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Open Mike 05/07/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 5th, 2017 - 91 comments
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91 comments on “Open Mike 05/07/2017 ”

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  1. Ed 1
    5 July 2017 at 6:49 am

    I see that Nick Smith thinks housing affordability is ‘in the eye of the beholder’
    I am sure most Zealanders will like being told this by a rich political trougher.

    These people claim to represent us.
    They don’t.
    They represent the few, not the many.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/334454/housing-affordability-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-minister

  2. Sanctuary 2
    5 July 2017 at 8:03 am

    Question:

    Should Mike Hoskings be pulled from Seven Sharp until after the election?

    • James 2.1
      5 July 2017 at 8:06 am

      No.

      • Cinny 2.1.1
        5 July 2017 at 8:33 am

        Why not please James? What is it that you like about him, apart from his opinions?

        • james 2.1.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 10:38 am

          Actually – I dont watch him. I only use Netflix and haven’t watched normal TV for years.

          Simply put – I believe anyone is entitled to their views – and to be held accountable for them if they are stupid. Which is normally a matter of perspective.

          Why do you think his views should be censored from TV – apart from you not liking his opinions?

          • Kevin 2.1.1.1.1
            5 July 2017 at 12:22 pm

            Because the same broadcaster does not offer a differing opinion.

            As he is on NZ’s public broadcaster there is an obligation to give both sides of a political argument. They are not there to be a mouthpiece for the government of the day.

          • Cinny 2.1.1.1.2
            5 July 2017 at 3:55 pm

            James, you don’t watch him either? Funny. I’m hearing you re censorship.

            However I strongly agree with Kevin.

            But then again globally many government run media outlets have their own version of Hosking. Or a country’s leader broadcasts their own propaganda show.

            Interesting audio examination from 2015 when Hosking had his head up Keys arse. Even more interesting because his opinions of the future are now in our past.

            http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201767468

            Off topic James, any series you can recommend on the Netflix please? Am looking for something new to watch. Thanks 😀

    • garibaldi 2.2
      5 July 2017 at 8:10 am

      He should be permanently pulled from all public exposure full stop.

      • James 2.2.1
        5 July 2017 at 8:13 am

        Must stop opposing views – stifling free speech – removing a guy’s income all because you don’t like what he says.

        The caring and fair left you are not.

        • Robert Guyton 2.2.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 8:16 am

          “caring and fair” – a fan-boy’s view of Hoskings.

          • james 2.2.1.1.1
            5 July 2017 at 10:39 am

            Not a fan boy – dont actually watch him (see above).

            But dont believe that he should be pulled from TV because some dont like his views.

            • Cemetery Jones 2.2.1.1.1.1
              5 July 2017 at 3:02 pm

              Censoring Mike Hostking is a terrible reason to suggest his removal. However, I must admit, there is a certain humorous undertone to the notion of removing him from state broadcasting on philosophical grounds –his philosophical grounds.

              Since he hates leftism and statism so much and thinks so highly of the market and an expanded role for the market in roles traditionally ascribed to the state in commonwealth systems, it would only be right to make sure he never compromises himself by pocketing a salary out of public money, etc.

              Hyperbole for sure, but then that’s his stock in trade, right?

        • Gabby 2.2.1.2
          5 July 2017 at 7:35 pm

          I’d settle for a station disclaimer after every time he opens his gob.

      • greywarshark 2.3.1
        5 July 2017 at 10:43 am

        These paras are from Robert G’s link.

        And to prove all of this, here are some numbers that expose the lie around public transport. The Transport Outlook: Current State report, yes that’s called, as released by the government tells us the following, 53% of us drive a car, 26% of us are passengers in a car, 17% walk, 1% cycle – so that shows you what a waste of time cycleways are, 1% are on motorbikes. Now add up all those numbers and how many do you have left for public transport, 2%. So, we are wrecking roads, hijacking the majority for what, 2%, it’s a scandal.

        The report he refers to is the one we highlighted yesterday and the first thing to note is that the report actually says PT is at 3%. This adds up to 101% due to the rounding on some of the other modes. Regardless, when it comes to talking about this subject, he couldn’t have picked a more irrelevant number.

        The 3% based on PT use across the entire country, that’s as irrelevant to the discussion of PT in Auckland as arguing that New York doesn’t need its subway because of how many people use PT in Wyoming.

        Note that: the 2% Hosking quotes to back up his inconveniences in his city, is a measure drawn from use across the country, it is irrelevant to his argument.
        The raving loonie is merely saying what all the RWs are thinking, which of course is nothing at all. Thought costs in time and money so they don’t waste time on anything unprofitable to them.

        I made a joke yesterday about Blinglish stating the new social policy as being data-driven. Bwahahahahahah – where would it be driven to I ask? When you don’t want to know things, do they get lured up an alley and garrotted or taken for a midnight ride and dumped on the roadside. Poor dead-duck-data, RWs want to believe what their Mega-phone tells them, their Hosking Bullhorn.

