It is with considerable regret that I have to inform the New Zealand public that its democracy contracted a wasting disease overnight. Dissolution is inevitable, but the disease is likely to be a protracted one. There is no known cure, once infected, except by really radical surgical means, which will, unfortunately, not be undertaken in the near future.
At the moment, the patient is seemingly doing well, but this insidious disease will progressively sap the sovereignty from the body corporate, until only a skeleton remains.
R.I.P.
Except that NZ can withdraw from the “disease” as you call it, whenever we like. Will be interesting to hear from Andrew Little whether or not he intends to activate the withdrawal procedures if (a) the thing is actually ratified and (b) he becomes prime minister. No doubt he’ll waffle because the real answer is no.
Why give lawyers the ability to sue states and rule on trade disputes between corporates and states. Terrible rapacious bunch they (we) are this is bound to end in tears …
To avoid a repeat of the apple situation, where Jenny Shipley wouldn’t back growers’ WTO case against Australia. It took Helen Clark to accept their representations the case should go ahead. I guess this was one of the reasons she included ISDS in her China FTA.
As far as New Zealand is concerned, the TPPA is based on fraud.
The Crown has no mandate to legislate in New Zealand because the sovereignty of parliament is a fiction. The Crown insinuates that sovereignty means accountability, but sovereignty is based on virtue in relation to deity. The Crown also lies about the role of deity in law, describing the common law as case law when the common law has a theistic origin from the time of King Alfred the Great, who began his judgments, called dooms, with a Saxon version of the ten commandments.
This situation is compounded by the fact that Crown employees such as politicians and judges swear an oath of allegiance to a head of state who holds the title of “Supreme Governor” of the Church of England”, applying an act of religion to endorse a secular state which misleads people about the role of deity in law and consequently injures their natural rights, treating them as persons with no such rights.
1. “Hard sell tipped to follow TPP deal”
Government has PR campaign ready to go but hoped-for gold-plated agreement on dairy fails to happen.
By Audrey Young
“Trade Minister Tim Groser will be heading back to New Zealand from the United States today to begin the hard sell on the deal, which has to be turned into text and released within 30 days.
It is understood the Government has a public relations programme ready outlining in detail how it believes New Zealand will be better off in the deal, not outside it.
It does not intend to leave a vacuum for the next month for opponents to fill.
The most contentious part of the deal is the Investor State Dispute Procedure, however Mr Groser has remained confident the detail of the agreement will allay people’s fears on that score.
It is thought New Zealand has had to settle for something akin to a bronze deal on dairy products rather than the gold-plated one it insisted early in the negotiations that it would get.
But the overall deal will be sold to the public on the basis of better-than-hoped-for gains in other sectors.
The Government has already said an increase in costs for pharmaceuticals as a result of IP changes under TPP would be met by the Government, not patients.
Mr Groser, a former professional trade negotiator, has played a pivotal role in the negotiations, led by US Trade Representative Mike Froman. The three most difficult issues in the end were the patents on biologics, medicines made from living organisms, rules of origin for vehicles, and dairy access.
Before talks on dairy intensified yesterday, he told the Herald the negotiations had “the smell of a situation we occasionally see which is that on the hardest core issues, there are some ugly compromises out there”.
That meant everyone had to eat “dead rats”.
In the event of a failure at Atlanta, the talks could have gone another round at Apec in Manila, but the longer they dragged on, the closer it would get to the United States presidential contest and the more difficult it could be to get a deal through the US Congress.” http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11524288
“There would be no change on the current patents for biologic medicines, although an extension on copyright by 20 years will be phased in.
Groser said Pharmac’s decision-making would become more transparent and the measures would cost $4.5 million in the first year, then an added $2.2 million annually.
But the Pharmac model would remain the same.”
In Updated version:more detail,
less emphasis on the hard sell aspect
No mention of the ISDS*
*Note that Pharmac will have to justify its decisions and this will open it up to the possibility of litigation.
Wow what a deal! Sold our sovereignty and our public health system for – wait for it – 2 billion dollars a year we may reach by 2030! What a bargain for the big corps.
The inability of NZ governments to restrict overseas land sales is a pretty big sovereignty issue. Just going off micky’s post, haven’t looked that up.
Matthew the TPPa prevents us from freely trading Dairying and Beef to their market’s.
Prevents NZ from purchasing cheaper meds elsewhere.
Stops us while allowing big Corporates to sue if a govt dept wants to buy locally.
The US and Canadian govts are allowing open discussion before its put to the vote.
National are using their minions to shut down open and fair debate.
This will backfire and Key will flip flop because other govts are releasing information that will expose Key and Grosser weakness in getting a very poor deal for farmers and Pharmac.
More cost for Pharmac, which will be spread over by cuts to all health services to keep to the Budget, and the right of corps to sue NZ for lost profits.
“Well that’s what I mean by HYPERBOLE! … Here we go!”
