. To apply a Marxist perspective within a capitalist system is perpetuating hegemony, not challenging it. I think Gramsci would focus on attacking capitalism if he were alive today…so he would be critical of the direction and achievements of the 60s & 70s feminists. My guess is he would be critical of how social ideals within the feminist movement liberalised economics.
I see the ‘good vs bad’ framing as often being detrimental when striving for social justice, and its a bit one-dimensional for me
“”The feminist movement not bad itself, it was needed, but its outcome has been a disaster. Women may have found greater degree of freedom, but many are now incarcerated by our economic system…many of them went from one kind of oppression to another.”
–This is right Fatty, although the elites will not view the feminist movement as a disaster, given that they funded it, I can be reasonable certain that the likely outcomes of feminism will have been well understood in advance. The real trick lies in fooling people into believing it was an “organic” movement!
A disaster it has certainly been for the masses on balance, and using stats to show its been a success (if thats possible), would be moot, as the evidence of its failure for the majority is all around us. This is not a comment agsinst the womans rights, which were necessary to have changed/improved, my commentary is only about the vehicle which was “used”, in order to achieve known outcomes!
Where the real trick comes in, is in that for those who buy into “any given movement”, is to sell it as something it was never going to be, so once the true outcomes/consequences come become apparant, those who climbed into the movement, with all good intentions do not see themselves as having contributed to, what is, as you say a huge failure! This technique can be applied to any/all movements, and its easy to see the play book repeated for those groups you refer, and many others!
The basic premise behind engineering outcomes, is to use groups by “selling” a product which to who know they will buy into. Once buy in has been achieved, you can then direct the journey, hence the outcomes
Its all very simple, if only in that, being able to know how to understand human beings, and the fundamental desires we all share. The elites have been studying humanity since day 1, and as such they are almost completey able to sell night as day
Lack of self awareness provides elites the space, to continue to execute such transparent plans, egos and narcissism provide the blockages to people seeing through them!
Unbelievable!… needless to say, I do not agree with this flight of fantasy, having been involved in the movement, where the elites did their best to undermine it, through police suppression etc, etc.
Hi Carol, in no way are my comments aimed at any individual.
Who has really gained the most from the movement…I mean the majority of the benefits, not the bits and pieces. Woman did make some (deserved) ground, if thats what it was all about, but the elites have benefitted in multiple ways, and society/families/communites look as though they lost overwhelmingly.
muzza, the most recent outcomes are not evidence of what the movement was about, nor of who supported it in it’s main activities and activism. As I’ve said above, it’s part of a long struggle. The stuff you are alluding to is just part of the way the elites have since appropriated part of the movement (and other movements), in their strive to regain control and maintain power.
There has been some appropriation and commodification of feminism by the wealthy powerful pollies and corporates since the 80s. This was part of a backlash that also included demonising the women’s movement proper, then cherry-picked the parts of it most acceptable to the elites molded it into a saleable kind of feminism (see Madonna).
You may not mean to, but with your line of argument you are just buying into this dismissal, demonisation and belittling re-packaging of the wider feminist movement.
I don’t think it is in any way true that the products of neoliberalism are the result of feminism. The latest outcomes of feminism, as far as I’m concerned, are greater recognition of (and resistance to) rape culture, a wee bit of paid parental leave, and a kick-arse new generation of young feminists.
And my life has benefited enormously from the last hundred years of the women’s movement.
+100 js.
It never ceases to amaze me though, that women (and any other group that manages to grab a bit of power) is seen as an amorphous blob that should act differently to the traditional power – in our society white rich men.
Clearly there are a range of opinions and practices that are taken for granted in men, even the rich white ones, we have business leaders, community leaders, stay at home daddies… all sorts. Yet women, Maori and whoever else are meant to be this righteous touchy-feely group walking around with one aim to change/protect the world and save the powers that be from themselves. If that doesn’t happen the movement is seen as a failure.
The very fact that some from the group have a business bias gives people who have never had a vested interest in the movement an ‘I told you so’ moment when that is not the case at all.
And my life has benefited enormously from the last hundred years of the women’s movement.
Ah, indeed, it has been a long period of struggle, with many gains, but also setbacks, periods of progress, of consolidation, and of viscous backlashes.
I think a linear perspective doesn’t really show how there have been some long term gains for feminists. Often its 2 steps forward and one step back… or 1 forward and 2 back. That is why feminism is talked about as occurring in waves.
First wave feminists, around the turn of the 19th to 20th century, raised and agitated for a wide rang of issues, but in popular history, it has been relegated to a narrow struggle over votes by middle/upper class women.
In fact, what many 2nd wave feminists learned was that, on further investigation, a lot of the issues they were struggling for, had already been taken up by 1st wave feminists….. but then a lot of it was written out of mainstream history, and popular knowledge.
Many 1st wave feminists were agitating for a complete transformation of society, with a broad change in gender roles and relationships, in the family, in work etc. Though in the US and UK, there was a dominant liberal strand, there were also socialist feminist strands, and activism by and for working class and black women. In the UK and Europe, there were a lot of the same strands, but there was more focus on class struggles.
Many of these ideas were taken up again with each successive wave of feminism, debated, reworked and new ways sought to continue the struggles. And still we continue…..
See for instance, Charlotte Krolokke & Anne Scott Sorenson, Gender, Communication Theories and Analysis (2005)
First-wave feminism arose in the context of industrial society and liberal politics but is connected to both the liberal women’s rights movement and early socialist feminism in the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States and Europe. Concerned with access and equal opportunities for women, the first wave continued to influence feminism in both Western and Eastern societies throughout the 20th century.
[…]
Parallel to this strand of liberal first-wave feminism, a distinct socialist/Marxist feminism developed in workers’ unions in the United States, in reformist social-democratic parties in Europe, and during the rise of communism in the former Soviet Union.
[…]
Radical second-wave feminism cannot, however, be discussed separately from other movements of the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, it grew out of leftist movements in postwar Western societies, among them the student protests, the anti–Vietnam War movement, the lesbian and gay movements, and, in the United States, the civil rights and Black power movements. These movements criticized “capitalism” and “imperialism” and focused on the notion and interests of “oppressed” groups: the working classes, Blacks, and in
principle, also women and homosexuals. In the New Left, however, women found themselves reduced to servicing the revolution, cut off from real influence and thus, once again, exposed to sexism.
It was a long struggle to get feminist, ‘race’ and LGBT issues to be taken seriously within the left…. and still that struggle continues it seems.
Thanks for the link carol…I don’t dispute those goals of 2nd wave feminism. But I still see 2nd wave feminism as being one of the key ingredients in the evolution of neoliberalism.
Nancy Fraser critiques what 2nd wave feminism has transformed into…she notes the links between neoliberalism and feminism….and suggests there needs to be more discussion around to what degree did second wave feminism produce neoliberalism. As she says:
“Was it mere coincidence that second-wave feminism and neoliberalism prospered in tandem? Or was there some perverse, subterranean selective affinity between them? That second possibility is heretical, to be sure, but we fail to investigate it at our peril” (pg 108)
“You may not mean to, but with your line of argument you are just buying into this dismissal, demonisation and belittling re-packaging of the wider feminist movement.”
I completely refuse that…I won’t speak on Muzza’s behalf, but as for me, pointing out mistakes is not the same as “just buying into this dismissal, demonisation and belittling re-packaging of the wider feminist movement”. That’s the same as someone bagging Labour and then being called a RWNJ…when in fact they think Labour is too neoliberal.
I am saying that the feminist movement has been misdirected and an overall failure…not a complete failure. Nobody here is trying to frame feminism in pure binary terms as either good, or bad
If we look at how women are still treated in society, then we must be critical of feminism.
Feminism has not been able to challenge modern capitalism, and for the most part has not even attempted to challenge thirdway/neoliberalism.
“the most recent outcomes are not evidence of what the movement was about, nor of who supported it in it’s main activities and activism.”
Today’s outcomes are evidence that feminism has missed the point. I don’t oppose the goals of feminism, or the movement, or the people involved…I oppose how they attempted to achieve them.
In my opinion feminists need to strongly resist capitalism…alongside environmentalist, the Maori movement, unions and anyone else concerned over social injustice.
It’s worth pointing out that not all feminists are socialists or social democrats, so blaming feminism for not preventing neoliberalism is a bit like bagging the women’s health lobby for not championing male health causes – that wasn’t necessarily what it set out to do.
Many feminists (most in my experience) however, are against neoliberalism and are involved in activisim on a a number of political fronts in addition to feminism.
