Unfortunately Nash will probably get a high list placing next time and won’t have to win a seat.
He is a right wing plant – I’m convinced of it. The left need to keep exposing him for what he is so that he doesn’t get any traction within the party.
Of course he is. Nash loves the surroundings and attention (and $) that the right wing can lavish upon his political career. And have been doing so already, in a material way.
Worrying, but expected. Little inherited the Engineers’ Union from Rex Jones, one of the most right wing class collaborators who has ever led a union. Back in the 80s, Engineers’ officials spent more time keeping militant workers out of the factories than anything else. Little was a student politician and then a lawyer. The Labour Party needs a ban on this sort, but instead they come up with the gift to the right that was the “man ban”.
One thing that points in that direction is the amount of media attention he is getting, the frequency with which his opinions are sought, and the respect with which those opinions are treated, bearing in mind that he has just been elected to parliament – that is a dead giveaway.
And don’t forget he’s good looking, has a lovely smile, nice white teeth and fits the shallow circumstantial mould – that is, youngish married man with attractive looking (no doubt) kids. They are apparently considered to be all-important pre-requisites if you want to be accepted by the celebrity driven MSM culture – especially the TV culture.
I totally agree , Phil U, from his own mouth Nash has clearly shown that he plays with the rightwing moneyed people – and he’s in Labour ? Yuk. He’s got his political parties mixed up,
Simon Bridges reminds me of a very angry man who wants to fight anyone who asks him a question. National on this should back bench him. He really is the lefts best weapon in National.
Newly elected Labour MP Stuart Nash says he has been taking advice from “dirty politics” operative Simon Lusk…
questions over his links to key players identified in Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics – Mr Lusk, Cameron Slater and Matthew Hooton…
“He’s run a pretty good campaign, I think, in terms of what I’ve seen, and I’ve taken some advice on how to message stuff there,” Mr Nash said.
He said other Labour MPs, and some Hawke’s Bay regional councillors, had also been in contact with Mr Lusk over the Ruataniwha dam issue.
Mr Lusk yesterday declined to comment on his relationship with Mr Nash. Mr Nash said he had written two articles for Whale Oil blogger Mr Slater when Mr Slater was editor of the Truth newspaper…
“I have mates right across the political spectrum and I make no apology for that. But having said that, I don’t consider Cameron Slater or Simon Lusk friends. Matthew Hooton certainly is a very good friend of mine…
Nash is wise not to; “consider Cameron Slater or Simon Lusk friends”, as I am yet to be convinced that either of them understand the concept. However, the question remains about whether he considers them colleagues.
I suspect he was misquoted, and actually said; “I have mates across the right of the political spectrum”.
nash is a playa – he doesn’t need slater and lusk to be ‘good’ friends if hollowhooton is there – I suppose ‘people’ like nash are seeded all over – I wonder if they go to a camp to learn how to pretend to be left – you know like the movies with the pretend american town to train those russians in the minutiae of US life. Anyway playa gotta play so I expect a lot of vocalisations from nash – on anything and everything…
Those guys – Prebble, Hide, Samuels, Tamihere – are just tired old hacks, no longer living in the real world and without any relevance to the real world. I don’t know why the Herald (and other media) keep on using them as spokespersons – they repeat the same old mantra time after time, and now they are Boring. Very, very boring.
Yep I just wish the Herald would stop asking right wingers who the Labour leader should be. Anyone with any sense would understand that their advice is tinged with malice.
That’s the point Micky, each little knife they can slip in the better. Between the labour party playing a game of thrones, and the corporate media playing fast and loose with the truth, another person is put off voting. Media owned for the corporate interest, know the game – we should too.
What I don’t understand is why the left-wing politicians haven’t found some techniques and skill in addressing this problem.
Rather than counter the propaganda, the left-wing are pandering to it too much.
They should be providing people with another way at looking at things to hook onto.
The amount of times that I heard ‘Dirty Politics’ characterised as a ‘distraction’ by left wing politicians in this last election is a very good example of what I am talking about – it could have been turned around to be made into a policy issue for cleaning up our democracy.
The Greens have achieved the most on countering right-wing framing of matters yet I would like to see more of these skills from all left-wing politicians and wonder why they haven’t developed them already.
You only truly counter propaganda when you produce news which speaks to truth yourself.
The dominance of editorial methodology which embraces money and profit – makes any attempts to counter the overall ideology of money worship, a very difficult task.
Your statement blue leopard also brings up the question for me of how many of the so called left politicians are left? Why are they so complicit in an overall support of a system which hurts their voter base?
As far as framing goes – look at Ralph Nader – love or hate him, the guy got things done – until – and this is important – the right took his language, and twisted it to their purpose in the corporate media.
I think we need to speak to the truth of an issue – no matter the cost.
It is why I’ve so vocal in my attacks on labour as a political party and why I think it is a dead weight around the left.
And CV I think you are so right we need to reach deep into NZ communities, with a good well rounded approach, communicating a clear and inspiring vision. We need to stop making people feel disempowered, this is what our corporate media and current crop of professional politicians seem to be doing in spades.
adam, blue leopard, both of you have cut right through to the heart of the matter IMO.
As far as framing goes – look at Ralph Nader – love or hate him, the guy got things done – until – and this is important – the right took his language, and twisted it to their purpose in the corporate media.
the “Right” who attacked Nader, also included the Democratic Party, who wanted to see his third party movement to the left of their own destroyed and permanently out of electoral politics.
Which to my mind, has direct parallels to what Labour has successfully done to Laila and Hone, I might add.
I totally support the setting up of an informative media channel, however, the countering of propaganda in response to MSM messages is still required because even if there was another news media channel (whatever the platform) some would still be looking at the old one and simply allowing the propaganda to slide – or even worse answering it in a manner that implies there is some foundation for thinking the way the propaganda frames it – simply leaves that ‘idea’ in peoples’ heads and supplies no opition for the people listening to the propaganda of looking at it in another way. It is very damaging indeed.
Therefore, left wing politicians need to learn to counter the propaganda no matter what.
I really am puzzled by why they haven’t developed this skill to date.
I think your questioning of Labour (or anyone being simpering toward the false narratives) is a natural response because when one has looked into things and one sees someone doing that, it just looks like they are unconvinced by their own political stance.
I think some of this, however, has more to do with lack of skill in arguing and could be improved by getting skill. They ultimately lack passion more than anything though, and seem more worried about ‘fitting in’ than getting anything achieved. 🙁
I haven’t heard of Ralph Nader and will look him up.
Ralph Nader ran as the third Presidential candidate against George Bush and Al Gore in 2000. The Democrats attacked Nader throughout the campaign and then blamed him for Al Gore’s final loss.
The Democrats could not allow a truly progressive and independent voice to stand; as such Nader was far more dangerous to the Democrats then the Republicans.
Nader has also run since then, but is typically completely ignored by the US corporate media.
That is a problem with their electoral system – splitting the vote of potential ‘left’ supporters. Labour has no excuse for that here [cross-face].
I was reading an article about Britain’s UKIP party, also having that problem of splitting the left vote.
I am really glad we have MMP here, it would be excellent if our left-wing politicians, especially Labour, learned how to use it to the left’s advantage.
If they continue in the tracks they have been going to date, then I think it is fair to say Labour don’t want left-wing principles to be encouraged, Up until now, I have been giving them rather a lot of lee-way for daftness but will be doing so no more.
I know very little about UKIP, in fact that article is one of the few things I have read about them.
Just to be perfectly clear, (although I think you probably got the point) that comment I made about UKIP was to highlight how the voting system in the UK & USA creates an issue with splitting the vote whereas ours is better in that regard, I was not attempting to provide any knowledge of UKIP, because I can confidently say I know very little about them! 🙂
Worth remembering that the initial set up of the US electoral system was carried out by 40 wealthy, property owning, slave owning white men who were interested in maintaining their own privilege in any new democracy.
@ blue leopard 2.37
I remember having a look at UKIP and putting up some links. Then, I think it was about them being successful in getting into the European Parliament. And I was interested in how the EP had dropped the threshhold low which I think is so unwise, opening it up to the poisoned tip of the dagger from toxic parties.
Anyway if you search for UKIP on TS it has been mentioned a lot.
Thanks Greywarbler, its not really a focus of my interest, but may follow the leads in the coming days at a quiet point – always good to learn something new 🙂
The issue of the molestation of Democracy by a bunch of (metaphorically) pimply, ‘really really need to be on the telly’ narcissists, bought off by media corporates and mutated by their own vanities, is very much alive. It has to be addressed. It must not be let lie.
My response exactly to Whaleoil putting Nash and Davies up for leader, sheer arrogance, or at least Lusk manipulation, or both. Previously, MSM has amplified Whaleoil’s voice, and it becomes mainstream narrative, no matter how bonkers the idea, will it still happen after dirty politics exposed?
Karol, try not to read it. Seriously, it’s just whale oil, main stream, the only people who really read it are so right wing it panders to their mentality. Or the left wanting to know what the rights doing by way of brainwashing the masses.
The only thing to do is smear the rag as far right and leave it be. definitely do not allow it to influence any decision you make.
Do what I did E-Mailed the Wanna be Hack that scribbled it, and just gently pointed out that she should stick to being the Tea lady, as the Granny has enough hacks in Armweak etc etc.
Passed that point three months ago Weka. I’ve definitely tried the polite avenue to many times to recount.
Now I’m down to insults as they just do not care, they have a hidden agenda not all the horses on the planet could shift. I insult them for personal satisfaction now.
In fact the Herald is lower than whaleoil in my opinion, because they have far more influence on the voting public, whereas only the nutty right read whaleoil.
The NZ Herald has been tory leaning since day dot. That’s the point of every big establishment newspaper in NZ, and worse so since the media corporates took over.
We shouldn’t be still acting surprised and disappointed in this, at this late point, right?
It seems so. I recall Chris Trotter saying that the NZH was vocal in calling for the invasion of the Waikato in 1863 at the behest of Auckland business interests.
Being the scholarly type Chris has probably been up to the Ak Museum to read the microfilmed originals – assuming they’ve still got them after the reign of mad Vanda. So I don’t doubt him.
And he mentions Iris Wilkinson (Robin Hyde) being told as a cub reporter in the 30’s to not say anything about the NZLP. All comments had to come from the NZH’s senior staff.
So nothing much has changed. Feel the long sweep of history eh? But most voters are completely ahistorical and live in the present.
Workers, union members and their families were utterly vilified by the big papers during the watersiders strike of 1951 (?). I’m fairly confident that was also the case for the Great Strike of 1913.
“I’m fairly confident that was also the case for the Great Strike of 1913”
Yep, it was. Here’s a comment I made on Brian Edwards Media back in 2010…..
“There’s a long, long history of this. A few years ago, I came across an unintentionally amusing article in a 1913 edition of Wellington’s TRIAD magazine. It was on the Waterside Workers’ lockout/strike (which a few weeks later snowballed into the General Strike of 1913 – notorious for Massey’s Cossacks).
The report began by describing the wharfies as “dark and furious persons of unpleasant aspect”. ….. The writer then went on to spend more than a few column inches emotively listing the various inconveniences the lockout had caused to the general public (nothing changes in 100 years); before ending on a moral high-note with this colourful little crescendo of xenophobia: “All of this because Wharfside Bill has a grievance…..Bill is sometimes an English subject, sometimes a non-descript negro, and sometimes a representative of one or other of those deceitful nations whose men wear rings through their ears”.
That was a Wellington-based magazine. The big papers were no different – particularly the morning papers The Herald, The Dominion, The Press and the ODT. All closely associated with Massey’s right-wing Reform Party. (the evening papers were closer to the Liberals).
Brilliant, thanks. Those uppity darkies, still causing issues.
Which goes back to the points made above. Why 100 years on is the left still fixated on the MSM instead of building up alternative infrastructure and assets like The Standard.
For decades the New Zealand Herald changed little in its appearance and sober, right-of-centre editorial stance; this was epitomised for half a century by the generally conservative cartoons of Gordon Minhinnick. The sobriquet ‘Granny Herald’ was part affection, part frustration.
Politics has become increasingly masculine under John key’s watch.
How did you go from a few uninformed peeps talking about Shane Jones and JT (who have their own political constituency, sure, but one which stretches back many many years) to blaming John Key for making politics more “masculine.”
Voters had a choice of a Labour and Green Party for which gender balance was a significant issue of policy, equality and inclusiveness; and a choice of a party which had fewer than 1/3 women in caucus and constantly downplays the issue by talking about “merit” instead.
Outcome: the people who didn’t care about gender balance in politics as a major issue either decided to vote National, or they decided to stay at home.
