Open mike 05/07/2014

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 5th, 2014 - 83 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

openmike Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

83 comments on “Open mike 05/07/2014 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. ropata 1
    5 July 2014 at 7:39 am

    NZH (Phil Taylor) has written a fairly substantial bio of David Cunliffe.
    Turns out DC is related to “King Dick” Seddon!

    • marty mars 1.1
      5 July 2014 at 8:09 am

      Yes a very interesting read and perfect timing. This imo is where the turning point occurs – after the courageous apology and the informative backstory to his life. This is where the deliberate denigration of David Cunliffe, by some, ends and the real man and what he has to offer begins in earnest. This is where the left gain momentum and go on to win the election. This is the time and the place, this is our time and place.

      • The Lone Haranguer 1.1.1
        5 July 2014 at 8:18 am

        Its a good read and humanises Cunliffe well. He needed it.

        I understand that the “apology thing” is just him chanelling Helen Clarke who also apologised for stuff in our history that she didnt personally do (the historical mistreatment of Chinese immigrants from memory), and that worked for her, but Im not sure that men should apologise for having a willie and being “potential rapists” and woman beaters.

      • Colonial Viper 1.1.2
        5 July 2014 at 8:32 am

        Yay more softe media please! MOAR!

      • ropata 1.1.3
        5 July 2014 at 9:01 am

        Voted by classmates at Atlantic College (themselves some pretty amazing kids from round the world) as the most likely to become a world leader.

        From an average background, with some difficult circumstances, DC is pretty much the definitive tall poppy. I think he tries to moderate the intellectual stuff when speaking publicly, but you can tell the guy is something special

    • karol 1.2
      5 July 2014 at 9:03 am

      Just started reading it but this?

      After 12 years in parliament he came to reconsider that choice following a bruising failed attempt to unseat Labour leader David Shearer which saw him sent to the Siberia of the back benches with another shot at the leadership not even on the distant horizon.

      How many more times is this non-truth going to be repeated?

      • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1
        5 July 2014 at 1:27 pm

        As long as the NZHerald sees it as a way to put scorn upon Cunliffe I suppose.

    • Chooky 1.3
      5 July 2014 at 9:11 am

      Thanks for that biography…really interesting …David Cunliffe will make great Prime Minister!

    • DH 1.4
      5 July 2014 at 12:20 pm

      I’ve been wondering what the underlying narrative would be and it looks to be ambition. We’re all ambitious to some extent or other but to be labelled ‘ambitious’ is often synomymous with being called untrustworthy; climb over corpses to reach the top etc. Few people in the workplace like openly ambitious people, they’re either after your job or they’ll sack you in a minute to prove themselves.

      Possibly I’m wrong but I do know that ‘ambitious’ is a pejorative term to many people.

    • freedom 1.5
      5 July 2014 at 12:22 pm

      It was a good read and for contrast in the writing style you can see the 2008 bio-piece the NZH did on John Key, which magically re-appeared on the NZH pages today. It has not been updated and still has all those unanswered questions about the time lines not adding up amid other historical grey areas.

      oh dear I forgot to include the link 😉

  2. ropata 2
    5 July 2014 at 7:48 am

    Shaping up to be a nice weekend in Auckland, if a bit windy
    http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/auckland/auckland-central

  3. Clean_power 3
    5 July 2014 at 7:57 am

    The debate over David Cunliffe’s comments continue. His advisors and speechwriters are failing him badly, very badly.

  4. ropata 4
    5 July 2014 at 8:03 am

    If You Want To Be Successful, Learn How To Steal

    Stealing is not bad as long as you steal the right things.

    …

    If you steal things, they will last until they are used up.

    If you steal money, it will last until you spend it all.

    If you steal power, one day you will lose it.

    If you steal fame, one day it will fade.

    If you steal people, they will last until someone else steals their hearts.

    ….

    If you steal knowledge, it will be with you until your last breath.

    • Lance Peterson 4.1
      5 July 2014 at 9:24 am

      Yea Kim Dot Com knows all about this

      • Molly 4.1.1
        5 July 2014 at 11:30 am

        Lance, do you actually have any idea what the charge against him is?

        And explain what was the difference between MegaUpload (which was non-searchable) and YouTube? Both are file storage services.

    • Lanthanide 4.2
      5 July 2014 at 11:07 am

      Obviously this is supposed to be sentimental self-improvement clap-trap etc, but you generally don’t actually steal knowledge, just like you can’t steal digital files. All you generally do is copy it.