Unfortunately, to date, those opposed to neoliberalism, including socialist feminists, haven’t had the numbers.
Today’s outcomes are evidence that feminism has missed the point. I don’t oppose the goals of feminism, or the movement, or the people involved…I oppose how they attempted to achieve them
Explicitly what outcomes and what methods are you criticising here?
If we look at how women are still treated in society, then we must be critical of feminism
Maybe the problem has been about the resistance to feminism, and again, the lack of numbers of feminists, rather than feminism itself. This is a bit like blaming, for example, prison reform activists for the terrible treatment of prisoners, rather than the perpertrators of the ill treatments, and people with the power the actually change things.
Finally, here is a link to the Hand Mirror, a blog of NZ socialist feminists. If you go back through the posts, you’ll find a wealth of activism on poverty, inequality, racism, heterosexism, etc. etc. Maybe this is the kind of feminism you could support.
“It’s worth pointing out that not all feminists are socialists or social democrats, so blaming feminism for not preventing neoliberalism is a bit like bagging the women’s health lobby for not championing male health causes – that wasn’t necessarily what it set out to do.”
Its not like that at all…’male health causes’ is not a system that will constrict women’s health. But neoliberalism is a system which resists and constricts feminist’s aims/goals.
“Explicitly what outcomes and what methods are you criticising here?”
The method is that feminism has been aiming to make a more gender-equal capitalism, but capitalism is a sexist-system. (i know its not all feminists accept capitalism)
There are social outcomes – single mothers are stigmatized and this will get worse as the economy continues to stagnate. Women’s bodies are more sexualised than ever before, its a result of capitalism. That’s consumerism and advertising. Gender stereotyping around unpaid work still exists, even though many women work as well. etc
economic outcomes – Women have been used for ‘flexibility’, poor wages, temporary work. Consumerism is aimed at women, to make money for men. Top job’s with power is often just tokenism. White men controlled resources 100 years ago, not much has changed. We still use childbirth as an excuse to force women into poverty. Women are disproportionally affected by capitalist crises, etc
Those outcomes are difficult to improve under capitalism. My critique of feminism, culturalism, environmentalism and other identity politics is not their demands, because I support them…its when there methodology is trying to achieve them under thridway/neoliberalism/capitalism
“And my life has benefited enormously from the last hundred years of the women’s movement”
–JS – Unfortunately you showed your bias in the above comment, which is where the lack of self awareness I refer to comes in.
Very few people are able to disassociate themselves from their bias in order that they can be neutral on a topic which has touched them directly..
@ Carol, I also refute your comment – Fatty’s response to it, covers off the main reason for me around complexity, and why its not simply a case of 2 dimensional thought!
I to heard this segment on about 8.40 am. Caravans have mushroomed in Sth Auckland in the last 36 months. 14 day notices to remove them or else a Tenancy Tribunal hearing. 15 – 25 people crammed into a dwelling. The way HNZ is being run, it is a NATIONAL DISGRACE.
What is going to happen with the people housed in the caravans?
The only solution I can come up with and it is a bad one, is to open up a HNZ caravan park.
A relative who recently applied told me that HNZ sent them to WINZ for WINZ to do an assessment and they were told that they did not qualify for HNZ housing. What a load of BS as I qualified last September and I am in a better financial situation than my relative and her health is a bit worse than mine and we live in the same region. Basically they were told that they have a flat to live in.
What is going on with WINZ doing HNZ assessments?
Are WINZ topping up the benefit using TAS for accommodation (renewal required every three months) more than they used to, to disguise the shortage in housing?
Who are they and why are desperate people not being housed by HNZ?
Something did not quite seem right about WINZ doing HNZ assessments so I have done some checking. It turns out that a person from HNZ comes into the WINZ office regularly.
…long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards during the diamond jubilee celebrations and told to sleep under London Bridge before working on the river pageant.
Perhaps there were not any beds available. Have a look around Christchurch after an earhquake. At least it was Summer.
Some people are habitual complainers.
Here is a nice bit of gossip you won’t find in the News papers
After John Key’s surprise of signing a partnership with NATO he will have dinner with Prime Minister Harper of Canada who will arrive fresh from the 2012 Bilderberg meeting in Virginia at the pad of another known Bilderberger Prime Minister Cameron. Still feel John Key has the best interests of New Zealanders at heart?
“”We want to be even more closely connected with countries that are also willing to contribute to global security, where we all have a stake.”
–All sounds very caring…I wonder what we have be signed into now, my someone who does not have the authority to sign us up for….Maybe the lawyers on here, can explain just where the authority originates from!
Oh, just the top couple of hundred of the world’s heads of industry, banking, and government meeting in secret annually for the last 50 years by invitation only and with zero media attention and zero accountability.
Its not likely that a group made up of so many “influencial” people, is simply having a get together, but given that there is much spotlight on it these days, it would not surprise me if its become a smoke screen.
What is certain, is that there is much which happens, be it at Bilderberg or elsewhere, that the peasants will never be allowed to know about, but which will greatly impact negatively, many!
People just need to take a look around the globe at the horrors being waged, via (all types of) wars, genetic engineering, domination of equities/commodities markets, and the resulting misery created by such entities as the I.C.E.
Its little more than a game of chess to the elite, and human lives simply expendable!
Without contradicting myself in 8.2, any gathering would have the subject of Greece leaving the EC and not repaying the borrowed euros. I think that Greece will revert back to their pre EC currency.
Still feel John Key has the best interests of New Zealanders at heart?
Key only has self interest jetsetting around the globe and partying up in London using the Queen’s 60th Anniversary on the throne as an excuse.
Do you know where Gillard is?
She is currently in Australia running the country with a paper thin majority. Key needs to be in NZ sorting out HNZ, education, corporate fraud, ACC, EQC/insurance and John Banks.
Good for you. Did you hear anything about let’s talk about this before we decide to join the biggest group of war criminals like a good democracy should have?
”We’re completely satisfied that the report was correct and factual.
”Our staff at the meeting considered a threat had been made.”
So his staff felt intimidated by the two well dressed (no doubt) intelligent and articulate women sitting in front of them. Political bias aside, how dare two well dressed, intelligent etc. women confront his ‘sensitive wee souls’ and make then cry. Hilarious.
The current averaged polling shows that a Labour/Greens coalition at 54 seats could potentially govern alone… And a Labour/Green/Mana/NZFirst coalition on 65 seats would easily beat a Nat/UF/Maori coalition on 56 seats…
It does appear that our Attorney and Solicitor Generals just took the US Government’s word that we could proceed with the illegal raid and detention of a NZ citizen and seize that citizen’s business.
I imagine the NZ end of the phone call went something like this: “Hi guys, how’s Virginia?”-” Sweet bro, what can we do for y’all?”- ” Arrest who”, oh yeah Johnny said he’s a fun guy. What is he charged with?” – “oh ok, but doesn’t MegaUpload run out of Hong Kong?” – ” You don’t care about international law anymore? So, ummm, moving on, and under what law exactly is the warrant to be processed?” – ” you will add the law later? i guess that’s ok then, we’ll meet with him at his offices in a few days ” – ” woah chill dude, you want us to what? raid his house and round the whole family up with automatic weapons and dogs and flashbangs?? Isn’t that a bit of an over reaction to what is really a white collar crime?” – ” it isn’t, oh our bad then! No problem, we’ll nab the evildoer for ya, scratch our back on the TPP eh?”-” what do you mean we better just do what you say and cut the backchat? (unclear noises emanate from the ninth floor) yes Sir, right away sir, consider it done.” endcall. the rest as they say is deleted history.
Clearly the complaint to the Police was not made in good faith. ACC would have known that Bronwyn Pullar had not tried to blackmail them, as the recording would have categorically proven…
They didn’t have the recording to rely on when they laid the complaint, Jackal. They still don’t, as Camp Boag won’t let them have a copy. They went to the fuzz on the reports of the senior managers at the meeting, who felt they were subject to a shakedown. Maybe they got that wrong, but if it was an honestly held belief, then they had no choice but to go to the police. That’s ethical behaviour, even if they were mistaken.
I don’t expect the same ethical standards from a National Party hack though. Particularly when the target is the cornerstone of our workers’ health and safety and a world leader in worker’s accident comp resolution and rehab. And it’s ours, Jackal. Yours and mine. It’s a public entity, delivering 100% for the public good. Which the advocate at the centre of this issue is 100% opposed to. Cui bono, Jackal?
You make a good point Te Reo Putake, in that all of this is damaging ACC, which is in my opinion what National want the most. If the devious little Nats can damage ACC enough, they think the public will be more accepting of privatisation.
