“British lawmakers on have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage championed by Prime Minister David Cameron,………..lawmakers voted 400 to 175” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10863748
Wonder if this will happen so conclusively here or are we more conservative than UK?
Oh fuck. Is that really an email from David Shearer ‘personally’ – ie, they’ve gone to the bother of inserting christian names in the subject linen – wishing me a ‘Happy Waitangi Day’?
A sure footed Key sensing the nation’s mood over Waitangi, wipes the floor with Shearer.
Mr Key said previous Governments and others had tried to create a sense of “national participation” on the day.
“It would be good to see, but I’m not sure that we can or should try to force it. We are not by nature a nation of flag-wavers.”
Labour leader David Shearer has used the past two Waitangi Days to call for the day to be celebrated in a more positive way, using Australia Day as an example.
However, Mr Key said there was no other day on which the weight of history was felt quite so heavily.
“It is marked across an emotional spectrum that ranges from great passion among some of those gathered here, to indifference from those Kiwis whose sole interest in the day is encompassed by the weather forecast.”
No. But I imagine that on David Shearer’s woeful performance to date, a lot of people might. And a lot who would vote Labour will stay at home on the day.
Leadership is important, and Labour’s best leader is on the back bench replaced by some sort of politically inexperienced back room international conservative bureaucrat, who has been parachuted in, despite being completely lacking in charisma and with no obvious aptitude for the job.
Yes they will be voting Slippery for what he might,depending of course upon the NZ Supreme Court, put into their back pockets, Labour having failed to move them with a prior bid on providing cheap home ownership,
Oh well to sidestep such defeatism as you express you can always console yourself that the other Dave will get His chance after November 2014 if your scenario turns out to be correct, and score the odd ‘i told you’ so brownie point in the process,
How’s the formation of the Alternative Green die in the ditch Party going???…
How’s the formation of the Alternative Green die in the ditch Party going???…
bad12
Such a party only exists in your hopeful imagination. Unlike the real life Green Party, which with its “pragmatic” approach, of down playing climate change, will condemn many to die in a ditch – literally.
CW: fossil fuels allows us to greatly multiply out the carrying capacity of the Earth – temporarily. You cannot harvest and process as many tonnes of wheat in a day from a hectare by hand or with horses, as you can with diesel.
And if Slippery gets back into power, then there will be NO power companies (all sold off) , The conservation areas will be strip mined for coal, and our coastlines blighted with oil rigs. and they will keep on borrowing until we are like Ireland was, and then the vultures will come in and strip out anything of value IE: Kiwi Fund and the Cullen fund, and then there will be nothing left and the greedies will be happy and look on a job well done. Thats what we have to look forward to.
Now some mitigation and a lot of adaptation is what we need to get on with.
Colonial Viper
Oh really?
Though you didn’t answer the question it sounds to me what you are really advocating is that we die surrendering. Even though in my opinion we are only at somewhere between stage 2/ and stage 3/.
Over many threads you have always argued for doing nothing to fight climate change. And you are still at it.
And since I don’t see any indication of the this mitigation work starting now. I presume you mean to leave this up to future generations as well.
And do you think these 3 or 4 billion human beings you dismiss so casually, will just go off and die quietly. Leaving us here in lifeboat New Zealand to go about building dykes and storm shelters?
Advocate surrendering if you like. Personally I am with Naomi Klein.
A great idea from Aussie union leader Dave Oliver; transferable work benefits. The ACTU want workers to take leave and other entitlements with them when they change jobs. Nice reminder of what a plonker Tony Abbott is, too.
I no longer receive notifications of replies to posts I have commented on despite the fact that I tick the “please notify me” box. I rather liked this function. This started [not] happening over the last month or so.
I am on Safari 5.1.7 and wondering if there is something from my side that is causing this; a setting I can change? My email is gmail and same question goes for that; is there a setting I can change?
We run Firefox on a PC running Windows 7, I have a gmail address and have not been getting threads for quite sometime. I assumed it was because the service was no longer offered.
Yeah i am running Firefox on the same and i am HAPPY that the flood of emails hitting my inbox has stopped, i like to take the time to scroll down the whole posts to have a good look at where the conversations in any particular thread are heading,
“Opposition parties were split on whether scrutiny of Parliament should increase.
The Green Party supported the proposal to extend the OIA to parliamentary business, but the Labour Party did not.
Labour’s open government spokeswoman, Clare Curran, said her party instead supported proactive release of documents to a dedicated website.”
As far as I’m concerned, that’s another point for the Greens. I’ve always been of the opinion that our views on politics should start from the assumption that politicians are NOT to be trusted and so it only seems logical to me that the more transparent a government is, the better it is for the people.
The level of accountability a government is “burdened” with only becomes indeed a burden if transparency is extreme. People (and by “people”, I mean politicians) always say that too much transparency means a government can’t function properly but I’m yet to see a government that’s failed because of the public knowing “too much”. Correct me if I’m wrong bu isn’t it usually the opposite that applies?
When issues like that are raised, I always remember mom asking, at a parent-teacher reunion years ago, for details on what one of my teacher’s plan for the year was. Her reply was “trust me”. Yep, the Brazilian educational system is great.
Yep another point to the Green Party, as a well entrenched Party in the Parliament the Green Party has nothing it want’s hidden while it is an Opposition Party and even less it want’s hidden at any point that the Green Party is part of a Government,
Labour can only recoup the lost point IF the statement by Clare Curran means that ALL Government documentation is released within a reasonable time-frame to a dedicated web-site,
If the proposed release is to include ALL Government documents within a reasonable time-frame then that is one of the better ideas that have come out of Labour for quite some time,
I would expect such releases to include Cabinet notes from the pen of the Cabinet Secretary as well…
You will cause the previous Labour Prime Minister extreme palpitations if your proposal was actioned.
I understand that her papers were handed over to the National Archives with the provision that they were not to be released for 100 years. I’m not sure that that would be classed as a “reasonable time frame”.
Lolz, yeah the comment is from the school of wishful thinking, but, we would expect that such a web-site would have revelations only from the time of it’s start date and other stuff prior to that would still be the subject of official information act requests,
The problem of course being who would police such a web-site to ensure it actually contained all the information required of it…
“Labour’s open government spokeswoman, Clare Curran, said her party instead supported proactive release of documents to a dedicated website.””
Something that I support as well. I have found out a lot of interesting stuff from the OIA requests I have been placing over the past couple of months…
The Los Angeles Times is reporting the State of California is set to sue Standard and Poor’s for 4 billion dollars.
“California has filed suit against Wall Street’s biggest credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, charging the firm with violating the state’s False Claims Act by using “magic numbers” and “guesses” to inflate ratings that ultimately cost California public pension funds an estimated $1 billion.
The action was filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court and came a day after federal prosecutors filed suit against the bond-rating agency, alleging that S&P gave top marks to troubled mortgage-backed securities that later failed, helping to trigger the financial crisis.”
The New York Times reports that the suit was filed because settlement negotiations fell apart:
“Settlement talks between S.& P. and the Justice Department broke down in the last two weeks after prosecutors sought a penalty in excess of $1 billion and insisted that the company admit wrongdoing, several people with knowledge of the talks said. That amount would wipe out the profits of McGraw-Hill for an entire year. S.& P. had proposed a settlement of around $100 million, the people said.