      • ropata 4.2.1
        5 July 2014 at 11:19 am

        I was also thinking of banksters who steal elections, but yeah it can be applied to the dodgy german as well

  5. Rodel 5
    5 July 2014 at 8:16 am

    Previously uncommitted voter friends tell me they are starting to think that Cunliffe will be a much better PM than Key. Nicer person and heaps more intelligent. Good to hear.

  6. bad12 6
    5 July 2014 at 8:17 am

    Asset sales cash to be used for new Schools and Hospitals, Riii-ght,

    $7 million of asset sales cash to be used to fix leaking doors, windows, and, the roof of the Parliament,

    $5 million of asset sales cash to be used chasing the 20-30,000 escapees of the US tax system living in New Zealand, not for taxes owed to the NZ Government, for taxes owed to the US Government,

    $23 million for the cost of New Zealand’s membership to the World Bank that because of the tax switch our Government can no longer find in its Budget,

    Its a swindle…

    Source: NZHerald.

  7. bad12 7
    5 July 2014 at 9:03 am

    The secret life of Plants,

    http://www.pri.org/new-research-plant-intelligence-may-forever-change-how-you-think-about-plants

    The Google is, if as usual my link fails to work:
    New research on plant intelligence may forever change the way you think.

    A much longer read, but more informative is this:
    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/12/23/131223fa_fact_pollan?…all

    The Google for the above:
    Micheal Pollan: How smart are plants: The New Yorker.

    Plants, able to manufacture up to 3000 chemical compounds as a reaction to outside stimulation???,
    Plants, able to respond to introduced circumstances that do not directly effect them???,

    Do Plants have the capacity to ‘think’ even while possessing no identifiable central nervous system or ‘brain’,

    Even the simple beanstalk experiment that anyone can do at home would tend to strongly suggest that Yes, Plants have the capability to recognize and react to situations that do not physically effect them,

    In a bucket grow a beanstalk,
    At six inches of growth,(excuse the old measurements),introduce in another bucket of soil a 2 meter upright bamboo stake and sit it next to the bucket the beanstalk grows in,

    As the video in the link shows, your beanstalk will ”recognize” the introduced bamboo stake and begin a series of growth spurts all the while casting like a fly fisherman, trying to connect with the bamboo stake,

    Next,befor the beanstalk can grasp the bamboo stake, take the experiment another step, Remove the bucket of soil holding the bamboo stake and watch what the beanstalk does,

    Again take the experiment one step further, two days after you removed the bucket with the Bamboo stake, reintroduce it, But, this time place the bucket with the bamboo stake directly opposite to its previous position in relation to the bean stalk,

    Watch what the beanstalk then proceeds to do, after that tell me that Plants have no ability to ”think”…

  8. Awww 8
    5 July 2014 at 9:19 am

    Safe Care who operate the rape crisis lines in ChCh are closing due to a $30K shortfall.

    Listening to the RadioNZ article right at the end the comment is made that the shortfall (in support service for rape victims) will need to be taken up by Victim Support. What it doesn’t say is that Victim Support, however well intended are not trained specifically for sexual violence. I can’t stress how damaging untrained people attempting this will be.

    Is there anyone out there who may be able to help this organisation?

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2602097/christchurch%27s-only-rape-crisis-callout-service-to-close

    • miravox 8.1
      5 July 2014 at 10:37 am

      Maybe the people who say they’re not part of the problem might want to think about being part of the solution? That should pull in enough money if they all put up $10.

      For inspiration, you good guys, Hell’s Pizza donated $10,000 for Wellington Rape Crisis a few years ago after an offensive post (and put staff through sexual violence awareness training). All credit to them. I reckon the with the number of people offended by Cunliffe’s personal statement, putting $10 in should top that.

  9. RTM 9
    5 July 2014 at 9:27 am

    Ngati Koroki sculptor Brett Graham commemorates the 150th anniversary of NZ’s most important war: http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/ozymandias-on-great-south-road-three.html

    • ORAVIDA CHAIRMAN STONE SHI 9.1
      5 July 2014 at 11:48 am

      There was a great part on The Nation where the live feed didn’t work and we were treated to a prolonged scene of an oblivious Patrick Gower staring into the camera and going DUHHHHHHH.

      ANOTHER MONSTER GAFFE FROM GOWER

      CAN HE BE TRUSTED?