    • Ma Rohemo 2.4
      5 July 2017 at 8:21 am

      At the very least Hosking’s salary should be included in National’s election advertising total allowance.
      It should also include GST as it is obviously a service to them.

      • alwyn 2.4.1
        5 July 2017 at 8:58 am

        Are you really sure you want a policy like that?
        You would have to include the whole RNZ news budget in the Labour Party costs.
        They would already be over the limit for expenditure allowed in the last 3 months wouldn’t they, with only a couple of weeks gone?

        • In Vino 2.4.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 8:39 pm

          I fully agree with you, Alwyn. National Radio are totally biased, and support the Labour party by having them shown as light National by such right-leaning commentators as Josie Pagani, whom they misrepresent as ‘Left’. Utterly disgusting. Then every so often they reveal an unpleasant truth – this is obviously an anti-National campaign. National Radio should be annihilated by renaming! I know – RNZ!

    • Cinny 2.5
      5 July 2017 at 8:32 am

      Get rid of him now I say, how many kiwis can relate to him… not many, if any.

      • james 2.5.1
        5 July 2017 at 10:39 am

        His ratings are pretty good – which would indicate you are wrong.

        • jcuknz 2.5.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 11:24 am

          Just shows how many idiots watch TV…. both left and right wing twits.
          Thank goodness for Netflix.

        • Cinny 2.5.1.2
          5 July 2017 at 3:22 pm

          Someone knocked on the door not so long ago, wanting to know if we would take part in TV ratings, many questions were asked, even household income etc.

          They said they would be in touch if we were deemed the type of household that they could give a ratings monitor device to. Almost felt like they screened anyone whom they wanted to generating ratings information from, it didn’t appear random at all. They were even sent to selected houses, nah it wasn’t a scam, was the real deal. I was rather surprised ratings were gathered in that manner.

          James do you know if ratings are collected in any other way please?

    • Enough is Enough 2.6
      5 July 2017 at 10:37 am

      Absolutely not.

      You don’t defeat bigots like Hosking by silencing them. You defeat them by debating them and offering an alternative view point.

      What kind of society do we want where people with opposing views are not permitted to speak them?

      • james 2.6.1
        5 July 2017 at 10:40 am

        ^ Comment of the day and agree 100%

      • Barfly 2.6.2
        5 July 2017 at 11:19 am

        So where is the opposing view to Hosking on free to air TV ? … not provided by management.

        • garibaldi 2.6.2.1
          5 July 2017 at 11:32 am

          Comment of the day Barfly. Hosking should not be on free to air TV.

        • Enough is Enough 2.6.2.2
          5 July 2017 at 11:46 am

          Umm Street opposed his demented view before he had even finished preaching it.

        • McFlock 2.6.2.3
          5 July 2017 at 11:59 am

          That’s the issue for me – he’s an out-and-out propagandist. He lies, he rants, he is completely unchallenged, and he is always pro-nact. If the state broadcaster must pay for a pro-government propagandist, what about an opposition one of similar shameless insanity, too?

          Oh – might be too difficult to find. May as well just fire the fucker, then.

          • weka 2.6.2.3.1
            5 July 2017 at 12:35 pm

            It is kind of interesting to consider who the left might put up that would be the Hosking equivalent though 😈

          • Robert Guyton 2.6.2.3.2
            5 July 2017 at 3:01 pm

            “an out-and-out propagandist” – in a nut-shell, McFlock. How best to counter an unfettered propagandist, that’s the question. Railing against him, calling for his head, seem reactions designed to feed the pyre, rather than quench the fire. Let’s get smarter. The problem isn’t hard to describe; yours’s perfect, the effective response though, that’s the challenge.

            • McFlock 2.6.2.3.2.1
              5 July 2017 at 4:21 pm

              Maybe there is no effective response.

              Can’t call for his firing, can’t sink to his level, can’t out-yell him, reasoned rebuttal just legitimises his absurdities with recognition.

              Just have to hope the self-inflated manchild eventually takes his sense of entitlement too far to warrant his continued presence, like Paul Henry did.

              • Robert Guyton …
                5 July 2017 at 4:45 pm

                We can rejoice in his naked greed and prejudice, measuring our own behaviour against his worst-practice behaviour. We can use his popularity as a measure of how much has to change in our society before it’s as we wish it to be. We can use reactions to him by people we talk to as a measure of their position and degree of discernment. We can use his continued existence in a public role as a measure of our ruling party’s methods and ethical levels. There is so much his performing offers us, aside from the obvious opportunities to lampoon and mock, both him and his sycophants. All in all, a useful chap, ol’ whatshisname.
                *confession time; I’ve never seen the guy perform as I have no television.

                • garibaldi …
                  5 July 2017 at 5:11 pm

                  “takes his sense of entitlement too far to warrant his continued presence”…. this is what he specializes in.

      • mpledger 2.6.3
        5 July 2017 at 11:52 am

        It would be alright if the opposing views got the same prominence but the small snippet I unavoidably watch last week had his offsider simpering all over him. Gross.

