George HW Bush has a new autobiography confirming what many already knew – that Rumsfield and Cheney were very dangerous and damaging characters indeed.
Especially during that awful first term in the aftermath of 9/11.
I am hearing a lot of beltway discussion about the future of Kiwirail.
It appears to still have no future path to profitability, after billions worth of taxpayer dollars put into it.
Helpfully NZTA doesn’t have to evaluate its motorway systems as a commercial operation to be continuously evaluated as value for money.
Does anyone have any idea what the:
(a) Green Party Kiwirail policy is
(b) Labour Party Kiwirail policy is
(c) NZFirst Kiwirail policy is
I am also hearing and seeing on the ground a lot more non-structural cooperation between NZTA and Kiwirail.
But even if Kiwirail and NZTA were merged, the rail system would still have an operation to run, whose profits from freight don’t generate enough to support the assets.
Well if we’re going down that route then its still a lot better then Labours sell completely 100% of of whatever it is they want and leave NZ with nothing
So National sell it cheap. The private owners run it into the ground and the Labour government buys it back before it is completely destroyed. National government proceed to run it into the ground again.
Amazes me how National party supporters think they can lie and expect people to believe them.
But what really amazes is how gullible people can be, actually accept what Tories say… gulp –and then vote for them.
I guess Blair and Bush got away with it. Why should we be any different?
@ Crashcart
Your first link “NZ Rail sold 1993” leaves out the fact that TOLL Holdings got out of the deal after they had run down the rail system but when the Govt of the day bought it back for $658? Million they kept the delivery service which had been buiit up by NZ Rail over many years and they (Toll) still operate in Auckland at least. So Tranzrail can not offer a door to door service as they used to be able to, at least not under their own direct control.
Fairly pathetic attempt at distraction from the truths there:
FACT: National sold rail
FACT: Private enterprise then ran it down for profit
FACT: Government had to buy rail back because of it’s centrality to transportation into the future causing more profit to the private enterprise that ran it down
FACT: National still running down rail for the profit of the trucking firms against the will and benefit of NZ
The fact that it was sold in the first place was a result of the ideology that you follow. None of our assets should ever have been sold and they should have been kept as monopolies as that’s the most efficient form for them. This is, in fact, one of the reasons why they were set up as monopolies in the first place.
Competition simply doesn’t work with natural monopolies and that means that they must be state owned and operated as services at cost.
List of natural monopolies:
* Water
* Power
* Health
* Telecommunications
* Food
* Transport
Agreed and the first 2 immediately targeted by NACT once they BS’d their way into govt and they’re been doing health/education via stealth/charter schools.
Rebstocks rubber stamped commcomm efforts greatly concentrated food and transport in fewer hands as well as building supplies.
For a robust centralised power grid? – monopoly, check. Superkeen.
For the growing or distribution of food?
Regulation, not monopoly is required so when you buy a loaf of bread you can be reasonably assured that the baker did not put a stone in it to make it feel heavier.
So the production of food in NZ doesn’t strip our oceans (like we are currently) or pollute our waterways, wetlands and beaches (like we are currently)
And to punish with prejudice cartel behaviour.
I look at food as a demand monopoly – everybody needs it for their well being. Leaving it to the market has left a lot of our population with not getting enough food despite NZ producing enough food for ~20m and while the farmers sell offshore.
So, we have Landcare buy up enough farmland to feed all of NZ and that food is then distributed at cost. This would ensure that all of NZ is actually well fed.
I advocate for strong regulation (that has low compliance overghead) around minimum standards for food quality and environmental health (standards that if implemented in a draconian way would put Sanford, among others, and half the dairy farmers out of business) during food production.
I’m also confident that the state does not have and in fact would be near impossible to get variation of thought, culture and skill within its staff needed to produce the infinitely variable range of foods that we currently enjoy.
While my daily intake consists of basic high quality goods that are available to everyone if they have the time to look for, and can afford them (good bread, organic staples and veges add a good 20%+ to my basic shopping bill).
Sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself, family and guests to Medjoul Dates, Parmigiano-Reggiano or a world class Olive oil.
I do understand your desire to run the folks who make tones of money producing shit food out of business, but a monopoly on food simply will not work the way you envision.
Even if it was state owned we would still have strong regulation.
I’m also confident that the state does not have and in fact would be near impossible to get variation of thought, culture and skill within its staff needed to produce the infinitely variable range of foods that we currently enjoy.
Read The Entrepreneurial State. Basically, the state has far more variation in thought, culture and skill than any private enterprise. In fact, private enterprise is the one that’s locked into the straight jacket of having to make a profit and thus works to keep things the same and just looks to create more of the same. This is what happened at Fonterra.
While my daily intake consists of basic high quality goods that are available to everyone if they have the time to look for, and can afford them…
The people who have poor diets can’t afford them. Having the state provide them at cost is part of the answer of ensuring that they can.
I do understand your desire to run the folks who make tones of money producing shit food out of business, but a monopoly on food simply will not work the way you envision.
Actually, it will:
1. State buys enough farm land
2. State hires enough managers and hands to work those farms
3. State invests in huge R&D and encourages farm managers to submit ideas from themselves and the farm hands about running the farms and products. Also invites ideas from the population. IP belongs to the submitter so that they can be appropriately rewarded for it.