      IS IT TIME TO RESIGN???????

    • ropata 9.2
      5 July 2014 at 12:21 pm

      Great blog, thanks for sharing. Subscribed.
      I’m a Papakura kid by way of Te Awamutu, Otorahanga and Puhoi … appreciate all the bits of history you have unearthed

  10. David H 10
    5 July 2014 at 9:37 am

    Gower the wanna be. On the The Nation. Trying to make himself the story yet again.

    • karol 10.1
      5 July 2014 at 9:55 am

      Gower, wannabe player. He’s not an interviewer, but aims to be a participant in a sparring match.

      Cunlliffe stood strong and stated his political positions and policies well.

  11. David H 11
    5 July 2014 at 10:06 am

    Unauthorised biography of David Cunliffe: The man who would be PM
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11285307

    And not a hatchet in sight. And a bloody good read to ‘boot’. Maybe the bad ‘press’ the Granny has been getting has given them pause for thought..

    • Karen 11.1
      5 July 2014 at 10:35 am

      I wish that was true but next week Key cheerleader Claire Trevett will be writing the political years, and I am sure she is being supplied with all the hatchets she needs to make David look untrustworthy. Had it been written by Audrey Young there would be a chance of a balanced portrayal, but not with Trevett.

      • Hami Shearlie 11.1.1
        5 July 2014 at 11:28 am

        I thought the same thing – it will be a load of vicious shallow tripe served up by Chef Claire next week, you can bet on that! I think the subscriptions to the Herald will be taking a dive from now on, it has become a joke – I won’t be renewing mine when it expires very soon!

    • Jilly Bee 11.2
      5 July 2014 at 1:35 pm

      Yes, it was a good and interesting read. I gave a long sigh when I read at the end of the piece that Whale Oil had published Karen Price’s client list, I was initially angered by that, but sadly not surprised.

      • karol 11.2.1
        5 July 2014 at 1:38 pm

        I didn’t see a reference to WO publishing that list? has anyone ever published Slater’s client list?

        • Jilly Bee 11.2.1.1
          5 July 2014 at 2:10 pm

          Hi Karol – I’ve been searching (unsuccessfully) the on-line Herald for the extra piece on page A27, entitled ‘The son of a preacher is still on a mission – his wife is the rock’. The piece is about Karen Price’s role, which ‘is to provide the oasis from the political storm’. ‘He has a thick skin, but politics bruises families too. One son came home from school in tears because a kid called his father “a loser”; she lost clients when Cunliffe became leader. Blogger Whaleoil published her client list and “some clients don’t want to have to live with that sort of thing”.’

  12. phillip ure 12
    5 July 2014 at 10:16 am

    bryce edwards is talking absolute shite…

    ..gobsmacking shite..

    ..willie jackson then calls him out for being incomprehensible..

    ..heh..!

    • phillip ure 12.1
      5 July 2014 at 10:28 am

      heh..!,,

      ..he then piles on more..telling edwards he ‘doesn’t know what he is talking about!’..

      ..good to see that bullshit-artist being called out..

      • The Al1en 12.1.1
        5 July 2014 at 10:45 am

        If you’re talking gob smacking sh!te, little willie leads the pack.

        Do you forget his part in the roastbusters case?
        The bit where he questions the victim about her own sexual habits and dress sense and asked why she was out late at night drinking and at what age she lost her virginity.

        On a day when the lead post here is men need to own domestic and sexual violence 🙄
        Just like vietch, willie and john are pariahs to me.

    • Bearded Git 12.2
      5 July 2014 at 5:20 pm

      Bryce Edwards is starting to get up my nose-slagging off Labour ALL the time.

  13. phillip ure 13
    5 July 2014 at 10:41 am

    “..Colorado has proved that legalising cannabis works..

    In just six months the state has raised millions in tax revenue –

    • and seen a fall in crime..”

    (cont..)

    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/colorado-has-proved-that-legalising-cannabis-works-so-its-about-time-we-let-the-uk-get-high-9582714.html

    • bad12 13.1
      5 July 2014 at 11:08 am

      Alert Alert, Vegan Doper supports mutilation and murder of Plants solely for His own pleasure…

    • greywarbler 13.2
      5 July 2014 at 12:28 pm

      I liked this bit phillip
      The state’s governor, John Hickenlooper, predicts that sales of the drug will reach $1bn in the next fiscal year, raising almost $134m in tax revenue. Arrests for drug-related crimes and the murder rate have also halved, and tens of thousands of people have found work in the state’s burgeoning cannabis market.
      and
      When laws are widely flouted they cease to be laws and instead become instruments to punish certain members of society. When the government sacks its chief drug adviser for stating scientific facts it exposes itself as arrogant and unheeding. When billions are pumped into prohibition without producing any significant reduction in drug use – during a period of austerity no less – it makes a mockery of our system of governance.
       (In the UK. Also in NZ BTW I believe Hickenlooper is the Governor’s real name.)