Note how dominant Hooton is, and how little Williams has to say. From the Left and From the Right, Radio NZ National, Monday 5 October 2015
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Mike Williams
Part 1 of 2
“Hissy fit? You were listening to a different show.” *
—- Matthew Hooton, 90 minutes later.
First topic today: the TPPA. From the beginning, Hooton takes charge, as always, embarking on a long monologue full of P.R.-speak….
MATTHEW HOOTON: ….. It’s about twenty-first century business, it’s about modern supply chain management, so it’s a different form from what, uh, y’know, we’re used to when we’re talking about the hangovers from the post-Second World War type GATT arrangements. Ummm, but they will be doing some details and they’ll be hoping that every i can be dotted and t crossed, to use the cliché, and then they’ll have their press conference and at some point we’ll see the text and THEN, ahhhhm, it’ll all begin again in the public domain. Because the chances of it being ratified by the U.S. Congress would have to be low, so there will be an almighty public debate involving every business, every union, every academic on one side or the other of this debate that will last probably for some more years.
…[At this point Mike Williams makes his first contribution; he loudly clears his throat]….
KATHRYN RYAN: Mike, it has to be today or it’s probably never going to happen, I think was the consensus wasn’t it. Because we know trade ministers have to head off to some other meeting somewhere, a G-8 or a G-20 meeting somewhere, and of course the big factor with the timing is whether, as Matthew has just alluded to, there is time for this to make its way through Congress before Obama’s time is up. Ahh, so what is your gut instinct on what’s happening right now?
MIKE WILLIAMS: Well I think, ahhm, SOMETHING will be announced at three o’clock. Um, if only because I think the ministers, a large proportion of the ministers, have got a meeting in Istanbul tomorrow. Be interesting to see WHAT is announced, umm, there was a leak about twenty-four hours ago that the Australians and the Americans had reached an agreement on biologicals, I think they’re called but this is in fact drugs. Ahhhm, whether there’s ANYTHING on dairy or not will be fascinating, and I think that the two holdouts there, who are the USA and Canada, are, frankly, unlikely to budge. Canada’s only three weeks—two weeks—off a general election with a very powerful dairy lobby, a very protected industry, so, y’know, it’s, it’s VERY interesting times and we have no idea what’s gonna come out.
……..
KATHRYN RYAN: … The other sticking points have been the patents on the medicines…. This is not a small matter. I don’t wanna re-, y’know, re-debate this, but with the sheer volume of quite um, y’know, dramatic, um, ahhh, treatments that are coming, ahhh, on stream and the price impacts of an extended patent, that’s been another big factor. In the end, what is the debate gonna boil down to politically in New Zealand? Whether we got done on dairy, ahhhh, Mike? Whether we got, y’know, whether we got, on balance, a better deal when we instigated the whole damn thing effectively didn’t we! A better deal, a better situation than we’re in now.
MIKE WILLIAMS: Well I, look, I think a lot of the heat’s gone out of this debate because of Helen Clark’s statement. Umm, she supported TPP very STRONGLY, and standing beside John Key—
KATHRYN RYAN: Well was that HELPFUL at this time of the negotiations, to have a former prime minister saying New Zealand can’t NOT be in it? Was that a helpful intervention?
MIKE WILLIAMS: It’s very interesting because there were two aspects to it. One, Helen Clark always was a committed free trader, I mean I watched debates in caucus on these issues, and she was very firm that free trade was a good deal for, ahhh, New Zealand, but she stepped out of her comfort zone, ‘cos she NORMALLY makes NO comments at all on New Zealand politics, and that, you could argue, is kind of international politics, but—
KATHRYN RYAN: Hmmmm, this was also at the same time though, as negotiators and trade ministers were saying we’re not gonna sign a deal that doesn’t, y’know, doesn’t meet the threshold on dairy.
MATTHEW HOOTON: This is her legacy. She launched these talks. I mean, the original Trans Pacific Partnership with um, y’know, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei, she launched, she completed. And then she lobbied very hard as prime minister to bring the United States in, which was always the plan. Umm, so this is her legacy as prime minister and it’s going to be an historic achievement for New Zealand if it, if it happens so I don’t think it would be surprising that she would have made those comments.
KATHRYN RYAN: No, it’s more the timing of it was my point.
MATTHEW HOOTON: Well, yeah.
KATHRYN RYAN: But I think there was also a caveat, if I’m correctly reading what I read from, um, Tim Groser, the caveat which didn’t necessarily make the soundbite, which is “If it is a good deal.” [giggles]
MATTHEW HOOTON: Yeah, right.
KATHRYN RYAN: Which is quite an important caveat.
MATTHEW HOOTON: I think that what, I mean, I thought that in a few sentences, she cut through and made the case for this deal, ahh, in a way which the current prime minister has not really done in seven years. She made the case for why New Zealand should be part of this in principle, ahhh, and she did so very efficiently, and it’s very, how COULD you disagree with what she said? Umm, I know we’re going to be victims of massive hyperbole over the next twenty-four hours because the likes of Tim Groser, umm, y’know, this has been twenty years’ work for him. For all our diplomats, this has been New Zealand’s number one foreign policy objective for twenty years.