4. State sets up a distribution network across country to meet demand
5. UBI paid out so that everyone can afford the cost price free delivery of their weekly groceries (this will save millions if not billions of dollars per year in time and resources)
As I say, the state can, through cooperation, do far more and more efficiently than the private sector can dream of.
@Ad
Are you suggesting that the trucking lobby pay a fair share of their , use of the roads? You seem to be saying that Kiwirail are “bludging” to stay in business. Facts please.
This does not address your inquiry specifically as to rail infrastructure funding. But Transport blog link at the bottom is pertinent.
The Greens transport policy page and policy plan is centred on fixing Auckland’s transport infrastructure:
Complete the City Rail Link, cutting train travel times by up to 28 minutes per trip
Build a rail extension to Mt Roskill (with further rail extensions to the Airport by 2025 and the North Shore planned by 2030)
Electrify the rail network from Papakura to Pukekohe
Build a new bus lane on State Highway 16
Extend the Northern Busway to Albany and Newmarket
Establish a new high quality bus service across the upper harbour
Extend the AMETI Busway into Ellerslie and Manukau
Increase funding for cycling, walking infrastructure
* increasing funding for regions – it’s not detailed how that money would be used, but Julie Anne Genter is very accessible. Email her.
* subjecting all projects to more rigorous up to date cost/benefit analysis/modelling
* reduce spend on motorways
* maintain $ spend on maintenance – which works as in increase / km (as it relates to current spend) due to reduced rate of increase of motorways
The Green party through Genter has also regularly exposed Brownlee’s ignorance in the house, and fought for Gisborne rail access, and against the retrograde step of changing electric trains for diesel on parts of the main line.
The Transport blog is a very good source for news and analysis. They had this up a couple of weeks ago Funding Kiwirail and trucks.
“On the Israeli front they have propaganda to new levels. They are giving free visits to Israel not just to people like Slater but even Kiwi’s at consultancies on the Red Peak Flag team among others”.
James Shaw wants the Red Peak flag ( the Red Peak corporate logo of a USA corporation and a British surveillance firm)
…He wants the Red Peak flag so much that he supported John Key… and snubbed Labour (and NZF), the Greens traditional Left coalition partners… in order to get his Red Peak flag on the first referendum …which deliberately excluded the existing NZ flag with the Union Jack and Southern Cross (which is most what most New Zealanders want).
…James Shaw and John Key thereby forced New Zealand into a costly second flag referendum. Both support the Red Peak flag and do NOT like the existing New Zealand flag
…I wonder as the Israelis like the Red Peak Flag team so much as to offer them free trips to Israel….whether James Shaw has been invited on a free trip to Israel as well?..They must love him!
And I hear James Shaw this morning arguing that Ron Marks (NZF) is “racist” because he objected to a Nact Korean MP patronisingly telling NZers to “grow up” and work on their holidays …Marks told her to “go back home!”`
Is this really racist ?….I dont think so!..Do we want New Zealand workers forced to work in slave Labour Asian worker conditions? This would be to undermine our own humanitarian laws of worker and New Zealander rights !
Once upon a time the Greens defended NZ workers’ conditions and holidays, which had been hard fought for over many decades, by New Zealand workers and their Trade Unions and their British worker and Trade Union counterparts.
…imo James Shaw is either naive, inept or compromised. He does not seem to know how to work cooperatively with the Left, the Greens traditional coalition partners…and to date he certainly seems to be supporting jonkey Nactional.
I think Chooky the more I hear of, and from Mr Shaw, It seems his task is to take the Greens further right.
Maybe they want to get closer to the right wing of labour…
I can hear the howls from here, An no weka I will not link, I only run on about a gigabit a month, as OAB offend states, let google be your friend. 👿
And I hear James Shaw this morning arguing that Ron Marks (NZF) is “racist” because he objected to a Nact Korean MP patronisingly telling NZers to “grow up” and work on their holidays …Marks told her to “go back home!”`
Is this really racist ?….I dont think so!..Do we want New Zealand workers forced to work in slave Labour Asian worker conditions? This would be to undermine our own humanitarian laws of worker and New Zealander rights !
Yeah, I was gobsmacked by that. The fact that we used to actually have holidays was because we had grown up. Recently we’ve been reversing that trend because a few psychopaths want to be richer and think that everybody else should work all the time to make that so.
@Adele…your problem with sending “white folk” or Pakeha back to Britain… is not racism but logic and genetics
…. MOST Maori would have to “fuck off back to England” themselves …or the British Isles
… including you! …unless of course you are a full blooded Maori, which I very much doubt… because there are very few, if any, full blooded Maori around ( there were some full blooded Moriori but the Taranaki Maori just about exterminated them)
…there are many Maori around that look like Pakeha ( look at Ngai Tahu)….and not a few NZers who look like Pakeha but who actually consider themselves Maori
….so how do you get around that problem…chop yourself up and send off an arm and a leg back to England??…or maybe your head?
Chooky. The US determines indigenous people by blood percentages meaning that there’ll be no indigenous peoples…at least as far as government is concerned. NZ doesn’t have that racist framework.
Essentially then, as I understand it, if your of Maori culture and a sun-burned red head with 1% Maori biological lineage – you’re Maori.
Yep, and blood quantum was something invented by racists as a tool of colonisation.
Some tribes in the US don’t even need the bloodlines. If you get adopted into the tribe you are part of the tribe. These people know some things about social coherence and social intelligence that the Eurocentric cultures have forgotten.