“Outcome: the people who didn’t care about gender balance in politics as a major issue either decided to vote National, or they decided to stay at home.”
Unsure if I am entirely clear on your point, here.
If you are trying to establish that policies about gender balance/rights didn’t ‘decide the election’, then I would tend to agree.
If you are arguing that the having a balanced gender in a party doesn’t have an impact on election results, then I think this point is problematic, due to National’s skill at ‘guiding’ perceptions.
When I heard that National had less women than Labour earlier in the year, I actually had to go and check that by counting, I had to check because I would find it far easier to list National female MPs than Labour ones. If pushed, I possibly could come up with a longer list of Labour female MPs – possibly – yet doubt this would be the case for those who don’t watch parliament TV on the regular basis that I do (which is largely where I see the female Labour MPs). With regard to someone with less interest in politics, I suspect National would come across as having more female representation than Labour because National have placed women in some very high profile positions and this means male and female MPs from National get on TV and in the papers in fairly equal proportions. I don’t see this occurring with Labour.
I don’t know if women (or men) base their decisions on how representative the party they are voting for looks, or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if part of National’s success is the appearance of a reasonable balance. (This may also be the case with regard to ethnicity too, although I haven’t thought too hard over that one, so could be quite incorrect. )
With regard to looking representative of the general population:
Between the two main parties, I would say National appear more balanced.
Between the Greens and NZ First – I would say the Greens are more balanced.
I suspect that any type of sway on voting choice re ‘balanced representation’ won’t be made on a conscious level by everyone but for some it will and significantly, I very much doubt that any representational balance would put someone off, who wasn’t making that a point of decision.
In summary, wouldn’t say this matter was the be all and end all, but I do suspect it will be significant and that an effort made to come across as not being largely dominated by ‘male’ and importantly I will add here ‘white’, too, is an effort well worth making for accumulating wider appeal.
Shane would of been a disaster well he was looking off into the distance replaying what he just said in his head again key would of nailed him to the wall
An over inflated ego of his own self worth sums up Jones. He large ego will see him return to politics as a list candidate for NZF at the next election, probably as a contender successor to Peters. I would be making it very clear if and when this happens that NZF will side with the Nats, the ease of his transition to his current National party jacked up junket says it all. Not to be trusted!
Why are policies announced but never the in’s and out’s of them.
During the election I felt like parties were announcing policy by name with no detail.
Take my conversations yesterday on open mike about the CGT. It appears to me to many unanswered questions we’re left on such a polar subject. To many home owners did not understand it. Nor the raising of retirement. Crikey Robertson was even defending it on Backbenchers last night. Whilst the Nats claimed it was not needed they were growing the economy. You know I’m on my way to the moon right now too. /sarc I heard it was made of cheese.
Slight distraction from topic, who boldly states they are growing the economy when dairy and the dollar are diving. Who has the balls to lie like that.
back to topic
ALL contentious Policy should be accompanied by a leaflet drop with loads of questions answered about it. Both the CGT and Raising of retirement certainly required more than a press release and some debate questions. In fact a leaflet drop would have made DC’s leader debates answers easier.
Or maybe it would be better to introduce an idea like CCT after being elected, put it out there and let people debate it in public for three years, by then most should have a far idea of how it would affect them, then take it to the people at the next election.
How can a policy such as a CGT be seen as a cure for our housing unaffordability when the CTG tax rate is 1/2 of the coy and top PAYE tax rate ? This was no cure.
If Lab14 version had followed Lab11 version and complemented a CGT with a $5k tax free threashold then this could have been viewed as a tax redistribution, benefiting tenants, and PAYE workers. If kiwibuild had been complemented with an increase in housing NZ stock then many would have seen the Lab14 version as being seen as an active attempt in solving housing in particular aucklands housing issue. Hit property speculators as hard as your can, if trading then tax at 28%.
So I disagree CGT is the problem, it is lukewarm solution by neoliberalism protecting their own kind.
I think that a leaflet explaining a policy would be a great idea Richard. I think the main reason Labour lost was their lack of a simple clear communication of important policy. Most of the population are not going to read130 pages of policy on a website that wasn’t very accessible.
Labour boasted at having so much detailed policy compared to National, but
people not that interested in politics don’t care. They need to be given something simple they can understand and these policies should have been on billboards – vote Labour to increase the minimum wage by $2 an hour. Vote Labour to protect our rivers. Vote Positive is meaningless.
I think the CGT is a good idea but there was a huge amount of misinformation out there that could have been countered by a well designed leaflet as you suggest. Same with minimum wage increases. It was obvious the Nats would say it would increase unemployment so why not preempt the claims in a Q & A leaflet?
You mentioned that a CGT was a good idea, Just curious why? Is that IYO it will solve the house affordability issue for just address the idea of a fairer tax system ?
Many of the issues to preempt cannot be placed at DC’s feet, labour strategists should have been able to foresee any of the nats counter claims and had the responses already available, but it appears that they were found lacking….
The CGT will not be enough to solve house affordability, but could slow down the the rampant inflation of house prices in Auckland. Its main benefits are that it would discourage property speculation by those trying to avoid paying tax as well as raising more tax revenue from those with higher incomes. Working class people often can’t even afford a home of their own let alone an investment property.
All other OECD countries have a CGT and as a result NZ property speculation is seen as attractive by foreign investors. It would be better to get investment in the productive sector.
Newly elected Labour MP Stuart Nash says he has been taking advice from “dirty politics” operative Simon Lusk and has always been happy talking to people across the political spectrum.
“I have mates right across the political spectrum and I make no apology for that. But having said that, I don’t consider Cameron Slater or Simon Lusk friends. Matthew Hooton certainly is a very good friend of mine, and I bang into him socially every now and then, and he’s quite enjoyable company, but that doesn’t change my politics or how I view things, believe me,” he said.
“When people say ‘be careful of your right-leaning friends’, I say ‘why would I do that?’ We [MPs] get advice from a whole lot of different people – Matthew doesn’t give me advice.”
If you have the stomach for it, here are Nash’s posts on TDB – he’s always been one of the few authors on that site that with whom I’ve consistently disagreed. This wasn’t so important when he was a private citizen giving a window into the thoughts of the Labour rightwing. Now that he’s a parliamentary representative, it seems a bit more disturbing.
Politics is about winning. Nothing else. MPs can philosophise, criticise, pontificate, and machinate as much as they want in opposition and it doesn’t count for a thing… I have said Labour brand. I personally don’t give a damn about any other party’s message, policies or political posturing because I am not representing that party or their aspirations on the doorstep or the soapbox when I am campaigning. I know, you know, and the voters know that in an MMP world a major party cannot govern alone; that coalition partners are vital to forming a government. At this point in time that is not my concern.
Also his predictions are woefully inaccurate given his supposed access to internal Labour data. The GP went from 247,372 (11.06%) in 2011 to 257,356 (10.70%) in 2014 getting 14 MPs in both elections. Nash’s prediction?
The Green party received 11.1% at the last election. History will show this is the high-water mark for them. I expect them to get around the 6.7% they polled in 2008; or even close to the 5.3% they got in 2005.
History has shown that Nash possessed a faulty political weather-vane in this judgement, why should we expect any future announcement of his to have any predictive validity? He has done as much as any Labour candidate (except Jones or Davis) to drive wedges between the Labour party and its MMP allies on the left.
My dislike of Nash comes from his election byline which went something like ‘Labour supports the people who work hardest not moan the loudest’. Dog whistle and wedge politics.
No but watching it now.. think it’s chanel 504 or 502 on sky for the delayed hours viewing so you can catch it again if you missed it.
Putting up with another bunch of pro rights led by Susan and there token lefts who do and say stuff all in the lefts defence.
best comment was by Bryce so far stating the RMA and dairy prices were a problem for National. But Boagy said it won’t matter with the idiot coat tailers passing it anyways.
Shocker coming from Bryce usually he’s stuck up Keys bottom.
With preferential voting the entry of Andrew Little allows the ABG group which is almost as big as the ABC group to swing behind Little in order to keep out Sir Joseph Porter.
Q&A is just more 2 tracking DP tactics using an under the thumb SOE as the delivery mechanism.
Hooton will take the lead sales role now with cam and david needing to be more circumspect as unlike those 2 matty doesnt run a site full of spin dogwhistling up the rednecks.
Little interviewed fairly well, not as good as yesterday on The Nation, however good enough for sum of us to see him as a real Leader option. Mike Williams seemed annoyed and put out Andrew was being so glowingly talked up, he appeared more comfortable talking up Grant & Nash. What I can say is having talked individually with all those 3 and DC, I found Andrew Little naturally engaging and genuine with a finger on the pulse to things relevant.
Lower Saxony is the final German state to scrap tuition fees, meaning that all German universities are free of charge for all students – and yes, that includes overseas students.
“Tuition fees are socially unjust,” Dorothee Stapelfeldt, senator for science in Hamburg, told the Times. The state scrapped fees in 2012. “They particularly discourage young people who do not have a traditional academic family background from taking up studies. It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge in Germany.”
German universities were allowed by law to start charging fees in 2006, when a constitutional court decided that moderate fees combined with loans did not violate the country’s commitment to universal higher education. Most schools only charged relatively low amounts of around €1,000 a year (£845) – but that didn’t stop state governments from changing their mind after eight years.
No wonder the establishment are trying so desperately to demonise New Zealand resident Kim Dotcom, spreading around his crazy German ideas about free tertiary education and wanting to see young people freed from student debt. We wouldn’t want crazy foreign ideas like that catching on here. No Sirrreee
While I agree that their attributes in personal interaction are of some importance, the fact is that it isn’t the leader’s job to go into the hone of every person in New Zealand, shake their hand and share a cream tea. They are supposed to debate, articulate vision and policy and set the course for the party as a whole. My reaction whenever I see the “Have you met them in person?” thing trotted out here (and it’s coming up with regular monotony at the moment) is, “No, and why on Earth should I care?”.
Labours best chance is to use mmp effectively, work with other opposition parties and dont be so cavalier with socially unpopular policies like raising retirement age.
govts lose elections more so than oppositions win them, they needed to work with greens and mana not scare middle nz, be united etc and nats would probably be gone now.
Its this failure to do what it takes to win and show nz that coalition is workable, which deflates an attack theme. However they lecture middle nz with a ‘we know best’ and that will continue to keep them in opposition.
Cunliffe and if Little joins will be a hard decision for me. I like DC but also have to admit to myself he’s not universally liked by the masses. Little has no such hang ups. Hard choice as David will take labour if allowed where I personally want them to go.
Little I have to find out but he shows up good and level headed in interviews, but can he deliver in chambers or debates.
Sorted, then. That’s good news, two I like, and two votes. Thanks Steph as the info hasn’t arrived yet. Just a nice email from a labour big wig. Telling me as I joined after election day they were a little tied up getting me up to date. I understood it completely.
No but he spoke good common sense. My heart raced as in their was finally another choice, I was of the impression may be better. remember he pretty much only needs to get Labour as a minimum into, the somewhere in the mid to high 30’s with Greens support and hopefully Winny, we would have a government. It’s a real possibility with Little, a lot of hard work for DC. Not chance with GR and the hiding he will get media wise pre 2017 election.
Charisma s over-rated and few understand it – after all people say Key is charismatic, but he is as bland as blancmange. There have been very few charismatic leaders over history, modern ones include Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King – we have nobody of that calibre any where near the reins of power or even pretenders.
Common sense would be good; the ability to articulate complex policy in terms everyone can understand; a certain modesty but the boldness to actually stand up for what is right; and the ability to respect others and convey the sense that everyone is valued. Those are the qualities I look for in a a leader.
Why even frakking increase the retirement age at all, when we already have an excess labour pool and not enough full time jobs to go around???
Cunliffe said that Labour would not be the political party which cuts off your leg but with anaesthetic. All you’ve said here is, sell how good the anaesthetic is.
The first issue at play is that Labour has to improve its game in marketing policy.
It needs to identify how the public reacts to policy so it can better market it.
The second issue is to take the public on board bit by bit (the Key strategy for change over time – bed things in before moving on).
Then Labour looks like a less risky change option.
Your point, about what the policy should be, is another issue entirely.
But for mine, the current surplus of labour is not caused by a proposal to increase the age for super in over a decades time.
And the proportion of people working over age 65 now is much greater than the number that would be impacted by an increase from age 65 to 67. And this number is increasing regardless of what the age for super is.
CV is correct axe that policy fullstop. The jobs are not there now and with technology the demand for workers will be further reduced. We need to move away from consumerism and become more focused on being self reliant. Just go to any mall and watch people loading up on debt by buying things that they don’t really need.
How does one afford and live with paying super to people who are still working age 65 to 67 while other people are in poverty? The number is about 33% of those age 65 to 67 and rising.
