They say that the best test of a person’s leadership capabilities is to put them in a crisis and see how they respond and yesterday in Parliament provided a good opportunity to see Goff’s and Key’s responses to a crisis.
Goff was superb. His speech given immediately after the incident was one of the best I have seen. He showed passion, grit and determination and the ability to react and think on his feet even after being confronted by a potential tragedy.
Key’s response showed the real Key. He lashed out at Labour, accusing them of something they clearly were not responsible for, made a gesture some have been arrested for and then slunk in his seat when he realised what he had done.
Over the past two years Goff has been hammered by the forces of the right, by the media and a meme has been constructed that he is not leadership material. This attack has worked well, the population at large are indifferent to him and even amongst the ranks of the left he is treated with caution.
But I believe yesterday should be a reason for all of us to reflect on this. Goff is the real deal, compassionate, determined and capable. Key is anything but.
This country needs a left coalition to kick this rabble out. Whatever your political flavor be it Green, Mana or Labour get out there and campaign for votes and get people enrolled. Because this country needs Goff and not Key.
Treasury is defending its use of 200 consultants at a cost of more than $13 million while advising the Government to trim the ranks of the public service.
The five-page list of consultants is a who’s who of Wellington’s legal, accounting, academic, public relations and consulting elite – and also includes former public service chief executives and Treasury staffers contracting back to the organisation.
[…]
The Green Party, which obtained the figures, said Treasury had spent an average $6.6m a year on external consultants in the first two years of the National Government – more than double the average annual spend under the previous Labour Government.
Treasury Taking us to the cleaners.Thats probably what Key is going to do with the cleaners sack them then bring them back on contract so he can say they don’t need a pay rise.
Betcha the charge-out rates of those consultants are completely obscene too. Bloody all cosy in the Wellington zone. Are any of them charging as little as $100/hour? Betcha not. $200? $400? $800?
How much are these cok-suckers paid? Wankers. Being paid for out of the taxes paid by those on rates like $15 to $45 per hour… No wonder people are jumping into the public gallery at Parliament.
Wellington of course is the highest paid town in the country and it is completely undeserved. The only reason is because that is where the rules are made. Obscene.
If the consultants are salaried and a lot of them probably are, then they wouldn’t even be getting that money themselves.
Admittedly the companies they work for will probably have expensive overheads too, like swanky offices in the central city. But really the owners of the business will be the ones that are creaming it.
The ‘rebel’s who have overthrown Gaddafi in Libya would have to be the cleanest and tidiest soldiers I have ever seen. Every single time they have been in photos or on the tele they have had clean shirts and pants, nice caps, good boots, sometimes stuff has even been ironed. No dust or dirt anywhere, no ripped clothing, no broken things.
Yes, it happens but one example in how many? And, no matter how much you try, this can’t be linked to climate change as the evidence still supports the theory that we’re causing it.
wow draco, proving how stupid you are while trying to be smart. Trust an idiot such as yourself to miss the subtle intellectual point of my comment. between the voice of reason, felix and yourself , intelligence is a scarce resource
TR our govt has just spent $36 million on research to find out the results back 98% of all other science based research.Its not like Chicago school economics or corrupt Catholic based propaganda .No wonder your so gullible no doubt your heroes are Palin and McCarthy 50s version of palin Roger Kerr our version .You would be better of in Galileo time Newton ex cetera where science was denied and the majority of people believed in fairy stories like the ones you believe in.Yeah apples don’t fall from treas the world is still flat and you are just plain stupid.
(9.30 am our time)Starting at 4:30 p.m., Occupy Wall Street protesters will be joined by tens of thousands of students, transit and city workers, teachers, and other union officials for a march from City Hall to the Financial District. Unlike last Saturday’s tense confrontations between protesters and police on the Brooklyn Bridge, organizers have gotten an event permit for today’s activities from the NYPD, according to the Journal, so it is expected to go a lot smoother than last weekend. But with more than 3,000 people expected to show up, it’s anyone’s guess how things will actually go. You can watch the live stream below, and we’ll update this post as the day progresses.