S.& P. also sought a deal that would allow it to neither admit nor deny guilt; the government pressed for an admission of guilt to at least one count of fraud, said the people. S.& P. told prosecutors it could not admit guilt without exposing itself to liability in a multitude of civil cases.”
Incredibly, earlier attempts to sue ratings agencies for garbage ratings – supplied to purveyors of garbage for breath-taking fees and then trumpeted by said garbage-purveyors as ‘confirmation of rock-solid security’ – failed when the agencies claimed the protection of the First Amendment: ie freedom of speech! However it appears to be different this time, as the DoJ is claiming that S&P falsely represented to investors that its ratings were objective, independent and uninfluenced by any conflicts of interest; ie it seems to believe it can prove S&P didn’t believe what it was saying:
Among the flies in the ointment, though, is the fact that this really deflects attention away from the real guilty parties – the banks who knowing issued the garbage – and even offers them a defence as if anyone would really believe they were also taken in by S&P et al’s green-lighting their own products.
Moreover S&P and the other Agencies are already badly tainted so even if this goes against them, just watch them quietly fold, to rise again in six-months under a new name and, er, ‘business model’ washed shiny new.
Also, the Administration and the Fed hold a serious grudge against S&P for downgrading US debt.
Edit. Also note that it’s been years since these crimes were committed – 2007 and before. Further why aren’t S&P’s paying clients, the big banks who asked for these securities to be rated, also being prosecuted.
“Further why aren’t S&P’s paying clients, the big banks who asked for these securities to be rated, also being prosecuted.” – Colonial Viper
Ahem. A cynic might respond that the banks knew perfectly well these securities were garbage, and that they were knowingly ‘bribing’ the agencies for false favourable ratings. If the banks took action against the ratings agencies it would be thief against thief, and all likely come out in the wash. Hence their silence.
What is more puzzling is why none of the very big trust and pension funds etc. in the US who lost out badly in the crash haven’t brought this action. As I wrote, previous attempts have been made but were lost because, essentially, the ratings agencies were able to claim that all they were promulgating was their opinion which is, of course, no better than anybody else’s and they couldn’t be held responsible for it.
What’s really interesting in this case is that the prosecution is going for the fact that the agency actually knew the rating was false – ie a deliberate fraud – rather than just a lazy and/or incompetent opinion.
There was far more deliberate fraud than this going on in the ratings agencies. Of course in a prosecution like this, the DoJ may simply choose to prosecute the best representative instances.
However, in this talk, Bill Black makes it very clear that executives all through these ratings agencies knew what was going on, but given that their jobs and their bonuses depended on keeping their clients happy…
Lol, yep, don’t think I would hold my breath over anything to do with big money interests re-addressing their iniquities entirely! Yet, surely the more they do this type of litigation (and its being reported in newspapers), the more chance there is of more people realizing what cons are going on…perhaps….perhaps?…and only then, when public awareness is sufficient, is there a chance that the cons will be put a stop to?
The US Government , as you mention, is bringing fraud charges against S & P.
This suit looks awfully like political payback for S & P dropping the US credit rating from its AAA value. Two other credit rating companies also gave the same ratings to the mortgage backed securities. They were Fitch and Moodys. The US Justice Department is NOT claiming fraud by them. It is interesting that they did not lower the US rating from its AAA level.
Just coincidence you think? Political revenge seems much more likely. It’s rather like the way that, under most Presidents, the IRS selectively audits the President’s political opponents.
As I was typing this CV has also published this view. Oh well I’ll leave mine here and not waste the typing
You’re on to it mate. Check this out. Multi-millionaire hedge fund owner Michael Burry, formerly of Scion Capital, makes similar points about how he was targeted by the Feds.
Burry is right. We have been through the first crash. Everyone seems to have forgotten what happened only 5 years ago. It was followed by a struggling rally which is not a rally at all when you discount it for inflation. The next crash is imminent, a financial perfect storm. It will make 2007-2009 look like a summer shower. There will be massive political upheavals. The question is whether NZ becomes more democratic or more dictatorial. That will be our real challenge.
Yes. The action in this case is based on a very few actual securities only S&P rated, so only S&P can be sued. Moreover the Feds are only involved because the institution that lost money was federally insured, so the State lost money.
According to the NYT:
“The government is taking a novel approach by accusing S.& P. of defrauding a federally insured institution and therefore injuring the taxpayer.
Among others, the compliant includes the demise of Wescorp, a federally insured credit union in Los Angeles that went bankrupt after investing in mortgage securities rated by S.& P. Wescorp is included as one example of the contended fraud, and as a way to bring the case in California. The suit was filed in Federal District Court for the Central District of California.”
However if this approach is successful watch the floodgates open.
Yes. The action in this case is based on a very few actual securities only S&P rated, so only S&P can be sued. Moreover the Feds are only involved because the institution that lost money was federally insured, so the State lost money.
I believe your reasoning falls down as the Federal Govt also lost a shedload of money in Freddie/Fannie and AIG due to securities fraudulently rated by many different ratings agencies.
Perhaps these may be other cases in the pipeline or some cases which may have already been settled out of court.
The GFC is notable for the very small number of top financial executives who have been jailed. Compare this to the S&L scandal in the 90’s where hundreds of executives were sent to jail.
“I believe your reasoning falls down as the Federal Govt also lost a shedload of money in Freddie/Fannie and AIG due to securities fraudulently rated by many different ratings agencies.” – Colonial Viper.
I was claim otherwise. As regards Fannie and Freddie these were Goverment Sponsored Enterprises before the Government had to to take them over in part because of their losses on these garbage securities, so leading with them might raise awkward questions about (the lack of) Government supervision when these things were purchased. (And the aforementioned cynic might also suggest that perhaps certain individuals at the Fed. knew more about what was going on with Government-backed bodies buying top-price garbage from the banks than they would want coming to light now.)
As regards AIG its HQ is in New York, and I think the DoJ has very good reason for wanting to try this out in California rather than NY Courts.
Taking the action they have is nice and ‘safe’, in that it’s nice and far from Washington involving low-level players who aren’t likey to have any dirty Washington laundry to hang out.
My pet cynic might also pipe up that the most likely outcome of this action is to force S&P back to the negotiating table to agree a nice quiet settlement in which no-one who matters gets hurt.
How did you even come up with the idea of making a film about economics? I ask the director Jacob Kornbluth. “I know! People would roll their eyes when I told them. They’d say it’s a terrible idea for a film.” On paper it is, indeed, a terrible idea. A 90-minute documentary on income inequality: or why the rich have got richer and the rest of us haven’t (I say “us” because although it’s focused on America, we’re snapping at their heels) and which traces a line back to the 1970s, when things stopped getting better for the vast majority of ordinary working people and started getting worse.
“It always sounded so dry,” says Kornbluth. “But then I’d tell people it’s An Inconvenient Truth for the economy and they’d go, Ah!”
The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) has issued a Tsunami Potential Threat to New Zealand advisory for North Cape, Auckland West, East Cape, Gisborne, Auckland East, New Plymouth, Wellington.
The Potential Threat advisory will remain in effect until:
It is upgraded to a Tsunami Warning, or
A cancellation message is issued by MCDEM.
MCDEM and scientific advisors are in the process of assessing the situation to determine the severity of the threat to New Zealand. Updates will be issued at least hourly.