These people, many in the top 10% income bracket, are getting more in tax paid super than poor families with no other means of support.
How does one afford and live with paying super to people who are still working age 65 to 67 while other people are in poverty? The number is about 33% of those age 65 to 67 and rising.
WTF?
“How does one afford and live with”???
Where are you getting this awkward misdirected phrasing from? When you are referring to the NZ Government “affording” and “living with” paying super.
Get serious and try and make a joined together argument eh? Let’s start with NZ Super being a universal entitlement, yeah?
But for mine, the current surplus of labour is not caused by a proposal to increase the age for super in over a decades time.
Dude, I never made such a back-asswards invalid point. Why would you even think this sentence you wrote had any basis?
There are far too many unemployed and under-employed right now. Why put in place measures which will increase the surplus labour force even further, is my question. It’s dumb policy.
Frankly CV I never saw the need for a raising of the retirement either. My reasoning is dad died 65. Paid all that tax never even got to enjoy it(super).
There’s a guy 70 still working at my work. But pays secondary tax. You can keep working if you want free choice. If anything, better early retirement choices would be a more attractive vote winner for those in hard manual labour who bodies don’t last the distance rather than go on SB or IB or ACC.
Something like that would surely be a very attractive policy.
As for the imminent baby boomer retirement. Is it going to be a THAT costly? What’s the figures? What other options do we have? Does returning more into the workforce help. If unemployment was 5-6 or less is there still an issue.
If we start the Cullen fund up again does the interest help can it be used.
Surely theirs a better option than scaring the 50+ crowd and me at 48.5
Should you be able to continue working AND get super?
Dunne’s flexi-super allows early retirement but comes with a lifetime actuarial cap – meaning a lower rate of super for the rest of one’s life for doing this.
Personally the only part of Dunne’s idea that I support, is enabling those sick and infirm (with health issues that limit life duration) stuck on a benefit to go onto super a little earlier (say from age 60, and for periods before then when people are terminally ill).
Good question SPC. Thinking about it… no??? But then no secondary tax. I mean I enjoy my job, I’d not want to be forced to retire, nor would I like to receive Super and a wage with a secondary high tax rate. I want to work my week and feel the satisfaction of seeing a healthy after tax income in my wage slip as a reward.
However my back will never make it too 65 as employment rules around safety in the work place are a joke if you don’t live in the spotlight of a big city with employment inspectors.
Have you been made aware of the massive drop in workplace ethics and worker safety since national got in.
“..Personally the only part of Dunne’s idea that I support, is enabling those sick and infirm (with health issues that limit life duration) stuck on a benefit to go onto super a little earlier (say from age 60, and for periods before then when people are terminally ill)…”
Policies and how Labour could have better communicated them.
2. Kiwi Saver being compulsory.
Labour has a plan to prevent mortgage costs from rising and improve export incomes.
The government could use this “anti-inflationary” tool to hold down the OCR.
Instead of people simply paying more of their wages to banks in mortgage interest cost they would be putting the money into their Kiwi Saver account – this money being available to them when they retired or a once a decade withdrawal to pay down their mortgage (and of course for those yet to own to withdraw to buy their first home).
I would however withdraw the part about a variable rate as voters do/would not like the uncertainty of it. This is a component better left to consideration as policy for a following election.
Before moving to flexible rate Kiwi Saver there should be a surcharge on mortgages.
This option is one that Bollard floated late in his RB term as an alternative to raising the OCR (given the adverse impact on exporter incomes and jobs).
A 1% surcharge on mortgages would allow the OCR to fall from 3.5 to 2.5%.
At 3.5 the banks are lending at 6%.
At 2.5 the banks are lending at 5%.
Thus the mortgage holder pays 5% to the bank, instead of 6, and 1% to the government.
This would by the way raise about $2B pa for the government in surcharge, as well as the higher tax revenues off higher exporter and wage incomes.
The more taxes the lower the rate of tax the better is the maxim for optimum tax policy. It’s the higher rates that create perverse incentives, avoidance etc.
The surcharge, CGT and carbon tax allow lower tax rates.
And they all improve economic performance.
1. a lower OCR and dollar assists exporter returns and job growth.
2. reduces the incentive to speculate, rather than invest
3. a more sustainable economy
Yeah it is SPC and the investment capital earned from it may help create more jobs , however the issue I have, and I’m trying to convey is to stop us pandering and promoting the perception the public have that we(Labour) just tax, tax, more tax, seriously I think we need to STFU on taxes, do what another said, once elected inform the people our intent and then throw it to referendum. Silence the naysayers.
We need to stop allowing the misinformation to be justified.
and most of all stop arming Key with debate lines of 5 headed monsters and look another tax.
Hmmm, CV the ammo and look when he(Key in debates) said 5 new taxes.
Remember that. I hear what your saying, but it’s all about perception isn’t it. If your serious about labour winning, and against shifty key we’d better start thinking smarter.
The problem we have is that people have been taught that taxes are a negative rather than the positive that they are. We call tax cuts tax relief which is really a load of bollocks because it usually makes life worse for the many. Of course, the rich do well out of it as they a) get more income from doing nothing more and b) put prices up to shift that extra money in peoples pockets into their own.
People are always better off paying taxes than they are not paying taxes.
Again this is due to the media not explaining things, or the party not producing the counter arguments to dispel the stereotyping.
In a normal democracy with a broader media that compliments both sides it would be fine, But here in NZ we have to admit we are playing with a marked deck and need to sharpen up.
I’m not saying your wrong at all, I’m saying we have difficulty getting it over too the voters.
I think Labour should scrap cgt, scrap the 67 pension age (though convene parliament wide body to discuss the pension age) and go for a Mansion Tax per Labour in the UK, of say 1% on houses $750k to $1m and 2% on houses worth more than a $1m with no exceptions (or some variation on this) while raising the top rate of tax above $130k to 39%.
These would be relatively simple to administer, hit the right people and put a lid on house prices and raise revenue.
Halfway through his interview with Michael Katakis I heard something about an interview arrangement he had with Kim Hill having been cancelled on the basis that there had been too many left leaning USA intellectuals on already! Interesting – I think that is what I heard. If what I have repeated is true then that is alarming.
11:05 Michael Katakis – Traveller
Michael Katakis has been photographing and writing about different cultures for the past 35 years. His work has been celebrated by the Royal Geographical Society, The Smithsonian Institute and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, to name just a few. He is also the literary manager of Ernest Hemingway’s intellectual estate. He joins Wallace to talk about his books, A Thousand Shards of Glass – which is a personal farewell to America and his wife; and Traveller, which is a collection of letters and journal entries that reflect on his own past.
For those with questions about what philosophy we should live by (think song – Teach your children well) the interview with Sam Harris, an atheist has something to say.
10:20 Sam Harris – Devoted to Reason
One of the world’s most well-known atheists, Sam Harris is the author of the bestselling books The End of Faith and The Moral Landscape. Dr Harris is cofounder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. He joins Wallace to talk about his latest book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion where they discuss mindfulness, drugs, critics and, of course, religion.
And NZ Peter Williams QC aged 80, talking about his work with many murderers and prison reform, and author of new book called The Dwarf that Moved? It’s one of the stories in the book, about a dwarf in an Auckland circus whose wife was committing adultery with another guy in the circus. They had a sharp-shooting booth where she would shoot something out of the dwarf’s mouth and she hits him one day and is charged with attempted murder. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11217263
11:30 Peter Williams – Life in the Law
Peter Williams QC is a well-known name and face to New Zealanders. One of our greatest barristers, Peter Williams has defended some of New Zealand’s most infamous criminal cases, including: Terry Clark (Mr. Asia) and Arthur Allan Thomas. He has been a constant advocate for change in the penal system and has campaigned to rehabilitate prisoners, rather than imprisoning them. He joins Wallace on Sunday Morning to talk about some of his more notorious cases and his life spent working in the law.
Very, very interesting. Blimmin heck Dunne sounds out of place with National.
Took notes people should listen to the interview.
Winner Dunne. Jamie trying to defend the indefensible and frankly Dunne took him to task.
rma
Jamie
Wants greening of act, more emphasis on equality the people of nz have spoken their concerns for growing inequality. Dunne showed him up n one hand he wants Act more green like but same time want dismantling of RMA. Dunne states prior to RMA there was 54 laws it was Kos Jamie want a return to kaos basically.
Dunne will not support RMA changes at all. Stated, steadfast.
Charter schools
Dunne Will not support them they are a joke
Spoke examples of private partnerships, not trained teachers , franky it sound a joke these charter schools
Jamie lies and tells Wallace his facts from Stanford research are wrong when Wallace had them in front of him. Silly boy.
All in All Dunnes more left than I had thought, Jamie is very dangerous as he is following an agenda without reasoned thought.
@ Richard All in All Dunnes more left than I had thought, Jamie is very dangerous as he is following an agenda without reasoned thought.
I think Dunne will follow that old saying about running with the fox and hunting with the hounds.
Somewhere in the middle he might make a useful stand to act as some solace for those who wanted him out.
Don’t be so sure about Jamie Whyte and reasoned thought. That is like looking at a mirror from different standpoints. Same mirror, different views.
Some good reporting today.
If the news that in the past 40 years the world has lost over 50% its vertebrate wildlife (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish) fails to tell us that there is something wrong with the way we live, it’s hard to imagine what could. Who believes that a social and economic system which has this effect is a healthy one? Who, contemplating this loss, could call it progress?
We need a better economic system because the one we have is uneconomic.
@odesseus I just watched little s interview and thought he came across well It maid me wish the labour office had of sorted its shit so I could of joined in time to vote.
According columnist Tracy Watkins.
In the old days Douglas would have sacked Lange.
Wishful thinking by a rightwing journo with her own agenda?
You decide:
David Cunliffe’s resignation from the Labour leadership is certain. It is only the manner of his going that is yet to be decided.
In the old days he would have been gone already.
Tuesday’s brutalising caucus was a coup in all but name. It showed Cunliffe no longer has any authority over his caucus, who can outvote him at will. They already have, over his choice of Whip.
A leader who can’t control his caucus or win a vote cannot credibly front National as the Leader of the Opposition. But under Labour’s rules a coup is no longer a simple numbers game in the caucus.
If it were, Cunliffe’s rival Grant Robertson would already be leader.
He has had the numbers to roll Cunliffe for more than a year.
But that is not enough.
Robertson’s supporters could force a vote of no confidence in Cunliffe, but that effectively puts the decision in the hands of the wider party and Labour’s union affiliates. In a vote, they could decide to re-install Cunliffe over a hostile caucus. They did so the last time the leadership was put to the vote, a year ago.
Whether they would do so again after the chaotic scenes of recent days remains to be seen. Camp Cunliffe are convinced they would…..
“Cunliffe’s exit is assured” Tracy Watkins
stuff.co.nz September 5, 2014
He has had the numbers to roll Cunliffe for more than a year.
No he hasn’t else Robertson would have been leader a year ago when Shearer resigned and Cunliffe became leader. Of course, what Watkins is really saying here is: If it wasn’t for those dratted members and unions we’d have a sensible Labour Party that would hold to the status quo.
Basically, more authoritarian BS from our MSM that holds that the public should just leave the decisions to the government and not get engaged in the actual decision making.
THE FEDERAL Reserve Bank of New York is responsible for regulating the nation’s biggest banks. But new secret audio tapes indicate the banks — not the Fed — are in charge. Congress can keep making the rules tougher and tougher, but it won’t make an ounce of difference if the regulators won’t enforce those rules. Below is a primer to explain what’s going on.
Andrew Little might not be a stellar performer but at least he will not be disliked or pitied. He would be a safe pair of hands to bring about the needed changes and remember that under MMP he only has to raise Labour to where it was when Shearer was deposed in order to possibly win in 2017. Andrew Little is better than Shearer and could win votes from the Greens and win back the Labour voters who opted for the safety of National in 2014.
Public Broadcasting impartiality
Back in 2003 “Trougher Hide” led a tirade against Brian Edwards and had him successfully removed from current affairs. Apparently on the basis of Edwards political leanings and questionable “impartiality”.
Wonder how Hide views Hosking’s role in meeting Public Broadcasting standards?
A promo video from Pinkroccade, a prominent IT contractor to Dutch local governments, makes the case for spying on wearables (if your heart-rate rises because you’re about to be mugged, the police could be alerted, and get GPS from your phone, find nearby phones belonging to people with criminal records, check the view from your Google Glass, and respond — case closed); following outrage from the press, the company doubled down on its video, saying it was not meant to be interpreted by lay people and that you have to be an expert to understand why it isn’t creepy as all fuck.
