Continued daily media bias from the Herald, who are clearly wanting National re-elected.
More on the Cunliffe story, no mention of Collins.
Derp is not the word to describe the PM. I can think of more colourful terms.
As to the media, paid puppets is about as generous as I can get. I don’t wish to get a ban.
Just in case people start paying attention to the state of New Zealand, distract them with a foreign crime story involving a celebrity.
Crime…tick
Celebrity …tick
“Just in case people start paying attention to the state of New Zealand”
The NZ economy is doing pretty well compared with others so most kiwi’s are thankful for the way the government has managed it. That is why National is polling at around 50%
So you don’t think a famous athlete murdering a beautiful model is news worthy. These people are trying to sell newspapers not bore people to death. Most of us are sick to death of hearing about parents who don’t look after their kids and people trying to pedal poverty.
Paul, your link, it took me to a story of Len Brown increasing Auckland City debt, i agree with you whole-heartedly on the debt issue,
While i realize that the GFC meant there were 4 options for Governments, cut spending to match the shortfall in Government revenue, increase taxation to match the shortfall in Government revenue, borrow the money to match the shortfall in Government spending, or, print the needed monies, there is still an economic narrative that Labour should be putting befor the public,
Again obviously, it is a hard narrative to establish as Slippery the Prime Minister will simply use the tame media to reverse the issue in a what would Labour have done differently spin,
The Rock-Bottom Economy, 80 billion gross Government debt,an ongoing Government yearly deficit of 1.79 Billion dollars and a business tax take again light by +300 odd million dollars because the National Government has stripped the IRD of employees leaving it unable to follow up on owed taxes,
Attached to that narrative need be the fact that Labour would not have kneecapped the economy in 2009 with a raise in GST, would have raised the top tax rate for those earning the most and would have bolstered the number of IRD employees allowing them to chase owed taxes and chase the 1–5 billion dollars a year of tax avoided/evaded by those in a position to do so which would have seen far less government borrowing across the period,
It is the economy which sways a large demographic of the vote, while Labour remains mainly out of the limelight, not having an ongoing narrative with which to sway the minds of voters, Slipperry’s National Government then have the floor able to claim to be a safe pair of hands…
The Christchurch Earthquake is also a part of that debt. Borrow and spend was the only way to keep the economy moving at that time given that most people agree that printing money is not a good idea. The trick now is to balance the books and start paying the debt back.
The Christchurch Earthquake is also a part of that debt.
Pretty sure that Christchurch was supposed to be mostly funded by the private insurance companies. Doesn’t seem to have worked out to well – probably because they’re spending their time trying not to pay out.
Borrow and spend was the only way to keep the economy moving at that time given that most people agree that printing money is not a good idea.
Almost all of that borrowed money would have been printed by the private banks so it really doesn’t appear to have made any difference in that regard. Of course the private banks, because they charge interest on the money that they print, get to make a killing.
The trick now is to balance the books and start paying the debt back.
See, that actually really easy – just print some money back to the private banks.
I read recently, in the Herald I think, that the Taxpayer share of the Christchurch rebuild is expected to be $16 Billion.
The balance of $24 Billion has/is being paid by Insurance Companies.
That is with an estimated $40 Billion, which may well reach $50 Billion.
15 or $16 Billion that is about what I was thinking, The estimate keeps getting bigger.
You have to admit it would be a difficult time for any government.
Nakahi Man, i would suggest that ‘most people’ have very little understanding of what can be achieved ‘printing money’, having to rely instead on the words of Slippery the Prime Minister happily broadcast by the media decrying such ‘money printing’ as pixie dust,
Obviously the up-side to the Government having produced the money to cover the 100–300 million dollar weekly shortfall are that we would not be saddled with the current 80 billion dollars of gross government debt,
The downside to this of course is that the NZdollar remains highly valued at a level that is said to have cost 40,000+ manufacturing jobs since the borrowing binge began,
Would ‘printing’ that 100–300 million dollars a week have become highly inflationary,???, i say NO, ‘printed money’ is no different than ‘borrowed money’ and in simple terms there is no difference in inflationary expectations between the two,
YES, we could expect some inflation as the ‘printing’ of money would obviously have lowered the value of the NZdollar,
Could we have avoided most of that inflation, i say YES, most of such inflation would have an inescapable cost to the consumer at the petrol pump and the flow on effect in the economy of higher fuel costs through having a lower dollar,
The Solution,??? pretty simple, as the value of the NZDollar slid any Government would have only needed to direct a sum of the printed monies into the budget gained from taxation upon fuels, currently at 30% of the cost of a liter of fuel such taxation could have been lowered and the budget shortfall ‘plugged’ by the same amount as the lowering of the fuel taxes, such would have stopped any fuel price rises creating inflation in the wider economy,
Other imports???, obviously with a lower dollar value which would be the result of ‘printing’ money other imports would have become more expensive, most of such imports from the point of view of the consumer are a matter of ‘choice’,
Sugar,??? another import widely used,(mis-used), in manufacturing would become more expensive but then according to Health statistics we need to dramatically lower our use of sugar so a price push might have gone some way to achieving this aim,
LOLZ, close the 1.8 annual deficit between what the Government takes in tax and what it spends, currently 10 billion dollars of the current Government debt, WE TOLD YOU SO, the tax cuts given by Slippery’s National government created this Hole, we told you so at the time, reverse the tax cuts for the rich and the Hole is closed…
Oh hang on I’ll go to the TV3 website and find it for you. It was on TV this morning. So it’s not up yet, but it may never turn up there as TV3 may hide it, as no Gower wrap up of the week in politics has been on the site since feb 11
March 03, 2014 “Information Clearing House – International law is suddenly very popular in Washington. President Obama responded to Russian military intervention in the Crimea by accusing Russia of a “breach of international law.” Secretary of State John Kerry followed up by declaring that Russia is “in direct, overt violation of international law.”
