Hmmm. 20/20 vision, and all that. The Pacific War was no cakewalk. The Japanese were no pushover, or the surrendering kind. Both sides displayed admirable virtues taken to a destructive extreme – and faced impossible choices. What happend, happened, and can’t be undone. Better to focus on the lessons these days, not the justifications.
None of that addresses the US using a weapon of mass destruction on a civilian population. Even now their justification that it ended the war and saved lives is baseless.
The Japanese didn’t surrender because of the bombs. There were statements made that they didn’t see the difference between losing a whole city to one bomb or to a night of fire bombing as happened in Tokyo earlier in the war.
Their surrender was a result of Russia positioning to directly invade Japan. Seeing what was happening to surrendering soldiers on the eastern front after VE day Japan’s leaders realised they faced a far better chance if they surrendered to the US before the Russian’s landed.
The extreme reluctance of Japanese soldiers to surrender is no myth. There are numerous examples to back it up. Not saying your wrong about the US wanting Japan to surrender to them rather than Russia. No doubt the US wanted that.
One interesting thought I came across while studying it was that the nukes were dropped simply because nobody really considered not dropping them.
The resources put into the Manhatten project and the B29, the prospect of invasion against resistance, it promised to be a quick option, the research data that would be generated, Stalin repositioning… basically, no historian has ever found a memo or diary note asking “should we obliterate a city with a single bomb: pros, cons…”. The question doesn’t seem to have occurred to anyone.
Yeah, if they’d had some generals and cabinet officials on it, rather than it being put in the round filing cabinet and then most of them getting kicked out of weapons work, you might have a point.
The question was never raised in decision-making circles. That petition didn’t even make it one step on from the recipient to the president.
That was one reason the state department was for it.
Ensuring a speedy and unconditional surrender from Japan was another.
The military were concerned about casualties from an invasion, and looked forward to having their new toy demonstrated.
They also needed to demonstrate the fruits of the massive programmes that were needed to develop the bomb and the delivery system (B29).
the navy was happy to have a siege, as it had obliterated most maritime transport by that stage, but the air force was going for gold.
Specific cities had been deliberately untouched by conventional bombing so they could act as testbeds – a possible contingency option that became a fate accompli.
Industry could see justification for continued development, and by that stage the nuclear programme was employing hundreds of thousands across several states.
That’s just off the top of my head – there were lots of reasons nobody would question the assumption that the bombs would be dropped on cities.
I have spoken to a few different Japanese citizens over the years who state that many Japanese blame the Emperor for NOT surrendering earlier. As a result some still refuse to sing the parts of their national anthem which refers to the emperor.
1. Helping Israel to commit human rights atrocities
2. Invading other countries thus committing their own human rights atrocities
3. Still believe in the childish might is right BS that most of us grow out of before we’re five
I really wouldn’t be bothered by the bombing of Hiroshima today if anybody had learned the lessons from it but it’s obvious that the US and many others simply haven’t.
There are many books on the topic (a gross understatement I know) but three I would recommend, to offer a diverse view of the events and the aftermath of Hiroshima, are the following publications.
Day of the Bomb by Dan Kurzman
Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes
Faces of Hiroshima by Anne Chilsolm
No matter how many words get written, films get made or discussions that occur, the truth of the matter is thus:
“Memory and imagination, not nuclear weapons, are the greatest deterrents.”
-Martha Gellhorn
Hypocrisy watch: Mike Hosking is now opposed to privacy.
His lamentable television show gets worse every night Seven Sharp, Television One, Wednesday 5 August 2015
First topic tonight: the controversy following the shooting of Cecil the lion….
MIKE HOSKING: By the outpouring of rage and hate, you’d think the end of the world had happened. TONI STREET: To most of us it looks repulsive and utterly wrong, but on the other side of the world, does a Twitter storm mean anything?
….. Cue sententious sound track, with shots of protestors’ placards, “ROT IN HELL”, “EVIL MONSTER”, an earnest Californian voice saying: “We should really SHAME these people.”….
MIKE HOSKING: ….And now this American accountant Sabrina Corgatelli rubbing salt in the wounds with provocative posts, ….bragging about shooting a giraffe. …. So I spoke to Daryl Crimp, he’s the editor of the Fishing Paper and Hunting News. Daryl, is there an underbelly of people opposed to hunting in this country? DARYL CRIMP: Of course we have social media today, which makes it very easy for keyboard warriors to hide behind a screen and bash off things without actually thinking about what they’re saying. HOSKING: So what are the rules around hunting? When you shot Cecil, is it uncool or not? What’s good, what’s not? DARYL CRIMP: Well, he shouldn’t be called Cecil in the first place. No name is a good name for a lion. Hunting plays an important role in animal welfare. …. It’s a question of perception. I don’t judge other people. …. HOSKING: Is there an irrational emotional attachment, do you think? I mean, it’s like, everyone likes pandas, everyone loves lions, no one seems to get upset about shooting a pig. DARYL CRIMP: Also nobody seems to get incensed about the wanton killing and genocide of huge numbers of PEOPLE in Zimbabwe, where Cecil, um, lives. [As he says that, Hosking smiles ruefully.] It’s what we call bambi-ism, I mean the scientific name for it is anthropomorphism, and it’s simply putting human attributes and emotions on to an animal. It makes it easier for you to become detached from reality.
…..
HOSKING: See, you agree with that, don’t you! We all agreed with him. TONI STREET:[giggling plaintively] I was BULLIED into agreeing with you! HOSKING: You are Russia at the Security Council. You have the veto, the permanent veto.
So, even when he is trying to be clever, Hosking shows how ignorant he is. If he had any knowledge of politics or history, he would have said, “You are America at the Security Council.” But this is Mike Hosking, and as is painfully apparent almost every time he speaks, or writes his Year 9-standard opinion pieces in the Herald, he knows little or nothing about anything.
…………..
At the end of each episode of this ghastly program, there is a brief sub-sophomoric homily, one from each host. Toni Street went first tonight, delivering a stern little lecture about the way that students spend all their student loan money on partying—at least, she giggled, that’s how she and her friends treated their “free money” when they were at university ten years ago. Her solution? Well, it comes straight from the ACT Party’s moronic policy platform: a voucher system for books.
If that was bad, worse was to follow. Hosking’s homily consisted of a spittle-flecked rant against “the madness that is the privacy law in this country.” He sneered at the “earnest do-gooders” who believe in the ridiculous and thoroughly outdated idea of privacy. “Justice minister Amy Adams talked today about the privacy law and its omnipresent ability to hamper our efforts against domestic violence. She is RIGHT!”
Cecil the Lion was covered by Joe Bennett yesterday in the Dominion. Can’t find it online. I suspect that Hosking plagerised Joe’s column. Same idea plus the rather miserable death awaiting aged lions and the money that Zimbabwe makes from hunting. I am rather surprised at the huge raging against the hunter and for the first time ever sort of agree with Hoskings and Bennett even if Hosking did steal his lines from another.