Moore: “They’re kleptomaniacs, is what they are. They’re out of control. I think there is some sort of sociopathic illness and they know what us to life in a kleptocracy. Where the kleptomaniacs run the show.
Today – Thursday 6 October 2011 – I’m launching my campaign as an Independent ‘Public Watchdog’ Candidate for Epsom – to help shine a HUGE public spotlight on ‘WHITE COLLAR CRIME’, CORRUPTION (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and CORPORATE WELFARE!
Have done the research and have FACTS and EVIDENCE which proves that NZ has endemic ‘grand corruption’ in the form of ‘State Capture’ – where vested corporate interests get their way at the ‘policy’ level before legislation (which serves their interests) is passed.
Have politically explosive findings and solutions for a genuinely ‘open’ ‘transparent’ and accountable NZ – where the public – not corporates – can and should benefit from our public monies, assets and resources.
These, in my view, are the issues which should politically help to set this election alight! (As it were 🙂 In my considered opinion, John Key and National /ACT are VERY politically vulnerable on the issues privatisation, corruption and ‘white collar’ crime…..
WHEN?
KICK OFF! TODAY Thursday 6 October.
TIME?: 2 – 4pm
WHERE? Auckland Horticulture Centre 990 Great North Rd Western Springs!
If you can make it – I think you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
(It will be filmed and You Tube clips will be made covering the ‘KEY’ points.)
Penny Bright
Media Spokesperson
Auckland Water Pressure Group
Judicially-recognised Public Watchdog on Metrowater, water and Auckland regional governance matters.
‘Anti-corruption’ campaigner.
Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009.
Attendee: Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010
It seems all New Zealand Politicial parties are still some what bigoted against Gay people, when the parties were asked about their polices on gay Adoption and Gay Marriage, instead of doing the right thing and saying, “Yes we believe that gay people should have the legal right to adopt and get married, the parties mostly came up with these bs answers.
I guess all parties are trying not to lose the votes of their bigoted supporters.
Here are the parties statements, this has been posted on another blog.
ACT – ACT supports ending the discrimination same sex couples face when trying to adopt a child. The Adoption Act 1955 is out-dated and the criteria for adoption should focus on how fit a person or people are to be parents, not their sexual orientation.
Labour – Labour believes that the current adoption laws are antiquated and discriminatory, which need to be modernised and updated. The current Act fails to take into account the number of legislative changes introduced over the past decade areas such as assisted reproduction technology, surrogacy and the legal status of de facto relationships and civil unions. A Labour-led government will enact legislation that will require the Law Commission to review and update adoption law to better reflect modern New Zealand. Labour has already drafted and tabled a Bill to give effect to this.
Maori Party – If there is a need for children to be cared for we believe strongly that whānau, regardless of sexual orientation, must be encouraged to care for these children within the family.
Greens – The Green Party’s policy on this is that parenting skills are distinct from sexual orientation or gender identity. We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting. Spokesperson Kevin Hague has formed and convenes a cross party group to reform adoption law.
National
We are aware of issue with the Adoption Act. It’s an old piece of legislation and has been identified as an area for potential review. We are currently running a very full justice agenda focused on making New Zealand safer, putting more police on our streets, and reducing crime. In the context of the current economic environment reform of adoption laws is not a priority for the Government.
Gay Marriage
Labour – Our initial focus has been to ensure that existing rights under marriage should also extend to civil unions, and we will complete that work. But Labour believes in formal equality before the law for people in any relationship status, including marriage.
Greens – The Green Party strongly supports full equality and believes that this will eventually be achieved either through the amendment of the Marriage Act to include us, or through the repeal of the Marriage Act (which would leave civil unions as the method by which the state formally recognises relationships, and marriage as a purely religious institution).