  14. Jrobin 14
    5 July 2014 at 12:12 pm

    Latest Roy Morgan interesting. National down to 48%. Seems Roy Morgan lost their Crosby Textor interpreter too ( the one who identified Greens climate policy as leading to drop when it had not been released during the polling period) RM Noted the Shiu incident hadn’t affected Labours polling. Though at 28 that is still concerning. Wait till the Education policy is absorbed hopefully this will turn the tide.

    • freedom 14.1
      5 July 2014 at 12:36 pm

      Do you mean the Liu incident?
      Shi is Key’s golfing buddy from Oravida who gave money to that nice charity.

  15. Draco T Bastard 15
    5 July 2014 at 12:22 pm

    The Cost of Continuously Checking Email

    Multitasking, as many studies have shown, is a myth. A more accurate account of what happens when we tell ourselves we’re multitasking is that we’re rapidly switching between activities, degrading our clarity and depleting our mental energy. And the consequences can be surprisingly serious . An experiment conducted at the University of London found that we lose as many as 10 IQ points when we allow our work to be interrupted by seemingly benign distractions like emails and text messages.

    And yet more and more employers are demanding that people be able to multi-task.

    • ropata 15.1
      5 July 2014 at 1:27 pm

      You can’t multi-task but there are ways of breaking down complex jobs and moving tasks around in a coherent way.. I use a kanban (scrum) board at work, it does help you focus.

      Whenever you are required to switch tasks, move the new task into the “work in progress” area, and move your current task(s) back to the “backlog” area. This makes it plainly obvious to your manager that adding a new task to your list slows progress on other things .

  16. Draco T Bastard 16
    5 July 2014 at 12:33 pm

    Key pushed a “steady as she goes” approach: the Reserve Bank had been reviewed three times and its direction judged generally correct; the economy needed to grow at 3 per cent a year for 10 years to be in a strong position.”

    hahahahahaha

    We’ve been growing the economy for ten years and we’re still not in a strong position and we never will be unless we change our economy and society from the disaster that the neo-liberal reforms have made of it. This bullshit from John Key stinks of the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

  17. greywarbler 17
    5 July 2014 at 12:50 pm

    Interesting bit of news that feeds my belief that the unlimited council budgets draw in wide boys who want to use public money, tax and ratepayers money, to fund pet projects that are not of great use to the public, often imposing large future costs. Or they might want to change laws that have been good for the public in the long run to ones that are good for he or she or they in the money-makers group in the short run.

    A former lawyer and Central Hawke’s Bay mayor who helped executives of a failed finance company steal $12.5 million has been sentenced to four years and nine months in jail.
    Hugh Hamilton was found guilty in May of 14 charges of theft by a person in a special relationship for his role in the collapse of Belgrave Finance in 2008.
    The collapse of the finance company left more than 1200 investors $22 million out of pocket.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/248936/former-mayor-jailed-on-theft-charges

  18. greywarbler 18
    5 July 2014 at 1:13 pm

    On Morning Report RNZ Friday 4 July.
    Despite a faster growing economy, the Treasury is demanding the Government keeps a tight grip on the purse strings.

    Yet Treasury also said that if the economy kept improving small tax cuts would be possible a day or so earlier. This was right after the usual information of not enough money for needed services, hospitals, a rape-crisis phone line FGS!

    • greywarbler 18.1
      5 July 2014 at 2:55 pm

      Another financial piece. From RNZ

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/248723/banking-ombudsman-warns-investors
      Deborah Battell…The Banking Ombudsman is cautioning investors in the wake of the global financial crisis.

      The Reserve Bank estimates the cost to investors of the almost 50 finance collapses up until 2011 at $5.9 billion, based on outstanding liabilities at the time of collapse.
      More than 170,000 investors are thought to have suffered losses.