Unfortunately, during the last five years, no world leader has done more to undermine international law than Barack Obama. He treats it with rhetorical adulation and behavioral contempt, helping to further normalize a might-makes-right approach to global affairs that is the antithesis of international law.
Fifty years ago, another former law professor, Senator Wayne Morse, condemned such arrogance of power. “I don’t know why we think, just because we’re mighty, that we have the right to try to substitute might for right,” Morse said on national TV in 1964. “And that’s the American policy in Southeast Asia — just as unsound when we do it as when Russia does it.”
Today, Uncle Sam continues to preen as the globe’s big sheriff on the side of international law even while functioning as the world’s biggest outlaw.
Rather than striving for an evenhanded assessment of how “international law” has become so much coin of the hypocrisy realm, mainline U.S. media are now transfixed with Kremlin villainy.
On Sunday night, the top of the New York Times home page reported: “Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has pursued his strategy with subterfuge, propaganda and brazen military threat, taking aim as much at the United States and Europe as Ukraine itself.” That was news coverage.
Following close behind, a Times editorial appeared in print Monday morning, headlined “Russia’s Aggression,” condemning “Putin’s cynical and outrageous exploitation of the Ukrainian crisis to seize control of Crimea.” The liberal newspaper’s editorial board said that the United States and the European Union “must make clear to him that he has stepped far outside the bounds of civilized behavior.”
Such demands are righteous — but lack integrity and credibility when the same standards are not applied to President Obama, whose continuation of the Bush “war on terror” under revamped rhetoric has bypassed international law as well as “civilized behavior.”
In these circumstances, major U.S. media coverage rarely extends to delving into deviational irony or spotlighting White House hypocrisy. Yet it’s not as if large media outlets have entirely excluded key information and tough criticism.
For instance, last October the McClatchy news service reported that “the Obama administration violated international law with top-secret targeted-killing operations that claimed dozens of civilian lives in Yemen and Pakistan,” according to reports released by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Last week, just before Obama leapt to high dudgeon with condemnation of Putin for his “breach of international law,” the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed piece that provided illuminating context for such presidential righteousness.
“Despite the president’s insistence on placing limits on war, and on the defense budget, his brand of warfare has helped lay the basis for a permanent state of global warfare via ‘low footprint’ drone campaigns and special forces operations aimed at an ever-morphing enemy usually identified as some form of Al Qaeda,” wrote Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University’s law school.
Greenberg went on to indicate the scope of the U.S. government’s ongoing contempt for international law: “According to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the Obama administration has killed 4,700 individuals in numerous countries, including Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Obama has successfully embedded the process of drone killings into the executive branch in such a way that any future president will inherit it, along with the White House ‘kill list’ and its ‘terror Tuesday’ meetings. Unbounded global war is now part of what it means to be president.”
But especially in times of crisis, as with the current Ukraine situation, such inconvenient contradictions go out the mass-media window. What remains is an Orwellian baseline, melding conformist ideology and nationalism into red-white-and-blue doublethink.
Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. Information about the documentary based on the book is at http://www.WarMadeEasyTheMovie.org.
When EQC insures an entire city against an earthquake disaster how then can it complain that the event, when it happens, is unprecedented ?
This constant complaint by EQC that the Chch earthquake was not foreseen is the very best example in existence of spin and lies by government bullshitters…
How can it be unforeseen when they insured for it?
What sort of lawyer would suggest to an MP that they don’t need to disclose their Trusts
I have said this before but it is time the left got their game together and stopped making silly mistakes
David has made mistakes but he has been quick to own them but it would be nice if those around him stopped stuffing about and showed some Unity
Yep, there is a lot of wailing against the bias msm but surely it would be a good start to stop giving them the stick to beat you round the head with…
Not to mention that its highly likely certain long in the tooth mp’s are whispering sweet nothings into Gowers ears rather than accept they didn’t get their choice as leader and to pitch in or at least shut up.
Grant Robertson is onto it, making the point this morning that He wants to ‘see’ the Cabinet Office’s advice to Slippery the Prime Minister tabled in the House,
Allowing Slippery the PM to stand up in the House and claim to have received such advice without ‘tabling’ the relevant document from the Cabinet Office is simply asking to be played for a fool by a Prime Minister with only a passing relationship with the truth,
Collins visiting of this company while on official taxpayer business and later appearing in printed literature with claims that She directly supports that companies products when Her husband is a director of the company in question is shifty enough,
Add in the $50,000 this company gave directly to the National Party and the reek of corruption creeps into the story,
IF, the Cabinet Office gave the PM advice that such an endorsement is within the rules then there should be a paper trail of such advice and Robertson is right in demanding it be produced,
The next question being begged here would be: in light of the revelation of the $50,000 donation to the National party from the company in question would the Cabinet Office,still claim that Collins open endorsement of the company and it’s products was within the rules as laid out in the Cabinet Manual…
This visit was published in the Herald in October 2013.
Why drag it up now – when David Cunliffe’s mis-demeanours are the flavour ?
Obfuscation abounds.
Was the fact that Collins was shown in printed literature to be personally endorsing the companies products also discussed in that Herald article,
Was the fact that this particular company which just happens to have Collins husband as a Director also gave 50,000 dollars to the National Party also discussed by this article in the Herald…
PPPrivatising coming soon……Just gets better and better for Christchurch. They also won’t say where the Auckland one is as there are already too many schools in the area!
“1.4. Project Scope
The Project scope includes the design, construction, finance and maintenance of four schools.
The table below presents the opening dates and estimated rolls for the included schools.