On tonights news I see there is a major fire in a substation in Auckland.
Funny that, I thought, that would have not happened in the bad bad bad days of NZCED when we ALL owned the infrastructure of New Zealand. Myers reminded us of these “terrible” days on Q&A this morning
My second thought was, Why did it happen? Was it because we had a cost reducing profit maximizing lack of maintenance or, incompetent subcontractors with the lowest bid got the job.
My third thought was
One of the suburbs that was really affected was EPSOM. Ha Ha fucking Ha perhaps Rimmer along with Kryton can come and fix it for them.
I noted john Key was swift to make his “expert” views on the matter known. I guess his Parnell home was one of those affected. OMG that’s terrible. (sarc)
Just read Chris Trotter’s Sept 30th discussion about renewal of NZLP. The key suggestion seemed to be to turn the party list over to member voting, as done by the Greens. Party list selection by members is a great idea, but it would have much less impact for NZLP than it does for GPANZ.
.
The current NZLP electorate candidate process is also interesting. I think involves 3 votes from head office and 2 from local organisation. So centralised control could be exerted to enforce electorate candidate renewal, but that might be very messy and simply lead to a call for less head office power.
.
The Labour trend is clearly away from centralised control. As Trotter points out, the Nats are much more comfortable with that idea.
.
The rules are here http://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/parties/rules/Labour%20Party%20Constitution%20and%20Rules.pdf
.
The org review from 2012 also makes interesting reading for those who are calling for yet another org review. https://www.labour.org.nz/sites/default/files/Labour%20Review%20Discussion%20Paper.pdf
When parliaments were first formed, only the rich could afford to be MPs. The answer to this was supposedly to pay them a salary. This obviously hasn’t worked, because the people we have in parliament are somewhere between comfortably well off and super rich. As well as what they can make if they indulge in insider trading with their blind trusts, cough cough, they get paid far more than most Kiwis can even dream about. Maybe they should be paid something like the unemployment benefit rate, with allowances for travel etc? I’m sure that would keep heaps of the troughers we have at the moment out of the Beehive.
And also: Glory glory to South Sydney. The two teams I hope never win the NRL competition again are Manly (Abbott and his ilk live there) and the Broncos (donate to the LNP campaign in Queensland). After seeing Russell Crowe get a championship ring made for Isaac Luke, I think there might be some truth to the rumours that he is part Kiwi.
Lenin wrote somewhere that the left should be involved where the working masses are. For me, that’s not a challenge at all, because I love Rugby League. The Kiwis would never make John Key captain.
Murray 0 1/06 am
Low wages for MPs would result in a moral hazard whereby they would be vulnerable to brown envelopes and baubles, and trips to resorts for their family, an apartment on the Gold Coast etc………..
Limited terms would be the deal and applying to all of them there pollies from top to bottom. Putin seems adept at the merry go round, but some sort of limitation would stop too many from digging themselves a fur lined cave for the duration.
I understand they have these in the USA, fur lined cars, or caves I mean. And someone who has early onset bigotry and calcification of the brain can stay in power probably with pay offs and because they look like daddy, so they can’t be winkled out. Probably in the end it seems uncharitable to such an old soldier to give him the push so they get a sympathy vote. That’s not democracy at work. That’s good ol’boys getting a rort.
High salaries just make the moral hazards more costly. I remember when the first ACT government vastly increased judges’ salaries, saying they would be vulnerable to bribery at the then current rate. I found it funny that judges had to be bribed to be honest.
National has a problem. And it’s time they said it out loud. It can’t be dismissed as a one-off anymore or excused because ‘everyone does it’. No, it cuts deeper than that. National has an ethics problem. Especially when it comes to privacy and using ordinary people as pawns in ...
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The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...
The Green Party is today unveiling part one of its plan for a fossil-fuel free Aotearoa, including an immediate ban on new industrial coal boilers. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
From RNZ Mediawatch New Zealand children use a lot less Kiwi media than they used to. New research shows its Netflix, YouTube and TikTok engaging their eyeballs big time these days. If our kids screen out our local media, what does the future hold for them? The news media seized ...
The Tahr Foundation has released a short video that shows just what Himalayan tahr mean to Kiwis and why so many people are fighting so hard to maintain them in New Zealand. The video is a powerful reminder of the extent that tahr are now woven into ...
Introduction Thank you very much. Elections in New Zealand – like everywhere - are a very special tradition, because they are driven by you. They’re an opportunity to change your future. If you think about it, the Government doesn’t do much. It ...
“This election and Covid-19 present New Zealanders with an opportunity to change their future and create a fair, modern employment insurance scheme,” says ACT’s Employment Spokesperson, and third-ranked candidate, Nicole McKee. “Covid-19 has ...
“A new approach to mental health and addiction will reduce bureaucracy, improve patient choice, and empower New Zealanders,” says ACT’s Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Brooke van Velden. “Each year, the government spends about $2 billion ...
"Working people have signaled their commitment to do more to address the most pressing issue of our time; climate change. The energy policies that the Green Party have launched today provide a meaningful contribution to addressing climate change," ...
Climate justice organisation 350 Aotearoa welcomes the Greens' plan to transform Aotearoa’s energy system and set Aotearoa on course towards a fossil-fuel free future in which workers are supported into new jobs, and communities have the power ...
The Old Guard, new to Netflix, is a resounding success because it doesn’t focus on what makes these heroes great, it focuses on what makes them human, writes Sam Brooks.The climax of Netflix’s new movie The Old Guard shouldn’t be anything new, but it feels exhilarating. The titular old guard, ...
A new Green Party announcement heralds a fast-exit out of fossil fuels through a massive state housing solar panel installation programme, a ban on new coal boilers, and the shifting of a target for renewable energy Solar panels and batteries would be installed in 30,000 State homes to create a "virtual power plant" if ...
As yet more male-led festival lineups are announced, Shaquille Wasasala, aka halfqueen, writes an open letter to the industry.To those whose career it is booking talent for music festivals, punters, and people who listen to music.As a DJ and artist who exists at many intersections that directly inform my lens ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Dunedin writer Victor Billot pens topical verse every Sunday. This week: disgraced MP Hamish Walker.Showing promise The MP for Clutha-Southland did, it is true, post on Facebook that he had been door knocking in Mataura when he hadn’t. He lied. The MP for Clutha-Southland did, it is ...
It’s one of the most commonly used weedkillers in the world, but pressure to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate could force us to come up with alternatives quickly. Listen to the full episode of Two Cents Worth below. Subscribe to Two Cents' Worth for free on Apple ...
The Covid-19 crisis has exposed gaps in the funding of early education that we should be bold in responding to, writes Sue Cherrington of Victoria University of Wellington Early childhood education has been in the media a great deal over recent weeks, initially with positive but increasingly with negative news reports. ...
It’s an economic theory that advocates tout as a solution to governments’ debt crises, but critics warn is a recipe for hyperinflation. Either way, modern monetary theory is getting a lot more attention in the era of Covid-19.Two big economic ideas have captured the popular imagination during the Covid-19 pandemic: ...
For one hour a week the supermarket lights are dimmed and the music stops. And it’s a kind of triumph, writes Michelle Langstone.I thought there’d been a power cut. The lights were out at the entrance, so you arrived into a kind of gloom. There was no music, and no ...
It’s no secret that New Zealand’s Covid-19 response was one of the world’s most effective. But to get an idea of how eagerly parts of our economy have rebounded post lockdown, take a look at our electricity demand data.Despite an impending wave of unemployment and looming fiscal challenges down the ...
In the second in the Spnioff’s Last on the list series, Dave King explains what inspired him to stand for the Act Party in Manurewa. At 20th spot on the list, if David Seymour’s party can win around 16% of the party vote, King is parliament bound.It wasn’t that long ...
Basketball is growing massively in popularity around the country, led by thousands of youngsters picking up the game every day. To The Line looks at what it’s like for New Zealand high school kids with hoop dreams.If there’s been a narrative rumbling away in the sports pages, it’s that of ...
Unbelievable. A first-rank world leader picks a needless fight with blameless allies, thus imperiling their unity. But that’s General de Gaulle for you.Impressive work, even by his standards. In 1967, Canada was to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (their Gallipoli – except that they ...
From RNZ Saturday Morning Described by a Guardian reviewer as “superb hate-reading”, writer and columnist Anand Giridharadas‘s latest book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World investigates the hypocrisy of billionaire “do-gooders”. He questions how and why we have become reliant on the philanthropy of the super-rich ...
The Professional Hunting Guides Association is welcoming the High Court decision on DoC’s controversial tahr campaign. The High Court in Wellington was asked on Wednesday by the Tahr Foundation for a judicial review of DoC’s plan to kill thousands ...
With the 2020 general election nearly three months away, a new campaign is asking voters to vote in line with the future. Vote Climate 2020 aims to highlight the opportunity to build momentum behind climate change, ensuring climate justice is a key election ...
“ACT will target the gangs by hitting them where it hurts – their pockets,” according to ACT Leader David Seymour and Firearms Spokesperson Nicole McKee. “New Zealanders deserve to be safe and secure, but violent gangs are a scourge on our ...
Waffles don’t need to be sweet – these cheese and onion numbers make an excellent savoury breakfast with an egg, or an equally tasty dinner with leftover mince.It’s easy to default to sweet breakfasts without thinking. At least that’s the case in our household, as porridge or bircher muesli is ...
The government is revitalising the wool sector, splashing out on freshwater restoration projects, relieving student stress and showing kindness to Muslims by extending the border exception criteria. It is also increasing its support (in announcements from two separate Green Party Ministers) for women and for wildlife institutions. And it is ...
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge.To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead ...
As Aucklanders reluctantly adjust to the inconvenient practice of water conservation, a drought-savvy Northlander shares the tips and temperament needed to get through the dry times.Auckland’s water shortage was recently reported on The Project, and viewers were earnestly exhorted to fill their dishwashers completely before turning them on. My husband ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a flagrant violation of the country’s constitution, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Paris-based media ...
Hamish Walker's privacy leak debacle dominated the news this week, but it's not the first time a southern MP has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, writes Daisy Hudson. ...
Let’s not allow the focus on big-budget infrastructure projects to detract from the vital role public transport will play in revitalising our cities in a post-Covid world, says Greg Pollock.The recent match between the Blues and the Hurricanes was one of the world’s first major post-lockdown sporting fixtures. It was ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
In the heart of Christchurch is a Designated Character high school. What makes it unique? And should there be more like it? Frank Film visits Hagley College Paddy Grant was a 27-year-old truck driver when he rocked up to Christchurch’s Hagley High School, as it was then known. It was ...
"After he calms down we share the pie and talk about how hard the years since the show have been for him": a short story by Wellington writer Jordan Hamel. Every morning it’s the same. Cling wrap on the toilet seat, a pop up snake in my can of breakfast ...
Childcare centre closures have left families and staff out in the cold. In some cases, they were given just three days’ notice, Laura Walters reports Staff and families of Auckland’s Discoveries Educare branches feel blindsided by the sudden closure of the early childhood education centres. The Ministry of Education has ...
Controversy and the America's Cup go hand-in-hand and the latest edition is no different with Emirates Team New Zealand at the centre of financial mismanagement allegations. Extra Time unpicks the debate and ponders what does the latest Cup drama mean? And should we care? A study has revealed racial bias ...
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change.It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately ...
So-called dirty deals have been roundly denounced over the years. Hayden Donnell argues that they need to be normalised, and even embraced, in September’s election.Just before the 2011 general election, Patrick Gower was confronted with a political act so stomach-churning, it forced him to abandon his trademark reserve. John Key ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...
The controversial 101 East episode Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown on 3 July 2020. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch Newsdesk Malaysian police summoned six Al Jazeera media workers today for questioning relating to an investigation for defamation and violation of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), reports IFJ Asia-Pacific. ...
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Epidemiologist, UNSW Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly today recommended people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire wear masks when leaving the house: […] If people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Wynne, Director, Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Western Sydney University Over the past week, we’ve seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections among health-care workers in Victoria. This includes a doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the return to lockdown in Victoria, National Cabinet setting to slow the flow of Australian’s ...
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps.During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ou Yang, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Donald Trump has ordered US federal agencies to bypass environmental protection laws and fast-track pipeline, highway and other infrastructure projects. Signing the executive order last month, the US president declared regulatory delays would hinder “our ...
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...
Takuta Ferris, Te Tai Tonga candidate for the Māori Party, is urging government to place whānau first in the wake of announcements around Tiwai Point. “The declaration that one of the region's major employers the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is closing ...