But there cannot be any question about senior management making false claims about Bronwyn Pullar trying to blackmail ACC. It’s not ethical behaviour when they knew a false police complaint was being made… That’s a serious crime, and somebody in ACC should be held to account.
In what way is it a false complaint? How could they know that the tape does not contain a specific threat that meets the test for prosecution if they don’t have a copy? They relied on the recollections and judgement of their managers and obviously still do. Laying the complaint was the right thing to do.
You’re arguing that senior managers don’t know what blackmail is, and perhaps that they were not aware that a false police complaint was being made… I find both contentions rather spurious! ACC doesn’t need to have the recording to know if the claims of blackmail are true… because they were at the meeting with Boag and Pullar.
I don’t think it’s mere forgetfulness or improper judgement by senior ACC staff… as they promoted the claims of blackmail. There has been no attempt to retract the claims, or requirement to do so by the Minister of ACC, Judith Collins, even after what the tape recording contained became public knowledge.
You don’t simply misconstrue what somebody means when they try to blackmail. ACC even made claims about what Pullar said, which if true would have been blackmail. The law is very clear, you cannot fabricate evidence by any means. If you knowingly allow somebody else to make a false statement, you are conspiring to bring false accusation.
The punishment for somebody who commits blackmail is imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 14 years. A person who conspires to bring false accusation against somebody for blackmail faces the same sentence.
Blackmail? Says who? ACC reported what appeared to be an attempt to coerce senior management to the police, not a case of blackmail. Its the cops who decide what charges are made, if any, not ACC. Its blackmail when the cops say it is. Not that I think ACC ever said it was anyway.
Look, Jackal, I’m not trying to make a big deal out of your buying the Boag line, just pointing out the nature of the person promoting the attack on ACC your post supports and the political implications that flow from trusting that quarter.
You would expect ACC to gain legal advice, before making a police complaint. I don’t think you can make a complaint concerning coercion in New Zealand, unless it’s to do with trafficking in people.
It’s not legally known as coercion… It’s known as blackmail. ACC claimed that Ms Pullar threatened to go to the media about the privacy breach unless she was given a two year guaranteed benefit… the law would class that as blackmail and the police would normally require a complaint to conform to the law.
Jackal, I’m not trying to make a big deal out of your buying the Boag line, just pointing out the nature of the person promoting the attack on ACC your post supports and the political implications that flow from trusting that quarter.
What the? I don’t trust Boag, and have not purchased her line. Even if I did, there are no political implications. I trust what is on the tape and simply don’t by into all the faction bullshit that is being spun. I think this is about ACC bullying a claimant, which happens all too regularly these days.
According to this stuff article, Puller provided ACC with a tape recording of the meeting in April. It also says ACC’s lawyers and chief executive Ralph Stewart were sent a transcript of the tape recording.
I don’t recall the time lines involved so in the first instance ACC may have laid the police complaint before knowing the content of the recording. But they have had a chance to listen/read since. It seems strange to me they havn’t altered their stance given, we have been told, there was no evidence of coercion/blackmail (call it what you will) on that tape.
That’s not the case, Anne. Boag has never supplied a copy of the tape to ACC, though a single ACC staffer was allowed to listen to it one time only. Not a lawyer, either.
Yes, I worry about what Pullar and Boag’s agenda is here. It looks to be based in a c0ck-up by ACC, but, I think there’s some opportunism there from the Key/Nact fan club.
And all the c0ck-ups etc are as likely to be from problems to do with underfunding of ACC, and, more recently, in manipulating it for privatisation, as from the basic premise of ACC serving the people.
The average ranking for agency performance was 4.1 (down from 4.3 last year) and 4.4 for chief executive performance (down from 4.6).
At ACC, the chief executive’s rating dropped from 4.5 to 3.7 and the agency overall went from 4.4 down to 3.7.
Ralph Stewart replaced Dr Jan White in charge of ACC in September last year, and has since overseen a series of privacy blunders, including the accidental emailing of the personal details of thousands of ACC clients to Bronwyn Pullar.
The Trans Tasman review suggested inquiries into privacy breaches at ACC were “likely to expose a lax attitude towards privacy issues” and very little in the way of systemic safeguards.
..so here’s my mother (74), this morning, lying on the bed in the treatment room of her GP, (soon to be diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the local hospital) about to get an ECG. While desperately trying to get some air into her lungs, gets told by the person conducting the ECG, “We notice that you don’t owe us any money so you will be able to pay this off in installments.”
Robinson’s job is to counter the environmental movement on one hand, and encourage the big investors to put money into expanding mining, drilling and fracking on the other.
“The industry not only has to deal with opponents here, it needs to make itself highly visible to big players overseas.”
David Robinson
We, Robinson’s opponents, need to make our opposition, ‘highly visible to these same big players overseas’, – to discourage them.
Painting himself as an admirer of the Green Movement, Robinson’s smooth veneer only starts to slip at the mention of the high profile campaign against fracking.
“Fracking is the word du jour for people who are anti-oil and gas and there’s nothing more to it than that,”
David Robinson
Robinson keeps a USB stick in his pocket in defence of fracking. But concedes he wouldn’t want fracking anywhere near where he would personally live. And of course he won’t have to, with the salary he is on. Just as those who invest in coal mining never have to touch the stuff. No doubt, Robinson will make sure that he lives as far away from the results of his day job advocacy, as possible.
In a parting piece of apologist misdirection, Robinson tries to get the spotlight off oil and gas and coal mining, to the pollution created in cities. “People make a mess.” he says.
He drinks beer, makes money, tells non-PC jokes and likes to big note about the vips he meets. Seems like there are not many people who need to know more.
Oh – he did learned to play golf when he was a boy because rich people play golf. Not that I’ve any knowledge that he actually does that on his days off… agree he’d be on the sidelines drinking.
John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand
What is your hobby?
Golf – when I have time.
Why did you choose that?
It’s a game played on courses in some of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand. It offers challenge, and gives me a chance to reflect and at the same time enjoy the great outdoors.
What do you enjoy about it?
My son Max and I sometimes play golf together, so it can be family bonding time.
His stated hobbies of cooking, playing golf and watching rugby cater to voters of all persuasions – there must be more to him than that. But he stands by cooking as something he really likes doing: “Even the Good Morning show commented that I was one of the few politicians that could cook and talk at the same time”. He does enjoy golf but doesn’t have the time to play, and he’d love to learn to fly “but my wife has banned it until I’ve given up politics”.
Huh?
Oh, well, pah for the course… JK seems to give a different answer to the hobby question to each person who asks.
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A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University Shutterstock/Ground PictureMany Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Salman Shooshtarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Salman Shooshtarian Asbestos has been found in mulch used for playgrounds, schools, parks and gardens across Sydney and Melbourne. Local communities naturally fear for the health of their ...
Family First says that the latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25% increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020. According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life ...
Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study on populism reveals a pervasive sense of societal and economic decline among New Zealanders. MORE DETAILS AND FULL REPORT HERE Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study ...
For those of you who, according to Gosman, know nothing about Derivatives and who like me think that all of this countries finances should be clear, transparent and on the books, here is an excellent article from the prominent blog Washington’s post about how Derivatives to the tune of 20x the Global GDP is going to blow up in our faces and that includes the $ 112 Billion OFF THE BOOKS Derivatives this government has build up over the last couple of years.
Here is an interesting timeline for the Derivatives market and Oops it turns out that Bankers trust bank created the first Credit Default Swap right a the time John Key was working there and that is exactly the Derivative sold to the muppets as the Hedge against the other gabling tools!
Added to that here is an interesting list of people who visited the Bilderberg conference this year. Royalty, Bankers, Ministers (Even the prime minister of Holland) and people like Kissinger all sitting in small rooms discussing how to get rid of the cockroaches.
No conspiracies of course. That would not happen. Our leaders love us.
I wonder if the elite of the Ancien Regime ever got together for secret meetings at Versailles before the revolution. If so it did not prevent their appointments with thhe “national barber”.
Funny you should ask. I’m currently working on a post comparing the current circumstances with those of the Ancien Regime.
I see Chris Trotter in the Press this morning describing how banks simply print money they do not have (fractional reserve banking) and calling for the money-printing factories to be taken out of private hands and placed into public ownership.
It is rare to see a ommentator of any kind raising the subject of fractional reserve banking and its private ownership. This is a sign of the ebbing tide.
Must have found my blog then. LOL!
Next he’ll be talking about a new and independent investigation of the events of 9/11!