Table 1: Project Scope School Opening Dates Estimated Roll
Aranui Community School Jan 2017 1,300
Rolleston Secondary Jan 2017 1,500
Wakatipu Secondary School Jan 2018 1,200
An Auckland School Jan 2017 1,130”
As a Father this really does worry me. And yes I do have a dog. And she’s trained but I still keep an eye on her especially at feeding time. And she’s just had pups too so we kept the runt for her.
“Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull yesterday stepped in and stopped the auction of a historic item, claimed to be leg irons, and instigated an investigation into their authenticity… If they were found to be authentic leg irons, the Dunedin City Council would consider buying them as they would be significant to the Parihaka community in Taranaki.”
“Toitu Otago Settlers Museum acting director Jennifer Evans said it was working to authenticate the shackles. The release date of investigation findings was not yet known, she said. A Parihaka spokesman, Ruakere Hond, of New Plymouth, said the auction of the ”stolen” shackles was ”obscene and morally repugnant”.”
So not over yet, but at least there’ll be some precedent for council control on the sale of taonga (which of course, may just push future sales underground). Many unanswered questions yet: Are they genuine (or if not a flatout fake, just horse hobbles)? How do you preserve old iron using a railway furnace (my guess, based on Tuesday’s ODT pic, is he replaced the chain links)? What happened to the other shackles reported to be in the cave in the 1970s?
If only the finder had reported the find to the council or museum back in the 70s, we could know so much more by the examination of the artifacts in situ. But historical interest hardly seems to be his priority:
“Mr McCormack said he would still sell the irons. He said Mr Hond should be appreciative he had preserved the leg irons and if the Parihaka people wanted the item, they could place a bid. ”I’m not giving them away”.”
The auction got me thinking…beyond the shackles, burying the seawall those prisoners built below road works, having the caves blocked and inaccessible and a memorial set back ‘out the way’ at a busy intersection …is there anything in the museum that acknowledges that episode in Dunedin/NZ history?
I think I once saw something at the Settlers Museum about the Māori prisoners back before it was refurbished into Toitu, the artifacts they possess are not always on exhibit. It is good to know that they are in charge of ascertaining authenticity as they will have any amount of contemporary ironwork with which to compare the shackles.
In a way it doesn’t matter if they are genuine leg-irons, they were being sold as such; which is quite distasteful enough to be getting on with.
This 2012 opinion article by Bill Dacker (who is quoted in today’s ODT article questioning the authenticity of cave and irons) mentions three monuments, and includes a pic of the one on Portsmouth Drive. The other two are at cemeteries (he notes 18 deaths in Pakakohe group, and 3 deaths in the Parihaka group of prisoners):
I suspect that the government is just using Outlook and the operator just copy/pasted the addresses into the To: field. What they obviously need is some software that does mass mail-outs correctly.
That doesn’t work. These were quite clearly fault-related events right across the region, not localised events that could be attributed to the aquifers. Also Christchurch has regularly experienced earthquakes throughout recorded history; the spire of the Cathedral was knocked off by quakes in 1888 and 1901.
Christchurch sits on top of the underground flood plain of the Waimakariri…virtually all of the thousands of Christchurch hinterland earthquakes were within the parameters of this Waimakariri River underground flood plain
Not very Bright,from the Herald Online’s economics editor Brian Fallow, no matter how much rhetoric Fallow tries to smother the issue of poverty under the truth cannot be escaped,
Titled ”Playing poverty politics hides truth” Fallow attempts to make poverty and child poverty in particular take on the simple aspects of a ‘game’ in a gush of information in which the ‘real’ figures of poverty are given scant regard and the human cost of such poverty no mention what-so-ever,
There can be no escape from the fact that between the years 2007 and 2013 child poverty in this country rose by an ugly 5%,
What also cannot be escaped, although Fallow dare not produce a comparison,is the comparable fact that those who sit at the apex of the economy with the greater incomes and assets have seen their wealth increase by at least that 5%,
This when described in terms of %’s might not move the average person to alarm, but, when considered against the income and wealth share of the poorest in society a 5% rise in both the income and wealth held by the richest sector of our society in dollar terms far out-weighs the total annual income of the poorest in our society,
The 2009 tax switch, leaving those at the bottom of the economy to pay more as a % of their total income in taxes sure works for the already rich, Fallow seems to think that those who object to such Government redirection of wealth to the haves from the have not’s are simply playing a ‘game’…
The 2009 tax switch, leaving those at the bottom of the economy to pay more as a % of their total income in taxes sure works for the already rich, Fallow seems to think that those who object to such Government redirection of wealth to the haves from the have not’s are simply playing a ‘game’…
QFT
Same seems to be true of all RWNJs. They really don’t understand that the people at the top having more means that the people at the bottom must have less.
From an otherwise crappy wee piece in The Independent
A report last year from the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that at least 4.7 million Brits could be described as being in food poverty. Food poverty is defined as having no choice but to spend 10 per cent or more of their household income on food.
Anyone know the definition in NZ? 10% of income for an unemployed person would be no more than $30. 10% for a single person on $15 in a full time job would be $60 max. (Assuming the 10% is based on pre- tax income. Otherwise, it’s much less)
Can’t see what accommodation costs or any other costs have to do with it. If 10% (or more) of a household’s income has to be spent on food, then, by the definition above, that household is living in food poverty.
By your figures, anyone claiming unemployment entitlements having to spend $20.06 or more on food per week is in that category.
Anyone on $15 an hour would have to spending no more than (at 20% PAYE) $58 per week.
Now. How many hungry children are there again? And are we to believe that the parents of these hungry children are themselves well fed?
I guess what I’m interested in is whether that 10% definition applies to NZ, and if not, then why not? And if not, then what is it here?
Two people on the dole. One person has no accommodation costs, the other spends 50% of their income on rent. The 10% on food thing will affect those two people differently (First person can spend a lot more % on food without causing other hardship relative to the person with rent to pay).