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s managing editor, mall rat and self-confessed food philistine Duncan Greive.On this month’s Dietary Requirements, the gang’s back in the studio, and ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1: United States and Australia rising. Chart by Keith Rankin. These charts look at Covid19 incidence in China (the most important first-wave country, with a limited second wave), Italy (the lead second-wave country), and USA and Australia (second-wave countries – drawing their caseload from Europe ...
The Government must listen to the Muslim community to rectify its failure to act in the past, says the Human Rights Commission. The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry was released this week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics. Senior Research Fellow, Moral philosophy, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Law Futures Centre., Griffith University Earlier this week, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine ...
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So an NZ Herald (woman) journo asks various people how Labour should rebuild. It asks some left and right wing guys, and one right wing woman.
And one of the leftie guys reckon Labour needs a Shane Jones or a Tamihere to lead….
Politics has become increasingly masculine under John key’s watch.
Anyone who thinks that Shane Jones or John Tamihere should be leaders is not left.
i have banged on a bit about shane jones..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=shane+jones
and let’s not forget fascinating facts such as hekia paratas’ husband funding the jones tilt at the labour party leadership..
..what was up with that..?
..yet another of those questions you’d like an answer to..
..like stuart nash doing a fundraiser for his election-campaign at that bastion of the right/establishment..the northern club in auckland..
..what was up with that..?
..and who was there..?..
..who donated..?
Phil I suspect some of the left have the greed gene too. However waving wads of cash usually helps to break their cover and flush them out..
To me Jones is not even a contender, the public would have imagined him in the PM office watching porno’s..he’s screwed for life on that one.
Note to the elected keep your nose clean if it gets dirty not even time will wear it off.
the thing i find fascinating about nash..
..is how relentless his links to the right are..
..there is the northern club fundraiser..
..his links with slater/lusk/hooton..
..the rightwinger buying/paying for his red fire engine election-prop..
..his stated neo-lib/fuck-the-poor! politics..
..you almost get the idea/feeling nash has been placed in labour..
..by the right..
..their manchurian candidate..
..and that his name is bandied about as a future leader..
(albeit mainly by him..and rightwing corporate-journalist servants..everyone else goes ..’really..?..why..?..’)
..is kinda both farcical and horrifying..
Don’t think it phil know it.
Your probably bang on and just don’t realize it.
and anyway..nash will likely be a one-term mp..
..if garth mcvicr doesn’t split the vote for him again..and gift him the seat..
..national will take the seat back..
..mc vicar is to nash..as the green party is to dunne…
..both gifting seats to ostensibly mortal-enemies..
..and i wd submit those two facts..
..as the irony-peaks/o.d.’s of that election-campaign..
Unfortunately Nash will probably get a high list placing next time and won’t have to win a seat.
He is a right wing plant – I’m convinced of it. The left need to keep exposing him for what he is so that he doesn’t get any traction within the party.
Of course he is. Nash loves the surroundings and attention (and $) that the right wing can lavish upon his political career. And have been doing so already, in a material way.
it’s worrying then that he seems to be supporting Andrew Little….?
Worrying, but expected. Little inherited the Engineers’ Union from Rex Jones, one of the most right wing class collaborators who has ever led a union. Back in the 80s, Engineers’ officials spent more time keeping militant workers out of the factories than anything else. Little was a student politician and then a lawyer. The Labour Party needs a ban on this sort, but instead they come up with the gift to the right that was the “man ban”.
One thing that points in that direction is the amount of media attention he is getting, the frequency with which his opinions are sought, and the respect with which those opinions are treated, bearing in mind that he has just been elected to parliament – that is a dead giveaway.
And don’t forget he’s good looking, has a lovely smile, nice white teeth and fits the shallow circumstantial mould – that is, youngish married man with attractive looking (no doubt) kids. They are apparently considered to be all-important pre-requisites if you want to be accepted by the celebrity driven MSM culture – especially the TV culture.
+1
Got to celebrate the shallow else they’d have to dig deeper and if they did that then they’d find the corruption and they don’t want to do that.
I totally agree , Phil U, from his own mouth Nash has clearly shown that he plays with the rightwing moneyed people – and he’s in Labour ? Yuk. He’s got his political parties mixed up,
he reminds me very much of simon bridges..
..that same combination of sneering and arrogance..
..they both wear that on their sleeves..
..and i think they both came from the same cookie-cutter..
Simon Bridges reminds me of a very angry man who wants to fight anyone who asks him a question. National on this should back bench him. He really is the lefts best weapon in National.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11337024
Nash is wise not to; “consider Cameron Slater or Simon Lusk friends”, as I am yet to be convinced that either of them understand the concept. However, the question remains about whether he considers them colleagues.
I suspect he was misquoted, and actually said; “I have mates across the right of the political spectrum”.
Every time Nash opens his mouth, he puts his foot in it. Now Hooten is also his very good friend ….
nash is a playa – he doesn’t need slater and lusk to be ‘good’ friends if hollowhooton is there – I suppose ‘people’ like nash are seeded all over – I wonder if they go to a camp to learn how to pretend to be left – you know like the movies with the pretend american town to train those russians in the minutiae of US life. Anyway playa gotta play so I expect a lot of vocalisations from nash – on anything and everything…
And the right splitting the vote for him to win Napier
Shoosh Phillip Ure…….”Neither for nor against…..” don’t ya know ? Look to the right of the monitor – NZOnScreen – 1951.
Those guys – Prebble, Hide, Samuels, Tamihere – are just tired old hacks, no longer living in the real world and without any relevance to the real world. I don’t know why the Herald (and other media) keep on using them as spokespersons – they repeat the same old mantra time after time, and now they are Boring. Very, very boring.
Because they repeat the same old mantra time and time again. Presenting the populace with fresh new ideas is anathema to the MSM.
or masculine
too right!
Yep I just wish the Herald would stop asking right wingers who the Labour leader should be. Anyone with any sense would understand that their advice is tinged with malice.
That’s the point Micky, each little knife they can slip in the better. Between the labour party playing a game of thrones, and the corporate media playing fast and loose with the truth, another person is put off voting. Media owned for the corporate interest, know the game – we should too.
the game is to develop alternative media infrastructure and interpersonal information channels deep into NZ communities.
An online left version of the Huffington post(as an example)
She started small taking exerts from others news outlets and posting them for lack of own journalists and grew it to a large following.
We need a left version of it in NZ. a lot of publicity and some clever web site designers.
Is that what you mean CV?
that would certainly be one option!
Of many – On this I think many on the left agree.
To keep wishing or hoping that the corporate media will operate with any honour, seems to be a sign of willful blindness by our population as a whole.
When our news is run for money and profit, it will always go for the almighty dollar, one sensation at a time.
To critique the news is no longer enough – we need to produce the news in a more truthful and fulsome manner.
What I don’t understand is why the left-wing politicians haven’t found some techniques and skill in addressing this problem.
Rather than counter the propaganda, the left-wing are pandering to it too much.
They should be providing people with another way at looking at things to hook onto.
The amount of times that I heard ‘Dirty Politics’ characterised as a ‘distraction’ by left wing politicians in this last election is a very good example of what I am talking about – it could have been turned around to be made into a policy issue for cleaning up our democracy.
The Greens have achieved the most on countering right-wing framing of matters yet I would like to see more of these skills from all left-wing politicians and wonder why they haven’t developed them already.
You only truly counter propaganda when you produce news which speaks to truth yourself.
The dominance of editorial methodology which embraces money and profit – makes any attempts to counter the overall ideology of money worship, a very difficult task.
Your statement blue leopard also brings up the question for me of how many of the so called left politicians are left? Why are they so complicit in an overall support of a system which hurts their voter base?
As far as framing goes – look at Ralph Nader – love or hate him, the guy got things done – until – and this is important – the right took his language, and twisted it to their purpose in the corporate media.
I think we need to speak to the truth of an issue – no matter the cost.
It is why I’ve so vocal in my attacks on labour as a political party and why I think it is a dead weight around the left.
And CV I think you are so right we need to reach deep into NZ communities, with a good well rounded approach, communicating a clear and inspiring vision. We need to stop making people feel disempowered, this is what our corporate media and current crop of professional politicians seem to be doing in spades.
adam, blue leopard, both of you have cut right through to the heart of the matter IMO.
the “Right” who attacked Nader, also included the Democratic Party, who wanted to see his third party movement to the left of their own destroyed and permanently out of electoral politics.
Which to my mind, has direct parallels to what Labour has successfully done to Laila and Hone, I might add.
I totally support the setting up of an informative media channel, however, the countering of propaganda in response to MSM messages is still required because even if there was another news media channel (whatever the platform) some would still be looking at the old one and simply allowing the propaganda to slide – or even worse answering it in a manner that implies there is some foundation for thinking the way the propaganda frames it – simply leaves that ‘idea’ in peoples’ heads and supplies no opition for the people listening to the propaganda of looking at it in another way. It is very damaging indeed.
Therefore, left wing politicians need to learn to counter the propaganda no matter what.
I really am puzzled by why they haven’t developed this skill to date.
I think your questioning of Labour (or anyone being simpering toward the false narratives) is a natural response because when one has looked into things and one sees someone doing that, it just looks like they are unconvinced by their own political stance.
I think some of this, however, has more to do with lack of skill in arguing and could be improved by getting skill. They ultimately lack passion more than anything though, and seem more worried about ‘fitting in’ than getting anything achieved. 🙁
I haven’t heard of Ralph Nader and will look him up.
Ralph Nader ran as the third Presidential candidate against George Bush and Al Gore in 2000. The Democrats attacked Nader throughout the campaign and then blamed him for Al Gore’s final loss.
The Democrats could not allow a truly progressive and independent voice to stand; as such Nader was far more dangerous to the Democrats then the Republicans.
Nader has also run since then, but is typically completely ignored by the US corporate media.
@ CV
Thanks very much for that summary!
That is a problem with their electoral system – splitting the vote of potential ‘left’ supporters. Labour has no excuse for that here [cross-face].
I was reading an article about Britain’s UKIP party, also having that problem of splitting the left vote.
I am really glad we have MMP here, it would be excellent if our left-wing politicians, especially Labour, learned how to use it to the left’s advantage.
If they continue in the tracks they have been going to date, then I think it is fair to say Labour don’t want left-wing principles to be encouraged, Up until now, I have been giving them rather a lot of lee-way for daftness but will be doing so no more.
side note…as I am sure you know, UKIP shouldn’t be considered a left wing party by any stretch of the imagination 😎
Their success derives from UK Labour becoming such a middling, centrist party of the establishment.
The NZ Labour caucus has been frakking around with the future of our nation and you are right, no more leeway for them.
@ CV
I should have provided the link to the UKIP article. Here it is:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/16/ukip-divided-left-right-cut-labour-support
I know very little about UKIP, in fact that article is one of the few things I have read about them.
Just to be perfectly clear, (although I think you probably got the point) that comment I made about UKIP was to highlight how the voting system in the UK & USA creates an issue with splitting the vote whereas ours is better in that regard, I was not attempting to provide any knowledge of UKIP, because I can confidently say I know very little about them! 🙂
Worth remembering that the initial set up of the US electoral system was carried out by 40 wealthy, property owning, slave owning white men who were interested in maintaining their own privilege in any new democracy.
This.
@ blue leopard 2.37
I remember having a look at UKIP and putting up some links. Then, I think it was about them being successful in getting into the European Parliament. And I was interested in how the EP had dropped the threshhold low which I think is so unwise, opening it up to the poisoned tip of the dagger from toxic parties.
Anyway if you search for UKIP on TS it has been mentioned a lot.
Thanks Greywarbler, its not really a focus of my interest, but may follow the leads in the coming days at a quiet point – always good to learn something new 🙂
The issue of the molestation of Democracy by a bunch of (metaphorically) pimply, ‘really really need to be on the telly’ narcissists, bought off by media corporates and mutated by their own vanities, is very much alive. It has to be addressed. It must not be let lie.
My response exactly to Whaleoil putting Nash and Davies up for leader, sheer arrogance, or at least Lusk manipulation, or both. Previously, MSM has amplified Whaleoil’s voice, and it becomes mainstream narrative, no matter how bonkers the idea, will it still happen after dirty politics exposed?
Karol, try not to read it. Seriously, it’s just whale oil, main stream, the only people who really read it are so right wing it panders to their mentality. Or the left wanting to know what the rights doing by way of brainwashing the masses.
The only thing to do is smear the rag as far right and leave it be. definitely do not allow it to influence any decision you make.
Do what I did E-Mailed the Wanna be Hack that scribbled it, and just gently pointed out that she should stick to being the Tea lady, as the Granny has enough hacks in Armweak etc etc.
Hmm good idea I did.
Doubt that the Herald Editors are going to take any notice of people who ridicule them.