My Mother’s whakapapa does not contain white DNA and she is not 200 years old. My Father however has both Irish and American blood coursing through his Mataatua and Te Arawa veins. My Irish and American tūpuna witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of colonisation with the American arriving here in 1842.
My daily ritual includes a karakia of thanks inclusive of all my whakapapa. Without their collective efforts I would not exist so perfectly today.
In direct response to your query, perhaps there are degrees of whiteness with each invoking a unique response along a continuum of “fuck off” to “fuck, stay!”
Anyone that has an appreciation for the uniqueness of Te Ao Māori, please stay. The rest, fuck off. The Māori amongst us who are so colonised in their thinking – if only they could just fuck off to the DNA of their choosing.
For your amusement from Italy and the chilly work I sometimes do
“Accidental selfie while trying to zoom in on a recalcitrant bit of electronics”
I was trying to read some micro serial numbers using the flash camera utility on my ASUS phone, and I managed to flip the camera lenses to the backwards facing one…
It could also have caption of
“Sysop considers what to do to troll”
You do realise that I volunteered for and was in the army for quite a few years. I really can’t abide dickheads waving their patriotic dicks around. My usual question is to ask what have they done recently for our society… The answer is usually an embarrassed silence followed by meaningless blather.
I’d class you as one of those more interested in dick waving rather than doing. Just another armchair general.
That last one was quite witty proud poppy wearer. There are caption contests every month about, and you would be a winner there, so look out for the next one.
I use the penis meme because it is effective on dickheads. Throw out a barb about their penis and watch the dickheads chase after it like a angry fox terrier after a hedgehog.
People who don’t tie their identity to their genitalia will usually ignore the barb and concentrate on the content of the comment. It is a useful way of seperating the adults from the immature boys.
Your reaction clearly shows where your brains lie, and it isn’t in your brain.
I actually took 3 photos (the usual multishot). This was the only one in focus. I clipped the image to oval because it got rid of the junk on the side as I was off balance. Amazing what editing can do.
Pity it can’t get rid of the baggy eyes. But it is the brains that count right?
On to it Olwyn. A moderately good disguise but not good enough. What are you really up to Iprent? Spit it out. We haf ways and means of getting to the truth!
On the contrary, bags can add a look of intellectual depth, like one has been up all night thinking hard about life.
Although he is senior to me I’m having a preference for Danish actor Kim Bodnia (The Bridge) these days. Bit of the ol baggy eye doesn’t hurt when the mind is sharp and active:
Just 102 houses from the 39,000 target have been completed in just 2 of the 95 SHAs set up by the current government. Other land designated SHA land is being used by developers for land banking.
I believe Nick Smith had no intention of receiving pressure on housing, rather he wanted to be seen to be doing something with the least possible impact on the wealthy.
Creating SHA has created instant multi millionaires for those who own land around Auckland. Quite a lot in John Key’s electorate too.
For the investigative out there maybe do a bit of research and see who is benefiting and who they are friends with.
I think you will find the governments interest in changing the zoning is related to this for mates rather than tackling the real problems – cost of building, monopolies, cost of infrastructure, cost of transport, lack of builders, immigration, foreign investor category investments.
There is plenty of land in NZ it is creating the house that costs so much and connecting it to services and transport.
And those houses being created are not affordable or sustainable, and actually taking away affordable housing in the most part and creating eyesores and other problems for the existing communities.
That was always the intention, make alot of BS noises about solving an issue but make changes that enrich your mates and backers but doesn’t actually resolve the issue.
proud poppy wearer – while I can attest that Lynn has his malodorous moments, I can assure you he naval gazes less than anyone I’ve ever met. And if age is a crime – well we’re all for the wall aren’t we?
I assume you are aware that it was you who made the error first? Navel-gazing is different from naval warfare… Pedantry can be mildly amusing at times.
Did you know 14 families were evicted form a boarding house in Avondale on Saturday. Illegally, but then again with this Tory government, what is legal or illegal these days? Odd this has not made the news, I mean with the bleeding of funding of womens refuge, a boarding house which takes single mothers with small children is the free market solution – right? So a place these women could go to get themselves away from, men beating them up is a good thing? It does seem we are not to mention that there is something very wrong with our society when we sweep under the carpet the consequences of ignoring the fact men still beat, and kill women. No doubt some Tory scum bag, will think of some way to make it comfortable for them to ignore the fact they put some many women at risk by their ideological purity. At the end of the day, it is a moral question, do you want to live in a society where women are second class citizens and punch bags – or not?
Back to the fourteen families, homeless on less that 24 hours notice, now living with friends, relatives, in cars, under bridges and on the street. I’m happy to say I heard today, that some Labour M.P’s have helped were they can, but even they are hindered by the ideological purity of a government, not of the people. When did we decide that society was but for the rich? When did an accident of birth decide someone was better than someone else? When did greed is good, and opulence is a right – become the norm?
Have people forgot what it means to love thy neighborer? To stand as one? To know what free air smells like? I think so. When we have a society willing to ignore 14 families illegally evicted, and a media who won’t even question the fact – what have we become? Because those Tory fools who start with a pray in parliament are not Christians. They have given up on love, grace and the Gospels. They walk with deceiver.
“Local municipal and church authorities this week declared that the island’s cemetery was full, leaving them no option but to store dozens of bodies in a refrigerated container.