So I would want to know how the 10% figure came about. I’ve seen similar figures for accommodation (that it shouldn’t be above x% of income). But whereas accommodation costs can vary hugely, food costs can’t really. Everyone has to eat.
At a parliamentary select committee meeting yesterday, EQC chief executive Ian Simpson confirmed that there had been five “formal” requests for information, but information tabled in Parliament shows more than 200 approaches were made by Labour MPs.
I wonder how that compares to the number raised by Brownlee and Wagner.
This event highlights something more serious, even more starkly.
The Minister responsible for earthquake recovery appears not to have tasked anyone to ensure that elderly quake victims were priorities, or at the very least properly tracked and monitored.
Three years on.
Fourth winter approaching.
The Minister tells us there is not a single person whose job it is to be aware of this information.
Lolz, no thanks, i want National and the ‘wing-nuts’ to have the belief that they are sailing into the 2014 election with the numbers to Govern alone,
While it can be said with some accuracy that the ‘Left’ vote is inclined to stay home if they think its all a done deal as far as elections go, the ‘Right’, having had it’s paid shills and news media create that impression in the first place are all likely to get lazy also thinking its a done deal, the lazy ‘Right’ will then be likely to put less effort into the campaign,
Lolz again,i would suggest Labour analyze which policy ‘might’ have cost it 2+% of the vote last time round and modify such a policy,(and yes i do know that the persistent banging of ones head on a brick wall leads to brain damage, too late to stop now i already have it)…
I’m with you on that one, Bad 12 – I’m still banging on about it ….. haven’t stopped … one day the message might get thru !
As to Bryce Edwards – this guy is a charlatan. Pretending to be a political blogger when all he does is scan other people’s opinions/thoughts and then gets paid for putting them all into one article.
I hope no-one from this site contributes to his “overconfidence prob”
I regard Edwards the Lesser as just another Farrar. I can’t understand why his bias isn’t obvious to more people. Have a look at how he describes bloggers differently, depending on whether they are on the left or right of the great divide.
Apart from his bias, he’s just a cut and paste merchant, as you say. How the hell is he a lecturer in political studies, or whatever it is?
Edward’s question doesn’t interest me – it’s all part of the neoliberal way of focusing on the horse race – the game – and avoiding dealing with issues of substance. I’ve no motivation to write on his set topic.
A Fire Upon the Deep may be the most exciting and important of all modern space operas. Latter day purveyors of galactic epics like Alastair Reynolds and Pete Hamilton doubtless cut their teeth on it. Published at the advent of the information age, when the Internet was in most people’s future and even mobile phones were still a little exotic, Vernor Vinge had his finger on its pulse. While it isn’t accurate to say the book predicted the Internet — the geek elite were, after all, long entrenched in Usenet newsgroups even then — it can be said to have accurately bullseyed what became the Internet’s character. While it’s been a most wonderful innovation, certainly the most important epoch-making technology since the printing press, it is also, in many ways, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, a home for every crank, political extremist, sicko or malcontent you could imagine, giving them access to an audience they’d never have enjoyed otherwise. When Vinge nicknamed his fictitious interstellar network the “Net of a Million Lies,” he saw what was coming, even if a simple grasp of human nature at its dark core was as visionary as he had to be about it.
Q and A in the house today, funny at the end of Q 9:
Hon Trevor Mallard: Has he discussed his oneirataxia with the Prime Minister?
Hon PETER DUNNE: I have discussed a number of things with the Prime Minister, but, frankly, the meaning of that word escapes me and I am sure it is something that if I had a dictionary I might bother to look up.
link to a transcript
I think you can safely say it drives the message home
the message being how a growing number of people have had enough of greed as a social imperative
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April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
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. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
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Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
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Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
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The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
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Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
This is what happens when you encourage the Gambling industry.
They “grow sales and strengthen” their “product portfolio by expanding” their “portfolio across the week”.
Not nice.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11214677
Continued daily media bias from the Herald, who are clearly wanting National re-elected.
More on the Cunliffe story, no mention of Collins.
Derp is not the word to describe the PM. I can think of more colourful terms.
As to the media, paid puppets is about as generous as I can get. I don’t wish to get a ban.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11214656
Just in case people start paying attention to the state of New Zealand, distract them with a foreign crime story involving a celebrity.
Crime…tick
Celebrity …tick
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11214771
“Just in case people start paying attention to the state of New Zealand”
The NZ economy is doing pretty well compared with others so most kiwi’s are thankful for the way the government has managed it. That is why National is polling at around 50%
So you don’t think a famous athlete murdering a beautiful model is news worthy. These people are trying to sell newspapers not bore people to death. Most of us are sick to death of hearing about parents who don’t look after their kids and people trying to pedal poverty.
^^ More wishful thinking by a RWNJ
“Sociopathic people like me are sick to death of hearing about kids in poverty”
FIFY
And yet they failed to mention all the National MPs that were on the same list.
Pieman Brownlee finally admits he is useless.. NOT!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/9795245/Brownlee-let-down-by-EQC
I have never seen the Herald investigate how much Key has increased New Zealand’s debt since his party came to power in 2008.