No they tend to ban anyone who thinks any of their so called journo’s is a bais twat.
Right, so when you email them, how about pointing out the problems with their coverage without calling them a twat or ridiculing them?
Passed that point three months ago Weka. I’ve definitely tried the polite avenue to many times to recount.
Now I’m down to insults as they just do not care, they have a hidden agenda not all the horses on the planet could shift. I insult them for personal satisfaction now.
In fact the Herald is lower than whaleoil in my opinion, because they have far more influence on the voting public, whereas only the nutty right read whaleoil.
The NZ Herald has been tory leaning since day dot. That’s the point of every big establishment newspaper in NZ, and worse so since the media corporates took over.
We shouldn’t be still acting surprised and disappointed in this, at this late point, right?
It seems so. I recall Chris Trotter saying that the NZH was vocal in calling for the invasion of the Waikato in 1863 at the behest of Auckland business interests.
Being the scholarly type Chris has probably been up to the Ak Museum to read the microfilmed originals – assuming they’ve still got them after the reign of mad Vanda. So I don’t doubt him.
And he mentions Iris Wilkinson (Robin Hyde) being told as a cub reporter in the 30’s to not say anything about the NZLP. All comments had to come from the NZH’s senior staff.
So nothing much has changed. Feel the long sweep of history eh? But most voters are completely ahistorical and live in the present.
Workers, union members and their families were utterly vilified by the big papers during the watersiders strike of 1951 (?). I’m fairly confident that was also the case for the Great Strike of 1913.
“I’m fairly confident that was also the case for the Great Strike of 1913”
Yep, it was. Here’s a comment I made on Brian Edwards Media back in 2010…..
“There’s a long, long history of this. A few years ago, I came across an unintentionally amusing article in a 1913 edition of Wellington’s TRIAD magazine. It was on the Waterside Workers’ lockout/strike (which a few weeks later snowballed into the General Strike of 1913 – notorious for Massey’s Cossacks).
The report began by describing the wharfies as “dark and furious persons of unpleasant aspect”. ….. The writer then went on to spend more than a few column inches emotively listing the various inconveniences the lockout had caused to the general public (nothing changes in 100 years); before ending on a moral high-note with this colourful little crescendo of xenophobia: “All of this because Wharfside Bill has a grievance…..Bill is sometimes an English subject, sometimes a non-descript negro, and sometimes a representative of one or other of those deceitful nations whose men wear rings through their ears”.
That was a Wellington-based magazine. The big papers were no different – particularly the morning papers The Herald, The Dominion, The Press and the ODT. All closely associated with Massey’s right-wing Reform Party. (the evening papers were closer to the Liberals).
Brilliant, thanks. Those uppity darkies, still causing issues.
Which goes back to the points made above. Why 100 years on is the left still fixated on the MSM instead of building up alternative infrastructure and assets like The Standard.
AB, you don’t need to go up to the Museum, just have a search through NZ Herald articles on Papers Past (1863-1945)
And this is what Papers Past (part of the National Library of NZ) says about the NZ Herald:
See also this NZ Herald report of 1863, on the defeat of Maori in the Waikato
How did you go from a few uninformed peeps talking about Shane Jones and JT (who have their own political constituency, sure, but one which stretches back many many years) to blaming John Key for making politics more “masculine.”
Voters had a choice of a Labour and Green Party for which gender balance was a significant issue of policy, equality and inclusiveness; and a choice of a party which had fewer than 1/3 women in caucus and constantly downplays the issue by talking about “merit” instead.
Outcome: the people who didn’t care about gender balance in politics as a major issue either decided to vote National, or they decided to stay at home.
“Outcome: the people who didn’t care about gender balance in politics as a major issue either decided to vote National, or they decided to stay at home.”
Unsure if I am entirely clear on your point, here.
If you are trying to establish that policies about gender balance/rights didn’t ‘decide the election’, then I would tend to agree.
If you are arguing that the having a balanced gender in a party doesn’t have an impact on election results, then I think this point is problematic, due to National’s skill at ‘guiding’ perceptions.
When I heard that National had less women than Labour earlier in the year, I actually had to go and check that by counting, I had to check because I would find it far easier to list National female MPs than Labour ones. If pushed, I possibly could come up with a longer list of Labour female MPs – possibly – yet doubt this would be the case for those who don’t watch parliament TV on the regular basis that I do (which is largely where I see the female Labour MPs). With regard to someone with less interest in politics, I suspect National would come across as having more female representation than Labour because National have placed women in some very high profile positions and this means male and female MPs from National get on TV and in the papers in fairly equal proportions. I don’t see this occurring with Labour.
I don’t know if women (or men) base their decisions on how representative the party they are voting for looks, or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if part of National’s success is the appearance of a reasonable balance. (This may also be the case with regard to ethnicity too, although I haven’t thought too hard over that one, so could be quite incorrect. )
With regard to looking representative of the general population:
Between the two main parties, I would say National appear more balanced.
Between the Greens and NZ First – I would say the Greens are more balanced.
I suspect that any type of sway on voting choice re ‘balanced representation’ won’t be made on a conscious level by everyone but for some it will and significantly, I very much doubt that any representational balance would put someone off, who wasn’t making that a point of decision.
In summary, wouldn’t say this matter was the be all and end all, but I do suspect it will be significant and that an effort made to come across as not being largely dominated by ‘male’ and importantly I will add here ‘white’, too, is an effort well worth making for accumulating wider appeal.
Shane would of been a disaster well he was looking off into the distance replaying what he just said in his head again key would of nailed him to the wall
An over inflated ego of his own self worth sums up Jones. He large ego will see him return to politics as a list candidate for NZF at the next election, probably as a contender successor to Peters. I would be making it very clear if and when this happens that NZF will side with the Nats, the ease of his transition to his current National party jacked up junket says it all. Not to be trusted!
Jones has got a secure, well paid govt job which lets him jetset and is not subject to caucus BS and fickle voters; why would he walk from that?
Thoughts of my day..
Why are policies announced but never the in’s and out’s of them.
During the election I felt like parties were announcing policy by name with no detail.
Take my conversations yesterday on open mike about the CGT. It appears to me to many unanswered questions we’re left on such a polar subject. To many home owners did not understand it. Nor the raising of retirement. Crikey Robertson was even defending it on Backbenchers last night. Whilst the Nats claimed it was not needed they were growing the economy. You know I’m on my way to the moon right now too. /sarc I heard it was made of cheese.
Slight distraction from topic, who boldly states they are growing the economy when dairy and the dollar are diving. Who has the balls to lie like that.
back to topic
ALL contentious Policy should be accompanied by a leaflet drop with loads of questions answered about it. Both the CGT and Raising of retirement certainly required more than a press release and some debate questions. In fact a leaflet drop would have made DC’s leader debates answers easier.
haven’t you read our leaflet john?
Or maybe it would be better to introduce an idea like CCT after being elected, put it out there and let people debate it in public for three years, by then most should have a far idea of how it would affect them, then take it to the people at the next election.
More people support a capital gains tax than are opposed to it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11282563
CGT isn’t the problem. Key just grabs it, every three years, to win a couple of cheap headlines after the debates.
If the Herald told me the sky was blue. I would immediately go outside and check it out for myself.
Liking it and voting for a party who wants to introduce it are obviously two different things.
How can a policy such as a CGT be seen as a cure for our housing unaffordability when the CTG tax rate is 1/2 of the coy and top PAYE tax rate ? This was no cure.
If Lab14 version had followed Lab11 version and complemented a CGT with a $5k tax free threashold then this could have been viewed as a tax redistribution, benefiting tenants, and PAYE workers. If kiwibuild had been complemented with an increase in housing NZ stock then many would have seen the Lab14 version as being seen as an active attempt in solving housing in particular aucklands housing issue. Hit property speculators as hard as your can, if trading then tax at 28%.
So I disagree CGT is the problem, it is lukewarm solution by neoliberalism protecting their own kind.
Also, it does not apply to a vast part of the housing stock known as “family homes”.
I think that a leaflet explaining a policy would be a great idea Richard. I think the main reason Labour lost was their lack of a simple clear communication of important policy. Most of the population are not going to read130 pages of policy on a website that wasn’t very accessible.
Labour boasted at having so much detailed policy compared to National, but
people not that interested in politics don’t care. They need to be given something simple they can understand and these policies should have been on billboards – vote Labour to increase the minimum wage by $2 an hour. Vote Labour to protect our rivers. Vote Positive is meaningless.
I think the CGT is a good idea but there was a huge amount of misinformation out there that could have been countered by a well designed leaflet as you suggest. Same with minimum wage increases. It was obvious the Nats would say it would increase unemployment so why not preempt the claims in a Q & A leaflet?
You mentioned that a CGT was a good idea, Just curious why? Is that IYO it will solve the house affordability issue for just address the idea of a fairer tax system ?
Many of the issues to preempt cannot be placed at DC’s feet, labour strategists should have been able to foresee any of the nats counter claims and had the responses already available, but it appears that they were found lacking….
Very lacking. Yet they are likely to be the same people running the 2017 campaign, as they were the 2011 campaign.
The CGT will not be enough to solve house affordability, but could slow down the the rampant inflation of house prices in Auckland. Its main benefits are that it would discourage property speculation by those trying to avoid paying tax as well as raising more tax revenue from those with higher incomes. Working class people often can’t even afford a home of their own let alone an investment property.
All other OECD countries have a CGT and as a result NZ property speculation is seen as attractive by foreign investors. It would be better to get investment in the productive sector.
A simple pledge card with a few main policies and Party Vote labour. Keep CGT for second term and retirement age same.
On another Subject..
Today or very soon I hope they find little Jack who was swept out to sea.
My utterly sincere and deepest condolences go out to the family, friends and all that care about the wee fella.
Time jack was found and bought home. I not a religious man but I will have a little prayer today being gods day, for his return.
Richard +100
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11337024
Hadn’t seen this when I quoted the same text above in response to P Ure. Did you get the link through TDB as well?
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/10/04/final-vote-national-lose-majority-will-greens-go-right-could-littleardern-ticket-save-labour/
If you have the stomach for it, here are Nash’s posts on TDB – he’s always been one of the few authors on that site that with whom I’ve consistently disagreed. This wasn’t so important when he was a private citizen giving a window into the thoughts of the Labour rightwing. Now that he’s a parliamentary representative, it seems a bit more disturbing.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/category/bloggers/stuart-nash/
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/24/politics-and-winning/#sthash.ayQwHtWr.dpuf
Also his predictions are woefully inaccurate given his supposed access to internal Labour data. The GP went from 247,372 (11.06%) in 2011 to 257,356 (10.70%) in 2014 getting 14 MPs in both elections. Nash’s prediction?
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/10/its-not-what-you-say-but-what-they-hear/#sthash.AyIZ4FUO.dpuf
History has shown that Nash possessed a faulty political weather-vane in this judgement, why should we expect any future announcement of his to have any predictive validity? He has done as much as any Labour candidate (except Jones or Davis) to drive wedges between the Labour party and its MMP allies on the left.
“History has shown that Nash possessed a faulty political weather-vane in this judgement”
Yeah well, I thought labour would romp home and national would be thrown out by the public for the Dirty politics of one JC.
Boy was I wrong.
very good thanks.
My dislike of Nash comes from his election byline which went something like ‘Labour supports the people who work hardest not moan the loudest’. Dog whistle and wedge politics.
Nash is a corporate type who likes the money and enjoys all the trappings money can access
Nash said that???
LOL!!!
He himself has been the one moaning, very often ill-timed and reflecting poorly on his colleagues.
I wonder why Bumbler Bradbury gives him space? Given the number of people whose comments never appear, it can’t be in the interests of open debate.
Weka @ 5 perhaps this explains Hooton’s on-going disgraceful dissing of DC.
BTW anyone see Q & A. I caught the end of the “panel”……………….seemed to be promoting Andrew Little.?
No but watching it now.. think it’s chanel 504 or 502 on sky for the delayed hours viewing so you can catch it again if you missed it.
Putting up with another bunch of pro rights led by Susan and there token lefts who do and say stuff all in the lefts defence.
best comment was by Bryce so far stating the RMA and dairy prices were a problem for National. But Boagy said it won’t matter with the idiot coat tailers passing it anyways.
Shocker coming from Bryce usually he’s stuck up Keys bottom.
If Little enters the race, that’s the end of Cunliffe.
Or of Robertson.
I wonder if it might actually favor Robertson, Cunliffes strength is his membership support, having Little in the race would severely erode that.
With preferential voting the entry of Andrew Little allows the ABG group which is almost as big as the ABC group to swing behind Little in order to keep out Sir Joseph Porter.
^^ RWNJs making shit up – again.