“We hope that the authorities will be able to find a solution quickly,” said Effi Latsoudi, member of a local migrant support group.”
“At the local morgue – which is also full to capacity – coroner Thodoris Noussios is at his wit’s end.
“This morning we received five more bodies. This tragedy must stop,” he sighs.
Over 50 bodies are currently being kept in the morgue and a 12-metre refrigerated container outside the hospital that was supplied by private donors, Noussios told AFP.”
“What we know is that we were running a hospital treating patients, including wounded combatants from both sides—this was not a ‘Taliban base,’” Liu declared. “The question remains as to whether our hospital lost its protected status in the eyes of the military forces engaged in this attack—and if so, why. The answer does not lie within the MSF hospital. Those responsible for requesting, ordering and approving the airstrikes hold these answers.”
How the carnage unfolded
U.S. airstrikes started around 2 am. At the time, staff were treating 105 patients and attempting to catch up on a “backlog of pending surgeries” because the night had been relatively quiet.
A “series of multiple, precise, and sustained airstrikes targeted the main hospital building, leaving the rest of the buildings in the MSF compound comparatively untouched,” which happens to correlate with the exact GPS coordinates that were provided to “parties to the conflict.”
Two of the three “operating theaters were in use,” and “three international and twenty-three national MSF staff were caring for patients or performing surgeries in this same main building. There were eight patients in the ICU and six patients in the area of the operating theaters.”
“MSF staff recall that the first room to be hit was the ICU [intensive care unit], where MSF staff were caring for a number of immobile patients, some of whom were on ventilators. Two children were in the ICU. MSF staff were attending to these critical patients in the ICU at the time of the attack and were directly killed in the first airstrikes or in the fire that subsequently engulfed the building. Immobile patients in the ICU burned in their beds.”
Interesting how there is a deliberate blurring of the language and muddying of the waters?
The term ‘social housing’ – is now being used to incorporate ‘State housing’?
It’s not complicated.
STATE housing is PUBLIC.
SOCIAL housing is PRIVATE.
In Glen Innes, directly affected affected State tenants are facing the transferal of 2,800 Housing NZ properties to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).
The TRC is a new hybrid – 59% owned by the Crown and 41% owned by Auckland Council.
The mechanism for the privatisation of STATE housing in Tamaki – is first to TRANSFER 2,800 Housing NZ properties to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).
Is it possible to start a new topic for TPP analysis based on the released TPP text?
“Article 11.2* of the agreement confirms that financial services providers are covered under the minimum standard of treatment obligation. This means that almost any change in financial regulations affecting future profits could be challenged in an extra-judicial tribunal, even if they equally applied to foreign and domestic firms and even if they were enacted in response to a crisis.”
*Article 11.2: Scope
1. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party relating
to:
(a) financial institutions of another Party;
(b) investors of another Party, and investments of those investors, in
financial institutions in the Party’s territory; and
(c) cross-border trade in financial services.
2. Chapter 9 (Investment) and Chapter 10 (Cross-Border Trade in Services) shall
apply to measures described in paragraph 1 only to the extent that those Chapters or
Articles of those Chapters are incorporated into this Chapter.
(a) Article 9.6 (Minimum Standard of Treatment), ” https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPP-Final-Text-Financial-Services.pdf
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
George HW Bush has a new autobiography confirming what many already knew – that Rumsfield and Cheney were very dangerous and damaging characters indeed.
Especially during that awful first term in the aftermath of 9/11.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/05/george-bush-sr-book-reveals-a-more-dangerous-dick-cheney-than-anyone-knew
I am hearing a lot of beltway discussion about the future of Kiwirail.
It appears to still have no future path to profitability, after billions worth of taxpayer dollars put into it.
Helpfully NZTA doesn’t have to evaluate its motorway systems as a commercial operation to be continuously evaluated as value for money.
Does anyone have any idea what the:
(a) Green Party Kiwirail policy is
(b) Labour Party Kiwirail policy is
(c) NZFirst Kiwirail policy is
I am also hearing and seeing on the ground a lot more non-structural cooperation between NZTA and Kiwirail.
But even if Kiwirail and NZTA were merged, the rail system would still have an operation to run, whose profits from freight don’t generate enough to support the assets.
Anyone got any intel?
ask Goldman Sachs…they are advising Treasury…and they have an interest in privatising national transport utilities
http://www.goldmansachs.com/what-we-do/investing-and-lending/direct-private-investing/equity-folder/gs-infrastructure-partners.html
Ask Labour, you know sell it cheaply then buy it back at a more expensive price
@Puckish Rogue vs the Natz sell it cheaply to mates and then make taxpayers provide corporate welfare to keep the profits up.
Well if we’re going down that route then its still a lot better then Labours sell completely 100% of of whatever it is they want and leave NZ with nothing
Fay and Richwhite send their regards
Yes, in that regard at least key’s govt is less shitty than the 4th Labour government.
But if “being less shitty than lab4” is the government’s goal, they might want to find a goal that actually involves good governance.
Wow normally a lie isn’t so hard to refute but here you go.
NZ Rail was sold in 1993
http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/about-us/history-of-kiwirail.html
By the then National Governement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_in_New_Zealand#Government
So National sell it cheap. The private owners run it into the ground and the Labour government buys it back before it is completely destroyed. National government proceed to run it into the ground again.