“…So, to say Obama is progress is saying that he’s the first black person that is qualified to be president. That’s not black progress. That’s white progress. There’s been black people qualified to be president for hundreds of years. If you saw Tina Turner and Ike having a lovely breakfast over there, would you say their relationship’s improved? Some people would. But a smart person would go, “Oh, he stopped punching her in the face.” It’s not up to her. Ike and Tina Turner’s relationship has nothing to do with Tina Turner. Nothing. It just doesn’t. The question is, you know, my kids are smart, educated, beautiful, polite children. There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let’s hope America keeps producing nicer white people….”
The whole interview is quite long, but it covers not just Civil Rights, but his wider political beliefs, being a parent, and style of comedy.
Those three articles are just ‘first off the rank’ pickings from last year in a simple search using “$6 a kilo break even”. The tone is unequivocal. As Dairy fell below $6 a kilo there was concern about the financial position confronting many dairy farmers and the flow-on affects upon the economy.
A year on and RNZ has today reported that nine out of ten farmers are now collecting new debt to cover their losses.
New borrowing means more costs to the farmers. Farmers who are openly admitting that paying off any principal debt is a fantasy. Take into account the ongoing increases in costs of living, that farmers are not magically immune to, and that $6 a kilo break even point from last year has probably risen a bit. This not only increases the hardship these families are facing and all the stresses that go with that, but contain potential to do very real harm to the economic proceeds delivered to the country by the dairy sector.
Bill English will remind us how dairy is only one part of a bigger picture but he will still be demanding these farmers pay their taxes. Taxes are important. They pay for a lot of things. One of the things they pay for are Rural Assistance Payments that WINZ has had a growing number of applications for. I am not suggesting that farmers should not get help to feed their families and pay the rent. I mention it to point out if more and more farmers are already operating below the acknowledged break even point of $6 a kilo, borrowing even more money to only pay debt interest and needing to go to the Government for living assistance, they are probably borrowing money to pay the taxes on those farms.
If, as reported last year, prices of $6 a kilo were going to take an estimated 1.8 billion out of the economy, how many billions are going to be lost when the price hits a figure below $4? How much of our tax take in the coming years is not going to be paid by a farm’s earnings but from interest bearing debt?
$6 a kilo was the bank figure that farmers were expected to do their budgets on…the break even point will vary greatly from operation to operation…..there is another factor that has been greatly ignored to date and that is the land value which in this part of the world has steadily risen to over 45k a hectare on the back of a $7 plus return…..with a projected approx 4-5 dollars for the foreseeable there will be a huge correction with all the associated consequences of the writedowns……1980s all over again
I agree the break-even figure is widely variable but it has been used by all the players as a stable benchmark for quite a while now.
Even reporting back in 2008 references the figure as a breaking point for many operations. Other reports from that period also carry strong warnings about numerous risks to new players who might not have the embedded security of more established farm operations. Since 2008 there have been even more new players enter the sector and all the new debt that goes with it. In 2008 there were warnings about the risks to the sector of a $6 a kilo payout, so just how bad is it really getting for those operations who thought they were onto a winner but are staring down a figure that might begin with a 3?
Naturally the banks saw the potential and dished out the dosh to all and sundry who wandered in. It’s what banks do, they create debt markets. Look at student debt for proof of concept. So what happens next? Well maybe the fact we have a new bank in NZ that is focused on ‘helping’ the agriculture sector is enough proof that before long those debts farmers are struggling with today are going to turn into debts they can no longer handle tomorrow and the feeding frenzy will begin. It will not be pretty. As Blinglish drifts along, dreamily recalling the heydays of the 80’s, I cannot help but notice reality standing over him angrily waving a ‘class of 87’ placard.
According to DairyNZ, during the 2013-2014 year NZ Dairy Farmers worked 1.7 million hectares.
They report NZ surpassed 20 billion litres of milk production.
This produced 1.83 billion kilograms of milk solids
That makes roughly 11765 litres a hectare (rounded up)
or 1077 kilograms of solids per hectare (rounded up)
It is not just the farmers taking on more debt. No matter how accountants and investors spin it, issuing bonds is ‘taking a loan’. Loans are debts. Debts have to be paid and Fonterra have around a half billion of bonds’ debt to pay off by 2021. When its due they’ll just issue more bonds and shuffle things round, but it’s just borrowing from Peter to pay Paula.
Remember: According to the Government, dairy is not in crisis!
I ‘guesstimate’ tomorrow’s announcement is likely to be in the region of $3.85 a kilo.
The May 2015 auction delivered an index rate of 714 with Fonterra forecasting a payout including dividends of $4.40.
So when August 2015’s auction produces an index of only 515 does anyone really expect a payout rate above $4?
Even at $4 that is 33% below the oft referenced break even point of $6, yet the payout rate is likely to be even lower!
Fonterra have little leeway to soften the impact of diminishing returns from the recent auctions. Even if they decide to drink deep to artificially sustain the industry and managed a payout of $4 – $4.20 the sector is still facing a [roughly] 50% collapse in dairy payouts in only the last twelve months.
And the Government says our dairy industry is not in crisis?
This is actually the deep and meaningful insight into key. He keeps it simple and continually answers the question HE wants, no matter what the actual question asked.
How to combat that approach?
Ridicule – keep asking the same question and make fun of the nonsensical answers
Distain – “reeealllly Prime Minister, thaaat is your answer?”
Of course the journos could do it but they won’t so maybe the opposition could give it a try???
Hi MM – I agree with you entirely, I have just read the editorial in the Herald and Jesus wept I now know why I cancelled my Herald on the Monday after the last election. Bloody unbelievable that they are allowed to print such drivel – if the paper’s can be “managed” and told what to print then I can see eventually a police state on the horizon a comin’ complete with tasers and their new weaponry which they have ordered to keep the great unwashed under control. Also I have found in the past 4-5 months that Q & A and The Nation are just as crappy as well. I tape them and watch them on the Sunday and find I am frequently fast forwarding entire segments as they are just cringe worthy rubbish. It wonderful about John Campbell getting a prime slot on RNZ – but I fear they may “get to him” on that station as well but I wish him all the luck in the world.
Until the lazy disengaged segment of NZ start looking for news and information off grid of the MSM we will continue to have this corrupt lot in power. I realise only too well that most of the work force are underpaid, overworked, travel home late at night zonked out tired with kids to care for which is how the Govt likes it to be for obvious reasons and I am sure they just plonk themselves down in front of the TV and watch that lunatic Hoskings – but I still cannot understand for the life of me how they can just sit there tired as they are and just soak it in every night. The Speaker of the House should be sacked and Labour needs Andrew Little to get a heap more of the”cut the crap” back and counter Key much more assertively – even reptiles can be squashed if the will is there. I never really thought we would have corrupt elections but I think for this next election it should be a manual paper vote and keep the electonic jiggery out of it – the whole system of government right now just stinks.
Martyn over on The Daily Blog had a great saying on one of his editorals this week – “We are a junvenile country with the maturity of a can of coke” – it sums up this country so well – my parents are turning in their graves as I write this at the state of our lack of democracy and the lack of interest a whole segment of the citizenry have in it.
A more balanced view on the Saudi fiasco from Vernon Small over at Stuff.
I think John Armstrong (and probably his editor) need to seriously consider his well-being. Really, some of his contributions are going beyond being rational.