I think your right there BM.
Q&A is just more 2 tracking DP tactics using an under the thumb SOE as the delivery mechanism.
Hooton will take the lead sales role now with cam and david needing to be more circumspect as unlike those 2 matty doesnt run a site full of spin dogwhistling up the rednecks.
Little interviewed fairly well, not as good as yesterday on The Nation, however good enough for sum of us to see him as a real Leader option. Mike Williams seemed annoyed and put out Andrew was being so glowingly talked up, he appeared more comfortable talking up Grant & Nash. What I can say is having talked individually with all those 3 and DC, I found Andrew Little naturally engaging and genuine with a finger on the pulse to things relevant.
As our young drown in a sea of debt.
Lower Saxony is the final German state to scrap tuition fees, meaning that all German universities are free of charge for all students – and yes, that includes overseas students.
“Tuition fees are socially unjust,” Dorothee Stapelfeldt, senator for science in Hamburg, told the Times. The state scrapped fees in 2012. “They particularly discourage young people who do not have a traditional academic family background from taking up studies. It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge in Germany.”
German universities were allowed by law to start charging fees in 2006, when a constitutional court decided that moderate fees combined with loans did not violate the country’s commitment to universal higher education. Most schools only charged relatively low amounts of around €1,000 a year (£845) – but that didn’t stop state governments from changing their mind after eight years.
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/22027/1/germany-scraps-tuition-fees-for-all-universities
Local government with powers in Germany.
No wonder the establishment are trying so desperately to demonise New Zealand resident Kim Dotcom, spreading around his crazy German ideas about free tertiary education and wanting to see young people freed from student debt. We wouldn’t want crazy foreign ideas like that catching on here. No Sirrreee
i see the corporate-media hacks have now deserted grant robertson..
..and are now anointing andrew little as the new leader of labour..
..and are insisting that the appearance of little..
..must be the signal/reason for cunliffe to roll over and play dead…
..(how many ‘reasons to go!’ for cunliffe have the media dreamed up so far..?
..i have lost count..
..and like robertson..
..my observations of little in parliament confirm that he does not have what it takes..
..he has not shone there..nor in interviews..
..little will make a great minister..and is clearly an intelligent/considered person..
..but cunliffe (this time with policy backing his promises..) is still clearly labours’ best chance for victory in 2017..
..nobody else mooted come close in ability to take it to both key and national..
Have you met any of them in person Phil? My advice don’t sell Andrew short he is more sincere and talks with you rather than at you.
While I agree that their attributes in personal interaction are of some importance, the fact is that it isn’t the leader’s job to go into the hone of every person in New Zealand, shake their hand and share a cream tea. They are supposed to debate, articulate vision and policy and set the course for the party as a whole. My reaction whenever I see the “Have you met them in person?” thing trotted out here (and it’s coming up with regular monotony at the moment) is, “No, and why on Earth should I care?”.
@ skinny..
..where does little sit on the left/right spectrum..?
..is he a neo-lib robertson..?
..or a progressive cunliffe..?
..that is what concerns me..
..(if a three-headed goat promised to do away with neo-lib and to make labour a real labour party again..i wd support them for the leadership role..)
..(and also having seen him in action in parliament/debate..gives me doubts as to if he is ready for the job..)
..but otherwise he seems fine..
..and on a ‘trust-ranking’..i wd have him @ 8-9/10..
..whereas i wd have the likes of nash..at..oh..!.i dunno… minus 3..?..(is that too harsh..?..)
..and no..i have ‘met’ none of them…
..(and of course a standard question for nash from now on whenever he opines on whatever..wd/must be:..
..’and what did slater/lusk/hooton advise you to do about this..?..
..are we again hearing their words thru you..?..’..)
i also have a certain wariness about the union movement in general..
..’cos of their silences during those nine long years of ignoring/demonising of the poor by the clark govt..
..i still haven’t heard an explanation for that benchmark in ‘i’m alright jack!’..from those unions..
..so that someone is from a union means little to me..
..(see what i did there..?..)
Labours best chance is to use mmp effectively, work with other opposition parties and dont be so cavalier with socially unpopular policies like raising retirement age.
govts lose elections more so than oppositions win them, they needed to work with greens and mana not scare middle nz, be united etc and nats would probably be gone now.
Its this failure to do what it takes to win and show nz that coalition is workable, which deflates an attack theme. However they lecture middle nz with a ‘we know best’ and that will continue to keep them in opposition.
Cunliffe and if Little joins will be a hard decision for me. I like DC but also have to admit to myself he’s not universally liked by the masses. Little has no such hang ups. Hard choice as David will take labour if allowed where I personally want them to go.
Little I have to find out but he shows up good and level headed in interviews, but can he deliver in chambers or debates.
It’s a transferable vote, Richard, so you would only have to figure out which gets your #1 and #2 pick.
Sorted, then. That’s good news, two I like, and two votes. Thanks Steph as the info hasn’t arrived yet. Just a nice email from a labour big wig. Telling me as I joined after election day they were a little tied up getting me up to date. I understood it completely.
Anyone’s blood race a bit when Little is on the telly? No, didn’t think so. The charisma of a newt.
No but he spoke good common sense. My heart raced as in their was finally another choice, I was of the impression may be better. remember he pretty much only needs to get Labour as a minimum into, the somewhere in the mid to high 30’s with Greens support and hopefully Winny, we would have a government. It’s a real possibility with Little, a lot of hard work for DC. Not chance with GR and the hiding he will get media wise pre 2017 election.
Charisma s over-rated and few understand it – after all people say Key is charismatic, but he is as bland as blancmange. There have been very few charismatic leaders over history, modern ones include Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King – we have nobody of that calibre any where near the reins of power or even pretenders.
Common sense would be good; the ability to articulate complex policy in terms everyone can understand; a certain modesty but the boldness to actually stand up for what is right; and the ability to respect others and convey the sense that everyone is valued. Those are the qualities I look for in a a leader.
@ richard..
“..but can he deliver in chambers or debates…”
..in a word..going on my observations..no..
Well, I lost quite a bit of money on him on ipredict… Actually have some faith in little.
Policies and how Labour could have better communicated them.
1. The age of super.
No increase in age of super until after 2030.
The age would be gradually increased after 2030, but by no more than 3 months per year.
The message would then not be Labour increasing the age but promising no increase before 2030.
Why even frakking increase the retirement age at all, when we already have an excess labour pool and not enough full time jobs to go around???
Cunliffe said that Labour would not be the political party which cuts off your leg but with anaesthetic. All you’ve said here is, sell how good the anaesthetic is.
The first issue at play is that Labour has to improve its game in marketing policy.
It needs to identify how the public reacts to policy so it can better market it.
The second issue is to take the public on board bit by bit (the Key strategy for change over time – bed things in before moving on).
Then Labour looks like a less risky change option.
Your point, about what the policy should be, is another issue entirely.
But for mine, the current surplus of labour is not caused by a proposal to increase the age for super in over a decades time.
And the proportion of people working over age 65 now is much greater than the number that would be impacted by an increase from age 65 to 67. And this number is increasing regardless of what the age for super is.
CV is correct axe that policy fullstop. The jobs are not there now and with technology the demand for workers will be further reduced. We need to move away from consumerism and become more focused on being self reliant. Just go to any mall and watch people loading up on debt by buying things that they don’t really need.
How does one afford and live with paying super to people who are still working age 65 to 67 while other people are in poverty? The number is about 33% of those age 65 to 67 and rising.
These people, many in the top 10% income bracket, are getting more in tax paid super than poor families with no other means of support.
i think the ultimate example of this is mp’s..with their gold-plated pensions..
..still receiving state superannuation..
..surely that double-dipping cd be stopped at source..?
..that as part of that gold-plated super deal..
..they don’t also trough on state super..?
..is that an unreasonable request..?
WTF?
“How does one afford and live with”???
Where are you getting this awkward misdirected phrasing from? When you are referring to the NZ Government “affording” and “living with” paying super.
Get serious and try and make a joined together argument eh? Let’s start with NZ Super being a universal entitlement, yeah?
Dude, I never made such a back-asswards invalid point. Why would you even think this sentence you wrote had any basis?
There are far too many unemployed and under-employed right now. Why put in place measures which will increase the surplus labour force even further, is my question. It’s dumb policy.
Frankly CV I never saw the need for a raising of the retirement either. My reasoning is dad died 65. Paid all that tax never even got to enjoy it(super).
There’s a guy 70 still working at my work. But pays secondary tax. You can keep working if you want free choice. If anything, better early retirement choices would be a more attractive vote winner for those in hard manual labour who bodies don’t last the distance rather than go on SB or IB or ACC.
Something like that would surely be a very attractive policy.
As for the imminent baby boomer retirement. Is it going to be a THAT costly? What’s the figures? What other options do we have? Does returning more into the workforce help. If unemployment was 5-6 or less is there still an issue.
If we start the Cullen fund up again does the interest help can it be used.
Surely theirs a better option than scaring the 50+ crowd and me at 48.5
Should you be able to continue working AND get super?
Dunne’s flexi-super allows early retirement but comes with a lifetime actuarial cap – meaning a lower rate of super for the rest of one’s life for doing this.
Personally the only part of Dunne’s idea that I support, is enabling those sick and infirm (with health issues that limit life duration) stuck on a benefit to go onto super a little earlier (say from age 60, and for periods before then when people are terminally ill).
Good question SPC. Thinking about it… no??? But then no secondary tax. I mean I enjoy my job, I’d not want to be forced to retire, nor would I like to receive Super and a wage with a secondary high tax rate. I want to work my week and feel the satisfaction of seeing a healthy after tax income in my wage slip as a reward.
However my back will never make it too 65 as employment rules around safety in the work place are a joke if you don’t live in the spotlight of a big city with employment inspectors.
Have you been made aware of the massive drop in workplace ethics and worker safety since national got in.
@ spc..
“..Personally the only part of Dunne’s idea that I support, is enabling those sick and infirm (with health issues that limit life duration) stuck on a benefit to go onto super a little earlier (say from age 60, and for periods before then when people are terminally ill)…”
..+ 1..
Policies and how Labour could have better communicated them.
2. Kiwi Saver being compulsory.
Labour has a plan to prevent mortgage costs from rising and improve export incomes.
The government could use this “anti-inflationary” tool to hold down the OCR.
Instead of people simply paying more of their wages to banks in mortgage interest cost they would be putting the money into their Kiwi Saver account – this money being available to them when they retired or a once a decade withdrawal to pay down their mortgage (and of course for those yet to own to withdraw to buy their first home).
I would however withdraw the part about a variable rate as voters do/would not like the uncertainty of it. This is a component better left to consideration as policy for a following election.
New Policy.
Before moving to flexible rate Kiwi Saver there should be a surcharge on mortgages.
This option is one that Bollard floated late in his RB term as an alternative to raising the OCR (given the adverse impact on exporter incomes and jobs).
A 1% surcharge on mortgages would allow the OCR to fall from 3.5 to 2.5%.
At 3.5 the banks are lending at 6%.
At 2.5 the banks are lending at 5%.
Thus the mortgage holder pays 5% to the bank, instead of 6, and 1% to the government.
This would by the way raise about $2B pa for the government in surcharge, as well as the higher tax revenues off higher exporter and wage incomes.
Yep there are many smart, targeted mechanisms which could be used. A surcharge or stamp duty on mortgages/property transactions is one example.
So another tax. Why not grow employment , or reduce unemployment as a strategy to help the government coffers.
If the economy is running sweet most problems will disappear by themselves.
The more taxes the lower the rate of tax the better is the maxim for optimum tax policy. It’s the higher rates that create perverse incentives, avoidance etc.
The surcharge, CGT and carbon tax allow lower tax rates.
And they all improve economic performance.
1. a lower OCR and dollar assists exporter returns and job growth.
2. reduces the incentive to speculate, rather than invest
3. a more sustainable economy
It’s a policy that’s purpose is to increase jobs.
Yeah it is SPC and the investment capital earned from it may help create more jobs , however the issue I have, and I’m trying to convey is to stop us pandering and promoting the perception the public have that we(Labour) just tax, tax, more tax, seriously I think we need to STFU on taxes, do what another said, once elected inform the people our intent and then throw it to referendum. Silence the naysayers.
We need to stop allowing the misinformation to be justified.
and most of all stop arming Key with debate lines of 5 headed monsters and look another tax.
Get over it mate. Key raised more taxes, levies and fees than Labour proposed. Starting with GST, if you recall.
Taxes allow government to direct and rebalance the economy, sometimes without having to even bring in a single dollar from the tax.
Make the fucking case in other words, don’t buy into the right wing framing and back off.