+1
Amazes me how National party supporters think they can lie and expect people to believe them.
But what really amazes is how gullible people can be, actually accept what Tories say… gulp –and then vote for them.
I guess Blair and Bush got away with it. Why should we be any different?
@ Crashcart
Your first link “NZ Rail sold 1993” leaves out the fact that TOLL Holdings got out of the deal after they had run down the rail system but when the Govt of the day bought it back for $658? Million they kept the delivery service which had been buiit up by NZ Rail over many years and they (Toll) still operate in Auckland at least. So Tranzrail can not offer a door to door service as they used to be able to, at least not under their own direct control.
Fairly pathetic attempt at distraction from the truths there:
FACT: National sold rail
FACT: Private enterprise then ran it down for profit
FACT: Government had to buy rail back because of it’s centrality to transportation into the future causing more profit to the private enterprise that ran it down
FACT: National still running down rail for the profit of the trucking firms against the will and benefit of NZ
Got any actual facts on Kiwirail’s future?
@AD No not really but I can say that Toll has been bought by Japan Post Co. Ltd.on 25.5.2015 .
Perhaps we should sell Tranzrail to them also that might suit the present Government who are a little short on funds.
Poor joke see DTB comment below I agree 100%
The fact that it was sold in the first place was a result of the ideology that you follow. None of our assets should ever have been sold and they should have been kept as monopolies as that’s the most efficient form for them. This is, in fact, one of the reasons why they were set up as monopolies in the first place.
Competition simply doesn’t work with natural monopolies and that means that they must be state owned and operated as services at cost.
List of natural monopolies:
* Water
* Power
* Health
* Telecommunications
* Food
* Transport
Agreed and the first 2 immediately targeted by NACT once they BS’d their way into govt and they’re been doing health/education via stealth/charter schools.
Rebstocks rubber stamped commcomm efforts greatly concentrated food and transport in fewer hands as well as building supplies.
Food?
Please explain.
Supermarket duopoly, an appalling decision for the consumer, which impacts other areas like alcohol as they dominate wine and beer market share.
The mill was just acquired by one of them to consolidate further
It might just be a matter of preference, but:
For a robust centralised power grid? – monopoly, check. Superkeen.
For the growing or distribution of food?
Regulation, not monopoly is required so when you buy a loaf of bread you can be reasonably assured that the baker did not put a stone in it to make it feel heavier.
So the production of food in NZ doesn’t strip our oceans (like we are currently) or pollute our waterways, wetlands and beaches (like we are currently)
And to punish with prejudice cartel behaviour.
I look at food as a demand monopoly – everybody needs it for their well being. Leaving it to the market has left a lot of our population with not getting enough food despite NZ producing enough food for ~20m and while the farmers sell offshore.
So, we have Landcare buy up enough farmland to feed all of NZ and that food is then distributed at cost. This would ensure that all of NZ is actually well fed.
Yeah, I disagree.
I advocate for strong regulation (that has low compliance overghead) around minimum standards for food quality and environmental health (standards that if implemented in a draconian way would put Sanford, among others, and half the dairy farmers out of business) during food production.
I’m also confident that the state does not have and in fact would be near impossible to get variation of thought, culture and skill within its staff needed to produce the infinitely variable range of foods that we currently enjoy.
While my daily intake consists of basic high quality goods that are available to everyone if they have the time to look for, and can afford them (good bread, organic staples and veges add a good 20%+ to my basic shopping bill).
Sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself, family and guests to Medjoul Dates, Parmigiano-Reggiano or a world class Olive oil.
I do understand your desire to run the folks who make tones of money producing shit food out of business, but a monopoly on food simply will not work the way you envision.
Even if it was state owned we would still have strong regulation.
Read The Entrepreneurial State. Basically, the state has far more variation in thought, culture and skill than any private enterprise. In fact, private enterprise is the one that’s locked into the straight jacket of having to make a profit and thus works to keep things the same and just looks to create more of the same. This is what happened at Fonterra.
The people who have poor diets can’t afford them. Having the state provide them at cost is part of the answer of ensuring that they can.
Actually, it will:
1. State buys enough farm land
2. State hires enough managers and hands to work those farms
3. State invests in huge R&D and encourages farm managers to submit ideas from themselves and the farm hands about running the farms and products. Also invites ideas from the population. IP belongs to the submitter so that they can be appropriately rewarded for it.
4. State sets up a distribution network across country to meet demand
5. UBI paid out so that everyone can afford the cost price free delivery of their weekly groceries (this will save millions if not billions of dollars per year in time and resources)
As I say, the state can, through cooperation, do far more and more efficiently than the private sector can dream of.
@Ad
Are you suggesting that the trucking lobby pay a fair share of their , use of the roads? You seem to be saying that Kiwirail are “bludging” to stay in business. Facts please.
“Helpfully NZTA doesn’t have to evaluate its motorway systems as a commercial operation to be continuously evaluated as value for money.”
Perhaps that was just too oblique for you.
Well aware of RUC charges, well aware of Track Access charges.
Thanks for playing.
Actually looking for policy information, if you’ve got an actual contribution.
This does not address your inquiry specifically as to rail infrastructure funding. But Transport blog link at the bottom is pertinent.