On an associated note, we’ve got to significantly build up NZ’s military and humanitarian capabilities to respond to these regional emergencies rapidly and thoroughly.
It is with sadness that i hear the news of the death of the construction company Mainzeal a player in the construction industry here in NZ for 40 years,
Placed into receivership today it is likely that this will result in the direct loss of another 400 jobs in the economy,
Also effected will be another 400 (at least), jobs as those contractors and sub-contractors who relied upon Mainzeal for work will now have none and are likely to be severely effected financially by the receivership of the company,
My second job as a youngster was as a labourer for Mainzeal putting the roof on the Waitangirua shopping mall…
Exactery! One thing that’s always amused me about the Nats and their ideology: They profess to be supporters of a free-market and champions of campetition, YET all the while shitting on small businesses, allowing take-overs and mergers and everything that results in the tendency towards monopolistic/duopolistic behaviour.
Thankfully now even the small business owner and the corner dairy are beginning to realise they’re full of shit.
I’m of the belief that monopolies (natural or otherwise – such as a rail network, or power grid, or telecommunications backbone, or water and gas reticuation) either need to be heavily regulated, OR better still – publicly owned.
I’m of the belief that monopolies (natural or otherwise – such as a rail network, or power grid, or telecommunications backbone, or water and gas reticuation) either need to be heavily regulated, OR better still – publicly owned.
Public ownership is the best option. The heavy regulation and the needed regulators makes the faux competition we end up with far more expensive.
Fletcher Building has been selected as the main contractor for the Christchurch rebuild, i don’t know if any of this main contractor stuff was put out to competitive tender,
Having such a rebuild and having Ozzy as a default option provides some hope of work for the employees of Mainzeal and even some of the subbie’s involved,
There is tho a world of dislocation involved in packing up and moving to Christchurch and many looking at the cost of doing this along with the cost of accommodation and wage structures will probably just leg it to Australia,
I worked for Mainzeal on a number of construction jobs round Wellington or for Mainzeal subbie’s, the Todd Motors build of the assembly plant was a eye opener for me as there must have been some form of labour agreement where X amount of labourers would be on the job, the boss would show up in the morning and direct me to bolt 16 bolts onto the hanging bases for the spray equipment and then disappear for the day,
That was my whole days work which was over in like half an hour,we labourers would amuse ourselves with little pastimes such as capturing any labourers from other subbies that happened to stray into our turf and if they had steel capped boots with the cap on the outside we would hold them down and weld their boots together,
Working for the steel subbie on Wellington’s St pats college taught me to never turn your back on a mobile crane as the boss had me hook up way too much steel on the chains and i just about wore the mobile crane jib on my nut as it tipped over,
Lolz, Haere Ra Mainzeal Construction it was nice knowing you…
I imagine they sleep quite easily – they’re not critical thinkers and with fuck all life experience – they’ve learned their ideology just as a parrot does. Polly wanna cracker…?
several I suspect. If I was so inclined to give the silly little munter an nano-eon of my time, no doubt it could be determined. I avoid even clicking on anything that has “kiwiblog’ because I wouldn’t want to provide him with the statistics he uses to justify himself
And people like Farrar try to spin the line “Is the manufacturing crisis manufactured?”
It is another example of Farrar,using incoherent statistics to a problem.Which is good reason for not listening or following the statistical analysis’s of any of the sockpuppets.
That’s allright! According to national party there are plenty more jobs out there!If there aren’t it must be Labours fault, or the Christchurch Earthquake,or the recession,or,or,or, oh anything that comes to mind.It certainly isn’t the fault of or courageous leader who apparently will “go down in history”(his words) for going to Waitangi year after year for some obscure reason.Escorted by how many DPS at big cost to the country!!!!!(I’m so brave) Anything to gazump David Shearers overnight stay at the Ratana Pa. Anyhow, if he is so courageous,how come he is the first to scuttle out of Parliament when he is caught out with many of his LIES!! Bart S Key. The man is tedious. AND he has a bad hairpiece.In the sunlight it is the same colour as maggie berrys dyed hair.
More job losses FFS.
Guess when the mining magnates arrive all “the people” will be ripe and ready to condemn any protests because they want jobs (which they won’t get anyway).
Nice and pliable. That’s how they want us. That’s how they are going to get us.
Cheers National, you really are the pits and thanks to all the people who voted for them for being so intensely gullible too.
Probably the effects of the last few years catching up with them, There was some crazy pricing going on when work was scarce. One project I know of was signed up completely tag free with no a ability to come back for time extensions due to weather. Basically madness when there are 1000’s of cubic meters of topsoil to be spread and hundreds of m2’s of concreting with a completion date in august. Coupled with a specification which forebode topsoil work in inclement weather.
I don’t know what was worked out in the end around penalties but I do know the project finished at least 2 months late and they were very late paying sub contractors. From what I was told they were holding the final payment from the principal as long as possible to claw back lost funds through interest. Made life bloody tough for a subs and suppliers of said subs…
At least there will be work to go into for most, although it will put downward pressure on wages with a bunch of skilled guys entering the job market and Fletchers are sharks…
Only problem is that there will be plenty of pain for sunnies as they will be the o es who suffer by being paid only a % of what is owed if at all, and any payment will be years away. Pity that I imagine that t he coy had been trading whilst insolvent that there will be little recourse form coy representatives, how often are managers/directors help accountable ? but may creditors suffer.
Just as we’ll the banks are well protected !!!
That activists should be careful because although Maori have legitimate grievances if marrys get too uppity white folk will lose the good will so watch out, shut up and don’t be so uppity.
Key with a very calculated blow of the dog whistle almost said stuff that was really rascist and demeaning. It is as if he turned his IQ down and then said some stuff that would appeal to inhabitants of swinging vote suburbia.
It is hard to put Shearer’s response in context or detail what he was replying to but he did say “if you are going to say these sorts of things fair enough and we all feel that way. But do it down on the Marae, not as you are going to get on a plane and fly out of here”.
Shearer needs to do way better than that. When Key does some racist dog whistling Shearer should never, ever say that “we all feel that way”.
That’s unbelievable, Shearer, what a thing to say, you’re not speaking for me,i
think Key’s yapade was disgraceful and showed a lack of respect,the
same for the clown waiting to be our PM.
Smart politics from Key. Gower was right on TV3, having a go at Titewhai doesn’t cost National votes.
Plus, Key knows his opponent all too well. National will spend the next two years dog-whistling like that, confident that Shearer will say “Er, yes, but, I mean …:”, winning no votes from the right and pissing off plenty of his supporters.
(but remember, if we all agree not to say this is happening, it won’t happen, and Shearer will be great … /heavy sarc)
“Do you agree with Key that Maori activists make waitangi day difficult for everyone to enjoy it as a celebration like you said yesterday?” is different from “Do you agree with Key that maori should stop seeing themeslves as disadvantaged and making a fuss?” but both questions can summarise Key’s speech.
But, you know, it’s not like Gower would do Shearer over because he’s such a nice, honourable man, so let’s get our pitchforks etc.
Rob, if David Shearer relies on Gower playing nice, then he cannot possibly lead Labour in an election campaign.
It’s late and I can’t be bothered to teach Shearer Media 101 for the umpteenth time, but the essence of it is – be smart, be prepared. That means before the questions (knowing what to expect) and after (making sure the message gets out).