Wonder why?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11214657
Paul, your link, it took me to a story of Len Brown increasing Auckland City debt, i agree with you whole-heartedly on the debt issue,
While i realize that the GFC meant there were 4 options for Governments, cut spending to match the shortfall in Government revenue, increase taxation to match the shortfall in Government revenue, borrow the money to match the shortfall in Government spending, or, print the needed monies, there is still an economic narrative that Labour should be putting befor the public,
Again obviously, it is a hard narrative to establish as Slippery the Prime Minister will simply use the tame media to reverse the issue in a what would Labour have done differently spin,
The Rock-Bottom Economy, 80 billion gross Government debt,an ongoing Government yearly deficit of 1.79 Billion dollars and a business tax take again light by +300 odd million dollars because the National Government has stripped the IRD of employees leaving it unable to follow up on owed taxes,
Attached to that narrative need be the fact that Labour would not have kneecapped the economy in 2009 with a raise in GST, would have raised the top tax rate for those earning the most and would have bolstered the number of IRD employees allowing them to chase owed taxes and chase the 1–5 billion dollars a year of tax avoided/evaded by those in a position to do so which would have seen far less government borrowing across the period,
It is the economy which sways a large demographic of the vote, while Labour remains mainly out of the limelight, not having an ongoing narrative with which to sway the minds of voters, Slipperry’s National Government then have the floor able to claim to be a safe pair of hands…
+1
The Christchurch Earthquake is also a part of that debt. Borrow and spend was the only way to keep the economy moving at that time given that most people agree that printing money is not a good idea. The trick now is to balance the books and start paying the debt back.
Pretty sure that Christchurch was supposed to be mostly funded by the private insurance companies. Doesn’t seem to have worked out to well – probably because they’re spending their time trying not to pay out.
Almost all of that borrowed money would have been printed by the private banks so it really doesn’t appear to have made any difference in that regard. Of course the private banks, because they charge interest on the money that they print, get to make a killing.
See, that actually really easy – just print some money back to the private banks.
I read recently, in the Herald I think, that the Taxpayer share of the Christchurch rebuild is expected to be $16 Billion.
The balance of $24 Billion has/is being paid by Insurance Companies.
That is with an estimated $40 Billion, which may well reach $50 Billion.
15 or $16 Billion that is about what I was thinking, The estimate keeps getting bigger.
You have to admit it would be a difficult time for any government.
Nakahi Man, i would suggest that ‘most people’ have very little understanding of what can be achieved ‘printing money’, having to rely instead on the words of Slippery the Prime Minister happily broadcast by the media decrying such ‘money printing’ as pixie dust,
Obviously the up-side to the Government having produced the money to cover the 100–300 million dollar weekly shortfall are that we would not be saddled with the current 80 billion dollars of gross government debt,
The downside to this of course is that the NZdollar remains highly valued at a level that is said to have cost 40,000+ manufacturing jobs since the borrowing binge began,
Would ‘printing’ that 100–300 million dollars a week have become highly inflationary,???, i say NO, ‘printed money’ is no different than ‘borrowed money’ and in simple terms there is no difference in inflationary expectations between the two,
YES, we could expect some inflation as the ‘printing’ of money would obviously have lowered the value of the NZdollar,
Could we have avoided most of that inflation, i say YES, most of such inflation would have an inescapable cost to the consumer at the petrol pump and the flow on effect in the economy of higher fuel costs through having a lower dollar,
The Solution,??? pretty simple, as the value of the NZDollar slid any Government would have only needed to direct a sum of the printed monies into the budget gained from taxation upon fuels, currently at 30% of the cost of a liter of fuel such taxation could have been lowered and the budget shortfall ‘plugged’ by the same amount as the lowering of the fuel taxes, such would have stopped any fuel price rises creating inflation in the wider economy,
Other imports???, obviously with a lower dollar value which would be the result of ‘printing’ money other imports would have become more expensive, most of such imports from the point of view of the consumer are a matter of ‘choice’,
Sugar,??? another import widely used,(mis-used), in manufacturing would become more expensive but then according to Health statistics we need to dramatically lower our use of sugar so a price push might have gone some way to achieving this aim,
LOLZ, close the 1.8 annual deficit between what the Government takes in tax and what it spends, currently 10 billion dollars of the current Government debt, WE TOLD YOU SO, the tax cuts given by Slippery’s National government created this Hole, we told you so at the time, reverse the tax cuts for the rich and the Hole is closed…
WTF Gower having a go at Collins and Key calling them Arrogant and out of touch…. Wow now the Colin Craig gets a beating from mccully
Link?
Oh hang on I’ll go to the TV3 website and find it for you. It was on TV this morning. So it’s not up yet, but it may never turn up there as TV3 may hide it, as no Gower wrap up of the week in politics has been on the site since feb 11
But here’s a little good news.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Cunliffe-turns-tables-in-donations-saga/tabid/1607/articleID/334635/Default.aspx
Here’s the link:
http://www.3news.co.nz/This-week-in-politics-March-6-2014/tabid/370/articleID/334804/Default.aspx
Cheers
Heard the One About Obama Denouncing a Breach of International Law?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37824.htm
by NORMAN SOLOMON
March 03, 2014 “Information Clearing House – International law is suddenly very popular in Washington. President Obama responded to Russian military intervention in the Crimea by accusing Russia of a “breach of international law.” Secretary of State John Kerry followed up by declaring that Russia is “in direct, overt violation of international law.”
Unfortunately, during the last five years, no world leader has done more to undermine international law than Barack Obama. He treats it with rhetorical adulation and behavioral contempt, helping to further normalize a might-makes-right approach to global affairs that is the antithesis of international law.
Fifty years ago, another former law professor, Senator Wayne Morse, condemned such arrogance of power. “I don’t know why we think, just because we’re mighty, that we have the right to try to substitute might for right,” Morse said on national TV in 1964. “And that’s the American policy in Southeast Asia — just as unsound when we do it as when Russia does it.”
Today, Uncle Sam continues to preen as the globe’s big sheriff on the side of international law even while functioning as the world’s biggest outlaw.
Rather than striving for an evenhanded assessment of how “international law” has become so much coin of the hypocrisy realm, mainline U.S. media are now transfixed with Kremlin villainy.
On Sunday night, the top of the New York Times home page reported: “Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has pursued his strategy with subterfuge, propaganda and brazen military threat, taking aim as much at the United States and Europe as Ukraine itself.” That was news coverage.