Been interesting and enlightening to see the hate on Susan Devoy here recently. I opposed her appointment and worried about the benefits of her appointment and she was still appointed. Devoy has made some calls and I say good on her for that – I happen to agree with a few of them and disagree with others.
The recent smattering of anti devoy shit is because she made a call on labour’s twyford Little racist dog whistle – funny that those deriding her now because she called out their stuff would have been there in the day cheering her on and saying, “I’m so proud (sniff sniff) to be a Kiwi now that we are the squash champion of the world”.
Devoy is a work in progress – kia kaha for that. The whingers are pathetic in their dim perceptions, selective memories and general overall awfulness – get over yourselves ffs.
Would you be chairleeding for her if she had said that she saw nothing racist in labour use Chinese names to point out the overseas investment problem.?
I’d put that one into one of the ones I disagreed with – hardly mind bending stuff – I’m sure I wouldn’t call her names and abuse her for giving it a go – I love watching the hypocrisy of bullies – such cowards.
The recent smattering of anti devoy shit is because she made a call on labour’s twyford Little racist dog whistle
And that call was as wrong as the one you made. It wasn’t racist, it was simply the facts that we need to make informed decisions.
funny that those deriding her now because she called out their stuff would have been there in the day cheering her on and saying, “I’m so proud (sniff sniff) to be a Kiwi now that we are the squash champion of the world”.
Actually, I never knew who she was and really couldn’t give a shit. I am concerned that she doesn’t appear to be up to doing her job. She could grow into it and she has made some good calls but this ain’t one of them. In fact, this seems to be a political call rather than a truth call.
I’m still waiting for the next round of polls to possibly confirm that Labour flamed out over their Chinese gambit and it did zero for them electorally.
If we don’t discuss the underlying issues behind Auckland’s spiralling house prices, it’s only going to get worse.
Overseas speculators are part of the problem.
We should be able to talk about this.
If we’re going to have a conversation about it then lets have a conversation about steps which are actually going to reduce Auckland house prices to affordable levels.
Not just banning overseas investors from buying, but also banning overseas investors from owning. Making houses impossible to profit on in terms of speculative capital gains. Heavily limiting bank lending on everything except a primary home. Driving population growth out of Auckland.
But no one has the guts to do anything except point fingers at the Chinese and that won’t achieve fuck all result in bringing Auckland house prices back under $500K.
I agree with all of your suggestions.
I would add the reinstatement of a massive state housing programme and the nationalisation of Fletcher Building, which forts millions out of I it’s monopoly position.
I’m with you on that too; we need a very far ranging conversation on how our economy and the government treats housing going forward. My cynicism from Labour having picked one populist angle but after weeks I still don’t see them fronting on the more difficult elements of a comprehensive programme.
Can you imagine them going to the middle class electorate and saying – these great house prices you’ve been relying on to fund your retirement portfolio – that’s over now, we’re going to put a stop to it.
The Labour Party shouldn’t be scared to upset those people. They are the very people who have been voting National for the reason their house prices have gone up so they feel richer thanks to Key.
But for the vast majority, they would love to hear a party attacking the buy to rent brigade.
@Paul
How do you see Fletcher getting so much out of the system. Could you spell it out? I have heard that much of our timber is exported and NZs have to pay export prices for it. That Fletchers argue this is because they have to hold a certain amount back for NZs, and to sell it at NZ prices reduces their potential profit!
If we’re going to have a conversation about it then lets have a conversation about steps which are actually going to reduce Auckland house prices to affordable levels.
But when Labour started such a conversation you all cried racist immediately stopping the conversation.
… she has made some good calls but this ain’t one of them. In fact, this seems to be a political call rather than a truth call.
100% right. Remember who appointed her? Judith Collins. Devoy was put there to follow an agreed path laid down by her benefactor. Then the unthinkable happened. Collins lost her ministerial post. But be certain Devoy is still getting “guidance” from said benefactor. I want to lay a complaint about Ms Devoy because she is clearly lacking in comprehension and objectivity – as has been evident on more than one occasion – and I suspect she is not acting independently of the Nat government.
Anyone care to advise me the name of the appropriate person is address the complaint to?
This is why the power companies have to be re nationlised like NOW. It is a too important bit of infrastructure to be in the hands of the fucking spivs. Should have not been sold off in the first place.
Take them back no compensation get rid of the likes of Shipley of failed Mainzeal fame, now chair of Genesis Energy, and tell the rest to fuck off.
Genesis had the fucking cheek to put the standing charges up by 79% last year, and again by 10% this year As Arther Dailey (Minder) would say ” a nice little earner” and we are the fucking mugs who have no choice but to pay these arseholes.
“If the smelter had cut its expected load, the power industry would have faced a big glut of power, and wholesale prices would have slumped.
However others said that if that had happened, the industry would have shut down more power stations to reduce the supply.”
I’m a paramedic. My job requires a broad set of skills: interpersonal, medical, and technical skills, as well as the crucial skill of performing under pressure. I often make decisions on my own, in seconds, under chaotic circumstances, that impact people’s health and lives. I make $15/hr.
And these burger flippers think they deserve as much as me?
So far, so predictable… I thought – then Jen Rushings continues:
Good for them.
Look, if any job is going to take up someone’s life, it deserves a living wage. If a job exists and you have to hire someone to do it, they deserve a living wage. End of story. There’s a lot of talk going around my workplace along the lines of, “These guys with no education and no skills think they deserve as much as us? Fuck those guys.” And elsewhere on FB: “I’m a licensed electrician, I make $13/hr, fuck these burger flippers.”
And that’s exactly what the bosses want! They want us fighting over who has the bigger pile of crumbs so we don’t realize they made off with almost the whole damn cake. Why are you angry about fast food workers making two bucks more an hour when your CEO makes four hundred TIMES what you do? It’s in the bosses’ interests to keep your anger directed downward, at the poor people who are just trying to get by, like you, rather than at the rich assholes who consume almost everything we produce and give next to nothing for it.
Worth reading the whole item. But also good to hear the conversation going in a direction other than that we are now frustratingly used to.
Unfortunately no. But it looks like it might be curtailed a bit,
.Campbell’s arrival dovetails with Jim Mora’s wish to focus on presenting The Panel while his Checkpoint co-host, Mary Wilson, has been promoted to a senior news management role.
Mora said he was looking forward to working with Campbell, Afternoons host Jesse Mulligan and being able to focus on The Panel.
“I’ve been talking about it with Paul Thompson for a while, even before John came into the mix. We have new kinds of interactive ideas, listener-driven, that we want to develop. This gives me the time to do that. The Panel has built up the largest talk audience in New Zealand between 4 and 5 in the afternoon and we’re proud of that.”
+100 “Guyon and Suzie” …yes boring, boring …and more ‘nact patsies’ ( have already got into trouble once today for using that term on Susan Devoy..ha ha…over her accusing Labour of being racist …and Winston…who said i think “Two wongs don’t make a right”…Susan said this was racist too…lol…)
I seriously cannot understand why the collective Opposition hasn’t geared up for a sustained attack about the Government’s inaction about the dairy industry and Fonterra in particular.
Our largest company and exporter by a country mile is in a perilous state, taking 80% of New Zealand’s dairy producers with it.