If Shearer didn’t like Gower’s unfair question then I would expect his team to have rebutted within minutes, in all available outlets, and if he didn’t know what Gower was going to ask him, and didn’t have a line ready, then he should not be anywhere near the leader’s job.
In 2014, if polls are to be believed, Labour could be the front runners for the first time since 2005, or even 2002. So the media are going to “do Shearer over” every day. Labour can either put their faith in Gower’s fairness (ha!) or their leader’s ability to cope with unfairness.
FFS, it’s not “pitchforks”. It’s asking for a bare minimum competence, a basic grasp of modern campaigning.
PS … and for the record (feel free to check), Shearer’s comments were queried by many on Twitter within seconds, because that’s what happens – people watch the news, and respond.
Reckoning here that part of Shearer’s problem is that he is a mediator. he instinctively phrases things in a way that expresses that he undertsands both points of view, which is an admirable trait in a human being, but it’s not one that a political party leader should indulge in. His job isn’t to mediate between political differences. He’s supposed to represent and fight; convince that his party’s way is right and the govts’ wrong.
It was Shearer-speak. Trying to cover all bases, and in the process, undermining his own soundbite (which was a fair one – telling Key to front up, not take potshots and scarper).
If he still can’t grasp that TV news only ever allows you to make one point, not to add parentheses and qualifiers and “other hands”, then his media training is wasted.
It reveals how local authorities are being bullied into serving up schools for forced academisation, just to keep the Minister sweet.
How they were made to sound like raving Communists.
How they were inspected and found to have good teachers and governance and be improving – then at the behest of Gove they were suddenly re-inspected and found to be failing in all areas.
It shows who is set to profit from the privitisation of schools.
The documentary is based upon the English experience but it should (yes, I haven’t watched it yet) have lessons for NZ in it as well.
That was pretty laughable, Slippery the Prime Minister whining about protestors stealing His lime-light, dunno what the Slippery one was venting His spleen over as there was little protest at all this year at Waitangi,
Probably got an ear-full in the private meeting with Iwi Leaders that is still resonating around His empty suitcase of intellectual rigor with the Maori Council also attending i can well imagine the discussion about water rights would have positively sizzled…
There is an article in stuff business section titled ‘ Ministry stone-walling on SkyCity-Labour.
Sorry can’t link.
National up to their old tricks,by the look of it.
Hi LPrent,
I hope you are having a really good relaxing break in good company somewhere beautiful.
When you are ready to return to the fray – there is something odd going on with the edit function. Tonight I managed to create two comments by editing one. I am dead tired, and am (more) prone to mess up when I am, but when I edited a post it created a duplicate. I definitely didn’t hit send twice.
Colonial Viper
You have done a lot of thinking on climate change and the way forward. What books, blogs do you find most effective to summarise the situation in a practical manner and advise on ways we can move to reduce our wastefulness of whatever and what we should be aiming for?
Now I have to admit that my focus is not so much on climate change per se, but on the massive energy and resource depletion facing our civilisation. That depletion is going to make how we deal with climate change much more difficult.
Also, reading up about this stuff can sometimes feel a little bit of a ‘downer’, but in actual fact there’s a pretty exciting world of innovation and community building coming up.
🙂 yep definitely. Max and Stacy, the dynamic duo. Have you discovered Zero Hedge? Also check out Richard D Wolff on youtube and his blog site for a good dose of democratic socialism.
I don’t get this, wtf is going on here – how can a company like mainzeal go down with all of the supposed building going or about to get going in chch. Although I spoke to a friend down there who said the pay is shit and he’s off to oz.
Mainzeal director Richard Yan said the company could no longer continue trading due to a “series of events that had adversely affected the company’s financial position”, combined with a general decline in commercial construction activity and lack of shareholder support.
You say it’s all right, sometime, we’ll get it done.
Well sometimes you just suck and I’ve got the fight to say.
You should never grab at something you couldn’t take.
You say you’re all right, sometime, you’ll get it done.
And sometimes you just say I’ve got to learn to wait.
Well you should never hit on something you can’t break.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
For no better reason than I’ve got no reason to fake.
I got a reason I got the will and the way.
No helps coming, no one’s running away.
Firing treason, ‘here with the freaks and the snakes.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
You say he’s all right, sometime, he’ll get it done.
Well sometime is just words far too easy to say.
You should never try on something if you can’t even fake.
You say it’s all right, sometime, you’ll get it done.
And sometimes you just say I’ve got to learn to heal.
Well you should never count on something you can’t steal.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
For no better reason than I’ve got no reason to fade.
I got a meaning, I got the will and the way.
New hope running, no one’s staking stakes.
Firing reason, ‘here with the freaks and the snakes.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
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Only one of these provides good advice
For the uninitiated and those looking for good advice see: reddit
“British lawmakers on have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage championed by Prime Minister David Cameron,………..lawmakers voted 400 to 175”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10863748
Wonder if this will happen so conclusively here or are we more conservative than UK?
Oh fuck. Is that really an email from David Shearer ‘personally’ – ie, they’ve gone to the bother of inserting christian names in the subject linen – wishing me a ‘Happy Waitangi Day’?
Yes it is.
Got one too, and one for my beloved as well.
General mailout.
Well Bill, you got to be glad to see the improvement in IT capability, right? Yeah I got the email(s) from Shearer as well.
Didn’t this “Happy Waitangi Day” idea pop up last year with Shearer as well?
Does it have a ‘reply to’ function?
😈
CW, to pass on your congratulations for winning the confidence of caucus I’m sure.
A sure footed Key sensing the nation’s mood over Waitangi, wipes the floor with Shearer.
Yeah Key and his PR team still do their job well. Of that there is no doubt.
I dread the day there is ever a head to head leaders debate. Unfortunately, going on current performance it most likely will result in a Key walkover.
Jenny, are you planning on voting for Slippery at the next election then???…
No. But I imagine that on David Shearer’s woeful performance to date, a lot of people might. And a lot who would vote Labour will stay at home on the day.
Leadership is important, and Labour’s best leader is on the back bench replaced by some sort of politically inexperienced back room international conservative bureaucrat, who has been parachuted in, despite being completely lacking in charisma and with no obvious aptitude for the job.
Yes they will be voting Slippery for what he might,depending of course upon the NZ Supreme Court, put into their back pockets, Labour having failed to move them with a prior bid on providing cheap home ownership,
Oh well to sidestep such defeatism as you express you can always console yourself that the other Dave will get His chance after November 2014 if your scenario turns out to be correct, and score the odd ‘i told you’ so brownie point in the process,
How’s the formation of the Alternative Green die in the ditch Party going???…
Such a party only exists in your hopeful imagination. Unlike the real life Green Party, which with its “pragmatic” approach, of down playing climate change, will condemn many to die in a ditch – literally.
The long term sustainable population of this planet is under 2B, at a rough estimate. We’ve overshot that by 5B already, and climbing.
Regardless of what the pollies do – which I am betting is closer to nothing than something – we are going to lose a lot of people eventually.
I have a question for you CV.
At which stage of the struggle against climate change do you think we are at now?
Where does the 2B figure come from CV?