ACT – To be clear now, I should have voted in favour of the Bill in all its stages. I admit I don’t understand why, having legalised civil unions between two people, irrespective of their gender, there is still pressure to provide for same sex ‘marriage’. In the English language I have always understood ‘marriage’ to be between a man and a woman.
National – In the context of the current economic environment and our strong focus on providing stability, reducing debt, and returning to surplus by 2014 the government currently has no plans to amend the Marriage Act.
“We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting.”
Personally I find the term ‘rainbow’, especially in quotes like that, as somewhat offensive.
Of all of the answers, I find only National’s to be particularly contemptible in that they deliberately avoid actually stating their stance on either issue, once again using the global financial situation as a shield to hide behind. I don’t agree with ACT’s second position, but at least they had the balls to say it.
Dont know why we need a ‘Marriage Act’. Civil unions can take care of the legal/tax/benefit side while Marriage can be something that 2 people can pursue on their own terms.
Yes, I am talking about the deregulation of marriage.
I think that the reporter is using median there when they should be using average. There’s no way that the median wage equals the average wage and yet that is what is being reported.
That sentiment does show up in the opinion polls with roughly one in four voters blaming Key and National for society’s problems. Unhappy people are more likely to comment on a stuff story than a higly paid Tories.
We just need to increase that ratio to get rid of them.
Steve Jobs who has died aged 56 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, made an unprecedented impact on the world’s consumer electronics markets with a string of hit products, including the iPod media player, iPhone smartphone and iPad tablet computer. In little over a decade, he took Apple – the company he co-founded in 1976 – from near-bankruptcy to being the world’s second most valuable company by market capitalisation, after the oil giant Exxon, with more than $50bn in the bank.
Who would you like to replace Mark Weldon as head of the NZX?
* Dan Carter
* John Key
* Theresa Gattung
* Bernie Madoff
* Gareth Morgan
* Paul Reynolds
I love quips. What a good way to break a smile and a chuckle when there are so many sombre things around us. Quentin Crisp seemed a very quirky chap 1908-1999. I like this one of his I’ve come across.
Never try to keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper that way.
A desperate man will grasp at any straw. Nice to see him at his ‘best’ in the chamber after being called out by Goff. Yep Scumbag my vote too. Key’s Expression said it all.
Nice one bored. the whole world has turned into jerkeys photo op. Why dont they fly him out to the wrecked container ship inTauranga harbour and keep him there till it sinks.
Seems the Tauranga oil spill is worse than originally envisaged.
Get a taste, everybody, of the risks of NACT’s deepwater oil exploration bonanza. Plus fracking – hey, let’s inject some poisonous chemicals into the land!
One part of the fuel ship is buried in the reef and the other in deep water. It sounds as if the ship ran aground on the reef. Late at night. Was anyone awake monitoring the controls or was the ship on fly-by-wire? Comments are that no-one understands how it happened. Too late, the damage is done whether understood or not.
What we need to understand is that high-tech solutions for demanding projects in difficult sites can not be guaranteed 100% to prevent disasters that may change the local environment for ever, and kill off food sources the world is dependent on. Even making nutritious-like food substitutes from oil aren’t going to fill our bellies. Resigned withdrawing from such projects is the new way forward for thinking power brokers.
That’s funny. Went to listen on Radio replay, to Bomber Bradbury on the Panel after mike e said about the free expression of Bomber, but there is no Part 2. Does that mean that it has been censored off air? Surely not? Jim? Will write to them and ask why not.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
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$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
With criticism from National piling on over the property market, the prime minister has detailed when the government will make housing announcements. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco Rizzi, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Western Australia Some Australians could be receiving a COVID-19 vaccine within weeks. Amid the continued spread of the virus and emergence of highly contagious variants, the federal government has accelerated the start of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Australia’s Threatened Species Strategy — a five-year plan for protecting our imperilled species and ecosystems — fizzled to an end last year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Lecturer, General Dentist & PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Baby teeth, or milk teeth, act like lighthouses to guide the adult ones to their correct destination. A baby tooth will become wobbly and fall out because the adult tooth ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Simon Coley, co-founder of All Good and Karma Drinks.Bananas are one of the ...