Following close behind, a Times editorial appeared in print Monday morning, headlined “Russia’s Aggression,” condemning “Putin’s cynical and outrageous exploitation of the Ukrainian crisis to seize control of Crimea.” The liberal newspaper’s editorial board said that the United States and the European Union “must make clear to him that he has stepped far outside the bounds of civilized behavior.”
Such demands are righteous — but lack integrity and credibility when the same standards are not applied to President Obama, whose continuation of the Bush “war on terror” under revamped rhetoric has bypassed international law as well as “civilized behavior.”
In these circumstances, major U.S. media coverage rarely extends to delving into deviational irony or spotlighting White House hypocrisy. Yet it’s not as if large media outlets have entirely excluded key information and tough criticism.
For instance, last October the McClatchy news service reported that “the Obama administration violated international law with top-secret targeted-killing operations that claimed dozens of civilian lives in Yemen and Pakistan,” according to reports released by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Last week, just before Obama leapt to high dudgeon with condemnation of Putin for his “breach of international law,” the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed piece that provided illuminating context for such presidential righteousness.
“Despite the president’s insistence on placing limits on war, and on the defense budget, his brand of warfare has helped lay the basis for a permanent state of global warfare via ‘low footprint’ drone campaigns and special forces operations aimed at an ever-morphing enemy usually identified as some form of Al Qaeda,” wrote Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University’s law school.
Greenberg went on to indicate the scope of the U.S. government’s ongoing contempt for international law: “According to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the Obama administration has killed 4,700 individuals in numerous countries, including Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Obama has successfully embedded the process of drone killings into the executive branch in such a way that any future president will inherit it, along with the White House ‘kill list’ and its ‘terror Tuesday’ meetings. Unbounded global war is now part of what it means to be president.”
But especially in times of crisis, as with the current Ukraine situation, such inconvenient contradictions go out the mass-media window. What remains is an Orwellian baseline, melding conformist ideology and nationalism into red-white-and-blue doublethink.
Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. Information about the documentary based on the book is at http://www.WarMadeEasyTheMovie.org.
Oops, Another Leaked Conversation: The Murderers Are Now The Masters In The Ukraine
We are not being told the truth about the Ukraine.
Information Clearing House a good site for other perspectives.
When EQC insures an entire city against an earthquake disaster how then can it complain that the event, when it happens, is unprecedented ?
This constant complaint by EQC that the Chch earthquake was not foreseen is the very best example in existence of spin and lies by government bullshitters…
How can it be unforeseen when they insured for it?
gives me the shits
What sort of lawyer would suggest to an MP that they don’t need to disclose their Trusts
I have said this before but it is time the left got their game together and stopped making silly mistakes
David has made mistakes but he has been quick to own them but it would be nice if those around him stopped stuffing about and showed some Unity
Yep, there is a lot of wailing against the bias msm but surely it would be a good start to stop giving them the stick to beat you round the head with…
Not to mention that its highly likely certain long in the tooth mp’s are whispering sweet nothings into Gowers ears rather than accept they didn’t get their choice as leader and to pitch in or at least shut up.
more likely that the speakers office has published a list that includes mps from almost all parties, and the media cherry-picks.
Grant Robertson is onto it, making the point this morning that He wants to ‘see’ the Cabinet Office’s advice to Slippery the Prime Minister tabled in the House,
Allowing Slippery the PM to stand up in the House and claim to have received such advice without ‘tabling’ the relevant document from the Cabinet Office is simply asking to be played for a fool by a Prime Minister with only a passing relationship with the truth,
Collins visiting of this company while on official taxpayer business and later appearing in printed literature with claims that She directly supports that companies products when Her husband is a director of the company in question is shifty enough,
Add in the $50,000 this company gave directly to the National Party and the reek of corruption creeps into the story,
IF, the Cabinet Office gave the PM advice that such an endorsement is within the rules then there should be a paper trail of such advice and Robertson is right in demanding it be produced,
The next question being begged here would be: in light of the revelation of the $50,000 donation to the National party from the company in question would the Cabinet Office,still claim that Collins open endorsement of the company and it’s products was within the rules as laid out in the Cabinet Manual…
This visit was published in the Herald in October 2013.
Why drag it up now – when David Cunliffe’s mis-demeanours are the flavour ?
Obfuscation abounds.
October 2013 was later than either of those two “mis-demeanours”. And wasn’t it first dragged up by Brooke (son of Mike) Sabin on TV3?
Was the fact that Collins was shown in printed literature to be personally endorsing the companies products also discussed in that Herald article,
Was the fact that this particular company which just happens to have Collins husband as a Director also gave 50,000 dollars to the National Party also discussed by this article in the Herald…
A NaT/Bennet U turn for the day..
Proposed child harm prevention orders are being shelved by the Government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11214336
PPPrivatising coming soon……Just gets better and better for Christchurch. They also won’t say where the Auckland one is as there are already too many schools in the area!
“1.4. Project Scope
The Project scope includes the design, construction, finance and maintenance of four schools.
The table below presents the opening dates and estimated rolls for the included schools.
Table 1: Project Scope School Opening Dates Estimated Roll
Aranui Community School Jan 2017 1,300
Rolleston Secondary Jan 2017 1,500
Wakatipu Secondary School Jan 2018 1,200
An Auckland School Jan 2017 1,130”
As a Father this really does worry me. And yes I do have a dog. And she’s trained but I still keep an eye on her especially at feeding time. And she’s just had pups too so we kept the runt for her.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9795025/Father-stunned-after-dog-charges-dropped
Update on the slave-shackle sale:
“Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull yesterday stepped in and stopped the auction of a historic item, claimed to be leg irons, and instigated an investigation into their authenticity… If they were found to be authentic leg irons, the Dunedin City Council would consider buying them as they would be significant to the Parihaka community in Taranaki.”