    • Chris 2.7
      5 July 2017 at 12:20 pm

      For every Hoskings there is a John Campbell

      Personally think everyone is entitled to their views, whether I agree or not.

      Would be a pretty boring place otherwise

    • tc 2.8
      5 July 2017 at 2:53 pm

      Nope leave him in place as an example of why tvnz need to be made a public broadcaster or scrapped as you would yesterdays technology.

      Most people know hes a nat sycophant and his smarmy arrogance cuts both ways

    • Ed 2.9
      5 July 2017 at 7:39 pm

      Yes and keep him off forever.

  3. dv 3
    5 July 2017 at 9:15 am

    Hosking is a useful window into RWing ‘thinking’

  4. gsays 4
    5 July 2017 at 9:16 am

    Further to my rant on Nick Smith housing handling…

    We, of the left, seem to be captured by the shenanagins of the Tories.
    Rather than debating a direction for our future.
    For example water, labour has talked about a levy charged per litre.
    Rather than a ‘Hell No’.
    Perhaps there is a middle ground.

    Housing, as I eluded to in the Nick Smith post, the opposition is failing to get traction with their tactics. Don’t want to upset landlords?

    Inequality? A bit hard to deal with. Unless we have a ftt and a ubi…
    Tad radical, think of the horses.

    Health funding, especially mental health and youth mental health. Where to start?

    Paula Bennett is alleged to behaved abhorrently, (I don’t doubt the accusations) and we are lining up to add our two cents.

    C’m on standardistas we can lift our game.

    Right, that’s better.
    I am off to work to have my promised 90 day performance review, albeit after 110 days.
    I am aiming to get a living wage for working in a busy kitchen after having practiced the craft for 30 years.
    What chance the youngsters in the industry, most of whom are grateful to be just above minimum wage.
    (I won’t be back at my phone till later as I am not allowed it at work)

  5. Ma Rohemo 5
    5 July 2017 at 9:18 am

    @ alwyn I wasn’t suggesting serious policy. It was a small joke at Hosking’s expense, but you sound serious about RNZ.

    RNZ as biased as Hosking? I think not.

    Do you consider the Herald a leftie rag too?

    • alwyn 5.1
      5 July 2017 at 11:56 am

      “the Herald”?
      Does that fish and chip wrapper still exist?

      I am just back from doing a little bit of work in France. We (the people doing the work) were provided with all the major UK newspapers.
      God it is wonderful to be able to read well written papers like The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Financial Times. It is about the only English language country left with decent papers. Even in the US they are rubbish including the old staples like The Washington Post and The New York Times.

      Here we have the Herald and the DomPost for crying out loud.
      The only decent paper in Australasia in The Australian. You don’t have to like Rupert Murdoch but he is just about the last of the great Press Barons who believed in printing the news properly that we have left.
      Here endeth the rant for the day.

      As for RNZ being biased? Yes I do. We will simply have to agree to differ.

      • In Vino 5.1.1
        5 July 2017 at 8:55 pm

        Alwyn, I agree with you about the range of quality reading available in the UK compared to here, but I would also have mentioned the Spectator, (and Punch, which, unfortunately, no longer exists). And Rupert Murdoch is the enemy of literacy, not its friend. He presided in the downward slide you lament, and you should know that, unless you are too young.

  6. Bearded Git 6
    5 July 2017 at 10:03 am

    The headline on RNZ news this morning was “Auckland house price growth at 5 year low”. Let me show how it should have been reported:

    “Auckland house prices growing at $70,000 a year; average price is now over $1 million. Prices continue to grow at three times rate of inflation.”

    Someone at Radio NZ has been told how to report this issue so the government looks good.

    The government’s weakest issue in the upcoming election is housing affordability (not just in Auckland) so it is trying to portray this problem as solved, which is rubbish. Nick Smith was at it yet again in his RNZ interview yesterday. Lies and more spin.

    The Labour/Green bloc needs to get some clear stats out on housing affordability in its manifesto (and pledge card?) telling it as it is. In particular the fall in first time buyers and the rise in investors/multiple home owners needs to be highlighted.

    The expert they interviewed on this said “first time buyers are at their lowest ever”. That should have been the headline.

    • Bearded Git 6.1
      5 July 2017 at 10:22 am

      And following on from the above, in the Herald today:

      “House sales have made a mint in the first quarter of 2017, with $3.8 billion in profits.
      But it’s not all good news, with $24 million in losses recorded by those who made a bad bet on the property market.”

      Incredible numbers-profits of $3.8 billion in just 3 months, almost all non-taxable.

      As with the RNZ headline above, the article contains lots of spin, concentrating on the losses made by very few people, losses which are miniscule compared with the profits-$24m versus $3800m.

      It’s here:
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11885935

      • The Lone Haranguer 6.1.1
        5 July 2017 at 12:03 pm

        The article does not comment on the profit split between home owners and between investors.

        And nobody (except me it seems) thinks ALL housing stock should be taxed upon sale.