Here is a great interactive time line of the development of the Derivatives bubble starting in 1991 when Bankers trust (Yes, the bank John Key was working for at the time) invents the CDS or Collateral Default Swap nick named financial weapon of mass destruction by Warren Buffet.
Join the cross-party cross-media campaign to push for addressing our Super issues. We need action this term, it can’t wait until 2015 – or 2018.
Summary and bloggers: ADASS
Facebook: FADASS
Twitter: @TADASS1
Real world: LAMEASS
Not fair, Super does need to be adjusted. However, of more pressing concern is a cross party consensus on child poverty.
I agree that cross-party on poverty is important, but it is a much wider, more complex issue. And you could say that the ballooning cost of Super is a significant influence on that.
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Whole lotta shakin’ going on . . . I see you baby
Te Reo Putake, I’ll throw LAMEASS straight back at you.
I’m not sure what’s worse, apathy, or active anti attempts to achieve anything.
“I’m not sure what’s worse, apathy, or active anti attempts to achieve anything.”
Tosspot, meet kettle.
Wearying. Do grow up! You may disagree with PG, but spewing insults around is no way to make your point.
It’s a perfectly fine way to make my point, thanks Vicky. Pete loves it when I talk dirty to him.
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There’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on . . . oh, yeah!!
Perhaps I missed it, but can somebody explain to me exactly WHY Key has taken this intransigent stance concerning Super? I cannot believe it is a sign of “caring” from him. Is it that there are too many wanting to retire who have the vote (he can sagely punish the young who have no vote, of course). The trouble is that many who want to retire continue to demand that “right” at 65 years. This cannot continue, and is in a number of cases selfish. Some government is going to have to “face the music” – and by delaying, Key is making it ever harder for that future body, whoever it might be.
Have a look at who votes for National, and how old they are. There’s your answer.
As long as someone else reforms super, they’ll keep voting tory.
Who gives a fuck what Peter Dunne thinks about this?
As Pete pointed out on yesterday’s open mic, if any issue has budgetary implications then Dunne has to vote however National wants anyway.
In defence of ‘freedom of speech’ – can you see why the NBR should effectively censor this comment – by removing it after it was initially published?
What’s YOUR view Pete George on the OPENING OF THE BOOKS and CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS who are dependent on ‘corporate welfare’?
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nbr-online-poll-massive-support-pension-age-change-gb-120388
How about pushing for OPENING THE BOOKS so the public can see the ‘devilish detail’ which explains EXACTLY where our public monies are being spent at central (and local) government level – so we can look at where the scalpel can be taken to long-term ‘corporate welfare’ beneficiaries?
What are the NAMES of all the consultants and private contractors carrying out work that used to be provided ‘in-house’ by staff directly employed across the full range of central government services?
What is the SCOPE, TERM and VALUE of these private sector contracts?
If the recent USA research is anything to go by, could NZ cut our central government budget in half by ‘cutting out the contractors’?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1111/S00095/wheres-nationals-corporate-welfare-reform.htm
Could NZ save over $40 BILLION by ‘cutting out the contractors’?
Wouldn’t that leave a LOT more public money for public ‘social’ welfare if huge cuts were made to private ‘corporate welfare’?
Wakey wakey folks!
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
A great example of how devious the thinking is from spin merchants;
“Puzzle of Key’s extra casino jobs”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10810802
This bit here is strange….
“The original Horwath report said 150 jobs could be created over a five-year construction period for a total of 750.”
I read that as saying there are only 150 actual jobs. Surely they wouldn’t be so dishonest to calculate jobs as total employees multiplied by the number of years the jobs last…..
Crooked in the extreme
DH Smoke and mirrors, and legerdemain. Casinos and government have that in common.
About the Greens and Russel Norman I question your careless approach to the environment and naive approach to free market economics as when you say –
What’s careless about it? People have more to worry about than just the environment. We need to feed & clothe ourselves, pay the bills, raise our kids, save for our retirement… lead a life. Attempts to change this country into a more environmentally friendly one have to work in with that, no-one is prepared to go on the breadline even to save the planet. The naive approach is thinking the Greens can change the country overnight or even in an election cycle. There’s a need for common sense here and IMO the Greens are showing some. I think it’s quite refreshing.
DH I can’t be bothered to read past your first sentence of 10.07am comment.
What’s careless about it? People have more to worry about than just the environment. We need to feed & clothe ourselves, pay the bills, raise our kids, save for our retirement… lead a life.
The environment fashions our life can’t you understand you fool. Our food, our health, our living conditions, our everything.
You’ve lost the plot there mate. Like most people I’m fully supportive of protecting our environment. The discussion is about how we’re to achieve it, not whether we need to.
You’ve lost the plot a bit there. Like most people I’m fully supportive of protecting our environment. The discussion is about how we’re to achieve it, not whether we need to.
WTF – That Norman has gotta go!!
Why? He’s right, it is an important part of the economy. You can’t turn a country green overnight. When the NZ economy recovers sufficiently we can get rid of mining & fix all the environmental problems. Until such time we have to get by on what we have. I think it’s great that the Green Party seem to recognise this. Labour need to start watching their back, if they don’t get their act together they might be a minor coalition partner after the next election.
Yup. There’s ideological blindness and then there is political reality. BliP suffers from the first, Norman understands the second.
Actually, it’s a clear indication of what some people here are saying is wrong with the Greens at the moment: moving towards the center.
Basically, the greens as a one-issue party can achieve significant environmental improvement by refusing to recognise economic realities, so the realities have to be proved rather than just being accepted.
Look at the Maori Party: by being focussed on one issue they are actually managing gains for Maori even out of a nat govt. The Greens can do more in coalition with labour as the extreme minority party than they can as a broad-focus party on 20+%. The reason being that to get the broader focus, they need to water down their principles.
Look at “Labour”: nine years’ moderate progress undone in less than four, simply because they didn’t want to alienate their broad support with sweeping changes. The nats don’t really care – they know that the policy outcome (money for their mates) is the objective, so they’ll spend their support on getting policy in for their mates.
You can have a Green minor party, or a majority party “Green” in name only. Going for broader support by definition lessens its focus on principle.
I can’t see any movement in this though.
What’s the policy change?
Yes. What Green policies have actually changed.
Greens always have been a party for social as well as environmental sustainability.
You cannot have one without the other.
Russel is just “telling it like it is”.
Not so much a policy change as a change in emphasis. Slightly more business-friendly, slightly less adamant about environmental principles.
But given that I’ve never voted for them, I don’t really care. I’m just not sure how “green” they’ll be in ten or fifteen years if they start consistently getting 20-30% in the polls.
Personally I think the Left could do more with 5 issue-based parties with 11% each than two or three broad-appeal parties with ~20% each.
It’s not even a political reality, merely reality. We do need to do some mining to maintain the resources that we need but we don’t need to mine as much as we do.
The Greens of all people should know that if you give the bastards an inch, they’ll take a strip mine.
There is that problem so we’ll need to ensure that they can’t take the strip mine.
But if the Greens go moderate (sorry, “recognise the practicalities”), who shift the debate beyond the practical into the aspirational?
Yeah, the nats have given “aspirational” a bad rap by using it as a euphamism for “failed to achieve even the most simple task”, but I think true policy change comes from a mixture of the idealogues and the practical – the apirational keep the practical from being merely mediocre.
Are the Greens against deep sea drilling for oil?
Deep sea drilling for minerals? And if so can it be done with less danger of pollution from blowouts etc than with oil and gas which tend to go together I understand?
Some mining is fine, probably essential, with the proviso that it is NOT on “conservation land”. Greens have assured me that this is a rule they would abide by.
Fact is if you want your metals, your computers, your batteries and many if not all of your modern conveniences you need to mine somewhere for something.
Just idle speculation. I agree that certain resources must be mined from somewhere. But what quantity was simply landfilled in various forms during the past 50-60 years? And if the quantity is substantial, how recoverable would it be?
The real question is how recoverable it is relative to natural deposits. There must be a point where the former becomes cheaper than the latter.
Pretty much as expected… Whether he’s right or wrong, he’s showing his true colours – blue-green!
The Greens are all about identity politics and the baubles of office.
Seems like the Prime Minister has been economical with the truth once again, this time with the number of jobs that the Sky City convention center would provide.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10810802
This whole Sky City convention center idea appears to be giving of an aroma that is far from plesant. What with Banks undeclaired donations, increaseing the number of gambling machines for problem gamblers to play with in return for a new bute convention center, and now we hear that Mr Keys assesment of available work and job creation for this project are exagerated.
What else is going to come out of this? and do we need it.