CW: fossil fuels allows us to greatly multiply out the carrying capacity of the Earth – temporarily. You cannot harvest and process as many tonnes of wheat in a day from a hectare by hand or with horses, as you can with diesel.
Check out these links
http://www.holon.se/folke/kurs/logexp/carrying.shtml
http://canada.theoildrum.com/node/2516
In 100 hundred years I’m fairly confident that the world’s population will be closer to 2B than 10B.
The human race lost this one 5-10 years ago. Now some mitigation and a lot of adaptation is what we need to get on with.
And if Slippery gets back into power, then there will be NO power companies (all sold off) , The conservation areas will be strip mined for coal, and our coastlines blighted with oil rigs. and they will keep on borrowing until we are like Ireland was, and then the vultures will come in and strip out anything of value IE: Kiwi Fund and the Cullen fund, and then there will be nothing left and the greedies will be happy and look on a job well done. Thats what we have to look forward to.
Oh really?
Though you didn’t answer the question it sounds to me what you are really advocating is that we die surrendering. Even though in my opinion we are only at somewhere between stage 2/ and stage 3/.
Over many threads you have always argued for doing nothing to fight climate change. And you are still at it.
And since I don’t see any indication of the this mitigation work starting now. I presume you mean to leave this up to future generations as well.
And do you think these 3 or 4 billion human beings you dismiss so casually, will just go off and die quietly. Leaving us here in lifeboat New Zealand to go about building dykes and storm shelters?
Advocate surrendering if you like. Personally I am with Naomi Klein.
“I’d Rather Fight Like Hell”
Arguing against your suggestions of bailing out the Titanic with a tin cup is actually very easy to do.
Good on ya. Hope that works out well for you. I read she’s great company.
Good ole Claire!!!
A great idea from Aussie union leader Dave Oliver; transferable work benefits. The ACTU want workers to take leave and other entitlements with them when they change jobs. Nice reminder of what a plonker Tony Abbott is, too.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/union-fight-on-work-rights-20130205-2dwn7.html
bad day for KP
Socially corrosive…wah wah wah
@ lprent
I no longer receive notifications of replies to posts I have commented on despite the fact that I tick the “please notify me” box. I rather liked this function. This started [not] happening over the last month or so.
I am on Safari 5.1.7 and wondering if there is something from my side that is causing this; a setting I can change? My email is gmail and same question goes for that; is there a setting I can change?
I run Firefox on a Mac and the same thing has happened.
We run Firefox on a PC running Windows 7, I have a gmail address and have not been getting threads for quite sometime. I assumed it was because the service was no longer offered.
Yeah i am running Firefox on the same and i am HAPPY that the flood of emails hitting my inbox has stopped, i like to take the time to scroll down the whole posts to have a good look at where the conversations in any particular thread are heading,
lol, I sometimes found it annoying too! Yet overall I ended up reading more comments when they arrived via email!
“Self-interest drives OIA review”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10863710
“Opposition parties were split on whether scrutiny of Parliament should increase.
The Green Party supported the proposal to extend the OIA to parliamentary business, but the Labour Party did not.
Labour’s open government spokeswoman, Clare Curran, said her party instead supported proactive release of documents to a dedicated website.”
As far as I’m concerned, that’s another point for the Greens. I’ve always been of the opinion that our views on politics should start from the assumption that politicians are NOT to be trusted and so it only seems logical to me that the more transparent a government is, the better it is for the people.
The level of accountability a government is “burdened” with only becomes indeed a burden if transparency is extreme. People (and by “people”, I mean politicians) always say that too much transparency means a government can’t function properly but I’m yet to see a government that’s failed because of the public knowing “too much”. Correct me if I’m wrong bu isn’t it usually the opposite that applies?
When issues like that are raised, I always remember mom asking, at a parent-teacher reunion years ago, for details on what one of my teacher’s plan for the year was. Her reply was “trust me”. Yep, the Brazilian educational system is great.
Yep another point to the Green Party, as a well entrenched Party in the Parliament the Green Party has nothing it want’s hidden while it is an Opposition Party and even less it want’s hidden at any point that the Green Party is part of a Government,
Labour can only recoup the lost point IF the statement by Clare Curran means that ALL Government documentation is released within a reasonable time-frame to a dedicated web-site,
If the proposed release is to include ALL Government documents within a reasonable time-frame then that is one of the better ideas that have come out of Labour for quite some time,
I would expect such releases to include Cabinet notes from the pen of the Cabinet Secretary as well…
You will cause the previous Labour Prime Minister extreme palpitations if your proposal was actioned.
I understand that her papers were handed over to the National Archives with the provision that they were not to be released for 100 years. I’m not sure that that would be classed as a “reasonable time frame”.
Lolz, yeah the comment is from the school of wishful thinking, but, we would expect that such a web-site would have revelations only from the time of it’s start date and other stuff prior to that would still be the subject of official information act requests,
The problem of course being who would police such a web-site to ensure it actually contained all the information required of it…
I’d settle for the release of the names of those “high ranking Labour MPs” who did the character assassination on Cunliffe when he was in Europe.
Or maybe Claire Curren could “officially inform” us who inspired her to try to drive Colonial Viper out of the LP.
Keep truckin’ Greens. You are only 14 MPs but you’re the only real opposition party we’ve got.
Can i ask you,are you a member, of the Labour Party that is…
Well said AmaKiwi
+1
“Labour’s open government spokeswoman, Clare Curran, said her party instead supported proactive release of documents to a dedicated website.””
Something that I support as well. I have found out a lot of interesting stuff from the OIA requests I have been placing over the past couple of months…
The Los Angeles Times is reporting the State of California is set to sue Standard and Poor’s for 4 billion dollars.
“California has filed suit against Wall Street’s biggest credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, charging the firm with violating the state’s False Claims Act by using “magic numbers” and “guesses” to inflate ratings that ultimately cost California public pension funds an estimated $1 billion.
The action was filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court and came a day after federal prosecutors filed suit against the bond-rating agency, alleging that S&P gave top marks to troubled mortgage-backed securities that later failed, helping to trigger the financial crisis.”
@ScottGN
That sounds like a promising move. Cheers for the info.
Don’t hold your breath.
The New York Times reports that the suit was filed because settlement negotiations fell apart:
“Settlement talks between S.& P. and the Justice Department broke down in the last two weeks after prosecutors sought a penalty in excess of $1 billion and insisted that the company admit wrongdoing, several people with knowledge of the talks said. That amount would wipe out the profits of McGraw-Hill for an entire year. S.& P. had proposed a settlement of around $100 million, the people said.
S.& P. also sought a deal that would allow it to neither admit nor deny guilt; the government pressed for an admission of guilt to at least one count of fraud, said the people. S.& P. told prosecutors it could not admit guilt without exposing itself to liability in a multitude of civil cases.”
Incredibly, earlier attempts to sue ratings agencies for garbage ratings – supplied to purveyors of garbage for breath-taking fees and then trumpeted by said garbage-purveyors as ‘confirmation of rock-solid security’ – failed when the agencies claimed the protection of the First Amendment: ie freedom of speech! However it appears to be different this time, as the DoJ is claiming that S&P falsely represented to investors that its ratings were objective, independent and uninfluenced by any conflicts of interest; ie it seems to believe it can prove S&P didn’t believe what it was saying:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-05/s-and-p-won-t-employ-first-amendment-defense-in-u-dot-s-dot-ratings-lawsuit
Among the flies in the ointment, though, is the fact that this really deflects attention away from the real guilty parties – the banks who knowing issued the garbage – and even offers them a defence as if anyone would really believe they were also taken in by S&P et al’s green-lighting their own products.