KATHRYN RYAN: Yeah but the question is whether it leaves us net better off given how much we had already liberalized most of our economy—
MATTHEW HOOTON: Well this is—
KATHRYN RYAN: And, and second—
MATTHEW HOOTON:[impatiently] Yeah.
KATHRYN RYAN: —the real gain for us was always going to be dairy. Are we in a better position—
MATTHEW HOOTON:[in an impatient, peremptory tone] Dairy’s seven per cent of our economy. This is just the, the, the CARTOONISH way of presenting this. And it goes to what I said at the outset: this is not, this deal is not about putting unmodified commodities across borders. That is where trade negotiations were sixty years ago.
KATHRYN RYAN: It’s also where our biggest exporter still is.
MATTHEW HOOTON: It is our, it is a [sic] important export for New Zealand and it is seven per cent of the economy. What this is about—and it’s DWARFED by tourism, it’s increasingly DWARFED by other services, um, what this is about, and I think that this is why the critics are absolutely right when they say this is not a trade deal, and why, I think, in many ways, the supporters of the deal have not promoted this rationally and sensibly, because the whole thing is oh, y’know, “We’ll get better dairy access” and we hear from Malcolm Bailey and he’s on the delegation. What this is about is looking at the supply chain that starts from research and development and intellectual property and goes through to the final consumer behind the borders. And this is the first in the world, other than arguably the European Union, and some of APEC’s efforts, to say that international business is no longer about exporting things across borders.
MIKE WILLIAMS: Mmmm.
KATHRYN RYAN: Okay, it does say that. Then we have the other arguments, and PLEASE let’s not get bogged down again, but these arguments about sovereignty, you’re gonna have governments being sued in these international tribunals or worse, where they’ll just be delayed and public health policies they might introduce these kinds of things, so that’s where you get—
MATTHEW HOOTON: Well that’s what I mean by HYPERBOLE! So while Groser is—
KATHRYN RYAN: Well it’s NOT hyperbole, it’s happening right now to Australia, over—
MATTHEW HOOTON: It’s NOT happening.
KATHRYN RYAN: The plain packaging is happening right now. Okay? And that is, that is—
MATTHEW HOOTON: Here we go! A single case, that hasn’t been won, that won’t be won, the Australian government will prevail over Philip Morris and that’ll be the end of that matter. But what, um, y’know, while we’re victims of hyperbole from the pros, we’re also told people are gonna die and this sort of thing and I think the most intelligent way to look at this is umm, y’know, it is not the “world historical breakthrough”, it is not “bigger than Ben Hur”, “best thing that—“. Y’know, it’s not, nor is it the most evil thing. It is an important way of integrating, um, our economy further with other economies.
KATHRYN RYAN: Right. Mike, your take on how this is going to play politically, and for whom, and what is that gonna depend on?
MIKE WILLIAMS: Well I think Helen Clark’s statement has probably defanged the MODERATE left. It will not, um, uh, alter the, y’know, the um, Jane Kelseys of this world, but I actually think it will boil down to some sort of benefit-cost ratio. Y’know, will we get more dairy exports, what will the government’s slice of that be, and what will it cost for more drugs? And if we’ve gotta pay half a billion dollars more, y’know, increase the Pharmac budget by five hundred million dollars and we don’t, ahhhh, get that back in taxes on dairying, then um, that’ll be a bad deal. But it’ll take a while to um, to work out. So let’s, y’know, we really DON’T know what’s there, we’re SPECULATING at the moment.
….An uneasy silence ensues, then the host realizes that Williams has nothing more to offer….
KATHRYN RYAN: All right. Let’s look at some of the other big matters around the place. It has been quite a focus hasn’t it, on the great and the good gathering in the United States….
END OF PART ONE
Coming up in Part Two: Some of the most vacuous chat to be heard anywhere outside of an ACT caucus meeting, including this gem by Mike Williams: “Well I think John Key actually gave a very good speech, and so did Murray McCully.”
“The first of which will sound a little bit morbid – some of the people… won’t be around to vote against you in the next election. So that’s just a practical point, and the other point is they might have forgotten by then.”
He added: “If you did it now, chances are that in 2020 someone who has had their winter fuel cut might be thinking, ‘Oh I can’t remember, was it this government or was it the last one? I’m not quite sure.’
A homeless woman lay dead at a Hong Kong McDonald’s restaurant for hours surrounded by diners who failed to notice her, sparking concern over the city’s “McRefugees”.
The woman, who police say was between 50 and 60, was found dead Saturday morning and has been held up as an example of the growing number of homeless people who seek shelter in 24-hour restaurants.
“Officers arrived upon a report from a female customer (that a person was found to have fainted),” police said in a statement.
“The subject was certified dead at the scene.”
Local media said the woman was slumped at a table, 24 hours after she first entered the restaurant in the working class district of Ping Shek.
She had not moved for seven hours before fellow diners noticed something was wrong, according to Apple Daily, citing CCTV footage.