Tackling topics such as rugby and body image, Stuff’s latest podcast shines a much-needed light on Aotearoa’s complex relationship with masculinity, writes Trevor McKewen, author of the book Real Men Wear Black.I wasn’t sure what to think when two episodes of the new local podcast He’ll Be Right landed in ...
The Rainforest Alliance reveals that 68%* of Kiwis say the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more conscious about environmental and social sustainability issues. Seventy two percent* state that they have been trying to make more sustainable purchasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin University The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has raised concerns that Australia’s proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code could fundamentally break the internet as we know it. His concerns ...
ANALYSIS:By Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path Two weeks after the storming of the US Capitol by the followers of his predecessor, in the middle of an out-of-control pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Cantrell, Lecturer, Creative Writing & English Literature, University of Southern Queensland Described as “the world’s greatest storyteller”, Roald Dahl is frequently ranked as the best children’s author of all time by teachers, authors and librarians. However, the new film adaptation of ...
Peak housing body, Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA) welcomes the updated Public Housing Plan announced today by Minister Woods, and the commitment by this Government to fix New Zealand’s housing crisis. The 8,000 additional homes are a significant ...
Having recently walked much of the South Island stretch of Te Araroa, Kirsten O’Regan reflects on the magnificent landscapes and interesting characters she encountered along the way.On our 36th day of walking, we climb through the fire-blackened hills above Ohau, stopping to examine heat-disfigured trail markers. Fresh green shoots have ...
Miss Torta in central Auckland is putting the spotlight on a snack that’s commonplace in Mexico, but until now relatively unknown in New Zealand.You’ve heard of a torta, but what is it, exactly? Well, depending on the cuisine it can mean a flatbread, cake, tart, sweet pie, savoury pie or ...
Two of three ministerial statements from the Beehive have been released in the name of the PM over the past two days. The more important, insofar as it involves political action that will affect the wellbeing of significant numbers of Kiwis, was the release of the government’s Public Housing Plan ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology “The lie outlasts the liar,” writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the “post-truth” era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
They say that the best test of a person’s leadership capabilities is to put them in a crisis and see how they respond and yesterday in Parliament provided a good opportunity to see Goff’s and Key’s responses to a crisis.
Goff was superb. His speech given immediately after the incident was one of the best I have seen. He showed passion, grit and determination and the ability to react and think on his feet even after being confronted by a potential tragedy.
Key’s response showed the real Key. He lashed out at Labour, accusing them of something they clearly were not responsible for, made a gesture some have been arrested for and then slunk in his seat when he realised what he had done.
Over the past two years Goff has been hammered by the forces of the right, by the media and a meme has been constructed that he is not leadership material. This attack has worked well, the population at large are indifferent to him and even amongst the ranks of the left he is treated with caution.
But I believe yesterday should be a reason for all of us to reflect on this. Goff is the real deal, compassionate, determined and capable. Key is anything but.
This country needs a left coalition to kick this rabble out. Whatever your political flavor be it Green, Mana or Labour get out there and campaign for votes and get people enrolled. Because this country needs Goff and not Key.
Well said micky.
jacking it to the labour party election material again micky? you’re worse than a 13 year old boy with the farmers lingerie catalogue
Cripes, tightyrighty, better loosen the tie there. Are you saying that farmers wear lingerie?
No, I think they buy it for their sheep.
(sorry just had to type that..)
If they are women farmers they would, and men farmers may buy lingerie for the woman farmer they are married to. If they are lucky women.
Labour Entirely To Blame For Everything Bad John Key Says And Does
That’s a laugh!
Good start to the day. My immediate reaction – how long before Key folds? He isn’t a PM, more like a pushover.
😀
The government has been focused on cutting public service spending, yet has had a budget blow-out on spending on Treasury consultants:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5739634/Treasury-defends-13m-consultants-bill
Cuts for you, but not for them.