The Shareholders meeting tomorrow will determine a fresh Board majority, Chair, and a fresh strategic direction for the company and for all of those farmers.
The payout is going to be well below $4.00, and will remain so for the next few years as far as all analysts are saying.
Labour may well wish to remain religiously sector-neutral in its industry development stance, but they seriously need to wake the hell up in a hurry.
The rural sector, and most of the provincial towns and cities, are going to be devastated for years to come over this payout. It will quickly come down to selling stock, culling, selling farm machinery, restructuring loans, then foreclosures and inevitable suicides.
Labour, Greens, NZFirst: work together on this one.
There is so much the government could have done over the last few years to partner with Fonterra and to act in the common interests of New Zealand. Other than the glorious failure of TPPA.
Fonterra’ future and of NZ dairy is the most important economic issue facing New Zealand for the next decade, and if Fonterra slips further, we are permanently weakened as a country.
Fonterra’ future and of NZ dairy is the most important economic issue facing New Zealand for the next decade, and if Fonterra slips further, we are permanently weakened as a country.
What a load of bollocks. Best thing we can do is drop a huge amount of agriculture and start actually developing out economy. Keeping agriculture as such a dominant part of our economy is what’s weakening it and our society.
Your love of Soviet-style Great Leaps Forward is well known.
But let me give you a taste. Just a taste.
On the West Coast, about 400 people are about to lose their jobs in the coal industry from Solid Energy’s collapse. That’s on top of the other mine closures there in the last two years.
On top of that is the 170 Kiwirail jobs that will go because there’s no business using the trains.
On top of that is all the contractors that help those mines operate.
And this impacting three small towns with less than 4,000 people in them each, towns on the West Coast, all of which were going backwards already.
People may well believe coal to be a sunset industry. Fine.
But with no plan to assist nearly 1,000 families keeping the wolf from the door, all you have is massive societal damage.
Call it a Structural Adjustment, a Great Leap Forward, whatever, the result is the same. Damaged people. Damaged families. Dole queues. Generations afterward also damaged. Stuff Labour governments stand up to help.
Now, it would be great to wave a wand a say, oh, bulk milk is a sunset industry. Fine.
Replay the West Coast scenario over every part of rural New Zealand. No plan. Plenty of suicides. Marriage breakups. Foreclosures. Walk-offs. Towns in accelerated decline.
Adjusting the economy is not an armchair exercise. In fact, we used to have unions to stop such Great Leap Backward nonsense.
Put your armchair wand-waving away for once, and face the reality and damage actual families are going through. Any good government would. Any good human would.
The insanity of there not being a sustainable logging industry on the west coast just leaves me shaking my head.
If 1 log was removed per hectare every twenty years and taken to a finished product on the coast it would invigorate the economy there.
Where the hell did all that come from? I said we shouldn’t be putting all our faith in agriculture and that we should be developing our economy which, as a matter of fact, would actually do all that you want. I just don’t believe in the efficacy capitalism to achieve that.
+100 Ad…have to agree that the Opposition need to get cracking and take a lead and show up jonkey nactional ..ie “Labour, Greens, NZFirst: work together on this one”
…for a start forge markets with Russia for dairy products like cheeses and butters …NZ dairy which is grass fed is of the highest quality …and the Russian market has been open to us
I for one do not want to see dairy farmers go to the wall …and their land bought by foreigners…they need urgent financial assistance to weather this crisis, diversify and find new markets
…as well they need help to protect the environment..as well as the waterways ….not have their land sold up and carved up for excessive population growth
Why is it Key thinks that serving the nation is serving himself , we should call his bluff he doesnt know this country hasnt worked it since 1987 and then only to facilitate a financial crash and support Roger the Rip off and his financial fuckin of this nation
He came here to cover up the biggeest financial con in history the 2008 9/11 Crash of the worlds finances and bring Austerity /slavery and the too big to fail bail out and validate the Crimes against our Democracy committed by his associates
Sad to see Mary Wilson go – she is always sharp and incisive. John Campbell talks far too much for us to expect a decent interview. His questions longer than the answers!
maybe Mary Wilson wants/needs a change…yes she is great!…but maybe she is going on to better things at senior management level?….John Campbell is also superb on radio
I agree, Lynda.
John is great for some kinds of interviews, but when it comes to cutting through the bullshit and PR-speak there is nobody as good as Mary Wilson. I shall miss her.
Glad Jim Mora will no longer be on the 5-7pm slot, however. The Panel is easily avoided, but checkpoint is an important news source for me than was devalued by Mora;s presence.
Looks like the Syriza’s government has made things a lot worse in the country with their stubbon refusal to accept the need for reform till the very last minute.
The developer John Lenihan has made a submission to Auckland Council to remove the last piece of protection that stands between the trees and the chainsaws!
John Lenihan will be presenting to the Unitary Plan Independent hearings panel to remove the Significant Ecological Area (SEA) overlay from the area where the Paturoa Kauri remains.
If he succeeds it sets a dangerous precedent for the entire nation and removes all tree protections that currently exist at #SaveOurKauri 40 & 42 Paturoa Rd Titirangi
We will be attending,
Level 16 / Tower 1 / 205 Queen st,
this coming Monday the 10th August at 3:30pm.
What do the developers have to say for themselves?
Will they keep the promise they made to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand and save these trees from the chainsaw?
Come along if you can make it. The developers cannot be allowed to sneak this through.
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In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
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Good graphic. Hiroshima day today, time to remember mankind’s potential for utter brutality.
And the regime that committed this ultimate crime is lecturing others about human rights seventy years later.
Hmmm. 20/20 vision, and all that. The Pacific War was no cakewalk. The Japanese were no pushover, or the surrendering kind. Both sides displayed admirable virtues taken to a destructive extreme – and faced impossible choices. What happend, happened, and can’t be undone. Better to focus on the lessons these days, not the justifications.
None of that addresses the US using a weapon of mass destruction on a civilian population. Even now their justification that it ended the war and saved lives is baseless.
The Japanese didn’t surrender because of the bombs. There were statements made that they didn’t see the difference between losing a whole city to one bomb or to a night of fire bombing as happened in Tokyo earlier in the war.
Their surrender was a result of Russia positioning to directly invade Japan. Seeing what was happening to surrendering soldiers on the eastern front after VE day Japan’s leaders realised they faced a far better chance if they surrendered to the US before the Russian’s landed.
or the surrendering kind
Nice mythmaking. There was no strategic value in nuking Japan except to prevent them surrendering to the Russians first.
The extreme reluctance of Japanese soldiers to surrender is no myth. There are numerous examples to back it up. Not saying your wrong about the US wanting Japan to surrender to them rather than Russia. No doubt the US wanted that.
One interesting thought I came across while studying it was that the nukes were dropped simply because nobody really considered not dropping them.
The resources put into the Manhatten project and the B29, the prospect of invasion against resistance, it promised to be a quick option, the research data that would be generated, Stalin repositioning… basically, no historian has ever found a memo or diary note asking “should we obliterate a city with a single bomb: pros, cons…”. The question doesn’t seem to have occurred to anyone.