Katy. Another illuminating column by David Fisher. Of course it won’t be Mr Key’s fault that he grossly inflated the figures for Sky City so someone else will front the spin-explanation.
If you employ 100 people for 10 years, then clearly that is 1,000 jobs. Simple.
Housing problems were referred to on Radionz this morning. An advocate for needy families talked about their having to resort to caravans in their driveways to provide bedrooms and how cold and damp they are. Response from NZ Housing from one Ms Fink (good name) – a statement about this being against the tenancy agreements and that this use of caravans would result in an order to summarily remove them or else… What a vicious cold-blooded approach to essential need from what was once a welfare provision department providing state houses.
And it is interesting how many women are getting into positions of power that detract from living conditions for poorer people. The judgmental model of early colonial days seems a default position for so many university trained women coming to notice through the media. Is that what the feminist movement in the 1970’s was about – agitating so that individual middle class women could get better opportunities and pay rather than out of concern for improvements in conditions for all women and society in general?
prism, I agree with the concerns you express in the first paragraph.
But your second paragraph? WTF?! Long-bow, much!? Would you follow any comment about the callousness of JK, Brownlee, English etc, with the failure of the women’s women to prevent the rise of such types?
And what of such university educated women campaigning against poverty? Sue Bradford, Metiria Turei, Annette King et al….?
And on the issue of lack of adequate housing in Sth Auckland and elsewhere…. doesn’t the buck stop with the Minister of Housing, Phil Heatley? And it’s more a feature of comfortably-off Tories, male and female, to have such a callous attitude to the less well off.
But this is a crucial issue. Adequate housing for all should be a priority in a democracy. And there should be much more attention paid to it by the media and government. Instead, we get much more attention being given to the housing market – something of most interest to the wealthier classes. Those at the bottom of the income/wealth hierarchy just want somewhere warm, dry and safe to rent.
Hi Carol
I have an uneasy feeling about women’s advance in the world since feminism and how I seem to hear female voices saying all the mean things there are to say from business and government (I note that the women you refer to are all politicians!). No figures to support it. I just know I hate hearing prissy, judgmental women who have found a place in the paid work force which apparently suits them, ie not being forced to do and say things from the urgent necessity to get any job.
I was interested! to see that Dame Margaret Bazley got another gong – she was already a Dame wasn’t she? I think handing out recognition for being one of these judgmental prissy-lipped women as one of the handy small cleaner fish suckers to the great body of government detracts from their lustre.
“an uneasy feeling” not based in any figures? Could that be just a wee bit of prejudice?
One thing that is clear with this, and many past, Tory governments, is that they allocate women to front the nastiest of their social policies, while the main power behind them, pulling all the strings, are mostly men.
I have long been a feminist, but for as long, or even longer, I have been left wing. As far as I am concerned, feminism means fair access for ALL women (and men) to all that’s necessary to live in our society. It has always been my understanding that was also the aim of the 2nd wave women’s movement. Successful Tory women don’t seem to subscribe to that view. They seem to be first and foremost, Tories.
Thanks Carol, a sound response.
Carol
I have a feeling that you are right though I haven’t figurers to back it.
Don’t know what I did here at 7.24pm. It’s a mess and meaningless.
Yes, I figured there was some glitch there, prism. Meanwhile, my last long comment on the topic is stuck below in moderation. Maybe because it includes the com….ism word? It took a while to put together, too.
I think, I’m done on this topic for tonight.
What I am going to say takes in a thread from yesterday as well, about John Pilger and gay marriage. In the nineteenth century, in the English-speaking world, protestant Christianity provided the set of ideas with which power clothed itself. Ministers gave homilies on how the poor must know their place, and the same sort of women who now occupy boardrooms and government benches issued the same sort of spite at tennis parties and the like, usually with spurious Christian justifications. In the present day, the garment that clothes power has become a similarly degraded form of liberalism. It is not degraded that gay people should get married, but it is degraded to use gay marriage to divert eyes from very grave injustices. It is not degraded for women to share power, but it is degraded when that power is used to crush the vulnerable, and the inclusion of female crushers is presented as reason for self-congratulation.
In the face of this, liberals can do as Dickens did in relation to Christianity, and distinguish the purer, more progressive form of liberalism from its degraded equivalent. But you cannot get away from the fact that the degraded version now provides quasi-justification to an increasingly nasty status quo.
In a nutshell : Why the Pope Hates Nuns
It’s tempting to simply view the church hierarchy as a cult of misogyny. But at its heart, it’s a cult of power; misogyny is but one tool for securing that power.
“And it is interesting how many women are getting into positions of power that detract from living conditions for poorer people. The judgmental model of early colonial days seems a default position for so many university trained women coming to notice through the media. Is that what the feminist movement in the 1970′s was about – agitating so that individual middle class women could get better opportunities and pay rather than out of concern for improvements in conditions for all women and society in general?”
I think this is a good point, as I see the feminist movement and Maori sovereignty movement helping to create neoliberalism.
The feminist movement not bad itself, it was needed, but its outcome has been a disaster. Women may have found greater degree of freedom, but many are now incarcerated by our economic system…many of them went from one kind of oppression to another. The previous for of oppression was hard-power….now it is a soft-power which uses stigmatised assumptions…our myth of equality does not exist, but there are claims we are all equal and this just perpetuates the notion of individual responsibility.
“And what of such university educated women campaigning against poverty? Sue Bradford, Metiria Turei, Annette King et al….?”
True, but I would call Annette King one of the perpetrators, her and Helen Clark could have made a massive difference considering how long they were in power. (but I’m harsh on those two cause I consider the 5th Labour Govt to be one of our worst ever)
Carol….didn’t you make a comment the other day about how women in the National are used to front nasty policies? That was a good point and I think that’s what prism was alluding to.
Carol….didn’t you make a comment the other day about how women in the National are used to front nasty policies? That was a good point and I think that’s what prism was alluding to.
Could be, fatty, but it seemed to me prism was going further than that and putting the blame on women and feminism generally.
I do think there’s evidence that women’s movement into the workforce in numbers, has resulted in a re-working of gendered power relations – women have been accepted more strongly in PR,and HR occupations, and less so in the more dominant positions in business and public services.
Olwyn:
In the face of this, liberals can do as Dickens did in relation to Christianity, and distinguish the purer, more progressive form of liberalism from its degraded equivalent. But you cannot get away from the fact that the degraded version now provides quasi-justification to an increasingly nasty status quo.
Well, to me liberalism is a philosophy based on individualism. Liberal feminism was always stronger in the US than in the UK and NZ. In the UK, particularly, socialist feminism was a more dominant part of the women’s movement. Thatcher et al looked to the US form of capitalism, to perpetuate a top-down reworking of the dominant discourses and institutions in the UK, in the form of neoliberalism. (see Stuart Hall’s “The Great Moving Right Show”). Thatcher’s/their aim was to eradicate the more bottom-up, grass-roots, and thriving socialist networks that incorporated feminism, as well as the gay and anti-racist movements.
I think this is a good point, as I see the feminist movement and Maori sovereignty movement helping to create neoliberalism.
We’ve been here before, fatty, and I think we will never agree on this. To me you seem to have a one-dimensional, uni-linear view of history, which starts with the 60s (maybe the 50s), and where boomers were the prime-instigators of all that followed. History didn’t begin with some all-powerful boomer generation – that period was one phase of the ebbs and flows of a long struggle.
I see history more as a series of struggles with some progressive changes as the result of grass-roots agitation from below, followed by various backlashes and attempts by the dominant elites to regain the hegemony (h/t to Gramsci).
One of the achievements of neo-liberalism was to separate the dominant feminist discourses from socialist discourses. They did this in the face of a lot of counter-struggles from feminists and the left generally – ditto for the struggle for Maori sovereignty and by the gay movement. The elites were able to do this by consolidating, co-ordinating and exercising their access to power in various inter-related institutions – government, education, media, financial institutions etc.
The way forward is not to keep accepting this split of feminist causes, Maori movement, LGBT movement etc, from the left, but to re-unite the inter-related, overlapping (sometimes conflicting) issues and work together (i.e. a focus on intersectionality).
Carol: Yes liberal is an ambiguous word. I was using it in distinction from rigid conservatism, but I take your point re the difference between the more individualistic liberal feminism and socialist feminism. I guess the subtext of my post is that tories make very good use of ambiguous concepts in their pursuit and defence of power, wherever they garner them from.
I guess the subtext of my post is that tories make very good use of ambiguous concepts in their pursuit and defence of power, wherever they garner them from.