      How many people in NZ have enough large sums of money saved who can invest like this. Perhaps half of those with discretionary money in NZ were affected, add to that the leaky homes debacle and others, and the NZ investment putea has been tapped and the goodies piped out to various other users. Really good example of a well-run country after the 1984 Extreme Improvement Team got started and was finessed by the 1990 National Improvement Team Services.

      • Colonial Viper 18.1.1
        5 July 2014 at 4:43 pm

        NZers have $90B in managed funds and a further $130B or so in household bank deposits. One single Auckland real estate company can sell $750M in AKL houses in a month.

        This is what makes me sick to the stomach when one Government or another says, there isn’t enough money for Super. There isn’t enough money to make benefits livable. There isn’t enough money for Rape Crisis. There isn’t enough money to give every young Kiwi a job.

        There fucking is so.

        TL:DR we’re being lied to by a power elite who benefit way too much from BAU.

        • Draco T Bastard 18.1.1.1
          5 July 2014 at 6:20 pm

          TL:DR we’re being lied to by a power elite who benefit way too much from BAU.

          QFT

    • Paul 19.1
      5 July 2014 at 2:02 pm

      Cunliffe may need them

      • Colonial Viper 19.1.1
        5 July 2014 at 2:06 pm

        Working with Winston is a preference to working with Laila Harre and Hone….? Not sure who this message is directed to in the electorate, or why.

        • Lanthanide 19.1.1.1
          5 July 2014 at 6:42 pm

          “Not sure who this message is directed to in the electorate, or why.”

          All the people who absolutely hate Hone and think he’s a racist, and hate Dotcom and think he’s a thief. Which is a sizeable chunk of mainstream NZ.

          • Colonial Viper 19.1.1.1.1
            5 July 2014 at 6:48 pm

            +1

          • millsy 19.1.1.1.2
            5 July 2014 at 8:00 pm

            Plus with NZ1 and the Greens, it is a case of “going with what you know”.

            A Green/NZF/Labour government with MIP on the cross benches, finding their way around parliament wouldnt be a bad thing though….Harre should know from her experience in the Alliance that going into Coalition can mean getting hugged to death. IMO The MP and ACT got more from National in their arrangements than the Alliance got from Labour.

            Look at Charter Schools.

      • The Al1en 19.1.2
        5 July 2014 at 2:24 pm

        I did ask DC in the q and a session why mip is the last cab of the rank, but my question didn’t get answered.
        I suspect it’s because to mum and dad voters, Hone, dotcom or both, are tainted and to be avoided.
        Could also be that Winston will work with the Greens, but not mip.
        I guess it will all come out in the wash.

        • Pasupial 19.1.2.1
          5 July 2014 at 3:37 pm

          T Allen

          Your “question” on the Q&A was (at 3:46, comment 20 – I’ve gotta learn how to link):

          I agree with mana/internet being last cab off the rank, is the reason Hone, his association with dotcom or is it something else?

          Which was both leading, and late in the day; either might have been reason for Cunliffe to have ignored it. In response to my own query (at comment 6), he said:

          After the election I’ll talk with anyone committed to changing the Government. It’s fair to say that won’t include National, Act or Colin Craig’s group.

          I further note that the stuff article you link to above does not perclude IMP MPs as ministers outside of cabinet, and even on the crossbenches, they would have a chance to introduce legislation to the ballot.

          The question I find myself asking more and more these days is; where will the IMP get its votes from? If nonvoters and disillusioned right voters, then they are surely worth supporting as agents of governmental change. If their votes are merely gained at the expense of other left parties, then not so much.

          • The Al1en 19.1.2.1.1
            5 July 2014 at 4:31 pm

            I’m not convinced it was posted too late, but can’t deny leading.
            I don’t mind he didn’t answer either, and didn’t really expect him to given the subject, but he must have an answer.

          • Colonial Viper 19.1.2.1.2
            5 July 2014 at 6:34 pm

            Your “question” on the Q&A was (at 3:46, comment 20 – I’ve gotta learn how to link):

            The little blue font time stamp on each comment. Click on it. It centres your browser on that comment and makes the appropriate hyperlink appear in the browser address bar. Cut and paste that hyperlink wherever you need to link directly to the comment.

            • Lanthanide 19.1.2.1.2.1
              5 July 2014 at 6:44 pm

              Or right click on the timestamp and select “copy link address” (or similar, depending on your browser).

  20. karol 20
    5 July 2014 at 2:46 pm

    At the Nats conference recently, didn’t Key claim the Nats would be rolling out one policy a day up til the election? What happened with that?