Treasury Taking us to the cleaners.Thats probably what Key is going to do with the cleaners sack them then bring them back on contract so he can say they don’t need a pay rise.
Betcha the charge-out rates of those consultants are completely obscene too. Bloody all cosy in the Wellington zone. Are any of them charging as little as $100/hour? Betcha not. $200? $400? $800?
How much are these cok-suckers paid? Wankers. Being paid for out of the taxes paid by those on rates like $15 to $45 per hour… No wonder people are jumping into the public gallery at Parliament.
Wellington of course is the highest paid town in the country and it is completely undeserved. The only reason is because that is where the rules are made. Obscene.
Oh hell yeah, it’ll be far above what it would cost to just have them permanently hired on a salary.
If the consultants are salaried and a lot of them probably are, then they wouldn’t even be getting that money themselves.
Admittedly the companies they work for will probably have expensive overheads too, like swanky offices in the central city. But really the owners of the business will be the ones that are creaming it.
The ‘rebel’s who have overthrown Gaddafi in Libya would have to be the cleanest and tidiest soldiers I have ever seen. Every single time they have been in photos or on the tele they have had clean shirts and pants, nice caps, good boots, sometimes stuff has even been ironed. No dust or dirt anywhere, no ripped clothing, no broken things.
It has been very strange.
Who’d believe it? people believing the science is settled calling people believing in opposing theories names and questioning their credibility.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/5741262/Vindicated-Ridiculed-Israeli-scientist-wins-Nobel
Yes, it happens but one example in how many? And, no matter how much you try, this can’t be linked to climate change as the evidence still supports the theory that we’re causing it.
wow draco, proving how stupid you are while trying to be smart. Trust an idiot such as yourself to miss the subtle intellectual point of my comment. between the voice of reason, felix and yourself , intelligence is a scarce resource
wow, tr manages to respond by saying…
nothing at all.
I feel so … validated.
TR our govt has just spent $36 million on research to find out the results back 98% of all other science based research.Its not like Chicago school economics or corrupt Catholic based propaganda .No wonder your so gullible no doubt your heroes are Palin and McCarthy 50s version of palin Roger Kerr our version .You would be better of in Galileo time Newton ex cetera where science was denied and the majority of people believed in fairy stories like the ones you believe in.Yeah apples don’t fall from treas the world is still flat and you are just plain stupid.
Visualised, The Denier Industrial Complex
Streaming live.
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/05/live_video_stream_occupy_wall_stree.php
(9.30 am our time) Starting at 4:30 p.m., Occupy Wall Street protesters will be joined by tens of thousands of students, transit and city workers, teachers, and other union officials for a march from City Hall to the Financial District. Unlike last Saturday’s tense confrontations between protesters and police on the Brooklyn Bridge, organizers have gotten an event permit for today’s activities from the NYPD, according to the Journal, so it is expected to go a lot smoother than last weekend. But with more than 3,000 people expected to show up, it’s anyone’s guess how things will actually go. You can watch the live stream below, and we’ll update this post as the day progresses.
another wall St feed for y’all
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
Moore:
“They’re kleptomaniacs, is what they are. They’re out of control. I think there is some sort of sociopathic illness and they know what us to life in a kleptocracy. Where the kleptomaniacs run the show.
Would you like to know what OccupyWallSt wants to say to you but the MSM are too far gone to bother, get the reports from the source
Today – Thursday 6 October 2011 – I’m launching my campaign as an Independent ‘Public Watchdog’ Candidate for Epsom – to help shine a HUGE public spotlight on ‘WHITE COLLAR CRIME’, CORRUPTION (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and CORPORATE WELFARE!
Have done the research and have FACTS and EVIDENCE which proves that NZ has endemic ‘grand corruption’ in the form of ‘State Capture’ – where vested corporate interests get their way at the ‘policy’ level before legislation (which serves their interests) is passed.