You mean apart from the Szilard Petition
http://www.dannen.com/decision/pet-gif.html
http://www.dannen.com/decision/45-07-17.html with all 69 co-signatories
Yeah, if they’d had some generals and cabinet officials on it, rather than it being put in the round filing cabinet and then most of them getting kicked out of weapons work, you might have a point.
The question was never raised in decision-making circles. That petition didn’t even make it one step on from the recipient to the president.
the bomb was dropped, at least partly, for Stalin’s benefit.
That was one reason the state department was for it.
Ensuring a speedy and unconditional surrender from Japan was another.
The military were concerned about casualties from an invasion, and looked forward to having their new toy demonstrated.
They also needed to demonstrate the fruits of the massive programmes that were needed to develop the bomb and the delivery system (B29).
the navy was happy to have a siege, as it had obliterated most maritime transport by that stage, but the air force was going for gold.
Specific cities had been deliberately untouched by conventional bombing so they could act as testbeds – a possible contingency option that became a fate accompli.
Industry could see justification for continued development, and by that stage the nuclear programme was employing hundreds of thousands across several states.
That’s just off the top of my head – there were lots of reasons nobody would question the assumption that the bombs would be dropped on cities.
I have spoken to a few different Japanese citizens over the years who state that many Japanese blame the Emperor for NOT surrendering earlier. As a result some still refuse to sing the parts of their national anthem which refers to the emperor.
While:
1. Helping Israel to commit human rights atrocities
2. Invading other countries thus committing their own human rights atrocities
3. Still believe in the childish might is right BS that most of us grow out of before we’re five
I really wouldn’t be bothered by the bombing of Hiroshima today if anybody had learned the lessons from it but it’s obvious that the US and many others simply haven’t.
There are many books on the topic (a gross understatement I know) but three I would recommend, to offer a diverse view of the events and the aftermath of Hiroshima, are the following publications.
Day of the Bomb by Dan Kurzman
Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes
Faces of Hiroshima by Anne Chilsolm
No matter how many words get written, films get made or discussions that occur, the truth of the matter is thus:
“Memory and imagination, not nuclear weapons, are the greatest deterrents.”
-Martha Gellhorn
Hypocrisy watch: Mike Hosking is now opposed to privacy.
His lamentable television show gets worse every night
Seven Sharp, Television One, Wednesday 5 August 2015
First topic tonight: the controversy following the shooting of Cecil the lion….
MIKE HOSKING: By the outpouring of rage and hate, you’d think the end of the world had happened.
TONI STREET: To most of us it looks repulsive and utterly wrong, but on the other side of the world, does a Twitter storm mean anything?
….. Cue sententious sound track, with shots of protestors’ placards, “ROT IN HELL”, “EVIL MONSTER”, an earnest Californian voice saying: “We should really SHAME these people.”….
MIKE HOSKING: ….And now this American accountant Sabrina Corgatelli rubbing salt in the wounds with provocative posts, ….bragging about shooting a giraffe. …. So I spoke to Daryl Crimp, he’s the editor of the Fishing Paper and Hunting News. Daryl, is there an underbelly of people opposed to hunting in this country?
DARYL CRIMP: Of course we have social media today, which makes it very easy for keyboard warriors to hide behind a screen and bash off things without actually thinking about what they’re saying.
HOSKING: So what are the rules around hunting? When you shot Cecil, is it uncool or not? What’s good, what’s not?
DARYL CRIMP: Well, he shouldn’t be called Cecil in the first place. No name is a good name for a lion. Hunting plays an important role in animal welfare. …. It’s a question of perception. I don’t judge other people. ….
HOSKING: Is there an irrational emotional attachment, do you think? I mean, it’s like, everyone likes pandas, everyone loves lions, no one seems to get upset about shooting a pig.
DARYL CRIMP: Also nobody seems to get incensed about the wanton killing and genocide of huge numbers of PEOPLE in Zimbabwe, where Cecil, um, lives. [As he says that, Hosking smiles ruefully.] It’s what we call bambi-ism, I mean the scientific name for it is anthropomorphism, and it’s simply putting human attributes and emotions on to an animal. It makes it easier for you to become detached from reality.
…..
HOSKING: See, you agree with that, don’t you! We all agreed with him.
TONI STREET: [giggling plaintively] I was BULLIED into agreeing with you!
HOSKING: You are Russia at the Security Council. You have the veto, the permanent veto.
So, even when he is trying to be clever, Hosking shows how ignorant he is. If he had any knowledge of politics or history, he would have said, “You are America at the Security Council.” But this is Mike Hosking, and as is painfully apparent almost every time he speaks, or writes his Year 9-standard opinion pieces in the Herald, he knows little or nothing about anything.
…………..
At the end of each episode of this ghastly program, there is a brief sub-sophomoric homily, one from each host. Toni Street went first tonight, delivering a stern little lecture about the way that students spend all their student loan money on partying—at least, she giggled, that’s how she and her friends treated their “free money” when they were at university ten years ago. Her solution? Well, it comes straight from the ACT Party’s moronic policy platform: a voucher system for books.
If that was bad, worse was to follow. Hosking’s homily consisted of a spittle-flecked rant against “the madness that is the privacy law in this country.” He sneered at the “earnest do-gooders” who believe in the ridiculous and thoroughly outdated idea of privacy. “Justice minister Amy Adams talked today about the privacy law and its omnipresent ability to hamper our efforts against domestic violence. She is RIGHT!”
Of course, Mike Hosking’s newfound enthusiasm for trashing privacy laws almost certainly stems not from any principle, but from nothing more than his partisan support for the National Government. Not long ago, he was singing a very different tune……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11481552
Watching 7 Sharp is beyond the call of duty.
Or if you like to watch narcissistic numpties out jerk each other
Hosking has competition and that’s why he’s trying so hard.
He is trying to out-Jeremy Jeremy Wells. Hosking hasn’t worked it out yet and he’s just trying too hard.😊
Cecil the Lion was covered by Joe Bennett yesterday in the Dominion. Can’t find it online. I suspect that Hosking plagerised Joe’s column. Same idea plus the rather miserable death awaiting aged lions and the money that Zimbabwe makes from hunting. I am rather surprised at the huge raging against the hunter and for the first time ever sort of agree with Hoskings and Bennett even if Hosking did steal his lines from another.
Stop watching it you are giving every indication that you are masochistic
many parallels here in New Zealand given the way our brown brothers are overrepresented in our prison population and when it comes to employment,
http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/race-baiting-101/
United we stand divided….. we get more and more of the same as we have right now.
That’s an interesting video, CC. Continuing the trend of his sentiment,
From an interview with Chris Rock, November 30, 2014.
http://www.vulture.com/2014/11/chris-rock-frank-rich-in-conversation.html
“…So, to say Obama is progress is saying that he’s the first black person that is qualified to be president. That’s not black progress. That’s white progress. There’s been black people qualified to be president for hundreds of years. If you saw Tina Turner and Ike having a lovely breakfast over there, would you say their relationship’s improved? Some people would. But a smart person would go, “Oh, he stopped punching her in the face.” It’s not up to her. Ike and Tina Turner’s relationship has nothing to do with Tina Turner. Nothing. It just doesn’t. The question is, you know, my kids are smart, educated, beautiful, polite children. There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let’s hope America keeps producing nicer white people….”