        Gee, the Nats dont want to tax property gains, and Labour seem to think that the “personal residence” should be exempt. But where is the financial responsibility or tax fairness in that?

        Why should a person who lives in say Dunedin, have little to no capital gains – probably under $100,000 in this decade, and thats tax free, when an Auckland home owner may have a $500,000 tax free profit.

        And lets not discuss the poor buggers who dont own a house so have no chance to make a tax free gain.

    • alwyn 6.2
      5 July 2017 at 12:03 pm

      You are going to have a real problem on about the 5th of September.
      They will be reporting, absolutely accurately, that the rate of house price increases in Auckland for the 12 months ending August 2017 was ZERO.
      True, that is what they will be reporting. The Labour Party are going to have trouble with that don’t you think?
      Your numbers, like theirs, are simply out of date. They don’t reflect the reality of today. Sorry about that.

      • Bearded Git 6.2.1
        5 July 2017 at 5:19 pm

        @Alwyn One wonders why you don’t leave out the snide comments like “sorry about that” and simply argue your case. Maybe it is because you know you are on the wrong side of the argument given that the Gnats have failed catastrophically on housing policy.

        But you are right that, unless the Labour/Green bloc can win the debate in the media on this issue, it will not be the definitive issue it should be at the election. The fact that houses in Akl are now more than a million a pop and first-time buyers are at an all time low is the issue. If the Labour/Green bloc is smart they will highlight the latter especially.

        Under this government over the last 9 years it has become impossible for young people to afford to buy a house; there must be votes in this.

        • In Vino 6.2.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 9:02 pm

          Prices staying where they are is no solution, Alwyn. Too late for that – a significant drop is needed. Not something you will find palatable I suspect, and I can almost hear you screaming already about whether I want to destroy innocent people’s wealth by collapsing property values.

  7. savenz 7
    5 July 2017 at 10:57 am

    Something’s wrong with this picture

    Mad Butcher fundraising $15,000 for unpaid staff

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/07/mad-butcher-fundraising-15-000-for-unpaid-staff.html

    We also had Mondelez announcing earlier this year it would stop manufacturing Cadbury products in Dunedin in March 2018, with the loss of 350 jobs.

  8. Pete 8
    5 July 2017 at 11:27 am

    Apropos the article about Mike Hosking and bus lanes.
    https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/07/05/hoskings-idiotic-bus-lane-rant/

    How about having “busless, trainless days” in Auckland a la the old carless days, just for an experiment? It would be fun to see what happens. Do it for a week even.

    Thing is, Hosking would make sure that on those he won’t go to work or the week he’ll go to Hawaii on holiday.

    “We don’t like public transport, we like cars and cars need roads,” he says. We didn’t need this latest rant to have us think he’s a self-centred, short-sighted, up-himself cretin. Having him say that though is a nice little reminder.

    • garibaldi 8.1
      5 July 2017 at 11:52 am

      “Self-centred, short sighted, up-himself cretin”. That describes most of the right wingers I know. The rest of them are women!

      • In Vino 8.1.1
        5 July 2017 at 9:03 pm

        Are you suggesting that women cannot be cretins, or that the rest of women are?

        • McFlock 8.1.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 9:07 pm

          I think a woman can’t be “up himself”. She’d have to be up herself.

  10. Draco T Bastard 10
    5 July 2017 at 1:31 pm

    Currency-issuing governments can keystroke their outstanding debt into oblivion

    In other words, a currency-issuing government can always absorb any outstanding liabilities (public debt) if it chooses, and, effectively, never have to repay the obligation.

    It can do that by purchasing these liabilities in secondary bond markets, and then just ignoring the maturity obligations, and with the stroke of a computer keyboard set the value to 0.

    Alternatively, it is obvious that such a government is never in danger of defaulting on any outstanding liabilities which remain in the non-government sector until maturity and presentation for repayment.

    Alternatively, what this clearly demonstrates, is that such a government never has to issue debt in the first place.

    Say it again out aloud – “central banks are ultimately owned by governments”.

    Say it again out aloud – any public bonds on central bank balance sheets amount to the government owning its own debt. One computer keystroke turns the positive accounting balance for that debt into a zero balance with no consequences of importance whatsoever.

    Which is basically what I and many other have been saying for quite some time.

    A government that issues it’s own money never has to go into debt even when running a deficit. Done properly it could even get rid of the so-called Business Cycle and fully develop the economy while eliminating the need for exports and imports.

  11. Ad 11
    5 July 2017 at 1:55 pm

    Has anyone seen Win The Future?

    https://winthefuture.com/set-agenda

    They are seeking to change Democratic Party policy with crowdsourcing.

    On the other hand the founders of the effort are Silicon Valley billionaires.

    I would love to see The Standard evolve into something similar though.

  12. Ad 12
    5 July 2017 at 2:03 pm

    Italian Police have just raided an apartment for drugs, so they get the perfect headline:

    “Vatican Rocked: Police raid drug-fuelled gay orgy at cardinal’s apartment”.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11886097

    Historic sex crimes have already got Cardinal Pell.
    Hopefully the Police get to go through the whole of the Cardinals.