The woman was thought to have regularly spent nights in the McDonald’s, the South China Morning Post said.
The city’s Social Welfare Department said it was “highly concerned” about the incident.
“We endeavour to support street sleepers to enhance their self-reliance… the subject is a complex social problem,” a department spokeswoman said.
There are concerns over the plight of the homeless population in the affluent southern Chinese financial hub, although the number of homeless is relatively low, estimated at more than 1,000 by local NGOs.
Many are forced to live on the street as they cannot afford to rent even the tiniest home as housing prices are sky high.
‘TPP signed: the ‘biggest global threat to the internet’ agreed, as campaigners warn that secret pact could bring huge new restrictions to the internet
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement covers 40 per cent of the world’s economy, and sets huge new rules for online businesses as well as traditional ones.’
This is where it all starts to take a very quarter-final looking shape. Despite Steve Hansen’s protestations, the All Blacks’ error-rate has chipped away at the edges of faith until it is no longer realistic to have them in the No 1 spot.’
TPP deal: US and 11 other countries reach landmark Pacific trade pact
Trans-Pacific Partnership – the biggest trade deal in a generation – would affect 40% of world economy, but still requires ratification from US Congress and other world lawmakers
‘Another shooting shocks America as 11-year-old boy kills 8-year-old neighbour
America is again reeling from the horror of its gun violence with an 11-year-old boy being charged with murder after allegedly shooting dead an eight-year-old girl in Tennessee, days after the mass shooting in Oregon and a series of drive-by murders of children in Cleveland, Ohio.
The 11-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder after he used his father’s 12-gauge shotgun to shoot his next door neighbour, McKayla Dyer, through a window as she played outside on Saturday afternoon.’
‘A former Western Australia rugby league representative sentenced over a vicious attack on three homeless men, caught on camera in Perth, has been revealed as a New Zealander.’
Thank goodness for Rod Oram this morning being interviewed by Kathryn Ryan, intelligent responses and questions in the public arena, what a balance for yesterday.
Henning Mankell, Swedish author, has died of cancer some eight months after diagnosis.
Kenneth Branagh wrote upon his death of Mankell’s writing, his generosity and his “stringent political activism.”
Though I did not know of his student and political activism, his writing was informed by a social conscience and concern for society and for individuals which came through in his novels.
His last writing was a book about dealing with cancer- one which will be high on my reading list.
It’s a bit weird-no culture of coalitions, but surely this will happen.
The Portuguese election result is another example. It has been touted as a win for the ruling Rightists, but in fact they have lost their majority to Leftist parties and will constantly be out-voted. Why the Left doesn’t form a coalition beats me, despite the fact that there are some policy differences between the Leftist parties.
…..and increasing prescriptions of anti depressants and blaming Mental Health Services will do nothing about the suicide stats, it is inevitable with increasing wealth gap causing societal unrest. Oh sorry, I forgot, there is no society.
Most of those community health type services are being dismantled or restructured to cut costs and will continue to be. If we really are the pinnacle of intelligent life in this solar system then we’ve got a bizarre way of showing it.
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The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
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It is with considerable regret that I have to inform the New Zealand public that its democracy contracted a wasting disease overnight. Dissolution is inevitable, but the disease is likely to be a protracted one. There is no known cure, once infected, except by really radical surgical means, which will, unfortunately, not be undertaken in the near future.
At the moment, the patient is seemingly doing well, but this insidious disease will progressively sap the sovereignty from the body corporate, until only a skeleton remains.
R.I.P.
Well put!
+100 Tony Veitch
Except that NZ can withdraw from the “disease” as you call it, whenever we like. Will be interesting to hear from Andrew Little whether or not he intends to activate the withdrawal procedures if (a) the thing is actually ratified and (b) he becomes prime minister. No doubt he’ll waffle because the real answer is no.
Why give lawyers the ability to sue states and rule on trade disputes between corporates and states. Terrible rapacious bunch they (we) are this is bound to end in tears …
To avoid a repeat of the apple situation, where Jenny Shipley wouldn’t back growers’ WTO case against Australia. It took Helen Clark to accept their representations the case should go ahead. I guess this was one of the reasons she included ISDS in her China FTA.
Take a breath Tony
As far as New Zealand is concerned, the TPPA is based on fraud.
The Crown has no mandate to legislate in New Zealand because the sovereignty of parliament is a fiction. The Crown insinuates that sovereignty means accountability, but sovereignty is based on virtue in relation to deity. The Crown also lies about the role of deity in law, describing the common law as case law when the common law has a theistic origin from the time of King Alfred the Great, who began his judgments, called dooms, with a Saxon version of the ten commandments.
This situation is compounded by the fact that Crown employees such as politicians and judges swear an oath of allegiance to a head of state who holds the title of “Supreme Governor” of the Church of England”, applying an act of religion to endorse a secular state which misleads people about the role of deity in law and consequently injures their natural rights, treating them as persons with no such rights.
Good luck with that. If people ask, tell them you’re from ACT.