The Greens transport policy page and policy plan is centred on fixing Auckland’s transport infrastructure:
* increasing funding for regions – it’s not detailed how that money would be used, but Julie Anne Genter is very accessible. Email her.
* subjecting all projects to more rigorous up to date cost/benefit analysis/modelling
* reduce spend on motorways
* maintain $ spend on maintenance – which works as in increase / km (as it relates to current spend) due to reduced rate of increase of motorways
The Green party through Genter has also regularly exposed Brownlee’s ignorance in the house, and fought for Gisborne rail access, and against the retrograde step of changing electric trains for diesel on parts of the main line.
The Transport blog is a very good source for news and analysis. They had this up a couple of weeks ago Funding Kiwirail and trucks.
Yes I am well aware of the TransportBlog debates – and cheers I know the transport spokespeople already.
I was just fishing for something fresh since the report was clearly going to come down the pipeline soon.
Thanks anyway though.
From the Daily Blog :
“On the Israeli front they have propaganda to new levels. They are giving free visits to Israel not just to people like Slater but even Kiwi’s at consultancies on the Red Peak Flag team among others”.
James Shaw wants the Red Peak flag ( the Red Peak corporate logo of a USA corporation and a British surveillance firm)
…He wants the Red Peak flag so much that he supported John Key… and snubbed Labour (and NZF), the Greens traditional Left coalition partners… in order to get his Red Peak flag on the first referendum …which deliberately excluded the existing NZ flag with the Union Jack and Southern Cross (which is most what most New Zealanders want).
…James Shaw and John Key thereby forced New Zealand into a costly second flag referendum. Both support the Red Peak flag and do NOT like the existing New Zealand flag
…I wonder as the Israelis like the Red Peak Flag team so much as to offer them free trips to Israel….whether James Shaw has been invited on a free trip to Israel as well?..They must love him!
And I hear James Shaw this morning arguing that Ron Marks (NZF) is “racist” because he objected to a Nact Korean MP patronisingly telling NZers to “grow up” and work on their holidays …Marks told her to “go back home!”`
Is this really racist ?….I dont think so!..Do we want New Zealand workers forced to work in slave Labour Asian worker conditions? This would be to undermine our own humanitarian laws of worker and New Zealander rights !
Once upon a time the Greens defended NZ workers’ conditions and holidays, which had been hard fought for over many decades, by New Zealand workers and their Trade Unions and their British worker and Trade Union counterparts.
…imo James Shaw is either naive, inept or compromised. He does not seem to know how to work cooperatively with the Left, the Greens traditional coalition partners…and to date he certainly seems to be supporting jonkey Nactional.
I think Chooky the more I hear of, and from Mr Shaw, It seems his task is to take the Greens further right.
Maybe they want to get closer to the right wing of labour…
I can hear the howls from here, An no weka I will not link, I only run on about a gigabit a month, as OAB offend states, let google be your friend. 👿
“It seems his task is to take the Greens further right.”
You really don’t have any idea about Green Party politics do you?
Oh I do, Lobby groups fall in this regard every time.But I hope for more.
Fail is what I mean.
Yeah, I was gobsmacked by that. The fact that we used to actually have holidays was because we had grown up. Recently we’ve been reversing that trend because a few psychopaths want to be richer and think that everybody else should work all the time to make that so.
That quote is bullshit.
Marks did not say “Go back home” – he said “if you do not like New Zealand go back to Korea”.
That IS racist.
Which is where she came from so, no, not racist.
Teenaa koe, Draco
Well, how is it that every time us Maaoris tell white folk to fuck off back to England or wherever, we are labelled racists?
Fucked if I know. I never considered that racist.
Lol. Good answer.
@Adele…your problem with sending “white folk” or Pakeha back to Britain… is not racism but logic and genetics
…. MOST Maori would have to “fuck off back to England” themselves …or the British Isles
… including you! …unless of course you are a full blooded Maori, which I very much doubt… because there are very few, if any, full blooded Maori around ( there were some full blooded Moriori but the Taranaki Maori just about exterminated them)
…there are many Maori around that look like Pakeha ( look at Ngai Tahu)….and not a few NZers who look like Pakeha but who actually consider themselves Maori
….so how do you get around that problem…chop yourself up and send off an arm and a leg back to England??…or maybe your head?
Chooky. The US determines indigenous people by blood percentages meaning that there’ll be no indigenous peoples…at least as far as government is concerned. NZ doesn’t have that racist framework.
Essentially then, as I understand it, if your of Maori culture and a sun-burned red head with 1% Maori biological lineage – you’re Maori.
And that’s as it should be by my reckoning.
Yep, and blood quantum was something invented by racists as a tool of colonisation.
Some tribes in the US don’t even need the bloodlines. If you get adopted into the tribe you are part of the tribe. These people know some things about social coherence and social intelligence that the Eurocentric cultures have forgotten.
Kiaora, Chooky
My Mother’s whakapapa does not contain white DNA and she is not 200 years old. My Father however has both Irish and American blood coursing through his Mataatua and Te Arawa veins. My Irish and American tūpuna witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of colonisation with the American arriving here in 1842.
My daily ritual includes a karakia of thanks inclusive of all my whakapapa. Without their collective efforts I would not exist so perfectly today.
In direct response to your query, perhaps there are degrees of whiteness with each invoking a unique response along a continuum of “fuck off” to “fuck, stay!”