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/294040/mayor-stops-leg-irons-sale
“Toitu Otago Settlers Museum acting director Jennifer Evans said it was working to authenticate the shackles. The release date of investigation findings was not yet known, she said. A Parihaka spokesman, Ruakere Hond, of New Plymouth, said the auction of the ”stolen” shackles was ”obscene and morally repugnant”.”
So not over yet, but at least there’ll be some precedent for council control on the sale of taonga (which of course, may just push future sales underground). Many unanswered questions yet: Are they genuine (or if not a flatout fake, just horse hobbles)? How do you preserve old iron using a railway furnace (my guess, based on Tuesday’s ODT pic, is he replaced the chain links)? What happened to the other shackles reported to be in the cave in the 1970s?
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/293800/leg-irons-removed-cave-auction
If only the finder had reported the find to the council or museum back in the 70s, we could know so much more by the examination of the artifacts in situ. But historical interest hardly seems to be his priority:
“Mr McCormack said he would still sell the irons. He said Mr Hond should be appreciative he had preserved the leg irons and if the Parihaka people wanted the item, they could place a bid. ”I’m not giving them away”.”
The auction got me thinking…beyond the shackles, burying the seawall those prisoners built below road works, having the caves blocked and inaccessible and a memorial set back ‘out the way’ at a busy intersection …is there anything in the museum that acknowledges that episode in Dunedin/NZ history?
I think I once saw something at the Settlers Museum about the Māori prisoners back before it was refurbished into Toitu, the artifacts they possess are not always on exhibit. It is good to know that they are in charge of ascertaining authenticity as they will have any amount of contemporary ironwork with which to compare the shackles.
In a way it doesn’t matter if they are genuine leg-irons, they were being sold as such; which is quite distasteful enough to be getting on with.
This 2012 opinion article by Bill Dacker (who is quoted in today’s ODT article questioning the authenticity of cave and irons) mentions three monuments, and includes a pic of the one on Portsmouth Drive. The other two are at cemeteries (he notes 18 deaths in Pakakohe group, and 3 deaths in the Parihaka group of prisoners):
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/221295/truths-far-greater-myths
Nice to see that the Govt has sorted out it’s E-Mail and privacy problems
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11214671
I suspect that the government is just using Outlook and the operator just copy/pasted the addresses into the To: field. What they obviously need is some software that does mass mail-outs correctly.
So Christchurch has sunk….Brownley admits the obvious:
Worth revisiting some of the theories as to why?
http://www.codeotaku.com/journal/2011-03/why-are-we-having-earthquakes/index
That doesn’t work. These were quite clearly fault-related events right across the region, not localised events that could be attributed to the aquifers. Also Christchurch has regularly experienced earthquakes throughout recorded history; the spire of the Cathedral was knocked off by quakes in 1888 and 1901.
Christchurch sits on top of the underground flood plain of the Waimakariri…virtually all of the thousands of Christchurch hinterland earthquakes were within the parameters of this Waimakariri River underground flood plain
…and water extraction can cause earthquakes
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-20025807
Not very Bright,from the Herald Online’s economics editor Brian Fallow, no matter how much rhetoric Fallow tries to smother the issue of poverty under the truth cannot be escaped,
Titled ”Playing poverty politics hides truth” Fallow attempts to make poverty and child poverty in particular take on the simple aspects of a ‘game’ in a gush of information in which the ‘real’ figures of poverty are given scant regard and the human cost of such poverty no mention what-so-ever,
There can be no escape from the fact that between the years 2007 and 2013 child poverty in this country rose by an ugly 5%,
What also cannot be escaped, although Fallow dare not produce a comparison,is the comparable fact that those who sit at the apex of the economy with the greater incomes and assets have seen their wealth increase by at least that 5%,
This when described in terms of %’s might not move the average person to alarm, but, when considered against the income and wealth share of the poorest in society a 5% rise in both the income and wealth held by the richest sector of our society in dollar terms far out-weighs the total annual income of the poorest in our society,
The 2009 tax switch, leaving those at the bottom of the economy to pay more as a % of their total income in taxes sure works for the already rich, Fallow seems to think that those who object to such Government redirection of wealth to the haves from the have not’s are simply playing a ‘game’…
QFT
Same seems to be true of all RWNJs. They really don’t understand that the people at the top having more means that the people at the bottom must have less.
From an otherwise crappy wee piece in The Independent
Anyone know the definition in NZ? 10% of income for an unemployed person would be no more than $30. 10% for a single person on $15 in a full time job would be $60 max. (Assuming the 10% is based on pre- tax income. Otherwise, it’s much less)
For a comparison with what a healthy diet costs in NZ, the Food Cost Survey (2013 figures are in the PDF).
http://www.otago.ac.nz/humannutrition/research/food-cost-survey/index.html
If we take an average of $65/wk, that’s 31% of the dole (post-tax) for a single adult. I’m working off the dole being $206/wk.
I ‘m not sure that the UK comparison works here though, because aren’t our accommodation costs higher than elsewhere?
Our food costs are higher as well.
Can’t see what accommodation costs or any other costs have to do with it. If 10% (or more) of a household’s income has to be spent on food, then, by the definition above, that household is living in food poverty.
By your figures, anyone claiming unemployment entitlements having to spend $20.06 or more on food per week is in that category.
Anyone on $15 an hour would have to spending no more than (at 20% PAYE) $58 per week.
Now. How many hungry children are there again? And are we to believe that the parents of these hungry children are themselves well fed?
I guess what I’m interested in is whether that 10% definition applies to NZ, and if not, then why not? And if not, then what is it here?
Two people on the dole. One person has no accommodation costs, the other spends 50% of their income on rent. The 10% on food thing will affect those two people differently (First person can spend a lot more % on food without causing other hardship relative to the person with rent to pay).