@OAB at least he’s not on one of his anti vaccination diatribes…
lol
The only valid ISDS is the Court of the Hundred… 🙂
And the point
Ah, you’re back talking BS – again.
Ah, a compliment from the grand master of BS and a serial tosser to put 😀
Enviromentalists, alternative music, and radicalised (weaponised?) children linked to terrorism.
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/09/24/the-australian-government-proclaims-environmentalism-and-alternative-music-are-signs-of-terrorism/
Compare and contrast:
1. “Hard sell tipped to follow TPP deal”
Government has PR campaign ready to go but hoped-for gold-plated agreement on dairy fails to happen.
By Audrey Young
“Trade Minister Tim Groser will be heading back to New Zealand from the United States today to begin the hard sell on the deal, which has to be turned into text and released within 30 days.
It is understood the Government has a public relations programme ready outlining in detail how it believes New Zealand will be better off in the deal, not outside it.
It does not intend to leave a vacuum for the next month for opponents to fill.
The most contentious part of the deal is the Investor State Dispute Procedure, however Mr Groser has remained confident the detail of the agreement will allay people’s fears on that score.
It is thought New Zealand has had to settle for something akin to a bronze deal on dairy products rather than the gold-plated one it insisted early in the negotiations that it would get.
But the overall deal will be sold to the public on the basis of better-than-hoped-for gains in other sectors.
The Government has already said an increase in costs for pharmaceuticals as a result of IP changes under TPP would be met by the Government, not patients.
Mr Groser, a former professional trade negotiator, has played a pivotal role in the negotiations, led by US Trade Representative Mike Froman. The three most difficult issues in the end were the patents on biologics, medicines made from living organisms, rules of origin for vehicles, and dairy access.
Before talks on dairy intensified yesterday, he told the Herald the negotiations had “the smell of a situation we occasionally see which is that on the hardest core issues, there are some ugly compromises out there”.
That meant everyone had to eat “dead rats”.
In the event of a failure at Atlanta, the talks could have gone another round at Apec in Manila, but the longer they dragged on, the closer it would get to the United States presidential contest and the more difficult it could be to get a deal through the US Congress.”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11524288
2. TPP deal: New Zealand and 11 other countries strike Pacific trade pact
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11524395
“There would be no change on the current patents for biologic medicines, although an extension on copyright by 20 years will be phased in.
Groser said Pharmac’s decision-making would become more transparent and the measures would cost $4.5 million in the first year, then an added $2.2 million annually.
But the Pharmac model would remain the same.”
In Updated version:more detail,
less emphasis on the hard sell aspect
No mention of the ISDS*
*Note that Pharmac will have to justify its decisions and this will open it up to the possibility of litigation.
Read “Eli Lilly Raises Stakes: Says Canada Now Owes It $500 Million For Not Granting A Patent It Wanted ”
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130723/05101823898/eli-lilly-decides-it-was-not-greedy-enough-now-suing-canada-500-million.shtml
**Eli Lilly operate in NZ https://www.lilly.co.nz/
I hope Tim Grosser didn’t forget to put in his order for tarrif free medical marijuana.
Wow what a deal! Sold our sovereignty and our public health system for – wait for it – 2 billion dollars a year we may reach by 2030! What a bargain for the big corps.
In what sense have we “sold our sovereignty and our public health system”? What do you mean by that?
The inability of NZ governments to restrict overseas land sales is a pretty big sovereignty issue. Just going off micky’s post, haven’t looked that up.
Matthew the TPPa prevents us from freely trading Dairying and Beef to their market’s.
Prevents NZ from purchasing cheaper meds elsewhere.
Stops us while allowing big Corporates to sue if a govt dept wants to buy locally.
The US and Canadian govts are allowing open discussion before its put to the vote.
National are using their minions to shut down open and fair debate.
This will backfire and Key will flip flop because other govts are releasing information that will expose Key and Grosser weakness in getting a very poor deal for farmers and Pharmac.
Matthew supports big Pharma
Your comments are just so wrong but just to take one
“Prevents NZ from purchasing cheaper meds elsewhere.”
Bullshit… the vast amount of our medicines come from outside of the TPPA countries now this will continue to be the case.
Please keep up the good work . it must be tough to bat away the same stuff every day.
More cost for Pharmac, which will be spread over by cuts to all health services to keep to the Budget, and the right of corps to sue NZ for lost profits.
Incorrect
Why don’t you articulate how the costs will be covered, since you’re claiming to know hoe they’re not
“Well that’s what I mean by HYPERBOLE! … Here we go!”
Note how dominant Hooton is, and how little Williams has to say.
From the Left and From the Right, Radio NZ National, Monday 5 October 2015
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Mike Williams
Part 1 of 2
“Hissy fit? You were listening to a different show.” *
—- Matthew Hooton, 90 minutes later.
First topic today: the TPPA. From the beginning, Hooton takes charge, as always, embarking on a long monologue full of P.R.-speak….