Anyone that has an appreciation for the uniqueness of Te Ao Māori, please stay. The rest, fuck off. The Māori amongst us who are so colonised in their thinking – if only they could just fuck off to the DNA of their choosing.
😆 very pithy.
I enjoyed that too.
I don’t think Ron Marks was being racists he was just telling it how it is.
This brings to mind the saying , the pot calling the kettle black.
For your amusement from Italy and the chilly work I sometimes do
“Accidental selfie while trying to zoom in on a recalcitrant bit of electronics”
I was trying to read some micro serial numbers using the flash camera utility on my ASUS phone, and I managed to flip the camera lenses to the backwards facing one…
It could also have caption of
“Sysop considers what to do to troll”
😈
For all that severe solitude and concrete, for a moment I thought you were at the Labour Party conference!
Unfortunately not this year. But that is ok. There is always next year. And I am sure to get some detailed reports.
lprent
You have the look of Scott after he got to the South Pole and found that bluddy Amundsen had got there first.
Just as cold, though.. 😉
It could also have caption of
“Sysop considers what to do to troll”
or
” Smelly old socialist does more naval gazing”
You do realise that I volunteered for and was in the army for quite a few years. I really can’t abide dickheads waving their patriotic dicks around. My usual question is to ask what have they done recently for our society… The answer is usually an embarrassed silence followed by meaningless blather.
I’d class you as one of those more interested in dick waving rather than doing. Just another armchair general.
Talking of dick waving that could also be worked into a caption with relative ease.
You do seem to have a rather interesting fixation with penises.
That last one was quite witty proud poppy wearer. There are caption contests every month about, and you would be a winner there, so look out for the next one.
” Smelly old socialist does more naval gazing”
I doubt that there are any ships in the immediate vicinity of where the picture was taken…
edit: damn, IV beat me to it… by 4 hours or so lol
Well he does have the penis fixation, so perhaps naval was more appropriate than navel.
Ah. So your poppy pride doesn’t extend to avoiding tired tropes about the maritime service.
I use the penis meme because it is effective on dickheads. Throw out a barb about their penis and watch the dickheads chase after it like a angry fox terrier after a hedgehog.
People who don’t tie their identity to their genitalia will usually ignore the barb and concentrate on the content of the comment. It is a useful way of seperating the adults from the immature boys.
Your reaction clearly shows where your brains lie, and it isn’t in your brain.
An angry fox.. an hedgehog too if it takes your fancy as much as the penile talk does
lol…you are more handsome than I thought
I am ? Please don’t tell Lyn. I sold myself to her on the basis that it was my brains that were important.
Yes, and all that concrete adds an industrial-atmospheric vibe to the portrait. A classy alt look.
For an accidental selfie, that turned out rather well. It looks like still from a movie.
I actually took 3 photos (the usual multishot). This was the only one in focus. I clipped the image to oval because it got rid of the junk on the side as I was off balance. Amazing what editing can do.
Pity it can’t get rid of the baggy eyes. But it is the brains that count right?
One of John Le Carre’s soulful and reflective spies, maybe – you need a few shadows round the eyes for that. 🙂
On to it Olwyn. A moderately good disguise but not good enough. What are you really up to Iprent? Spit it out. We haf ways and means of getting to the truth!
On the contrary, bags can add a look of intellectual depth, like one has been up all night thinking hard about life.
Although he is senior to me I’m having a preference for Danish actor Kim Bodnia (The Bridge) these days. Bit of the ol baggy eye doesn’t hurt when the mind is sharp and active:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/01/article-2550066-1B0B8F2500000578-654_634x513.jpg
Open Mike is for everything right???
Brains that count? dunno. Ask Lyn.
Scary. Kinda looks like the Sunday school version of God.
Just 102 houses from the 39,000 target have been completed in just 2 of the 95 SHAs set up by the current government. Other land designated SHA land is being used by developers for land banking.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11540789
I believe Nick Smith had no intention of receiving pressure on housing, rather he wanted to be seen to be doing something with the least possible impact on the wealthy.
Creating SHA has created instant multi millionaires for those who own land around Auckland. Quite a lot in John Key’s electorate too.
For the investigative out there maybe do a bit of research and see who is benefiting and who they are friends with.
I think you will find the governments interest in changing the zoning is related to this for mates rather than tackling the real problems – cost of building, monopolies, cost of infrastructure, cost of transport, lack of builders, immigration, foreign investor category investments.
There is plenty of land in NZ it is creating the house that costs so much and connecting it to services and transport.
And those houses being created are not affordable or sustainable, and actually taking away affordable housing in the most part and creating eyesores and other problems for the existing communities.
That was always the intention, make alot of BS noises about solving an issue but make changes that enrich your mates and backers but doesn’t actually resolve the issue.
RONS follows the same pattern.
proud poppy wearer – while I can attest that Lynn has his malodorous moments, I can assure you he naval gazes less than anyone I’ve ever met. And if age is a crime – well we’re all for the wall aren’t we?
“And if age is a crime – well we’re all for the wall aren’t we?”
True, very true.
I just don’t get why anyone would want to gaze at the navy…
he he
I assume you are aware that it was you who made the error first? Navel-gazing is different from naval warfare… Pedantry can be mildly amusing at times.
I agree.