The whole interview is quite long, but it covers not just Civil Rights, but his wider political beliefs, being a parent, and style of comedy.
https://agrihq.co.nz/article/latest-price-threatens-break-even?p=35
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/64313213/debt-a-big-hurdle-to-breaking-even
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/251084/lower-payout-could-cost-farmers-$1-point-8b
Those three articles are just ‘first off the rank’ pickings from last year in a simple search using “$6 a kilo break even”. The tone is unequivocal. As Dairy fell below $6 a kilo there was concern about the financial position confronting many dairy farmers and the flow-on affects upon the economy.
A year on and RNZ has today reported that nine out of ten farmers are now collecting new debt to cover their losses.
New borrowing means more costs to the farmers. Farmers who are openly admitting that paying off any principal debt is a fantasy. Take into account the ongoing increases in costs of living, that farmers are not magically immune to, and that $6 a kilo break even point from last year has probably risen a bit. This not only increases the hardship these families are facing and all the stresses that go with that, but contain potential to do very real harm to the economic proceeds delivered to the country by the dairy sector.
Bill English will remind us how dairy is only one part of a bigger picture but he will still be demanding these farmers pay their taxes. Taxes are important. They pay for a lot of things. One of the things they pay for are Rural Assistance Payments that WINZ has had a growing number of applications for. I am not suggesting that farmers should not get help to feed their families and pay the rent. I mention it to point out if more and more farmers are already operating below the acknowledged break even point of $6 a kilo, borrowing even more money to only pay debt interest and needing to go to the Government for living assistance, they are probably borrowing money to pay the taxes on those farms.
If, as reported last year, prices of $6 a kilo were going to take an estimated 1.8 billion out of the economy, how many billions are going to be lost when the price hits a figure below $4? How much of our tax take in the coming years is not going to be paid by a farm’s earnings but from interest bearing debt?
$6 a kilo was the bank figure that farmers were expected to do their budgets on…the break even point will vary greatly from operation to operation…..there is another factor that has been greatly ignored to date and that is the land value which in this part of the world has steadily risen to over 45k a hectare on the back of a $7 plus return…..with a projected approx 4-5 dollars for the foreseeable there will be a huge correction with all the associated consequences of the writedowns……1980s all over again
I agree the break-even figure is widely variable but it has been used by all the players as a stable benchmark for quite a while now.
Even reporting back in 2008 references the figure as a breaking point for many operations. Other reports from that period also carry strong warnings about numerous risks to new players who might not have the embedded security of more established farm operations. Since 2008 there have been even more new players enter the sector and all the new debt that goes with it. In 2008 there were warnings about the risks to the sector of a $6 a kilo payout, so just how bad is it really getting for those operations who thought they were onto a winner but are staring down a figure that might begin with a 3?
Naturally the banks saw the potential and dished out the dosh to all and sundry who wandered in. It’s what banks do, they create debt markets. Look at student debt for proof of concept. So what happens next? Well maybe the fact we have a new bank in NZ that is focused on ‘helping’ the agriculture sector is enough proof that before long those debts farmers are struggling with today are going to turn into debts they can no longer handle tomorrow and the feeding frenzy will begin. It will not be pretty. As Blinglish drifts along, dreamily recalling the heydays of the 80’s, I cannot help but notice reality standing over him angrily waving a ‘class of 87’ placard.
Good points Pat. If they borrow the $45k they’d likely be paying around 6% interest which would cost $2700 per hectare.
What’s the typical annual milk yield per hectare… anyone know?
According to DairyNZ, during the 2013-2014 year NZ Dairy Farmers worked 1.7 million hectares.
They report NZ surpassed 20 billion litres of milk production.
This produced 1.83 billion kilograms of milk solids
That makes roughly 11765 litres a hectare (rounded up)
or 1077 kilograms of solids per hectare (rounded up)
http://www.dairynz.co.nz/news/latest-news/2013-14-dairy-season-one-of-the-best/
http://www.godairy.co.nz/the-big-picture/facts-and-figures (dairynz)
that’s half their pay out gone servicing a loan!
It is not just the farmers taking on more debt. No matter how accountants and investors spin it, issuing bonds is ‘taking a loan’. Loans are debts. Debts have to be paid and Fonterra have around a half billion of bonds’ debt to pay off by 2021. When its due they’ll just issue more bonds and shuffle things round, but it’s just borrowing from Peter to pay Paula.
Remember: According to the Government, dairy is not in crisis!
I ‘guesstimate’ tomorrow’s announcement is likely to be in the region of $3.85 a kilo.
The May 2015 auction delivered an index rate of 714 with Fonterra forecasting a payout including dividends of $4.40.
So when August 2015’s auction produces an index of only 515 does anyone really expect a payout rate above $4?
Even at $4 that is 33% below the oft referenced break even point of $6, yet the payout rate is likely to be even lower!
Fonterra have little leeway to soften the impact of diminishing returns from the recent auctions. Even if they decide to drink deep to artificially sustain the industry and managed a payout of $4 – $4.20 the sector is still facing a [roughly] 50% collapse in dairy payouts in only the last twelve months.
And the Government says our dairy industry is not in crisis?
http://www.globaldairytrade.info/en/product-results/
http://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/Financial/Farmgate+Milk+Price
Armstrong gives those opposed to shitkey the lowdown
“John Key had a simple line and he stuck to it whatever question was asked.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11492611
This is actually the deep and meaningful insight into key. He keeps it simple and continually answers the question HE wants, no matter what the actual question asked.
How to combat that approach?
Ridicule – keep asking the same question and make fun of the nonsensical answers
Distain – “reeealllly Prime Minister, thaaat is your answer?”
Of course the journos could do it but they won’t so maybe the opposition could give it a try???
Hi MM – I agree with you entirely, I have just read the editorial in the Herald and Jesus wept I now know why I cancelled my Herald on the Monday after the last election. Bloody unbelievable that they are allowed to print such drivel – if the paper’s can be “managed” and told what to print then I can see eventually a police state on the horizon a comin’ complete with tasers and their new weaponry which they have ordered to keep the great unwashed under control. Also I have found in the past 4-5 months that Q & A and The Nation are just as crappy as well. I tape them and watch them on the Sunday and find I am frequently fast forwarding entire segments as they are just cringe worthy rubbish. It wonderful about John Campbell getting a prime slot on RNZ – but I fear they may “get to him” on that station as well but I wish him all the luck in the world.
Until the lazy disengaged segment of NZ start looking for news and information off grid of the MSM we will continue to have this corrupt lot in power. I realise only too well that most of the work force are underpaid, overworked, travel home late at night zonked out tired with kids to care for which is how the Govt likes it to be for obvious reasons and I am sure they just plonk themselves down in front of the TV and watch that lunatic Hoskings – but I still cannot understand for the life of me how they can just sit there tired as they are and just soak it in every night. The Speaker of the House should be sacked and Labour needs Andrew Little to get a heap more of the”cut the crap” back and counter Key much more assertively – even reptiles can be squashed if the will is there. I never really thought we would have corrupt elections but I think for this next election it should be a manual paper vote and keep the electonic jiggery out of it – the whole system of government right now just stinks.