MATTHEW HOOTON: ….. It’s about twenty-first century business, it’s about modern supply chain management, so it’s a different form from what, uh, y’know, we’re used to when we’re talking about the hangovers from the post-Second World War type GATT arrangements. Ummm, but they will be doing some details and they’ll be hoping that every i can be dotted and t crossed, to use the cliché, and then they’ll have their press conference and at some point we’ll see the text and THEN, ahhhhm, it’ll all begin again in the public domain. Because the chances of it being ratified by the U.S. Congress would have to be low, so there will be an almighty public debate involving every business, every union, every academic on one side or the other of this debate that will last probably for some more years.
…[At this point Mike Williams makes his first contribution; he loudly clears his throat]….
KATHRYN RYAN: Mike, it has to be today or it’s probably never going to happen, I think was the consensus wasn’t it. Because we know trade ministers have to head off to some other meeting somewhere, a G-8 or a G-20 meeting somewhere, and of course the big factor with the timing is whether, as Matthew has just alluded to, there is time for this to make its way through Congress before Obama’s time is up. Ahh, so what is your gut instinct on what’s happening right now?
MIKE WILLIAMS: Well I think, ahhm, SOMETHING will be announced at three o’clock. Um, if only because I think the ministers, a large proportion of the ministers, have got a meeting in Istanbul tomorrow. Be interesting to see WHAT is announced, umm, there was a leak about twenty-four hours ago that the Australians and the Americans had reached an agreement on biologicals, I think they’re called but this is in fact drugs. Ahhhm, whether there’s ANYTHING on dairy or not will be fascinating, and I think that the two holdouts there, who are the USA and Canada, are, frankly, unlikely to budge. Canada’s only three weeks—two weeks—off a general election with a very powerful dairy lobby, a very protected industry, so, y’know, it’s, it’s VERY interesting times and we have no idea what’s gonna come out.
……..
KATHRYN RYAN: … The other sticking points have been the patents on the medicines…. This is not a small matter. I don’t wanna re-, y’know, re-debate this, but with the sheer volume of quite um, y’know, dramatic, um, ahhh, treatments that are coming, ahhh, on stream and the price impacts of an extended patent, that’s been another big factor. In the end, what is the debate gonna boil down to politically in New Zealand? Whether we got done on dairy, ahhhh, Mike? Whether we got, y’know, whether we got, on balance, a better deal when we instigated the whole damn thing effectively didn’t we! A better deal, a better situation than we’re in now.
MIKE WILLIAMS: Well I, look, I think a lot of the heat’s gone out of this debate because of Helen Clark’s statement. Umm, she supported TPP very STRONGLY, and standing beside John Key—
KATHRYN RYAN: Well was that HELPFUL at this time of the negotiations, to have a former prime minister saying New Zealand can’t NOT be in it? Was that a helpful intervention?
MIKE WILLIAMS: It’s very interesting because there were two aspects to it. One, Helen Clark always was a committed free trader, I mean I watched debates in caucus on these issues, and she was very firm that free trade was a good deal for, ahhh, New Zealand, but she stepped out of her comfort zone, ‘cos she NORMALLY makes NO comments at all on New Zealand politics, and that, you could argue, is kind of international politics, but—
KATHRYN RYAN: Hmmmm, this was also at the same time though, as negotiators and trade ministers were saying we’re not gonna sign a deal that doesn’t, y’know, doesn’t meet the threshold on dairy.
MATTHEW HOOTON: This is her legacy. She launched these talks. I mean, the original Trans Pacific Partnership with um, y’know, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei, she launched, she completed. And then she lobbied very hard as prime minister to bring the United States in, which was always the plan. Umm, so this is her legacy as prime minister and it’s going to be an historic achievement for New Zealand if it, if it happens so I don’t think it would be surprising that she would have made those comments.
KATHRYN RYAN: No, it’s more the timing of it was my point.
MATTHEW HOOTON: Well, yeah.
KATHRYN RYAN: But I think there was also a caveat, if I’m correctly reading what I read from, um, Tim Groser, the caveat which didn’t necessarily make the soundbite, which is “If it is a good deal.” [giggles]
MATTHEW HOOTON: Yeah, right.
KATHRYN RYAN: Which is quite an important caveat.
MATTHEW HOOTON: I think that what, I mean, I thought that in a few sentences, she cut through and made the case for this deal, ahh, in a way which the current prime minister has not really done in seven years. She made the case for why New Zealand should be part of this in principle, ahhh, and she did so very efficiently, and it’s very, how COULD you disagree with what she said? Umm, I know we’re going to be victims of massive hyperbole over the next twenty-four hours because the likes of Tim Groser, umm, y’know, this has been twenty years’ work for him. For all our diplomats, this has been New Zealand’s number one foreign policy objective for twenty years.
KATHRYN RYAN: Yeah but the question is whether it leaves us net better off given how much we had already liberalized most of our economy—
MATTHEW HOOTON: Well this is—
KATHRYN RYAN: And, and second—
MATTHEW HOOTON: [impatiently] Yeah.