Indeed they do. But also, the right can be challenged via their own conflicts and contradictions: e.g. the uneasy relationship between neo-liberal libertarians, neo-conservatives and old style nationalistic conservatives.
PS: while Dickens did throw some light on class inequalities, I think he was more of an individualistic liberal than a socialist.
In other words, they lie through ambiguity. Use words that sound supportive of democracy and freedom while meaning the exact opposite.
“To me you seem to have a one-dimensional, uni-linear view of history, which starts with the 60s (maybe the 50s), and where boomers were the prime-instigators of all that followed.”
…as you say “We’ve been here before, fatty,”…and you know that I have said before that the boomers obsession on social liberalisation was a response to oppressive social conservatism. I have never had a problem with boomers movements for social liberalisation (I am glad that changed)…but I have blamed boomers for economic liberalisation.
“I see history more as a series of struggles with some progressive changes as the result of grass-roots agitation from below, followed by various backlashes and attempts by the dominant elites to regain the hegemony (h/t to Gramsci).”
I agree…that is a good description of what has been happening. If we want that to keep on happening, then we are heading down the right track.
But we need to put the work of past theorists in perspective.Marxist theory is good for pointing out power inequalities, but it was also developed largely before the TINA mantra became embedded in our psyche, so it is not much use for moving forward. It was more useful when there was another option to capitalism. To apply a Marxist perspective within a capitalist system is perpetuating hegemony, not challenging it. I think Gramsci would focus on attacking capitalism if he were alive today…so he would be critical of the direction and achievements of the 60s & 70s feminists. My guess is he would be critical of how social ideals within the feminist movement liberalised economics.
I see the ‘good vs bad’ framing as often being detrimental when striving for social justice, and its a bit one-dimensional for me
“”The feminist movement not bad itself, it was needed, but its outcome has been a disaster. Women may have found greater degree of freedom, but many are now incarcerated by our economic system…many of them went from one kind of oppression to another.”
–This is right Fatty, although the elites will not view the feminist movement as a disaster, given that they funded it, I can be reasonable certain that the likely outcomes of feminism will have been well understood in advance. The real trick lies in fooling people into believing it was an “organic” movement!
A disaster it has certainly been for the masses on balance, and using stats to show its been a success (if thats possible), would be moot, as the evidence of its failure for the majority is all around us. This is not a comment agsinst the womans rights, which were necessary to have changed/improved, my commentary is only about the vehicle which was “used”, in order to achieve known outcomes!
Where the real trick comes in, is in that for those who buy into “any given movement”, is to sell it as something it was never going to be, so once the true outcomes/consequences come become apparant, those who climbed into the movement, with all good intentions do not see themselves as having contributed to, what is, as you say a huge failure! This technique can be applied to any/all movements, and its easy to see the play book repeated for those groups you refer, and many others!
The basic premise behind engineering outcomes, is to use groups by “selling” a product which to who know they will buy into. Once buy in has been achieved, you can then direct the journey, hence the outcomes
Its all very simple, if only in that, being able to know how to understand human beings, and the fundamental desires we all share. The elites have been studying humanity since day 1, and as such they are almost completey able to sell night as day
Lack of self awareness provides elites the space, to continue to execute such transparent plans, egos and narcissism provide the blockages to people seeing through them!
Unbelievable!… needless to say, I do not agree with this flight of fantasy, having been involved in the movement, where the elites did their best to undermine it, through police suppression etc, etc.
Hi Carol, in no way are my comments aimed at any individual.
Who has really gained the most from the movement…I mean the majority of the benefits, not the bits and pieces. Woman did make some (deserved) ground, if thats what it was all about, but the elites have benefitted in multiple ways, and society/families/communites look as though they lost overwhelmingly.
As I said…night as day, outcomes known!
muzza, the most recent outcomes are not evidence of what the movement was about, nor of who supported it in it’s main activities and activism. As I’ve said above, it’s part of a long struggle. The stuff you are alluding to is just part of the way the elites have since appropriated part of the movement (and other movements), in their strive to regain control and maintain power.
There has been some appropriation and commodification of feminism by the wealthy powerful pollies and corporates since the 80s. This was part of a backlash that also included demonising the women’s movement proper, then cherry-picked the parts of it most acceptable to the elites molded it into a saleable kind of feminism (see Madonna).
You may not mean to, but with your line of argument you are just buying into this dismissal, demonisation and belittling re-packaging of the wider feminist movement.
I don’t think it is in any way true that the products of neoliberalism are the result of feminism. The latest outcomes of feminism, as far as I’m concerned, are greater recognition of (and resistance to) rape culture, a wee bit of paid parental leave, and a kick-arse new generation of young feminists.
And my life has benefited enormously from the last hundred years of the women’s movement.
+100 js.
It never ceases to amaze me though, that women (and any other group that manages to grab a bit of power) is seen as an amorphous blob that should act differently to the traditional power – in our society white rich men.
Clearly there are a range of opinions and practices that are taken for granted in men, even the rich white ones, we have business leaders, community leaders, stay at home daddies… all sorts. Yet women, Maori and whoever else are meant to be this righteous touchy-feely group walking around with one aim to change/protect the world and save the powers that be from themselves. If that doesn’t happen the movement is seen as a failure.
The very fact that some from the group have a business bias gives people who have never had a vested interest in the movement an ‘I told you so’ moment when that is not the case at all.
And my life has benefited enormously from the last hundred years of the women’s movement.
Ah, indeed, it has been a long period of struggle, with many gains, but also setbacks, periods of progress, of consolidation, and of viscous backlashes.
I think a linear perspective doesn’t really show how there have been some long term gains for feminists. Often its 2 steps forward and one step back… or 1 forward and 2 back. That is why feminism is talked about as occurring in waves.
First wave feminists, around the turn of the 19th to 20th century, raised and agitated for a wide rang of issues, but in popular history, it has been relegated to a narrow struggle over votes by middle/upper class women.
In fact, what many 2nd wave feminists learned was that, on further investigation, a lot of the issues they were struggling for, had already been taken up by 1st wave feminists….. but then a lot of it was written out of mainstream history, and popular knowledge.
Many 1st wave feminists were agitating for a complete transformation of society, with a broad change in gender roles and relationships, in the family, in work etc. Though in the US and UK, there was a dominant liberal strand, there were also socialist feminist strands, and activism by and for working class and black women. In the UK and Europe, there were a lot of the same strands, but there was more focus on class struggles.
Many of these ideas were taken up again with each successive wave of feminism, debated, reworked and new ways sought to continue the struggles. And still we continue…..
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/6236_Chapter_1_Krolokke_2nd_Rev_Final_Pdf.pdf
See for instance, Charlotte Krolokke & Anne Scott Sorenson, Gender, Communication Theories and Analysis (2005)
It was a long struggle to get feminist, ‘race’ and LGBT issues to be taken seriously within the left…. and still that struggle continues it seems.
Thanks for the link carol…I don’t dispute those goals of 2nd wave feminism. But I still see 2nd wave feminism as being one of the key ingredients in the evolution of neoliberalism.
Nancy Fraser critiques what 2nd wave feminism has transformed into…she notes the links between neoliberalism and feminism….and suggests there needs to be more discussion around to what degree did second wave feminism produce neoliberalism. As she says:
“Was it mere coincidence that second-wave feminism and neoliberalism prospered in tandem? Or was there some perverse, subterranean selective affinity between them? That second possibility is heretical, to be sure, but we fail to investigate it at our peril” (pg 108)
Here is Nancy in a radio interview explaining the article…@25mins is where it gets interesting, but the whole thing is worth listening to.
http://www.againstthegrain.org/program/274/id/041516/wed-1-27-10-feminism-and-neoliberalism
Nancy’s article (Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning of History) can be downloaded here: http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/faculty.aspx?id=10288
“You may not mean to, but with your line of argument you are just buying into this dismissal, demonisation and belittling re-packaging of the wider feminist movement.”
I completely refuse that…I won’t speak on Muzza’s behalf, but as for me, pointing out mistakes is not the same as “just buying into this dismissal, demonisation and belittling re-packaging of the wider feminist movement”. That’s the same as someone bagging Labour and then being called a RWNJ…when in fact they think Labour is too neoliberal.
I am saying that the feminist movement has been misdirected and an overall failure…not a complete failure. Nobody here is trying to frame feminism in pure binary terms as either good, or bad
If we look at how women are still treated in society, then we must be critical of feminism.
Feminism has not been able to challenge modern capitalism, and for the most part has not even attempted to challenge thirdway/neoliberalism.
“the most recent outcomes are not evidence of what the movement was about, nor of who supported it in it’s main activities and activism.”