So I would want to know how the 10% figure came about. I’ve seen similar figures for accommodation (that it shouldn’t be above x% of income). But whereas accommodation costs can vary hugely, food costs can’t really. Everyone has to eat.
Could the Pacific be the key to a Labour election victory in 2014?
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/why-labour-needs-pacific-strategy.html
Brownlee apologises:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9795547/Brownlee-apologises-to-Labour-M
I wonder how that compares to the number raised by Brownlee and Wagner.
lol
Someone’s been ducking the boss’s phone calls.
Talk about a waste of space as a minister.
This event highlights something more serious, even more starkly.
The Minister responsible for earthquake recovery appears not to have tasked anyone to ensure that elderly quake victims were priorities, or at the very least properly tracked and monitored.
Three years on.
Fourth winter approaching.
The Minister tells us there is not a single person whose job it is to be aware of this information.
actually Minister, there is!
Tweeted invitation to bloggers from Bryce Edwards this afternoon.
Lolz, no thanks, i want National and the ‘wing-nuts’ to have the belief that they are sailing into the 2014 election with the numbers to Govern alone,
While it can be said with some accuracy that the ‘Left’ vote is inclined to stay home if they think its all a done deal as far as elections go, the ‘Right’, having had it’s paid shills and news media create that impression in the first place are all likely to get lazy also thinking its a done deal, the lazy ‘Right’ will then be likely to put less effort into the campaign,
Lolz again,i would suggest Labour analyze which policy ‘might’ have cost it 2+% of the vote last time round and modify such a policy,(and yes i do know that the persistent banging of ones head on a brick wall leads to brain damage, too late to stop now i already have it)…
I’m with you on that one, Bad 12 – I’m still banging on about it ….. haven’t stopped … one day the message might get thru !
As to Bryce Edwards – this guy is a charlatan. Pretending to be a political blogger when all he does is scan other people’s opinions/thoughts and then gets paid for putting them all into one article.
I hope no-one from this site contributes to his “overconfidence prob”
I regard Edwards the Lesser as just another Farrar. I can’t understand why his bias isn’t obvious to more people. Have a look at how he describes bloggers differently, depending on whether they are on the left or right of the great divide.
Apart from his bias, he’s just a cut and paste merchant, as you say. How the hell is he a lecturer in political studies, or whatever it is?
Edward’s question doesn’t interest me – it’s all part of the neoliberal way of focusing on the horse race – the game – and avoiding dealing with issues of substance. I’ve no motivation to write on his set topic.
Maybe Edwards could write something about Key’s overconfidence that the rules are only a guideline..
Yes, I said goodbye to the Internet and this is a plan, but there are moments in History, which dictates that you have to come back to the internet.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS REAL.
Goodbye for the last time (this time really)
This is why im giving up the internet, tony fuckin hawke admitted it was fake, and
hes selling the fake boards as a business/charity thing.
seya internet, nothing you say is true.
link proving ‘fake’..?..surely..!
phillip ure..
Fake
The Net of a Million Lies
http://sfreviews.net/vvinge_fire_upon_the_deep.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/30021154/hoverboard-hoax-leaves-fan-stinging
wave I’ll let the Police know that your death need not be treated as suspicious.
(jim mora had a personal-nadir during his panel-segment today..
..this is the email i have set him..)
the scoffing treatment of/loaded-questions around yr coverage of the meat/dairy causing cancer/diabetes etc..
..was the most biased coverage i have ever heard on yr show..(and factually wrong..to boot..!..)
..(and given the seriousness of the topic..for shame..!..eh..?..)
..are you seriously denying the (long-proven) fact that red meat/animal-fat is a carcinogen/diabetes-causer….?
..are you seriously denying the (recently-proven) fact that dairy is a carcinogen/diabetes-causer..?
..and are yr denials based on any facts/research at all..?..
..or is it just a disbelieving-opinion – underpinned by yr defence of yr personal lifestyle/diet..?
..it is the latter..isn’t it..?
..and if not..i wd like to see this groundbreaking-research proving meat/dairy are not carcinogens..
..(‘proof’ of this outright lie that you have peddled..)
..’cos it ain’t bloody there..jim..
..at the very least i wd expect a retraction from you..
..and an apology to yr listeners wouldn’t hurt either..
..and..how can you be in such deep denial..?
..phillip ure..
(for a man of his intelligence..on such a powerful forum..
..to peddle these/such lies..
..has kinda done my head in..
..mora could not have been more sneering..)
http://www.tv3.co.nz/tabid/3692/MCat/3901/Default.aspx
Skip to 7.45 for a good summation of David Cunliffe
Q and A in the house today, funny at the end of Q 9:
Hon Trevor Mallard: Has he discussed his oneirataxia with the Prime Minister?
Hon PETER DUNNE: I have discussed a number of things with the Prime Minister, but, frankly, the meaning of that word escapes me and I am sure it is something that if I had a dictionary I might bother to look up.
Found a definition:
Yes! Nice word.
Next time, Trevor should ask this question:
Does he realise that both he and the Prime Minister have been koshing about the Kitteridge report leaking?
koshing
A nice obscure word for contumelious lying bastards.
Clemgeopin – I give up ! I thought it was something to do with gold trading, but that doesn’t make sense with the context you’ve put it in.
No?
May be you could rephrase it better?
Come on, have a go.
Some good viewing from Australia (Green Senator telling Tony Abbott to stick it):
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/greens-senator-scott-ludlams-blunt-speech-to-an-almost-empty-room-goes-viral-20140306-348zx.html
Quite a bit of it is about Western Australia, but don’t let that put you off. It could almost as easily be said to John Key.
link to a transcript
I think you can safely say it drives the message home
the message being how a growing number of people have had enough of greed as a social imperative