KATHRYN RYAN: —the real gain for us was always going to be dairy. Are we in a better position—
MATTHEW HOOTON: [in an impatient, peremptory tone] Dairy’s seven per cent of our economy. This is just the, the, the CARTOONISH way of presenting this. And it goes to what I said at the outset: this is not, this deal is not about putting unmodified commodities across borders. That is where trade negotiations were sixty years ago.
KATHRYN RYAN: It’s also where our biggest exporter still is.
MATTHEW HOOTON: It is our, it is a [sic] important export for New Zealand and it is seven per cent of the economy. What this is about—and it’s DWARFED by tourism, it’s increasingly DWARFED by other services, um, what this is about, and I think that this is why the critics are absolutely right when they say this is not a trade deal, and why, I think, in many ways, the supporters of the deal have not promoted this rationally and sensibly, because the whole thing is oh, y’know, “We’ll get better dairy access” and we hear from Malcolm Bailey and he’s on the delegation. What this is about is looking at the supply chain that starts from research and development and intellectual property and goes through to the final consumer behind the borders. And this is the first in the world, other than arguably the European Union, and some of APEC’s efforts, to say that international business is no longer about exporting things across borders.
MIKE WILLIAMS: Mmmm.
KATHRYN RYAN: Okay, it does say that. Then we have the other arguments, and PLEASE let’s not get bogged down again, but these arguments about sovereignty, you’re gonna have governments being sued in these international tribunals or worse, where they’ll just be delayed and public health policies they might introduce these kinds of things, so that’s where you get—
MATTHEW HOOTON: Well that’s what I mean by HYPERBOLE! So while Groser is—
KATHRYN RYAN: Well it’s NOT hyperbole, it’s happening right now to Australia, over—
MATTHEW HOOTON: It’s NOT happening.
KATHRYN RYAN: The plain packaging is happening right now. Okay? And that is, that is—
MATTHEW HOOTON: Here we go! A single case, that hasn’t been won, that won’t be won, the Australian government will prevail over Philip Morris and that’ll be the end of that matter. But what, um, y’know, while we’re victims of hyperbole from the pros, we’re also told people are gonna die and this sort of thing and I think the most intelligent way to look at this is umm, y’know, it is not the “world historical breakthrough”, it is not “bigger than Ben Hur”, “best thing that—“. Y’know, it’s not, nor is it the most evil thing. It is an important way of integrating, um, our economy further with other economies.
KATHRYN RYAN: Right. Mike, your take on how this is going to play politically, and for whom, and what is that gonna depend on?
MIKE WILLIAMS: Well I think Helen Clark’s statement has probably defanged the MODERATE left. It will not, um, uh, alter the, y’know, the um, Jane Kelseys of this world, but I actually think it will boil down to some sort of benefit-cost ratio. Y’know, will we get more dairy exports, what will the government’s slice of that be, and what will it cost for more drugs? And if we’ve gotta pay half a billion dollars more, y’know, increase the Pharmac budget by five hundred million dollars and we don’t, ahhhh, get that back in taxes on dairying, then um, that’ll be a bad deal. But it’ll take a while to um, to work out. So let’s, y’know, we really DON’T know what’s there, we’re SPECULATING at the moment.
….An uneasy silence ensues, then the host realizes that Williams has nothing more to offer….
KATHRYN RYAN: All right. Let’s look at some of the other big matters around the place. It has been quite a focus hasn’t it, on the great and the good gathering in the United States….
END OF PART ONE
Coming up in Part Two: Some of the most vacuous chat to be heard anywhere outside of an ACT caucus meeting, including this gem by Mike Williams: “Well I think John Key actually gave a very good speech, and so did Murray McCully.”
* http://thestandard.org.nz/tppa-deal-close/#comment-1078620
Tories Of The Day
The ever so bright Taxpayers’ Alliance, speaking at the Conservative Conference.
Taxpayers’ Alliance: Cut pensioner benefits ‘immediately’
“The first of which will sound a little bit morbid – some of the people… won’t be around to vote against you in the next election. So that’s just a practical point, and the other point is they might have forgotten by then.”
He added: “If you did it now, chances are that in 2020 someone who has had their winter fuel cut might be thinking, ‘Oh I can’t remember, was it this government or was it the last one? I’m not quite sure.’
This is where Bill English gets his ideas from.
https://archive.is/kRIQz
What we can look forward to under TPP.
A homeless woman lay dead at a Hong Kong McDonald’s restaurant for hours surrounded by diners who failed to notice her, sparking concern over the city’s “McRefugees”.
The woman, who police say was between 50 and 60, was found dead Saturday morning and has been held up as an example of the growing number of homeless people who seek shelter in 24-hour restaurants.
“Officers arrived upon a report from a female customer (that a person was found to have fainted),” police said in a statement.
“The subject was certified dead at the scene.”
Local media said the woman was slumped at a table, 24 hours after she first entered the restaurant in the working class district of Ping Shek.
She had not moved for seven hours before fellow diners noticed something was wrong, according to Apple Daily, citing CCTV footage.