Today’s outcomes are evidence that feminism has missed the point. I don’t oppose the goals of feminism, or the movement, or the people involved…I oppose how they attempted to achieve them.
In my opinion feminists need to strongly resist capitalism…alongside environmentalist, the Maori movement, unions and anyone else concerned over social injustice.
It’s worth pointing out that not all feminists are socialists or social democrats, so blaming feminism for not preventing neoliberalism is a bit like bagging the women’s health lobby for not championing male health causes – that wasn’t necessarily what it set out to do.
Many feminists (most in my experience) however, are against neoliberalism and are involved in activisim on a a number of political fronts in addition to feminism.
Unfortunately, to date, those opposed to neoliberalism, including socialist feminists, haven’t had the numbers.
Today’s outcomes are evidence that feminism has missed the point. I don’t oppose the goals of feminism, or the movement, or the people involved…I oppose how they attempted to achieve them
Explicitly what outcomes and what methods are you criticising here?
If we look at how women are still treated in society, then we must be critical of feminism
Maybe the problem has been about the resistance to feminism, and again, the lack of numbers of feminists, rather than feminism itself. This is a bit like blaming, for example, prison reform activists for the terrible treatment of prisoners, rather than the perpertrators of the ill treatments, and people with the power the actually change things.
Finally, here is a link to the Hand Mirror, a blog of NZ socialist feminists. If you go back through the posts, you’ll find a wealth of activism on poverty, inequality, racism, heterosexism, etc. etc. Maybe this is the kind of feminism you could support.
http://thehandmirror.blogspot.co.nz/
Thanks, just saying. Well said!
The Hand Mirror does a good job in putting discussion and information out there on various important issues.
“It’s worth pointing out that not all feminists are socialists or social democrats, so blaming feminism for not preventing neoliberalism is a bit like bagging the women’s health lobby for not championing male health causes – that wasn’t necessarily what it set out to do.”
Its not like that at all…’male health causes’ is not a system that will constrict women’s health. But neoliberalism is a system which resists and constricts feminist’s aims/goals.
“Explicitly what outcomes and what methods are you criticising here?”
The method is that feminism has been aiming to make a more gender-equal capitalism, but capitalism is a sexist-system. (i know its not all feminists accept capitalism)
There are social outcomes – single mothers are stigmatized and this will get worse as the economy continues to stagnate. Women’s bodies are more sexualised than ever before, its a result of capitalism. That’s consumerism and advertising. Gender stereotyping around unpaid work still exists, even though many women work as well. etc
economic outcomes – Women have been used for ‘flexibility’, poor wages, temporary work. Consumerism is aimed at women, to make money for men. Top job’s with power is often just tokenism. White men controlled resources 100 years ago, not much has changed. We still use childbirth as an excuse to force women into poverty. Women are disproportionally affected by capitalist crises, etc
Those outcomes are difficult to improve under capitalism. My critique of feminism, culturalism, environmentalism and other identity politics is not their demands, because I support them…its when there methodology is trying to achieve them under thridway/neoliberalism/capitalism
yeah, handmirror is good…I like reading QOT on http://ideologicallyimpure.wordpress.com/
Lack of self-awareness
Your problem on this issue in a nutshell Muzza.
“And my life has benefited enormously from the last hundred years of the women’s movement”
–JS – Unfortunately you showed your bias in the above comment, which is where the lack of self awareness I refer to comes in.
Very few people are able to disassociate themselves from their bias in order that they can be neutral on a topic which has touched them directly..
@ Carol, I also refute your comment – Fatty’s response to it, covers off the main reason for me around complexity, and why its not simply a case of 2 dimensional thought!
I to heard this segment on about 8.40 am. Caravans have mushroomed in Sth Auckland in the last 36 months. 14 day notices to remove them or else a Tenancy Tribunal hearing. 15 – 25 people crammed into a dwelling. The way HNZ is being run, it is a NATIONAL DISGRACE.
What is going to happen with the people housed in the caravans?
The only solution I can come up with and it is a bad one, is to open up a HNZ caravan park.
A relative who recently applied told me that HNZ sent them to WINZ for WINZ to do an assessment and they were told that they did not qualify for HNZ housing. What a load of BS as I qualified last September and I am in a better financial situation than my relative and her health is a bit worse than mine and we live in the same region. Basically they were told that they have a flat to live in.
What is going on with WINZ doing HNZ assessments?
Are WINZ topping up the benefit using TAS for accommodation (renewal required every three months) more than they used to, to disguise the shortage in housing?
Who are they and why are desperate people not being housed by HNZ?
Thank-you, Treetop, for that info. It’s a disgraceful situation! And, in the long-run, is bad for all of us, not just those suffering most.
Something did not quite seem right about WINZ doing HNZ assessments so I have done some checking. It turns out that a person from HNZ comes into the WINZ office regularly.
faaaarking check this shit out:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/04/jubilee-pageant-unemployed
…long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards during the diamond jubilee celebrations and told to sleep under London Bridge before working on the river pageant.
Perhaps there were not any beds available. Have a look around Christchurch after an earhquake. At least it was Summer.
Some people are habitual complainers.
Indeed. Ungrateful sods should have been grateful just doing their unpaid duty. Free trip to the city on top.
You would complain as well if you weren’t paid and told to sleep under a bridge.
And some people are habitually blind to the truth.
Are you serious? I do hope not, but I fear that you are. Words fail me… 🙁
Here is a nice bit of gossip you won’t find in the News papers
After John Key’s surprise of signing a partnership with NATO he will have dinner with Prime Minister Harper of Canada who will arrive fresh from the 2012 Bilderberg meeting in Virginia at the pad of another known Bilderberger Prime Minister Cameron. Still feel John Key has the best interests of New Zealanders at heart?
“”We want to be even more closely connected with countries that are also willing to contribute to global security, where we all have a stake.”
–All sounds very caring…I wonder what we have be signed into now, my someone who does not have the authority to sign us up for….Maybe the lawyers on here, can explain just where the authority originates from!
One word. Bilderberg!
Who is Bilderberg and what do they do? Maybe I just google or wiki it …
Oh, just the top couple of hundred of the world’s heads of industry, banking, and government meeting in secret annually for the last 50 years by invitation only and with zero media attention and zero accountability.
Nothing to worry about.
Its not likely that a group made up of so many “influencial” people, is simply having a get together, but given that there is much spotlight on it these days, it would not surprise me if its become a smoke screen.
What is certain, is that there is much which happens, be it at Bilderberg or elsewhere, that the peasants will never be allowed to know about, but which will greatly impact negatively, many!
People just need to take a look around the globe at the horrors being waged, via (all types of) wars, genetic engineering, domination of equities/commodities markets, and the resulting misery created by such entities as the I.C.E.
Its little more than a game of chess to the elite, and human lives simply expendable!
Without contradicting myself in 8.2, any gathering would have the subject of Greece leaving the EC and not repaying the borrowed euros. I think that Greece will revert back to their pre EC currency.
@ Treetop.
Here’s Max Kaiser talking to Hugo Salinas Price about Greece reverting to a silver standard.
Still feel John Key has the best interests of New Zealanders at heart?
Key only has self interest jetsetting around the globe and partying up in London using the Queen’s 60th Anniversary on the throne as an excuse.
Do you know where Gillard is?
She is currently in Australia running the country with a paper thin majority. Key needs to be in NZ sorting out HNZ, education, corporate fraud, ACC, EQC/insurance and John Banks.
“. . . surprise of signing a partnership with NATO . . . “
Oddly enough, this was foreseen on The Standard 3 years ago.
http://www.thestandard.org.nz/keys-to-do-list/
Good for you. Did you hear anything about let’s talk about this before we decide to join the biggest group of war criminals like a good democracy should have?
And it now appears that Vodafone is looking at buying out TelstraClear.
There it is again…Smells like more consolidation to me, which of course takes competition out of the market..
Argh, the sweet smell of the free market /sarc
“Police have confirmed they will not press charges against Bronwyn Pullar, the former National Party insider at the centre of a massive privacy breach at ACC.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/crime/news/article.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10810873
ACC chairman John Judge said:
”We’re completely satisfied that the report was correct and factual.
”Our staff at the meeting considered a threat had been made.”
So his staff felt intimidated by the two well dressed (no doubt) intelligent and articulate women sitting in front of them. Political bias aside, how dare two well dressed, intelligent etc. women confront his ‘sensitive wee souls’ and make then cry. Hilarious.
And what will the consequences be for ACC spouting BS about Pullar?