Martyn over on The Daily Blog had a great saying on one of his editorals this week – “We are a junvenile country with the maturity of a can of coke” – it sums up this country so well – my parents are turning in their graves as I write this at the state of our lack of democracy and the lack of interest a whole segment of the citizenry have in it.
oops there – a spelling error in the last paragraph – it should read juvenile.
A more balanced view on the Saudi fiasco from Vernon Small over at Stuff.
I think John Armstrong (and probably his editor) need to seriously consider his well-being. Really, some of his contributions are going beyond being rational.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/70841852/saudi-farm-deal-a-creative-solution-too-far-for-new-zealands-good-name
it’s also a deep and meaningful insight into journalists allowing him to dictate.
Been interesting and enlightening to see the hate on Susan Devoy here recently. I opposed her appointment and worried about the benefits of her appointment and she was still appointed. Devoy has made some calls and I say good on her for that – I happen to agree with a few of them and disagree with others.
The recent smattering of anti devoy shit is because she made a call on labour’s twyford Little racist dog whistle – funny that those deriding her now because she called out their stuff would have been there in the day cheering her on and saying, “I’m so proud (sniff sniff) to be a Kiwi now that we are the squash champion of the world”.
Devoy is a work in progress – kia kaha for that. The whingers are pathetic in their dim perceptions, selective memories and general overall awfulness – get over yourselves ffs.
political tribalism blinds
Would you be chairleeding for her if she had said that she saw nothing racist in labour use Chinese names to point out the overseas investment problem.?
+1
I’d put that one into one of the ones I disagreed with – hardly mind bending stuff – I’m sure I wouldn’t call her names and abuse her for giving it a go – I love watching the hypocrisy of bullies – such cowards.
Yet you appear more than willing to name call at will.
Even in this thread you have used terms like ‘whinger’, ‘bully’, ‘coward’, ‘pathetic’.
Pot.
Kettle.
Black?
Yep no mercy for netbullies – sorry if that offendith thee
Fair enough .
With it taking her so long to comment it makes me wonder that at best she’s waited to see which the wind was blowing first.
And that call was as wrong as the one you made. It wasn’t racist, it was simply the facts that we need to make informed decisions.
Actually, I never knew who she was and really couldn’t give a shit. I am concerned that she doesn’t appear to be up to doing her job. She could grow into it and she has made some good calls but this ain’t one of them. In fact, this seems to be a political call rather than a truth call.
“And that call was as wrong as the one you made”
yawn sigh yawn
I’m still waiting for the next round of polls to possibly confirm that Labour flamed out over their Chinese gambit and it did zero for them electorally.
If we don’t discuss the underlying issues behind Auckland’s spiralling house prices, it’s only going to get worse.
Overseas speculators are part of the problem.
We should be able to talk about this.
+100 Paul
It almost seems as if CV does not want this conversation to happen.
If we’re going to have a conversation about it then lets have a conversation about steps which are actually going to reduce Auckland house prices to affordable levels.
Not just banning overseas investors from buying, but also banning overseas investors from owning. Making houses impossible to profit on in terms of speculative capital gains. Heavily limiting bank lending on everything except a primary home. Driving population growth out of Auckland.
But no one has the guts to do anything except point fingers at the Chinese and that won’t achieve fuck all result in bringing Auckland house prices back under $500K.
I agree with all of your suggestions.
I would add the reinstatement of a massive state housing programme and the nationalisation of Fletcher Building, which forts millions out of I it’s monopoly position.
I’m with you on that too; we need a very far ranging conversation on how our economy and the government treats housing going forward. My cynicism from Labour having picked one populist angle but after weeks I still don’t see them fronting on the more difficult elements of a comprehensive programme.
Can you imagine them going to the middle class electorate and saying – these great house prices you’ve been relying on to fund your retirement portfolio – that’s over now, we’re going to put a stop to it.
It almost seems as if CV does want this conversation to happen.
The Labour Party shouldn’t be scared to upset those people. They are the very people who have been voting National for the reason their house prices have gone up so they feel richer thanks to Key.
But for the vast majority, they would love to hear a party attacking the buy to rent brigade.
@Paul
How do you see Fletcher getting so much out of the system. Could you spell it out? I have heard that much of our timber is exported and NZs have to pay export prices for it. That Fletchers argue this is because they have to hold a certain amount back for NZs, and to sell it at NZ prices reduces their potential profit!
Making too much sense as usual CV.
@ tinfoilhat
Stirrer.
But when Labour started such a conversation you all cried racist immediately stopping the conversation.
+100 DTB
100% right. Remember who appointed her? Judith Collins. Devoy was put there to follow an agreed path laid down by her benefactor. Then the unthinkable happened. Collins lost her ministerial post. But be certain Devoy is still getting “guidance” from said benefactor. I want to lay a complaint about Ms Devoy because she is clearly lacking in comprehension and objectivity – as has been evident on more than one occasion – and I suspect she is not acting independently of the Nat government.
Anyone care to advise me the name of the appropriate person is address the complaint to?
+100 Anne
This is why the power companies have to be re nationlised like NOW. It is a too important bit of infrastructure to be in the hands of the fucking spivs. Should have not been sold off in the first place.
Take them back no compensation get rid of the likes of Shipley of failed Mainzeal fame, now chair of Genesis Energy, and tell the rest to fuck off.
Genesis had the fucking cheek to put the standing charges up by 79% last year, and again by 10% this year As Arther Dailey (Minder) would say ” a nice little earner” and we are the fucking mugs who have no choice but to pay these arseholes.
“If the smelter had cut its expected load, the power industry would have faced a big glut of power, and wholesale prices would have slumped.
However others said that if that had happened, the industry would have shut down more power stations to reduce the supply.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/70875427/genesis-to-close-last-two-coalfired-power-units-at-huntly
Apparently, fast-food workers got a $15/hr agreement recently in the US. A paramedic took to Facebook to share that they also got $15/hr.
So far, so predictable… I thought – then Jen Rushings continues:
Worth reading the whole item. But also good to hear the conversation going in a direction other than that we are now frustratingly used to.
Breaking News John Campbell has joined Radio NZ as the drive time host
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/280641/john-campbell-to-join-radio-nz
I approve. I thought he’d go to Radio NZ and this is a prime spot.
Does that mean the end of Mora’s panel?
Unfortunately no. But it looks like it might be curtailed a bit,
.Campbell’s arrival dovetails with Jim Mora’s wish to focus on presenting The Panel while his Checkpoint co-host, Mary Wilson, has been promoted to a senior news management role.
Mora said he was looking forward to working with Campbell, Afternoons host Jesse Mulligan and being able to focus on The Panel.
“I’ve been talking about it with Paul Thompson for a while, even before John came into the mix. We have new kinds of interactive ideas, listener-driven, that we want to develop. This gives me the time to do that. The Panel has built up the largest talk audience in New Zealand between 4 and 5 in the afternoon and we’re proud of that.”
Drive time is 5 to 6.30.
Mora’s drival will continue no doubt.
Yes, now up.
‘Checkpoint host Mary Wilson has also been promoted to a senior news management role, while her co-host Jim Mora will focus on presenting The Panel.