Have politically explosive findings and solutions for a genuinely ‘open’ ‘transparent’ and accountable NZ – where the public – not corporates – can and should benefit from our public monies, assets and resources.
These, in my view, are the issues which should politically help to set this election alight! (As it were 🙂 In my considered opinion, John Key and National /ACT are VERY politically vulnerable on the issues privatisation, corruption and ‘white collar’ crime…..
WHEN?
KICK OFF! TODAY Thursday 6 October.
TIME?: 2 – 4pm
WHERE? Auckland Horticulture Centre 990 Great North Rd Western Springs!
If you can make it – I think you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
(It will be filmed and You Tube clips will be made covering the ‘KEY’ points.)
Penny Bright
Media Spokesperson
Auckland Water Pressure Group
Judicially-recognised Public Watchdog on Metrowater, water and Auckland regional governance matters.
‘Anti-corruption’ campaigner.
Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009.
Attendee: Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010
Independent ‘Public Watchdog’
Candidate for Epsom
It seems all New Zealand Politicial parties are still some what bigoted against Gay people, when the parties were asked about their polices on gay Adoption and Gay Marriage, instead of doing the right thing and saying, “Yes we believe that gay people should have the legal right to adopt and get married, the parties mostly came up with these bs answers.
I guess all parties are trying not to lose the votes of their bigoted supporters.
So I see you didn’t read the ACT, maori, or Green answers to the first question.
Or the Green answer to the second.
How to you remember to breathe?
Oh i read it felix, it just seemed to be political talk, why didnt ALL PARTIES just say “Gay people have the right to marry and adopt.”
So you read it but you didn’t understand it.
You must experience human communication in much the same way the Simpsons’ dog does.
Felix
Classy felix.
I understand politicians on all side of the fence, wont do anything to offended the bigots.
Ok Brett, let’s go through them one at a time and we’ll figure out which words you had trouble with. Here’s what you quoted:
Please explain what you think that sentence means, in your own words.
Here are the parties statements, this has been posted on another blog.
ACT – ACT supports ending the discrimination same sex couples face when trying to adopt a child. The Adoption Act 1955 is out-dated and the criteria for adoption should focus on how fit a person or people are to be parents, not their sexual orientation.
Labour – Labour believes that the current adoption laws are antiquated and discriminatory, which need to be modernised and updated. The current Act fails to take into account the number of legislative changes introduced over the past decade areas such as assisted reproduction technology, surrogacy and the legal status of de facto relationships and civil unions. A Labour-led government will enact legislation that will require the Law Commission to review and update adoption law to better reflect modern New Zealand. Labour has already drafted and tabled a Bill to give effect to this.
Maori Party – If there is a need for children to be cared for we believe strongly that whānau, regardless of sexual orientation, must be encouraged to care for these children within the family.
Greens – The Green Party’s policy on this is that parenting skills are distinct from sexual orientation or gender identity. We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting. Spokesperson Kevin Hague has formed and convenes a cross party group to reform adoption law.
National
We are aware of issue with the Adoption Act. It’s an old piece of legislation and has been identified as an area for potential review. We are currently running a very full justice agenda focused on making New Zealand safer, putting more police on our streets, and reducing crime. In the context of the current economic environment reform of adoption laws is not a priority for the Government.
Gay Marriage
Labour – Our initial focus has been to ensure that existing rights under marriage should also extend to civil unions, and we will complete that work. But Labour believes in formal equality before the law for people in any relationship status, including marriage.
Greens – The Green Party strongly supports full equality and believes that this will eventually be achieved either through the amendment of the Marriage Act to include us, or through the repeal of the Marriage Act (which would leave civil unions as the method by which the state formally recognises relationships, and marriage as a purely religious institution).
ACT – To be clear now, I should have voted in favour of the Bill in all its stages. I admit I don’t understand why, having legalised civil unions between two people, irrespective of their gender, there is still pressure to provide for same sex ‘marriage’. In the English language I have always understood ‘marriage’ to be between a man and a woman.