Moreover S&P and the other Agencies are already badly tainted so even if this goes against them, just watch them quietly fold, to rise again in six-months under a new name and, er, ‘business model’ washed shiny new.
Also, the Administration and the Fed hold a serious grudge against S&P for downgrading US debt.
Edit. Also note that it’s been years since these crimes were committed – 2007 and before. Further why aren’t S&P’s paying clients, the big banks who asked for these securities to be rated, also being prosecuted.
“Further why aren’t S&P’s paying clients, the big banks who asked for these securities to be rated, also being prosecuted.” – Colonial Viper
Ahem. A cynic might respond that the banks knew perfectly well these securities were garbage, and that they were knowingly ‘bribing’ the agencies for false favourable ratings. If the banks took action against the ratings agencies it would be thief against thief, and all likely come out in the wash. Hence their silence.
What is more puzzling is why none of the very big trust and pension funds etc. in the US who lost out badly in the crash haven’t brought this action. As I wrote, previous attempts have been made but were lost because, essentially, the ratings agencies were able to claim that all they were promulgating was their opinion which is, of course, no better than anybody else’s and they couldn’t be held responsible for it.
What’s really interesting in this case is that the prosecution is going for the fact that the agency actually knew the rating was false – ie a deliberate fraud – rather than just a lazy and/or incompetent opinion.
There was far more deliberate fraud than this going on in the ratings agencies. Of course in a prosecution like this, the DoJ may simply choose to prosecute the best representative instances.
However, in this talk, Bill Black makes it very clear that executives all through these ratings agencies knew what was going on, but given that their jobs and their bonuses depended on keeping their clients happy…
http://vimeo.com/10239575
Lol, yep, don’t think I would hold my breath over anything to do with big money interests re-addressing their iniquities entirely! Yet, surely the more they do this type of litigation (and its being reported in newspapers), the more chance there is of more people realizing what cons are going on…perhaps….perhaps?…and only then, when public awareness is sufficient, is there a chance that the cons will be put a stop to?
The US Government , as you mention, is bringing fraud charges against S & P.
This suit looks awfully like political payback for S & P dropping the US credit rating from its AAA value. Two other credit rating companies also gave the same ratings to the mortgage backed securities. They were Fitch and Moodys. The US Justice Department is NOT claiming fraud by them. It is interesting that they did not lower the US rating from its AAA level.
Just coincidence you think? Political revenge seems much more likely. It’s rather like the way that, under most Presidents, the IRS selectively audits the President’s political opponents.
As I was typing this CV has also published this view. Oh well I’ll leave mine here and not waste the typing
You’re on to it mate. Check this out. Multi-millionaire hedge fund owner Michael Burry, formerly of Scion Capital, makes similar points about how he was targeted by the Feds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLhqjOzoyE
Colonial Viper, excellent link.
Burry is right. We have been through the first crash. Everyone seems to have forgotten what happened only 5 years ago. It was followed by a struggling rally which is not a rally at all when you discount it for inflation. The next crash is imminent, a financial perfect storm. It will make 2007-2009 look like a summer shower. There will be massive political upheavals. The question is whether NZ becomes more democratic or more dictatorial. That will be our real challenge.
“Just coincidence you think?” – alwyn.
Yes. The action in this case is based on a very few actual securities only S&P rated, so only S&P can be sued. Moreover the Feds are only involved because the institution that lost money was federally insured, so the State lost money.
According to the NYT:
“The government is taking a novel approach by accusing S.& P. of defrauding a federally insured institution and therefore injuring the taxpayer.
Among others, the compliant includes the demise of Wescorp, a federally insured credit union in Los Angeles that went bankrupt after investing in mortgage securities rated by S.& P. Wescorp is included as one example of the contended fraud, and as a way to bring the case in California. The suit was filed in Federal District Court for the Central District of California.”
However if this approach is successful watch the floodgates open.
I believe your reasoning falls down as the Federal Govt also lost a shedload of money in Freddie/Fannie and AIG due to securities fraudulently rated by many different ratings agencies.
Perhaps these may be other cases in the pipeline or some cases which may have already been settled out of court.
The GFC is notable for the very small number of top financial executives who have been jailed. Compare this to the S&L scandal in the 90’s where hundreds of executives were sent to jail.
“I believe your reasoning falls down as the Federal Govt also lost a shedload of money in Freddie/Fannie and AIG due to securities fraudulently rated by many different ratings agencies.” – Colonial Viper.
I was claim otherwise. As regards Fannie and Freddie these were Goverment Sponsored Enterprises before the Government had to to take them over in part because of their losses on these garbage securities, so leading with them might raise awkward questions about (the lack of) Government supervision when these things were purchased. (And the aforementioned cynic might also suggest that perhaps certain individuals at the Fed. knew more about what was going on with Government-backed bodies buying top-price garbage from the banks than they would want coming to light now.)
As regards AIG its HQ is in New York, and I think the DoJ has very good reason for wanting to try this out in California rather than NY Courts.
Taking the action they have is nice and ‘safe’, in that it’s nice and far from Washington involving low-level players who aren’t likey to have any dirty Washington laundry to hang out.
My pet cynic might also pipe up that the most likely outcome of this action is to force S&P back to the negotiating table to agree a nice quiet settlement in which no-one who matters gets hurt.
Inequality for All – another Inconvenient Truth?
Sounds like a documentary to watch out for.
Tsunami Waring
That earthquake was damn shallow as well – a mere 5km and 8 magnitude.
The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) has issued a Tsunami Potential Threat to New Zealand advisory for North Cape, Auckland West, East Cape, Gisborne, Auckland East, New Plymouth, Wellington.
The Potential Threat advisory will remain in effect until:
It is upgraded to a Tsunami Warning, or
A cancellation message is issued by MCDEM.
MCDEM and scientific advisors are in the process of assessing the situation to determine the severity of the threat to New Zealand. Updates will be issued at least hourly.
MCDEM
Hopefully we can get help to the Pacific in fairly short order.
On an associated note, we’ve got to significantly build up NZ’s military and humanitarian capabilities to respond to these regional emergencies rapidly and thoroughly.
It is with sadness that i hear the news of the death of the construction company Mainzeal a player in the construction industry here in NZ for 40 years,
Placed into receivership today it is likely that this will result in the direct loss of another 400 jobs in the economy,
Also effected will be another 400 (at least), jobs as those contractors and sub-contractors who relied upon Mainzeal for work will now have none and are likely to be severely effected financially by the receivership of the company,
My second job as a youngster was as a labourer for Mainzeal putting the roof on the Waitangirua shopping mall…
With an entire city to rebuild, how the hell can a construction company go into receivership?
This is an economy of winners and losers. In this case, a very few big winners, and also some big losers.
Exactery! One thing that’s always amused me about the Nats and their ideology: They profess to be supporters of a free-market and champions of campetition, YET all the while shitting on small businesses, allowing take-overs and mergers and everything that results in the tendency towards monopolistic/duopolistic behaviour.