    A further excellent opportunity for the current Pope to not merely sound good, but to clean house and act.

  13. james 13
    5 July 2017 at 2:21 pm

    http://politik.co.nz/en/content/politics/1133/?ct=t(POLITIKToday_07_10_2016_10_6_2016)&mc_cid=2b2600b050&mc_eid=6dd3d7f03f

    Two times labour candidate leave Labour and Joins National.

    Apparently he is well respected in his local community and his move is indicative of a lot of feeling in the Kiwi Indian community.

    Time will tell – but cannot see this as be bad for National in the slightest.

    I wonder if Labours anti immigration campaign will come back to bite them?

    • McFlock 13.1
      5 July 2017 at 2:27 pm

      Candidate swaps parties after low list ranking, justifies low list ranking. Gives law and order as reason.

      James tries to blame immigration policy. [Slow clap]

      • james 13.1.1
        5 July 2017 at 3:11 pm

        So you are saying you believe he jumped to Nation just because of his low list ranking?

        • McFlock 13.1.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 4:18 pm

          No, although his political affinity with the nats certainly justifies the low placing.

          I wouldn’t be surprised if his placing contributed significantly to his decision, though.

          • The Fairy Godmother 13.1.1.1.1
            6 July 2017 at 6:34 am

            Definitely contributed. Leaving Labour happened just after he lost the nomination for Papaura to an excellent young candidate of Indian ethnicity and received either a low list placing or no list placing.

    • Cemetery Jones 13.2
      5 July 2017 at 3:19 pm

      So for a second election campaign in a row, National are buying the loyalties of disaffected self-appointed ‘leaders’ of ‘communities’ to turn them from Labour and we’re supposed to take that as a sign of a shift in attitudes within that ‘community’?

      I mean, call me cynical, but my general impression of these people is that they usually aren’t ‘leaders’ at all – except in the eyes of gullible white people trying to buy the votes of said ‘community’ from above instead of winning them from below with good policy and solid face-to-face connections. Are we all really so racist that we think everyone with dark skin is part of a ‘community’ which has ‘leaders’ who are able to tell them how to vote? That doesn’t bode well for democracy if true!

      I guess given that us white folks tend not to have ‘communities’ with ‘leaders’ who can influence their votes, maybe we’re gullible or racist enough to think that everyone else is a sheep with a shepherd, and if you win over that shepherd he’ll deliver you his flock at the polling booth. But me, I have my doubts.

      Ah well, let National spend their money being rainmade by wannabe mandarins. It says all you need about them and their attitude to democratic tradition.

      • james 13.2.1
        5 July 2017 at 3:42 pm

        “So for a second election campaign in a row, National are buying the loyalties of disaffected self-appointed ‘leaders’ of ‘communities’ to turn them from Labour and we’re supposed to take that as a sign of a shift in attitudes within that ‘community’?”

        Or it could be that people are giving up on Labour – as would be evidenced by their very low poll ratings (and Littles as preferred PM).

        “I mean, call me cynical, but my general impression of these people is that they usually aren’t ‘leaders’ at all – except in the eyes of gullible white people trying to buy the votes of said ‘community’ ”

        Yet Labour were happy to have him stand for them…. twice. Perhaps he actually is a leader in that community?

        “Are we all really so racist that we think everyone with dark skin is part of a ‘community’ which has ‘leaders’ who are able to tell them how to vote?”

        Its not racist – there are may leaders in the the community that indicate to their community about where they see the most benefit to their community. Ratana Church for example.

        • Cemetery Jones 13.2.1.1
          5 July 2017 at 5:49 pm

          Where did he stand for Labour? The seat where he stood or the placing he had on their list will tell all.

          Ratana Church isn’t comparable to individuals, it’s an institution with a unique place in NZ culture. I doubt there’s much at all you could compare it to.

          • Cinny 13.2.1.1.1
            5 July 2017 at 6:51 pm

            Pakaranga, just once, in 2011, it’s Maurice Williamson seat

            The following election he decided to only opt for the list, and the candidate that Labour stood in same electorate received around 700 more votes than the prior year when Kaushal stood….

            Then bums out when he gets a low list ranking for this election llolz, throws a wobbly and jumps ship.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakuranga_(New_Zealand_electorate)

            Says the outgoing government are listening to his concerns re the massive number of dairy robberies. And it’s probably all they are doing.. listening.

            Maybe he has forgotten how much the price of tobacco has increased since national took office, and the flow on effects re robberies etc etc.

            Will he be standing for Pakuranga or just this list with national?

            Why are National waiting so long to release their list? Are they short on players?

            • Cemetery Jones 13.2.1.1.1.1
              6 July 2017 at 9:09 am

              Hahah I had his number right off then. Thanks for confirming! Knew this didn’t pass the sniff test, especially when it broke via Politik.