A Labour/Greens coalition on the cards
The current averaged polling shows that a Labour/Greens coalition at 54 seats could potentially govern alone… And a Labour/Green/Mana/NZFirst coalition on 65 seats would easily beat a Nat/UF/Maori coalition on 56 seats…
http://rt.com/usa/news/megaupload-us-court-rothken-964/
It does appear that our Attorney and Solicitor Generals just took the US Government’s word that we could proceed with the illegal raid and detention of a NZ citizen and seize that citizen’s business.
I imagine the NZ end of the phone call went something like this: “Hi guys, how’s Virginia?”-” Sweet bro, what can we do for y’all?”- ” Arrest who”, oh yeah Johnny said he’s a fun guy. What is he charged with?” – “oh ok, but doesn’t MegaUpload run out of Hong Kong?” – ” You don’t care about international law anymore? So, ummm, moving on, and under what law exactly is the warrant to be processed?” – ” you will add the law later? i guess that’s ok then, we’ll meet with him at his offices in a few days ” – ” woah chill dude, you want us to what? raid his house and round the whole family up with automatic weapons and dogs and flashbangs?? Isn’t that a bit of an over reaction to what is really a white collar crime?” – ” it isn’t, oh our bad then! No problem, we’ll nab the evildoer for ya, scratch our back on the TPP eh?”-” what do you mean we better just do what you say and cut the backchat? (unclear noises emanate from the ninth floor) yes Sir, right away sir, consider it done.” endcall. the rest as they say is deleted history.
Aha. About right too freedom.
America, you have a problem.
Scary stuff. Thanks joe
ACC’s false police complaint against Bronwyn Pullar
Clearly the complaint to the Police was not made in good faith. ACC would have known that Bronwyn Pullar had not tried to blackmail them, as the recording would have categorically proven…
They didn’t have the recording to rely on when they laid the complaint, Jackal. They still don’t, as Camp Boag won’t let them have a copy. They went to the fuzz on the reports of the senior managers at the meeting, who felt they were subject to a shakedown. Maybe they got that wrong, but if it was an honestly held belief, then they had no choice but to go to the police. That’s ethical behaviour, even if they were mistaken.
I don’t expect the same ethical standards from a National Party hack though. Particularly when the target is the cornerstone of our workers’ health and safety and a world leader in worker’s accident comp resolution and rehab. And it’s ours, Jackal. Yours and mine. It’s a public entity, delivering 100% for the public good. Which the advocate at the centre of this issue is 100% opposed to. Cui bono, Jackal?
You make a good point Te Reo Putake, in that all of this is damaging ACC, which is in my opinion what National want the most. If the devious little Nats can damage ACC enough, they think the public will be more accepting of privatisation.
But there cannot be any question about senior management making false claims about Bronwyn Pullar trying to blackmail ACC. It’s not ethical behaviour when they knew a false police complaint was being made… That’s a serious crime, and somebody in ACC should be held to account.
In what way is it a false complaint? How could they know that the tape does not contain a specific threat that meets the test for prosecution if they don’t have a copy? They relied on the recollections and judgement of their managers and obviously still do. Laying the complaint was the right thing to do.
You’re arguing that senior managers don’t know what blackmail is, and perhaps that they were not aware that a false police complaint was being made… I find both contentions rather spurious! ACC doesn’t need to have the recording to know if the claims of blackmail are true… because they were at the meeting with Boag and Pullar.
I don’t think it’s mere forgetfulness or improper judgement by senior ACC staff… as they promoted the claims of blackmail. There has been no attempt to retract the claims, or requirement to do so by the Minister of ACC, Judith Collins, even after what the tape recording contained became public knowledge.
You don’t simply misconstrue what somebody means when they try to blackmail. ACC even made claims about what Pullar said, which if true would have been blackmail. The law is very clear, you cannot fabricate evidence by any means. If you knowingly allow somebody else to make a false statement, you are conspiring to bring false accusation.
The punishment for somebody who commits blackmail is imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 14 years. A person who conspires to bring false accusation against somebody for blackmail faces the same sentence.
Blackmail? Says who? ACC reported what appeared to be an attempt to coerce senior management to the police, not a case of blackmail. Its the cops who decide what charges are made, if any, not ACC. Its blackmail when the cops say it is. Not that I think ACC ever said it was anyway.
Look, Jackal, I’m not trying to make a big deal out of your buying the Boag line, just pointing out the nature of the person promoting the attack on ACC your post supports and the political implications that flow from trusting that quarter.
You would expect ACC to gain legal advice, before making a police complaint. I don’t think you can make a complaint concerning coercion in New Zealand, unless it’s to do with trafficking in people.
It’s not legally known as coercion… It’s known as blackmail. ACC claimed that Ms Pullar threatened to go to the media about the privacy breach unless she was given a two year guaranteed benefit… the law would class that as blackmail and the police would normally require a complaint to conform to the law.
What the? I don’t trust Boag, and have not purchased her line. Even if I did, there are no political implications. I trust what is on the tape and simply don’t by into all the faction bullshit that is being spun. I think this is about ACC bullying a claimant, which happens all too regularly these days.
According to this stuff article, Puller provided ACC with a tape recording of the meeting in April. It also says ACC’s lawyers and chief executive Ralph Stewart were sent a transcript of the tape recording.
I don’t recall the time lines involved so in the first instance ACC may have laid the police complaint before knowing the content of the recording. But they have had a chance to listen/read since. It seems strange to me they havn’t altered their stance given, we have been told, there was no evidence of coercion/blackmail (call it what you will) on that tape.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7045339/No-extortion-charges-against-ACC-whistleblower
That’s not the case, Anne. Boag has never supplied a copy of the tape to ACC, though a single ACC staffer was allowed to listen to it one time only. Not a lawyer, either.
Cui bono, Jackal?
Yes, I worry about what Pullar and Boag’s agenda is here. It looks to be based in a c0ck-up by ACC, but, I think there’s some opportunism there from the Key/Nact fan club.
And all the c0ck-ups etc are as likely to be from problems to do with underfunding of ACC, and, more recently, in manipulating it for privatisation, as from the basic premise of ACC serving the people.
The scandal is having a devastating effect on ACC:
Some fun.
http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/
..so here’s my mother (74), this morning, lying on the bed in the treatment room of her GP, (soon to be diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the local hospital) about to get an ECG. While desperately trying to get some air into her lungs, gets told by the person conducting the ECG, “We notice that you don’t owe us any money so you will be able to pay this off in installments.”
WTF!
“People make a mess”
Like the character Nick Taylor in the movie, ‘Thank You For Smoking’
Self admitted “Oil lobbyist”, David Robinson is a highly paid apologist for the fossil fuel lobby.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10810727
Robinson’s job is to counter the environmental movement on one hand, and encourage the big investors to put money into expanding mining, drilling and fracking on the other.
We, Robinson’s opponents, need to make our opposition, ‘highly visible to these same big players overseas’, – to discourage them.
Painting himself as an admirer of the Green Movement, Robinson’s smooth veneer only starts to slip at the mention of the high profile campaign against fracking.
Robinson keeps a USB stick in his pocket in defence of fracking. But concedes he wouldn’t want fracking anywhere near where he would personally live. And of course he won’t have to, with the salary he is on. Just as those who invest in coal mining never have to touch the stuff. No doubt, Robinson will make sure that he lives as far away from the results of his day job advocacy, as possible.
In a parting piece of apologist misdirection, Robinson tries to get the spotlight off oil and gas and coal mining, to the pollution created in cities. “People make a mess.” he says.
How much do kiwis really know about their PM?
What are his hobbies and interests?
Does he have any?
He drinks beer, makes money, tells non-PC jokes and likes to big note about the vips he meets. Seems like there are not many people who need to know more.
That’s about all I could think of too. I ask because I just saw some footage of Lange indulging his passion for motor racing.
It occurred to me that Key, by contrast, would be on the sidelines drinking. And gambling, probably.
He has his swimming pool. He played squash when he was young.
Oh – he did learned to play golf when he was a boy because rich people play golf. Not that I’ve any knowledge that he actually does that on his days off… agree he’d be on the sidelines drinking.
Obviously we don’t follow/read the right media:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10697001
And his daughter?
So plays golf…..
Or does he?
http://www.wildtomato.co.nz/articles/key-to-the-kingdom-%E2%80%93-john-key-tells-his-story.aspx
Huh?
Oh, well, pah for the course… JK seems to give a different answer to the hobby question to each person who asks.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/6323625/John-Key-likely-to-visit-Parachute
But some people think JK’s hobby is being a PM.
“some people think JK’s hobby is being a PM”
😀