Thankfully now even the small business owner and the corner dairy are beginning to realise they’re full of shit.
I’m of the belief that monopolies (natural or otherwise – such as a rail network, or power grid, or telecommunications backbone, or water and gas reticuation) either need to be heavily regulated, OR better still – publicly owned.
BTW (as they say in the connected world) Hopefully at the moment, people realise Fletchers and Fulton Hogan are those currently in favour.
Public ownership is the best option. The heavy regulation and the needed regulators makes the faux competition we end up with far more expensive.
I know, it’s almost as if they’re…..lying!
Fletcher Building has been selected as the main contractor for the Christchurch rebuild, i don’t know if any of this main contractor stuff was put out to competitive tender,
Having such a rebuild and having Ozzy as a default option provides some hope of work for the employees of Mainzeal and even some of the subbie’s involved,
There is tho a world of dislocation involved in packing up and moving to Christchurch and many looking at the cost of doing this along with the cost of accommodation and wage structures will probably just leg it to Australia,
I worked for Mainzeal on a number of construction jobs round Wellington or for Mainzeal subbie’s, the Todd Motors build of the assembly plant was a eye opener for me as there must have been some form of labour agreement where X amount of labourers would be on the job, the boss would show up in the morning and direct me to bolt 16 bolts onto the hanging bases for the spray equipment and then disappear for the day,
That was my whole days work which was over in like half an hour,we labourers would amuse ourselves with little pastimes such as capturing any labourers from other subbies that happened to stray into our turf and if they had steel capped boots with the cap on the outside we would hold them down and weld their boots together,
Working for the steel subbie on Wellington’s St pats college taught me to never turn your back on a mobile crane as the boss had me hook up way too much steel on the chains and i just about wore the mobile crane jib on my nut as it tipped over,
Lolz, Haere Ra Mainzeal Construction it was nice knowing you…
@Tiresias 11.1
+1
And those contractors and sub-contractors are unsecured creditors so they won’t be getting the money for the work that they’ve done.
And people like Farrar try to spin the line “Is the manufacturing crisis manufactured?”
How do people like him sleep at night?
Unbelievable.
I imagine they sleep quite easily – they’re not critical thinkers and with fuck all life experience – they’ve learned their ideology just as a parrot does. Polly wanna cracker…?
Who is Farrar’s paymaster?
several I suspect. If I was so inclined to give the silly little munter an nano-eon of my time, no doubt it could be determined. I avoid even clicking on anything that has “kiwiblog’ because I wouldn’t want to provide him with the statistics he uses to justify himself
And people like Farrar try to spin the line “Is the manufacturing crisis manufactured?”
It is another example of Farrar,using incoherent statistics to a problem.Which is good reason for not listening or following the statistical analysis’s of any of the sockpuppets.
That’s allright! According to national party there are plenty more jobs out there!If there aren’t it must be Labours fault, or the Christchurch Earthquake,or the recession,or,or,or, oh anything that comes to mind.It certainly isn’t the fault of or courageous leader who apparently will “go down in history”(his words) for going to Waitangi year after year for some obscure reason.Escorted by how many DPS at big cost to the country!!!!!(I’m so brave) Anything to gazump David Shearers overnight stay at the Ratana Pa. Anyhow, if he is so courageous,how come he is the first to scuttle out of Parliament when he is caught out with many of his LIES!! Bart S Key. The man is tedious. AND he has a bad hairpiece.In the sunlight it is the same colour as maggie berrys dyed hair.
More job losses FFS.
Guess when the mining magnates arrive all “the people” will be ripe and ready to condemn any protests because they want jobs (which they won’t get anyway).
Nice and pliable. That’s how they want us. That’s how they are going to get us.
Cheers National, you really are the pits and thanks to all the people who voted for them for being so intensely gullible too.
Probably the effects of the last few years catching up with them, There was some crazy pricing going on when work was scarce. One project I know of was signed up completely tag free with no a ability to come back for time extensions due to weather. Basically madness when there are 1000’s of cubic meters of topsoil to be spread and hundreds of m2’s of concreting with a completion date in august. Coupled with a specification which forebode topsoil work in inclement weather.
I don’t know what was worked out in the end around penalties but I do know the project finished at least 2 months late and they were very late paying sub contractors. From what I was told they were holding the final payment from the principal as long as possible to claw back lost funds through interest. Made life bloody tough for a subs and suppliers of said subs…
At least there will be work to go into for most, although it will put downward pressure on wages with a bunch of skilled guys entering the job market and Fletchers are sharks…
Only problem is that there will be plenty of pain for sunnies as they will be the o es who suffer by being paid only a % of what is owed if at all, and any payment will be years away. Pity that I imagine that t he coy had been trading whilst insolvent that there will be little recourse form coy representatives, how often are managers/directors help accountable ? but may creditors suffer.
Just as we’ll the banks are well protected !!!
Did I hear Shearer on 3 News saying “we all agree……” re Key’s Waitangi comments about activists ?
Would that surprise you?
After all, people like Key. If Shearer just agrees with what Key says then obviously people will like him too.
That’s how popularity works, right?
In the walnut sized minds of a few MPs and staffers yes. But to the rest of us no …
What exactly did Shearer agree with Key about?
That activists should be careful because although Maori have legitimate grievances if marrys get too uppity white folk will lose the good will so watch out, shut up and don’t be so uppity.
Please, please say that is not a verbatim quote …
Not verbatim.
Oh, thank God for that. 😯
I just saw it. The video is at http://www.3news.co.nz/John-Key-says-Waitangi-protesters-short-sighted/tabid/370/articleID/285785/Default.aspx
Key with a very calculated blow of the dog whistle almost said stuff that was really rascist and demeaning. It is as if he turned his IQ down and then said some stuff that would appeal to inhabitants of swinging vote suburbia.
It is hard to put Shearer’s response in context or detail what he was replying to but he did say “if you are going to say these sorts of things fair enough and we all feel that way. But do it down on the Marae, not as you are going to get on a plane and fly out of here”.
Shearer needs to do way better than that. When Key does some racist dog whistling Shearer should never, ever say that “we all feel that way”.
That’s unbelievable, Shearer, what a thing to say, you’re not speaking for me,i
think Key’s yapade was disgraceful and showed a lack of respect,the
same for the clown waiting to be our PM.
I’m not even going to bother at this stage MS. Talk about gifting the Maori seats to Mana on a plate.
Smart politics from Key. Gower was right on TV3, having a go at Titewhai doesn’t cost National votes.
Plus, Key knows his opponent all too well. National will spend the next two years dog-whistling like that, confident that Shearer will say “Er, yes, but, I mean …:”, winning no votes from the right and pissing off plenty of his supporters.
(but remember, if we all agree not to say this is happening, it won’t happen, and Shearer will be great … /heavy sarc)
a kick from the right, a kick from the left – nah same team just different legs.
Does anyone know what Gower actually asked him?
“Do you agree with Key that Maori activists make waitangi day difficult for everyone to enjoy it as a celebration like you said yesterday?” is different from “Do you agree with Key that maori should stop seeing themeslves as disadvantaged and making a fuss?” but both questions can summarise Key’s speech.
But, you know, it’s not like Gower would do Shearer over because he’s such a nice, honourable man, so let’s get our pitchforks etc.
Rob, if David Shearer relies on Gower playing nice, then he cannot possibly lead Labour in an election campaign.