The woman was thought to have regularly spent nights in the McDonald’s, the South China Morning Post said.
The city’s Social Welfare Department said it was “highly concerned” about the incident.
“We endeavour to support street sleepers to enhance their self-reliance… the subject is a complex social problem,” a department spokeswoman said.
There are concerns over the plight of the homeless population in the affluent southern Chinese financial hub, although the number of homeless is relatively low, estimated at more than 1,000 by local NGOs.
Many are forced to live on the street as they cannot afford to rent even the tiniest home as housing prices are sky high.
Headline in the Independent
‘TPP signed: the ‘biggest global threat to the internet’ agreed, as campaigners warn that secret pact could bring huge new restrictions to the internet
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement covers 40 per cent of the world’s economy, and sets huge new rules for online businesses as well as traditional ones.’
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/tpp-signed-the-biggest-global-threat-to-the-internet-agreed-as-campaigners-warn-that-secret-pact-a6680321.html
[lprent: If you want to raise the topic of media focus. Do it in OpenMike. Not on my post. ]
Headline in the Herald online
‘Power rankings: All Blacks no longer number one’
This is where it all starts to take a very quarter-final looking shape. Despite Steve Hansen’s protestations, the All Blacks’ error-rate has chipped away at the edges of faith until it is no longer realistic to have them in the No 1 spot.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11524421
3rd headline in the Guardian online
TPP deal: US and 11 other countries reach landmark Pacific trade pact
Trans-Pacific Partnership – the biggest trade deal in a generation – would affect 40% of world economy, but still requires ratification from US Congress and other world lawmakers
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/05/trans-pacific-partnership-deal-reached-pacific-countries-international-trade
3rd headline on the Stuff website
‘Another shooting shocks America as 11-year-old boy kills 8-year-old neighbour
America is again reeling from the horror of its gun violence with an 11-year-old boy being charged with murder after allegedly shooting dead an eight-year-old girl in Tennessee, days after the mass shooting in Oregon and a series of drive-by murders of children in Cleveland, Ohio.
The 11-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder after he used his father’s 12-gauge shotgun to shoot his next door neighbour, McKayla Dyer, through a window as she played outside on Saturday afternoon.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/72734192/another-shooting-shocks-america-as-11yearold-boy-kills-8yearold-neighbour
Top online story on TVNZ’s website
‘A former Western Australia rugby league representative sentenced over a vicious attack on three homeless men, caught on camera in Perth, has been revealed as a New Zealander.’
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/-coward-filmed-viciously-attacking-homeless-men-in-perth-revealed-to-be-kiwi-q14079
Thank goodness for Rod Oram this morning being interviewed by Kathryn Ryan, intelligent responses and questions in the public arena, what a balance for yesterday.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2015/10/deliberate-political-sabotage-darling.html
“No, last Thursday’s (1/10/15) statement from Helen Clark was no mistake. It was an act of deliberate political sabotage.”
Don’t hold back Chris, tell us how you really feel
Wow! French workers unite, heh!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/05/air-france-workers-storm-meeting-protest-executives-job-losses-paris
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/05/henning-mankell-wallender-author-dies-at-67
Henning Mankell, Swedish author, has died of cancer some eight months after diagnosis.
Kenneth Branagh wrote upon his death of Mankell’s writing, his generosity and his “stringent political activism.”
Though I did not know of his student and political activism, his writing was informed by a social conscience and concern for society and for individuals which came through in his novels.
His last writing was a book about dealing with cancer- one which will be high on my reading list.
Seats predicted in Canadian election; latest polls:
Conservatives 122 Liberals 118 NDP 96 Greens 1
The Liberals have overtaken the Conservatives in the polls 32.4 v. 31.6 with the NDP on 25.3.
The Greens are polling 4.9% for their one seat.
NDP/Liberals could outflank the Tories and govern? Or is it not that simple?
It’s a bit weird-no culture of coalitions, but surely this will happen.
The Portuguese election result is another example. It has been touted as a win for the ruling Rightists, but in fact they have lost their majority to Leftist parties and will constantly be out-voted. Why the Left doesn’t form a coalition beats me, despite the fact that there are some policy differences between the Leftist parties.
Suicide rates highest since records began….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/286226/number-of-suicides-highest-since-records-began
Business Confidence at 5 year low….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/286206/business-confidence-drops-to-five-year-low
Don’t forget the rock star economy…..
http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article4697370.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/ACDC-drummer-Phil-Rudd.jpg
@ Morrissey
Shouldn’t he be deported….?
…..and increasing prescriptions of anti depressants and blaming Mental Health Services will do nothing about the suicide stats, it is inevitable with increasing wealth gap causing societal unrest. Oh sorry, I forgot, there is no society.
Most of those community health type services are being dismantled or restructured to cut costs and will continue to be. If we really are the pinnacle of intelligent life in this solar system then we’ve got a bizarre way of showing it.
To Edward thanx for up holding the rights of the people when asked the fascist question about betraying national security
Tvone news a few minutes ago