    • ianmac 13.3
      5 July 2017 at 3:31 pm

      So he was upset at Labour’s inaction re Law and Order. Those pesky Labour fellows should have set up a team of special police to bounce the thieves the instant a complaint came in.
      What’s that? You mean the National Party is the Government with the power to do something to appease the shop owners. And this candidate has joined the National Party to get action???
      That is ridiculous! Have they promised him a high ranking then?

    • Ad 13.4
      5 July 2017 at 6:03 pm

      If Labour are losing the central Auckland Indian vote they are in very serious trouble. Indian subcontinent voters have been incredibly loyal to this point.

      Sunny will take a lot of votes out of Mt Roskill, New Windsor, Avondale, Sandringham, and New Lynn.

      • james 13.4.1
        6 July 2017 at 7:53 am

        “they are in very serious trouble”

        They poll in the mid to high 20%’s – they are already in serious trouble – anymore drops it could well be terminal.

      • The Fairy Godmother 13.4.2
        6 July 2017 at 9:03 am

        Really? Shail Kaushal is a hardworking Labour member of the Puketapapa Local board and is on Michael Wood’s campaign team. Michael Wood and Jacinda Aden did really well in recent by-elections. I certainly don’t belive Sunny played a significant role in their wins. Sunny missed out on the Papaura selection to Jesse Pabla a young New Zealand born candidate of Indian ethnicity. Baljit Kauri is standing for Hunua. Priyanca Radhakrishnan is standing for Maungakieie and has a high place on the list. All these candidates of Indian ethnicity have strong Labour values.I think Labour is renewing itself with good strong Labour values. It must have been galling for Sunny to realise their is really no place in the party for an old right wing careerist like himself. He is an excellent fit for National.

    • Gabby 13.5
      5 July 2017 at 7:44 pm

      They still won’t get to keep shotties under the counter jimbo.

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  • The hoon for the week that was to March 25
    This week’s UN IPCC report warned climate emissions will need to be cut by almost half by 2030, if warming is to be limited to 1.5°C. Bronwyn Hayward points out in The Hoon podcast how far behind NZ’s government and councils are now on climate action compared to the rest ...
    The KakaBy Peter Bale
    2 hours ago

  • The big question for Labour: Will Hipkins have any more success than Ardern did with the top priorit...
    Chris  Hipkins,  after  he became prime minister, committed  to defeating the  cost-of- living crisis. He  proceeded to make a  bonfire of policies  that were at  the  heart of Jacinda Ardern’s administration.  But, as   Richard Prebble pointed out this week, “the government has not just U-turned, it has repudiated the ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    15 hours ago

  • Reality check.
    There are some wellness, crystal-gazing, holistic spiritual guidance types in my disaster-hit coastal community who insist that the power of positive thinking will overcome the physical and material damages incurred by the community. They object to restrictions on road travel … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    15 hours ago

  • High Performance Instability in the Financial Sector
    Evaluating the recent crashes of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and Credit Suisse in Switzerland plus two other banks (perhaps more by the time you read this) needs to begin with a review of the inevitable instability in the financial sector. The financial sector is inherently unstable, like military ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    16 hours ago

  • The week in review
    1. We see here new police minister Ginny Andersen. Which larger than life NZ political figure was her great-uncle?a. Rob Muldoonb. Bill Andersenc. Richard John Seddond. Norman Kirk2. We see here archival footage of Ginny Andersen coming out of her electorate office to ask ex-tobacco lobbyist Chris Bishop if he ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Nash splashes out with a $900,000 investment in the blue economy (or is it more corporate welfare?)
    Buzz from the Beehive Stuart Nash, speaking as Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, one of his remaining portfolios after he was dropped down the Hipkins Government batting order, has drawn attention to the blue economy and its potential. Nash says the government is investing in the blue economy, or – ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    19 hours ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to March 24
    Photo by Josh Mills on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:The runs on Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank on the west coast of the United States that forced the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago

  • Weekly Roundup 24-March-2023
    Roundup is back! We skipped last week’s Friday post due to a shortage of person-power – did you notice? Lots going on out there… Our header image this week shows a green street that just happens to be Queen St, by @chamfy from Twitter. This week (and last) in ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    23 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the Keen-Minshull visit
    After threatening Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of consequences if he dared to bar her entry, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull has been given her visa, regardless. This will enable her to hold rallies in Auckland and Wellington this weekend, and spread her messages of hostility against an already marginalised trans community. Neo-Nazis may, ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    23 hours ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS’ Political Roundup:  NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nucl...
    * Bryce Edwards writes – The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • Wayne Brown's #Auxit moment
    Boomers voted him in, but Brown’s Trumpish moments might spook Aucklanders worried about what a change to National nationally might mean. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has become our version of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, except without any of the insatiable appetite for media appearances. He ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nuclear submarines
    The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as part of its Aukus pact with the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago

  • Posie Parker vs Transgender Rights.
    Recently you might have heard of a person called Posie Parker and her visit to Aotearoa. Perhaps you’re not quite sure what it’s all about. So let’s start with who this person is, why their visit is controversial, and what on earth a TERF is.Posie Parker is the super villain ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Select Committee told slow down; you’re moving too fast
    The chair of Parliament’s Select Committee looking at the Government’s resource management legislation wants the bills sent back for more public consultation. The proposal would effectively kill any chance of the bills making it into law before the election. Green MP, Eugenie Sage, stressing that she was speaking as ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #12 2023
    Open access notables  The United States experienced some historical low temperature records during the just-concluded winter. It's a reminder that climate and weather are quite noisy; with regard to our warming climate,, as with a road ascending a mountain range we may steadily change our conditions but with lots of ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • What becomes of the broken hearted? Nanny State will step in to comfort them
    Buzz from the Beehive The Nanny State has scored some wins (or claimed them) in the past day or two but it faltered when it came to protecting Kiwi citizens from being savaged by one woman armed with a sharp tongue. The wins are recorded by triumphant ministers on the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Acceptance, decency, road food.
    Sometimes you see your friends making the case so well on social media you think: just copy and share.On acceptance and decency, from Michèle A’CourtA notable thing about anti-trans people is they way they talk about transgender women and men as though they are strangers “over there” when in fact ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: More Labour sabotage
    Not that long ago, things were looking pretty good for climate change policy in Aotearoa. We finally had an ETS, and while it was full of pork and subsidies, it was delivering high and ever-rising carbon prices, sending a clear message to polluters to clean up or shut down. And ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Is bundling restricting electricity competition?
    Comparing (and switching) electricity providers has become easier, but bundling power up with broadband and/or gas makes it more challenging. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā TL;DR: The new Consumer Advocacy Council set up as a result of the Labour Government’s Electricity Price Review in 2019 has called on either ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Westland Milk puts heat on competitors as global dairy demand  remains softer for longer
    Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products  has  put the heat on dairy giant Fonterra with  a $120m profit turnaround in 2022, driven by record sales. Westland paid its suppliers a 10c premium above the forecast Fonterra price per kilo, contributing $535m to the West Coast and Canterbury economies. The dairy ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS’ Political Roundup:  The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    * Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public office and becoming lobbyists and ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • A miracle pill for our transport ills
    This is a guest post by accessibility and sustainable transport advocate Tim Adriaansen It originally appeared here.   A friend calls you and asks for your help. They tell you that while out and about nearby, they slipped over and landed arms-first. Now their wrist is swollen, hurting like ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • The Surprising Power of Floating Wind Turbines
    Floating offshore wind turbines offer incredible opportunities to capture powerful winds far out at sea. By unlocking this wind energy potential, they could be a key weapon in our arsenal in the fight against climate change. But how developed are these climate fighting clean energy giants? And why do I ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • The next Maori challenge
    Over the past two or three weeks, a procession of Maori iwi and hapu in a series of little-noticed appearances before two Select Committees have been asking for more say for Maori over resource management decisions along the co-governance lines of Three Waters. Their submissions and appearances run counter ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Secret “war-crime” warrants by International Criminal Court is mischief-making
    The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue war crimes arrest warrants for the Russian President and the Russia Children Ombudsman may have been welcomed by the ideologically committed but otherwise seems to have been greeted with widespread cynicism (see Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    3 days ago

  • How to answer Drunk Uncle Kevin's Climate Crisis reckons
    Let’s say you’re clasping your drink at a wedding, or a 40th, or a King’s Birthday Weekend family reunion and Drunk Uncle Kevin has just got going.He’s in an expansive frame of mind because we’re finally rid of that silly girl. But he wants to ask an honest question about ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • National’s Luxon may be glum about his poll ratings but has he found a winner in promising to rai...
    National Party leader Christopher Luxon may  be feeling glum about his poll ratings, but  he could be tapping  into  a rich political vein in  describing the current state of education as “alarming”. Luxon said educational achievement has been declining,  with a recent NCEA pilot exposing just how far it has ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: More Labour foot-dragging
    Yesterday the IPCC released the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report, warning us that we have very little time left in which to act to prevent catastrophic climate change, but pointing out that it is a problem that we can solve, with existing technology, and that anything we do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Te Pāti Māori Are Revolutionaries – Not Reformists.
    Way Beyond Reform: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have no more interest in remaining permanent members of “New Zealand’s” House of Representatives than did Lenin and Trotsky in remaining permanent members of Tsar Nicolas II’s “democratically-elected” Duma. Like the Bolsheviks, Te Pāti Māori is a party of revolutionaries – not reformists.THE CROWN ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • When does history become “ancient”, on Tinetti’s watch as Minister of Education – and what o...
    Buzz from the Beehive Auckland was wiped off the map, when Education Minister Jan Tinetti delivered her speech of welcome as host of the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers “here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. But – fair to say – a reference was made later in the speech to a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Climate Catastrophe, but first rugby.
    Morning mate, how you going?Well, I was watching the news last night and they announced this scientific report on Climate Change. But before they got to it they had a story about the new All Blacks coach.Sounds like important news. It’s a bit of a worry really.Yeah, they were talking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • What the US and European bank rescues mean for us
    Always a bailout: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Government would fully guarantee all savers in all smaller US banks if needed. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: No wonder an entire generation of investors are used to ‘buying the dip’ and ‘holding on for dear life’. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Who will drain Wellington’s lobbying swamp?
    Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in Guyon Espiner’s in-depth series published by RNZ. Two of Espiner’s research exposés ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • It’s Raining Congestion
    Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Checking The Left: The Dreadful Logic Of Fascism.
    The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • Good Friends and Terrible Food
    Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – What evidence is there for the hockey stick?
    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
    4 days ago