It’s late and I can’t be bothered to teach Shearer Media 101 for the umpteenth time, but the essence of it is – be smart, be prepared. That means before the questions (knowing what to expect) and after (making sure the message gets out).
If Shearer didn’t like Gower’s unfair question then I would expect his team to have rebutted within minutes, in all available outlets, and if he didn’t know what Gower was going to ask him, and didn’t have a line ready, then he should not be anywhere near the leader’s job.
In 2014, if polls are to be believed, Labour could be the front runners for the first time since 2005, or even 2002. So the media are going to “do Shearer over” every day. Labour can either put their faith in Gower’s fairness (ha!) or their leader’s ability to cope with unfairness.
FFS, it’s not “pitchforks”. It’s asking for a bare minimum competence, a basic grasp of modern campaigning.
PS … and for the record (feel free to check), Shearer’s comments were queried by many on Twitter within seconds, because that’s what happens – people watch the news, and respond.
Whereas Labour respond late, or not at all.
Exactly Gobsmacked.
Reckoning here that part of Shearer’s problem is that he is a mediator. he instinctively phrases things in a way that expresses that he undertsands both points of view, which is an admirable trait in a human being, but it’s not one that a political party leader should indulge in. His job isn’t to mediate between political differences. He’s supposed to represent and fight; convince that his party’s way is right and the govts’ wrong.
That dog whistle never leaves his lips! He’s not David Shearer, he’s David Shepherd.
You did North, and so did I. Ye gods, what is he going to say next.
It was Shearer-speak. Trying to cover all bases, and in the process, undermining his own soundbite (which was a fair one – telling Key to front up, not take potshots and scarper).
If he still can’t grasp that TV news only ever allows you to make one point, not to add parentheses and qualifiers and “other hands”, then his media training is wasted.
Aye, if he did not say “fair enough and we all feel that way” the statement would have been fine.
Sadly I’m finding it harder and harder to believe that he isn’t just saying what he really thinks.
If you’ve got a spare hour you may find this worth watching:
The Parents, The Politician and The Moneymakers – A warning for NZ schools
The documentary is based upon the English experience but it should (yes, I haven’t watched it yet) have lessons for NZ in it as well.
it’s rather jaw-dropping isn’t it, the way the school is bullied. I was shocked, and I’m not easily shocked.
That was pretty laughable, Slippery the Prime Minister whining about protestors stealing His lime-light, dunno what the Slippery one was venting His spleen over as there was little protest at all this year at Waitangi,
Probably got an ear-full in the private meeting with Iwi Leaders that is still resonating around His empty suitcase of intellectual rigor with the Maori Council also attending i can well imagine the discussion about water rights would have positively sizzled…
@ bad12
Key WANTED protests. Protests would have given him real headlines: “PM to protestors: Fuck off you lazy sods . . . “
There is an article in stuff business section titled ‘ Ministry stone-walling on SkyCity-Labour.
Sorry can’t link.
National up to their old tricks,by the look of it.
You can do an ordinary cut and paste job VV.
Open article in normal way.
Right click on stuff address/article heading… at top left of screen.
Left click on ‘copy’.
Arrow back and re-open The Standard…
Right click in your comment box.
Left click on ‘paste’.
And this is what you should get:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/8265860/Ministry-stone-walling-on-SkyCity-Labour
Note: it doesn’t go blue until you submit comment.
\Small pdf.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/020413_DOJ_White_Paper.pdf
Hi, thanks Anne, I’m still working on it,it manages to vanish on me,when i arrow
to the standard box, sigh,i’ll keep working at it. 🙂
Hi LPrent,
I hope you are having a really good relaxing break in good company somewhere beautiful.
When you are ready to return to the fray – there is something odd going on with the edit function. Tonight I managed to create two comments by editing one. I am dead tired, and am (more) prone to mess up when I am, but when I edited a post it created a duplicate. I definitely didn’t hit send twice.
Ta
Colonial Viper
You have done a lot of thinking on climate change and the way forward. What books, blogs do you find most effective to summarise the situation in a practical manner and advise on ways we can move to reduce our wastefulness of whatever and what we should be aiming for?
Hey mate, despite these links being a little US-centric:
Try a couple of the books by John Michael Greer. The Long Descent and the Eco-technic Future are good to start with. You can order his books here
http://redroom.com/member/john-michael-greer
And for free, check out his blog here
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/
What he writes is fascinating but what his commentators leave is equally astonishing at times.
Dmitry Orlov is excellent for helping breakdown particular cultural outlooks on the trouble we find ourselves in:
http://fora.tv/2009/02/13/Dmitry_Orlov_Social_Collapse_Best_Practices
Now I have to admit that my focus is not so much on climate change per se, but on the massive energy and resource depletion facing our civilisation. That depletion is going to make how we deal with climate change much more difficult.
Also, reading up about this stuff can sometimes feel a little bit of a ‘downer’, but in actual fact there’s a pretty exciting world of innovation and community building coming up.
Re: the archdruid blog – if you find it interesting enough, start reading his posts from a few years back right through to the current day.
Do you watch The Keiser Report, CV? If not, have a gander, it’s hilarious and informative but possibly panders to the gold bug angle a bit.
🙂 yep definitely. Max and Stacy, the dynamic duo. Have you discovered Zero Hedge? Also check out Richard D Wolff on youtube and his blog site for a good dose of democratic socialism.
Cheers, I’ve had a wee look at Zero Hedge but I must look into it further. Haven’t heard of Wolff though, Ill check it out. Here’s a nice link I found the other day (which I haven’t explored yet):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-m-brown/best-financial-journalists_b_1605584.html
I feel a bit safer talking about this weirdo banking stuff now that TFC is on a weeks ban 😉
I don’t get this, wtf is going on here – how can a company like mainzeal go down with all of the supposed building going or about to get going in chch. Although I spoke to a friend down there who said the pay is shit and he’s off to oz.
Contracts and buying power concentrate in Fletchers; then probably some management mistakes and wrong assumptions at Mainzeal.
We’ve created an economy of winners and losers, and money becoming more and more concentrated.
International problems. Christchurch operation will be worth a relatives fortune.
Purges, I shit them.
Just wrote this tonight. Here with the freaks and the snakes. “lol:
https://soundcloud.com/theal1en/getting-it-done
You say it’s all right, sometime, we’ll get it done.
Well sometimes you just suck and I’ve got the fight to say.
You should never grab at something you couldn’t take.
You say you’re all right, sometime, you’ll get it done.
And sometimes you just say I’ve got to learn to wait.
Well you should never hit on something you can’t break.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
For no better reason than I’ve got no reason to fake.
I got a reason I got the will and the way.
No helps coming, no one’s running away.
Firing treason, ‘here with the freaks and the snakes.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
You say he’s all right, sometime, he’ll get it done.
Well sometime is just words far too easy to say.
You should never try on something if you can’t even fake.
You say it’s all right, sometime, you’ll get it done.
And sometimes you just say I’ve got to learn to heal.
Well you should never count on something you can’t steal.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?
For no better reason than I’ve got no reason to fade.
I got a meaning, I got the will and the way.
New hope running, no one’s staking stakes.
Firing reason, ‘here with the freaks and the snakes.
What you gonna wash away?
How you gonna wash me way?