“I’ve been talking about it with Paul Thompson for a while, even before John came into the mix,” Mora told RNZ.’
Very convenient the only decent journalist on the RNZ staff gets promoted out of the way into ‘management’
Yes wish she could take the morning show instead of Guyon and Suzie.
+100 “Guyon and Suzie” …yes boring, boring …and more ‘nact patsies’ ( have already got into trouble once today for using that term on Susan Devoy..ha ha…over her accusing Labour of being racist …and Winston…who said i think “Two wongs don’t make a right”…Susan said this was racist too…lol…)
maybe I should have said “pasties”?..or jam tarts
I seriously cannot understand why the collective Opposition hasn’t geared up for a sustained attack about the Government’s inaction about the dairy industry and Fonterra in particular.
Our largest company and exporter by a country mile is in a perilous state, taking 80% of New Zealand’s dairy producers with it.
The Shareholders meeting tomorrow will determine a fresh Board majority, Chair, and a fresh strategic direction for the company and for all of those farmers.
The payout is going to be well below $4.00, and will remain so for the next few years as far as all analysts are saying.
Labour may well wish to remain religiously sector-neutral in its industry development stance, but they seriously need to wake the hell up in a hurry.
The rural sector, and most of the provincial towns and cities, are going to be devastated for years to come over this payout. It will quickly come down to selling stock, culling, selling farm machinery, restructuring loans, then foreclosures and inevitable suicides.
Labour, Greens, NZFirst: work together on this one.
There is so much the government could have done over the last few years to partner with Fonterra and to act in the common interests of New Zealand. Other than the glorious failure of TPPA.
Fonterra’ future and of NZ dairy is the most important economic issue facing New Zealand for the next decade, and if Fonterra slips further, we are permanently weakened as a country.
+100
+1 Ad
a cynic might say ‘almost like it was planned to, decades ago’
What a load of bollocks. Best thing we can do is drop a huge amount of agriculture and start actually developing out economy. Keeping agriculture as such a dominant part of our economy is what’s weakening it and our society.
Your love of Soviet-style Great Leaps Forward is well known.
But let me give you a taste. Just a taste.
On the West Coast, about 400 people are about to lose their jobs in the coal industry from Solid Energy’s collapse. That’s on top of the other mine closures there in the last two years.
On top of that is the 170 Kiwirail jobs that will go because there’s no business using the trains.
On top of that is all the contractors that help those mines operate.
And this impacting three small towns with less than 4,000 people in them each, towns on the West Coast, all of which were going backwards already.
People may well believe coal to be a sunset industry. Fine.
But with no plan to assist nearly 1,000 families keeping the wolf from the door, all you have is massive societal damage.
Call it a Structural Adjustment, a Great Leap Forward, whatever, the result is the same. Damaged people. Damaged families. Dole queues. Generations afterward also damaged. Stuff Labour governments stand up to help.
Now, it would be great to wave a wand a say, oh, bulk milk is a sunset industry. Fine.
Replay the West Coast scenario over every part of rural New Zealand. No plan. Plenty of suicides. Marriage breakups. Foreclosures. Walk-offs. Towns in accelerated decline.
Adjusting the economy is not an armchair exercise. In fact, we used to have unions to stop such Great Leap Backward nonsense.
Put your armchair wand-waving away for once, and face the reality and damage actual families are going through. Any good government would. Any good human would.
The insanity of there not being a sustainable logging industry on the west coast just leaves me shaking my head.
If 1 log was removed per hectare every twenty years and taken to a finished product on the coast it would invigorate the economy there.
Where the hell did all that come from? I said we shouldn’t be putting all our faith in agriculture and that we should be developing our economy which, as a matter of fact, would actually do all that you want. I just don’t believe in the efficacy capitalism to achieve that.
it came from that foreign place called reality.
No, really, it didn’t.
In that spiel you’re essentially saying that we need to continue as normal despite the fact that BAU has conclusively proven that it doesn’t work.
+100 Ad…have to agree that the Opposition need to get cracking and take a lead and show up jonkey nactional ..ie “Labour, Greens, NZFirst: work together on this one”
…for a start forge markets with Russia for dairy products like cheeses and butters …NZ dairy which is grass fed is of the highest quality …and the Russian market has been open to us
I for one do not want to see dairy farmers go to the wall …and their land bought by foreigners…they need urgent financial assistance to weather this crisis, diversify and find new markets
…as well they need help to protect the environment..as well as the waterways ….not have their land sold up and carved up for excessive population growth
Mora says he looks forward to working with John??? And Mary has been promoted to senior news management.
Is Mora still on the 5-7pm slot?
Why is it Key thinks that serving the nation is serving himself , we should call his bluff he doesnt know this country hasnt worked it since 1987 and then only to facilitate a financial crash and support Roger the Rip off and his financial fuckin of this nation
He came here to cover up the biggeest financial con in history the 2008 9/11 Crash of the worlds finances and bring Austerity /slavery and the too big to fail bail out and validate the Crimes against our Democracy committed by his associates
Sad to see Mary Wilson go – she is always sharp and incisive. John Campbell talks far too much for us to expect a decent interview. His questions longer than the answers!
maybe Mary Wilson wants/needs a change…yes she is great!…but maybe she is going on to better things at senior management level?….John Campbell is also superb on radio
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/201765428/john-campbell-talks-about-joining-radio-nz
I agree, Lynda.
John is great for some kinds of interviews, but when it comes to cutting through the bullshit and PR-speak there is nobody as good as Mary Wilson. I shall miss her.
Glad Jim Mora will no longer be on the 5-7pm slot, however. The Panel is easily avoided, but checkpoint is an important news source for me than was devalued by Mora;s presence.
Looks like the Syriza’s government has made things a lot worse in the country with their stubbon refusal to accept the need for reform till the very last minute.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/03/greek-shares-nosedive-as-manufacturing-data-reveals-economic-crisis
This was all avoidable if they had simply agreed to stick to previous agreements rather than seeking to renegotiate.
No, it wasn’t Syriza that made things worse – it was the Troika acting to protect the wealth of the rich at the expense of the poor.
Greece, Zimbabwe, Venezuela…
Care to discuss issues in New Zealand instead?
Oh here we go again, Hey pal why don’t do a bit of in depth reading to expand that neo fuckwit mind of yours. see Open Mike 4.8.15 #21
fat chance….Gosman isnt big on allowing facts to intrude upon his dogma
The developer John Lenihan has made a submission to Auckland Council to remove the last piece of protection that stands between the trees and the chainsaws!
John Lenihan will be presenting to the Unitary Plan Independent hearings panel to remove the Significant Ecological Area (SEA) overlay from the area where the Paturoa Kauri remains.
If he succeeds it sets a dangerous precedent for the entire nation and removes all tree protections that currently exist at #SaveOurKauri 40 & 42 Paturoa Rd Titirangi
We will be attending,
Level 16 / Tower 1 / 205 Queen st,
this coming Monday the 10th August at 3:30pm.
What do the developers have to say for themselves?
Will they keep the promise they made to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand and save these trees from the chainsaw?
Come along if you can make it. The developers cannot be allowed to sneak this through.