  • Carry right on up there, Corporal Espiner
    RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are we shortchanged democratically by the way ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • This smells
    RNZ has continued its look at the role of lobbyists by taking a closer look at the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Andrew Kirton. He used to work for liquor companies, opposing (among other things) a container refund scheme which would have required them to take responsibility for their own ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Major issues on the table in Mahuta’s  talks in Beijing with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has left for Beijing for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019. Mahuta is  to  meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang  where she  might have to call on all the  diplomatic skills  at  her  command. Almost certainly she  will  face  questions  on what  role ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • Inside TOP's Teal Card and political strategy
    TL;DR: The Opportunities Party’s Leader Raf Manji is hopeful the party’s new Teal Card, a type of Gold card for under 30s, will be popular with students, and not just in his Ilam electorate where students make up more than a quarter of the voters and where Manji is confident ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Make Your Empties Go Another Round.
    When I was a kid New Zealand was actually pretty green. We didn’t really have plastic. The fruit and veges came in a cardboard box, the meat was wrapped in paper, milk came in a glass bottle, and even rubbish sacks were made of paper. Today if you sit down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how similar Vladimir Putin is to George W. Bush
    Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – Syd Holland, Richard Prebble, Juduth Collins, Chris Hipkins – or by far lesser lights like Keith Allen, Frank Gill, Ben Couch, Allen McCready, Clem Simich, ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER:  Te Pāti Māori’s uncompromising threat to the status quo
    Chris Trotter writes – The Crown is a fickle friend. Any political movement deemed to be colourful but inconsequential is generally permitted to go about its business unmolested. The Crown’s media, RNZ and TVNZ, may even “celebrate” its existence (presumably as proof of Democracy’s broad-minded acceptance of diversity). ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Shining a bright light on lobbyists in politics
    Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who believes vested interests shouldn’t have a place at the centre of decision making. Chris Hipkins’ newly appointed Chief of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Auckland Council Draft Budget – an unnecessary backwards step
    Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Talking’ Posey Parker Blues
    by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    5 days ago

  • More Māori words make it into the OED, and polytech boss (with rules on words like “students”) ...
    Buzz from the Beehive   New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Social intercourse with haters and Nazis: an etiquette guide
    Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • The Greens, Labour, and coalition enforcement
    James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • This sounds familiar…
    RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Letter to the NZ Herald: NCEA pseudoscience – “Mauri is present in all matter”
    Nick Matzke writes –   Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • So what would be the point of a Green vote again?
    James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Gas stoves pose health risks. Are gas furnaces and other appliances safe to use?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Genetic Heritage and Co Governance
    Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Radical Uncertainty
    Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War
    This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago

  • The motorways are finished
    After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • Kicking National’s tyres
    National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • As long as there is cricket, the world is somehow okay.
    Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • So much of what was there remains
    The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report   IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Financial capability services are being bucked up, but Stuart Nash shouldn’t have to see if they c...
    Buzz from the Beehive  The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Things that make you go Hmmmm.
    Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • The hoon for the week that was to March 19
    By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
    The KakaBy Peter Bale
    1 week ago

  • Saving Stuart Nash: Explaining Chris Hipkins' unexpected political calculation
    When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago

  • Radical Uncertainty
    Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • Jump onto the weekly hoon on Riverside at 5pm
    Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • The Dream of Florian Neame: Accepted
    In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Snakes and leaders
    And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • This station is Karanga-a-Hape, Chur!
    When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Greens don’t shy from promoting a candidate’s queerness but are quiet about govt announcement on...
    There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to March 17
    Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Slow consenting could create $16b climate liability by 2050
    Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges.  Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
    A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • National’s education policy: where’s the funding?
    After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment.  “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Free programme to help older entrepreneurs and inventors
    People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government target increased to keep powering up the Māori economy
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  • Speech at Fiji Investment and Trade Business Forum
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  • First Chief Clinical Advisor welcomed into Coroners Court
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  • Next steps for affected properties post Cyclone and floods
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  • New appointment to Māori Land Court bench
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  • Conference of Pacific Education Ministers – Keynote Address
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  • State Highway 5 reopens between Napier and Taupō following Cyclone Gabrielle
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  • Special Lotto draw raises $11.7 million for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery
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  • Appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeal and Judge of the High Court
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  • Statement from the Prime Minister on Stuart Nash
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