Did you know 14 families were evicted form a boarding house in Avondale on Saturday. Illegally, but then again with this Tory government, what is legal or illegal these days? Odd this has not made the news, I mean with the bleeding of funding of womens refuge, a boarding house which takes single mothers with small children is the free market solution – right? So a place these women could go to get themselves away from, men beating them up is a good thing? It does seem we are not to mention that there is something very wrong with our society when we sweep under the carpet the consequences of ignoring the fact men still beat, and kill women. No doubt some Tory scum bag, will think of some way to make it comfortable for them to ignore the fact they put some many women at risk by their ideological purity. At the end of the day, it is a moral question, do you want to live in a society where women are second class citizens and punch bags – or not?
Back to the fourteen families, homeless on less that 24 hours notice, now living with friends, relatives, in cars, under bridges and on the street. I’m happy to say I heard today, that some Labour M.P’s have helped were they can, but even they are hindered by the ideological purity of a government, not of the people. When did we decide that society was but for the rich? When did an accident of birth decide someone was better than someone else? When did greed is good, and opulence is a right – become the norm?
Have people forgot what it means to love thy neighborer? To stand as one? To know what free air smells like? I think so. When we have a society willing to ignore 14 families illegally evicted, and a media who won’t even question the fact – what have we become? Because those Tory fools who start with a pray in parliament are not Christians. They have given up on love, grace and the Gospels. They walk with deceiver.
Who? What? Why? How? When?
Why were they evicted?
and this is just heart breaking.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/203150/article/ekathimerini/news/lesvos-running-out-of-space-to-bury-the-dead
“Local municipal and church authorities this week declared that the island’s cemetery was full, leaving them no option but to store dozens of bodies in a refrigerated container.
“We hope that the authorities will be able to find a solution quickly,” said Effi Latsoudi, member of a local migrant support group.”
“At the local morgue – which is also full to capacity – coroner Thodoris Noussios is at his wit’s end.
“This morning we received five more bodies. This tragedy must stop,” he sighs.
Over 50 bodies are currently being kept in the morgue and a 12-metre refrigerated container outside the hospital that was supplied by private donors, Noussios told AFP.”
and file this under war crime or shit happens
https://shadowproof.com/2015/11/05/doctors-without-borders-releases-horrific-details-of-kunduz-hospital-bombing-by-u-s-forces/
“What we know is that we were running a hospital treating patients, including wounded combatants from both sides—this was not a ‘Taliban base,’” Liu declared. “The question remains as to whether our hospital lost its protected status in the eyes of the military forces engaged in this attack—and if so, why. The answer does not lie within the MSF hospital. Those responsible for requesting, ordering and approving the airstrikes hold these answers.”
How the carnage unfolded
U.S. airstrikes started around 2 am. At the time, staff were treating 105 patients and attempting to catch up on a “backlog of pending surgeries” because the night had been relatively quiet.
A “series of multiple, precise, and sustained airstrikes targeted the main hospital building, leaving the rest of the buildings in the MSF compound comparatively untouched,” which happens to correlate with the exact GPS coordinates that were provided to “parties to the conflict.”
Two of the three “operating theaters were in use,” and “three international and twenty-three national MSF staff were caring for patients or performing surgeries in this same main building. There were eight patients in the ICU and six patients in the area of the operating theaters.”
“MSF staff recall that the first room to be hit was the ICU [intensive care unit], where MSF staff were caring for a number of immobile patients, some of whom were on ventilators. Two children were in the ICU. MSF staff were attending to these critical patients in the ICU at the time of the attack and were directly killed in the first airstrikes or in the fire that subsequently engulfed the building. Immobile patients in the ICU burned in their beds.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/289046/can-andrew-little-sail-labour-to-power
Very good (and unbiased) piece in RNZ about Little and Labour. Worth a read.
Interesting how there is a deliberate blurring of the language and muddying of the waters?
The term ‘social housing’ – is now being used to incorporate ‘State housing’?
It’s not complicated.
STATE housing is PUBLIC.
SOCIAL housing is PRIVATE.
In Glen Innes, directly affected affected State tenants are facing the transferal of 2,800 Housing NZ properties to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).
The TRC is a new hybrid – 59% owned by the Crown and 41% owned by Auckland Council.
The mechanism for the privatisation of STATE housing in Tamaki – is first to TRANSFER 2,800 Housing NZ properties to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).
I am opposed to this.
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Haven’t heard much about Ponce Charles and duckchess Camilla. Good!
Is it possible to start a new topic for TPP analysis based on the released TPP text?
“Article 11.2* of the agreement confirms that financial services providers are covered under the minimum standard of treatment obligation. This means that almost any change in financial regulations affecting future profits could be challenged in an extra-judicial tribunal, even if they equally applied to foreign and domestic firms and even if they were enacted in response to a crisis.”
https://theintercept.com/2015/11/06/ttp-trade-pact-would-give-wall-street-a-trump-card-to-block-regulations/
*Article 11.2: Scope
1. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party relating
to:
(a) financial institutions of another Party;
(b) investors of another Party, and investments of those investors, in
financial institutions in the Party’s territory; and
(c) cross-border trade in financial services.
2. Chapter 9 (Investment) and Chapter 10 (Cross-Border Trade in Services) shall
apply to measures described in paragraph 1 only to the extent that those Chapters or
Articles of those Chapters are incorporated into this Chapter.
(a) Article 9.6 (Minimum Standard of Treatment), ”
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPP-Final-Text-Financial-Services.pdf