National – In the context of the current economic environment and our strong focus on providing stability, reducing debt, and returning to surplus by 2014 the government currently has no plans to amend the Marriage Act.
“We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting.”
Personally I find the term ‘rainbow’, especially in quotes like that, as somewhat offensive.
Of all of the answers, I find only National’s to be particularly contemptible in that they deliberately avoid actually stating their stance on either issue, once again using the global financial situation as a shield to hide behind. I don’t agree with ACT’s second position, but at least they had the balls to say it.
Dont know why we need a ‘Marriage Act’. Civil unions can take care of the legal/tax/benefit side while Marriage can be something that 2 people can pursue on their own terms.
Yes, I am talking about the deregulation of marriage.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/5742308/Tiny-gains-in-wage-packets
Of the first 7 comments, 4 are blaming National and Key and another could be making a veiled jab (catching up with Oz).
Why does this sentiment not seem to show up in any of the opinion polls?
I think that the reporter is using median there when they should be using average. There’s no way that the median wage equals the average wage and yet that is what is being reported.
That sentiment does show up in the opinion polls with roughly one in four voters blaming Key and National for society’s problems. Unhappy people are more likely to comment on a stuff story than a higly paid Tories.
We just need to increase that ratio to get rid of them.
Forbes finds NZ second best place in the world to do business.
Translation: second easiest place in the world to fleece the locals.
RIP Steve Jobs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/06/steve-jobs-obituary
I just logged on to my internet and I was greeted with the news that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has passed away.
Whatever your views are concerning Apple, I think their can be no denying Jobs’ impact on technology and how people relate to technology.
Vale.
Probably the stupidest poll stuff has ever run:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5741410/NZX-CEO-Mark-Weldon-steps-down
Who would you like to replace Mark Weldon as head of the NZX?
* Dan Carter
* John Key
* Theresa Gattung
* Bernie Madoff
* Gareth Morgan
* Paul Reynolds
I voted Key, of course.
I voted Bernard Madoff. At least then we’d be in no doubt that it was a criminal enterprise.
we should put fay richwhite in
I love quips. What a good way to break a smile and a chuckle when there are so many sombre things around us. Quentin Crisp seemed a very quirky chap 1908-1999. I like this one of his I’ve come across.
Never try to keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper that way.
See that evil fucker Keys latest photo op? He will talk at the slain SAS mans funeral.
Scumbag.
A desperate man will grasp at any straw. Nice to see him at his ‘best’ in the chamber after being called out by Goff. Yep Scumbag my vote too. Key’s Expression said it all.
Nice one bored. the whole world has turned into jerkeys photo op. Why dont they fly him out to the wrecked container ship inTauranga harbour and keep him there till it sinks.
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
Seems the Tauranga oil spill is worse than originally envisaged.
Get a taste, everybody, of the risks of NACT’s deepwater oil exploration bonanza. Plus fracking – hey, let’s inject some poisonous chemicals into the land!
One part of the fuel ship is buried in the reef and the other in deep water. It sounds as if the ship ran aground on the reef. Late at night. Was anyone awake monitoring the controls or was the ship on fly-by-wire? Comments are that no-one understands how it happened. Too late, the damage is done whether understood or not.
What we need to understand is that high-tech solutions for demanding projects in difficult sites can not be guaranteed 100% to prevent disasters that may change the local environment for ever, and kill off food sources the world is dependent on. Even making nutritious-like food substitutes from oil aren’t going to fill our bellies. Resigned withdrawing from such projects is the new way forward for thinking power brokers.
Guess that just leaves the unthinking power brokers being given a free pass by an unthinking NZ government.
That’s funny. Went to listen on Radio replay, to Bomber Bradbury on the Panel after mike e said about the free expression of Bomber, but there is no Part 2. Does that mean that it has been censored off air? Surely not? Jim? Will write to them and ask why not.
Hmm I wondered what happened there too.
Watch Jay Carney squirm…
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/obama-justice-sieg-heil/