    • blue leopard 20.1
      5 July 2014 at 2:50 pm

      Perhaps, along with their other inadequacies, they can’t count?

    • ianmac 20.2
      5 July 2014 at 3:53 pm

      Yes that was reported but probably in error. 90+ policies before the Election? Doubt it.
      Probably play cat and mouse. See you Labour and up you one.

    • Colonial Viper 20.3
      5 July 2014 at 6:31 pm

      didn’t Key claim the Nats would be rolling out one policy a day up til the election? What happened with that?

      What happened is that neither you or I get invitations to the Boardroom meetings where such policy is “rolled out”.

  21. Richard 21
    5 July 2014 at 8:26 pm

    The Conservative Party has made another gift to the gods of political comedy:
    http://stevetaylorfornewlynnresources.wordpress.com/

  22. greywarbler 22
    5 July 2014 at 8:58 pm

    RadioNZ listeners might hear something important tomorrow – Sunday – after the 9am news when Mediawatch details some changes.
    9:06 Mediawatch
    Mediawatch talks to RNZ’s boss about changes on the air and behind the scenes.
    (Note: Jim Mora is joining Mary Wilson on Checkpoint.)

    Bill’s brother Conor on the bum rap that farmers are getting. I heard a woman who is organising muck spreading on pastures and waterside planting instead of it going direct into the rivers, saying that the fuss about water is ‘political’!

    8:40 Conor English – On the Farm
    Conor English steps down from his role of Federated Farmers CEO later this month. He talks to Wallace about his background in rural Southland, how farming has changed – and discusses the bad rap farmers are getting over environmental issues.
    http://www.fedfarm.org.nz/

    And as many changes on Radionz as in National’s line up.
    Much loved broadcaster Peter Fry is retiring this week. Here is his farewell message:http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturdaynight
    AND
    Respected broadcaster Wayne Mowat retires this week. He recalls some highlights from his career:http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/waynesmusic

  23. fisiani 23
    5 July 2014 at 9:37 pm

    Graeme Edgeler ‏@GraemeEdgeler 8h
    @AndrewRiddell1 @dpfdpf it was clearly stated that the statement in the media release was Labour Policy: a rape defendant must prove consent

    Taken from Twitter.

    Changing from innocent till proved guilty to guilty till proved innocent is yet another reason not to vote Labour.

    • McFlock 23.1
      5 July 2014 at 9:50 pm

      lol
      google reckons kiwibog posted that 12 hours ago.
      You’re slipping.

      And I broke my rule and read the kb bs. The comment list had this gem:

      Graeme Edgeler (3,257 comments) says:
      July 5th, 2014 at 10:07 am

      then the accused must prove beyond reasonable doubt they had consent.

      I doubt it would go that far. For the few other matters in criminal law that have a reverse onus (e.g. insanity, possession of drugs with intent to supply), you only have to prove your innocence on the balance of probabilities.

      [DPF: I take reverse the burden to be literal. Either way it is pretty insane]

      So balance of probabilities seems fair. Especially with this comment in mind:

      Harriet (4,424 comments) says:
      July 5th, 2014 at 10:28 am

      Would you ever pay your lawyer $20k to defend your privilage of ‘inviting home a 6 drink girl from your mates BBQ’?

      Well you soon will be.

      Sigh. I then stopped reading.

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    This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • 14,000 unemployed under National
    The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    20 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Discontent and gloom dominate NZ’s political mood
    Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    21 hours ago

  • Taking Tea with 42 & 38.
    National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    21 hours ago

  • Beware political propaganda: statistics are pointing to Grant Robertson never protecting “Lives an...
    Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”. As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    22 hours ago

  • Winding back the hands of history’s clock
    Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    22 hours ago

  • Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
     Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    22 hours ago

  • Business confidence sliding into winter of discontent
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the coalition’s awful, not good, very bad poll results
    Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • New HOP readers for future payment options
    Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 day ago

  • 2024 Reading Summary: April (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline'
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Road photos
    Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
    The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • NZDF is still hostile to oversight
    Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    Holding On To The Present: The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    Stuck In The Middle With You: As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • A clear warning
    The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    Buzz  from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example.  This shows National down ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    It Takes A Train To Cry: Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    Chris Trotter writes –  New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    3 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    Mr Bombastic: Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • “Comity” versus the rule of law
    In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Streamlining Building Consent Changes
    The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.      “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    Good evening –   Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure.  The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
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