Hmmm, CV the ammo and look when he(Key in debates) said 5 new taxes.
Remember that. I hear what your saying, but it’s all about perception isn’t it. If your serious about labour winning, and against shifty key we’d better start thinking smarter.
Everything in moderation.
The problem we have is that people have been taught that taxes are a negative rather than the positive that they are. We call tax cuts tax relief which is really a load of bollocks because it usually makes life worse for the many. Of course, the rich do well out of it as they a) get more income from doing nothing more and b) put prices up to shift that extra money in peoples pockets into their own.
People are always better off paying taxes than they are not paying taxes.
Again this is due to the media not explaining things, or the party not producing the counter arguments to dispel the stereotyping.
In a normal democracy with a broader media that compliments both sides it would be fine, But here in NZ we have to admit we are playing with a marked deck and need to sharpen up.
I’m not saying your wrong at all, I’m saying we have difficulty getting it over too the voters.
I think Labour should scrap cgt, scrap the 67 pension age (though convene parliament wide body to discuss the pension age) and go for a Mansion Tax per Labour in the UK, of say 1% on houses $750k to $1m and 2% on houses worth more than a $1m with no exceptions (or some variation on this) while raising the top rate of tax above $130k to 39%.
These would be relatively simple to administer, hit the right people and put a lid on house prices and raise revenue.
@ bearded git+1
One of the main arguments marshalled by those who wish to change the flag is that, at a distance, it is too easily mistaken for the Australian flag.
It could be worse:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10580871/Silver-Fern-compared-to-terror-group-flag
At least our troops will be less likely to be shelled by the Americans if they only mistake us for Australians.
well the record shows that neither Australian nor UK troops (or American troops for that matter) are particularly safe from US fire…
Certainly true that. As when I play Battlefield 3 the yanks always mistake my little tank for a bloody Russians. /humour 🙂
Good on Radionz Wallace Chapman this a.m.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
Halfway through his interview with Michael Katakis I heard something about an interview arrangement he had with Kim Hill having been cancelled on the basis that there had been too many left leaning USA intellectuals on already! Interesting – I think that is what I heard. If what I have repeated is true then that is alarming.
11:05 Michael Katakis – Traveller
Michael Katakis has been photographing and writing about different cultures for the past 35 years. His work has been celebrated by the Royal Geographical Society, The Smithsonian Institute and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, to name just a few. He is also the literary manager of Ernest Hemingway’s intellectual estate. He joins Wallace to talk about his books, A Thousand Shards of Glass – which is a personal farewell to America and his wife; and Traveller, which is a collection of letters and journal entries that reflect on his own past.
For those with questions about what philosophy we should live by (think song – Teach your children well) the interview with Sam Harris, an atheist has something to say.
10:20 Sam Harris – Devoted to Reason
One of the world’s most well-known atheists, Sam Harris is the author of the bestselling books The End of Faith and The Moral Landscape. Dr Harris is cofounder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. He joins Wallace to talk about his latest book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion where they discuss mindfulness, drugs, critics and, of course, religion.
And NZ Peter Williams QC aged 80, talking about his work with many murderers and prison reform, and author of new book called The Dwarf that Moved?
It’s one of the stories in the book, about a dwarf in an Auckland circus whose wife was committing adultery with another guy in the circus. They had a sharp-shooting booth where she would shoot something out of the dwarf’s mouth and she hits him one day and is charged with attempted murder.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11217263
11:30 Peter Williams – Life in the Law
Peter Williams QC is a well-known name and face to New Zealanders. One of our greatest barristers, Peter Williams has defended some of New Zealand’s most infamous criminal cases, including: Terry Clark (Mr. Asia) and Arthur Allan Thomas. He has been a constant advocate for change in the penal system and has campaigned to rehabilitate prisoners, rather than imprisoning them. He joins Wallace on Sunday Morning to talk about some of his more notorious cases and his life spent working in the law.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/20152188/current-affairs
link to the audio Greywarbler.
Very, very interesting. Blimmin heck Dunne sounds out of place with National.
Took notes people should listen to the interview.
Winner Dunne. Jamie trying to defend the indefensible and frankly Dunne took him to task.
rma
Jamie
Wants greening of act, more emphasis on equality the people of nz have spoken their concerns for growing inequality. Dunne showed him up n one hand he wants Act more green like but same time want dismantling of RMA. Dunne states prior to RMA there was 54 laws it was Kos Jamie want a return to kaos basically.
Dunne will not support RMA changes at all. Stated, steadfast.
Charter schools
Dunne Will not support them they are a joke
Spoke examples of private partnerships, not trained teachers , franky it sound a joke these charter schools
Jamie lies and tells Wallace his facts from Stanford research are wrong when Wallace had them in front of him. Silly boy.
All in All Dunnes more left than I had thought, Jamie is very dangerous as he is following an agenda without reasoned thought.
@ Richard
All in All Dunnes more left than I had thought, Jamie is very dangerous as he is following an agenda without reasoned thought.
I think Dunne will follow that old saying about running with the fox and hunting with the hounds.
Somewhere in the middle he might make a useful stand to act as some solace for those who wanted him out.
Don’t be so sure about Jamie Whyte and reasoned thought. That is like looking at a mirror from different standpoints. Same mirror, different views.
Some good reporting today.
Um I realized it was Seymour not Whyte excuse my mistake peeps.
They are clones, just skin-wrapped with a bit of variance or deviance.
HA HA. finally I laughed today, thanks mate.
The AB’s have gone down. Shoulda kept John Key away from the jersey.
Who are the AB’s do they play Soccer? /Sarc
jOhn @ 14………….yes bad Karma re the AB’s losing for supporting Key.
The Kink in the Human Brain
We need a better economic system because the one we have is uneconomic.
Peter Joseph, Zeitgeist Movement Founder on TYT (Video)
@odesseus I just watched little s interview and thought he came across well It maid me wish the labour office had of sorted its shit so I could of joined in time to vote.
I couldn’t remember the leadership timeline. For those like me – this is our link.
Nominations close on Tuesday, 14 October. After which there are meetings around the rohe.
Tracy Watkins puts her 2 cents in.
“In the old days he would have been gone already”
Tracy Watkin
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/10546182/Cunliffes-exit-is-assured-but-by-which-route
According columnist Tracy Watkins.
In the old days Douglas would have sacked Lange.
Wishful thinking by a rightwing journo with her own agenda?
You decide:
Maybe not.
That’s Tracy Watkins fer ya. It’s dated Sep 26 – I did wonder as Sept 5 was before the election.
Grant Robertson and his crew have never accepted for even one day, the decision of the members and affiliates that Cunliffe should be leader.
No he hasn’t else Robertson would have been leader a year ago when Shearer resigned and Cunliffe became leader. Of course, what Watkins is really saying here is: If it wasn’t for those dratted members and unions we’d have a sensible Labour Party that would hold to the status quo.
Basically, more authoritarian BS from our MSM that holds that the public should just leave the decisions to the government and not get engaged in the actual decision making.
Primer for the Goldman Sachs secret tapes
It is time to end the Reign of the Banks.
DTB .. and let’s remember Goldman Sachs absorbed Merrill Lynch thus Key’s fortune rests in Goldman Sachs shares … nothing more needs be said, sadly …
Bank of America. And BoA got a serious case of indigestion from ingesting ML.
@ DTB 19
Joe 90 and I put up comments on 27/9 which may extend background on this Federal Reserve Bank regulatory farce.
Andrew Little might not be a stellar performer but at least he will not be disliked or pitied. He would be a safe pair of hands to bring about the needed changes and remember that under MMP he only has to raise Labour to where it was when Shearer was deposed in order to possibly win in 2017. Andrew Little is better than Shearer and could win votes from the Greens and win back the Labour voters who opted for the safety of National in 2014.
Public Broadcasting impartiality
Back in 2003 “Trougher Hide” led a tirade against Brian Edwards and had him successfully removed from current affairs. Apparently on the basis of Edwards political leanings and questionable “impartiality”.
Wonder how Hide views Hosking’s role in meeting Public Broadcasting standards?
An incredible, innovative, musical protest for Mike Brown
Brown was the young black man killed without legal reason, by a white police officer in Ferguson, St Louis County.
very moving, and awesome protest.
the reaction of some in the audience is quite revealing!
Some definitely did not like their cosy gluten free specialty baked white bread world disturbed. One woman made quite a face at the peasantry.
why do we let these people have power?
A promo video from Pinkroccade, a prominent IT contractor to Dutch local governments, makes the case for spying on wearables (if your heart-rate rises because you’re about to be mugged, the police could be alerted, and get GPS from your phone, find nearby phones belonging to people with criminal records, check the view from your Google Glass, and respond — case closed); following outrage from the press, the company doubled down on its video, saying it was not meant to be interpreted by lay people and that you have to be an expert to understand why it isn’t creepy as all fuck.
http://boingboing.net/2014/10/04/dutch-it-contractor-lays-out-t.html
On tonights news I see there is a major fire in a substation in Auckland.
Funny that, I thought, that would have not happened in the bad bad bad days of NZCED when we ALL owned the infrastructure of New Zealand. Myers reminded us of these “terrible” days on Q&A this morning
My second thought was, Why did it happen? Was it because we had a cost reducing profit maximizing lack of maintenance or, incompetent subcontractors with the lowest bid got the job.
My third thought was
One of the suburbs that was really affected was EPSOM. Ha Ha fucking Ha perhaps Rimmer along with Kryton can come and fix it for them.
I noted john Key was swift to make his “expert” views on the matter known. I guess his Parnell home was one of those affected. OMG that’s terrible. (sarc)
His ‘expert’ take on it.
‘It was a freak occurrence.’
‘He downplayed the suggestion the outage suggested Auckland’s power infrastructure was overly vulnerable.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11337366
@halfcrown
after picking myself up off the floor from dying of hysterical laughter. I must applaud you for your stunning wit, and humour.
Epsom powerless. Oh the irony.
Wanna make some money . Go on Ipredict and pick the Labour leader. Arbitrage to your heart’s content.
Just read Chris Trotter’s Sept 30th discussion about renewal of NZLP. The key suggestion seemed to be to turn the party list over to member voting, as done by the Greens. Party list selection by members is a great idea, but it would have much less impact for NZLP than it does for GPANZ.
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The current NZLP electorate candidate process is also interesting. I think involves 3 votes from head office and 2 from local organisation. So centralised control could be exerted to enforce electorate candidate renewal, but that might be very messy and simply lead to a call for less head office power.
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The Labour trend is clearly away from centralised control. As Trotter points out, the Nats are much more comfortable with that idea.
.
The rules are here http://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/parties/rules/Labour%20Party%20Constitution%20and%20Rules.pdf
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The org review from 2012 also makes interesting reading for those who are calling for yet another org review. https://www.labour.org.nz/sites/default/files/Labour%20Review%20Discussion%20Paper.pdf
When parliaments were first formed, only the rich could afford to be MPs. The answer to this was supposedly to pay them a salary. This obviously hasn’t worked, because the people we have in parliament are somewhere between comfortably well off and super rich. As well as what they can make if they indulge in insider trading with their blind trusts, cough cough, they get paid far more than most Kiwis can even dream about. Maybe they should be paid something like the unemployment benefit rate, with allowances for travel etc? I’m sure that would keep heaps of the troughers we have at the moment out of the Beehive.
And also: Glory glory to South Sydney. The two teams I hope never win the NRL competition again are Manly (Abbott and his ilk live there) and the Broncos (donate to the LNP campaign in Queensland). After seeing Russell Crowe get a championship ring made for Isaac Luke, I think there might be some truth to the rumours that he is part Kiwi.
Lenin wrote somewhere that the left should be involved where the working masses are. For me, that’s not a challenge at all, because I love Rugby League. The Kiwis would never make John Key captain.
Murray 0 1/06 am
Low wages for MPs would result in a moral hazard whereby they would be vulnerable to brown envelopes and baubles, and trips to resorts for their family, an apartment on the Gold Coast etc………..
Limited terms would be the deal and applying to all of them there pollies from top to bottom. Putin seems adept at the merry go round, but some sort of limitation would stop too many from digging themselves a fur lined cave for the duration.
I understand they have these in the USA, fur lined cars, or caves I mean. And someone who has early onset bigotry and calcification of the brain can stay in power probably with pay offs and because they look like daddy, so they can’t be winkled out. Probably in the end it seems uncharitable to such an old soldier to give him the push so they get a sympathy vote. That’s not democracy at work. That’s good ol’boys getting a rort.
High salaries just make the moral hazards more costly. I remember when the first ACT government vastly increased judges’ salaries, saying they would be vulnerable to bribery at the then current rate. I found it funny that judges had to be bribed to be honest.