That’s actually scary. The corruption in NZ over the last few years has been of the in our face, don’t care variety and yet still people think we’re the least corrupt?
yes Draco knows much better than those silly fools at the international organisation who utilise their expertise and training in a transparent fashion.
Well I think the finding is highly questionable… Not only was the Serious Fraud Office predicting a huge increase in serious fraud cases, New Zealand has become one of the worlds favourite places for tax evaders to hide their ill-gotten gains.
We also have a largely ineffective system to address various types of fraud and you would be hard pressed to find anybody who hasn’t been affected. Not to mention that this is meant to be an annual report that actually gets trotted out around three or four times a year or whenever National needs some good news.
PS the report says we’re PERCEIVED to be least corrupt not that we are actually least corrupt. So a perception from various institutes with a vested interest and academics from other countries or a perception from New Zealanders… Take your pick.
“Not only was the Serious Fraud Office predicting a huge increase in serious fraud cases”
Fraud =/= corruption
Seriously, if you want to know what proper corruption looks like spend sometime in South Africa. I have spent a lot of time there and have witnessed first hand what institutional corruption looks like and NZ doesn’t have it.
Yes! Fraud is a type of corruption TheContrarian. I’m sure you’re right that South Africa has a lot of corruption, but unless corruption has become a lot worse in other countries at a time corruption in New Zealand has become worse according to the Serious Fraud Office, the perception index is wrong! To argue that NZ doesn’t have any institutional corruption is naive.
This is true, but the survey is of perceptions in relation to other countries.
So rewriting the tax codes to some of the lowest levels in the world is unethical, but as long as the majority of people paid the legally required amount, it’s not “corrupt”.
Whether NZ is more corrupt than it once was is not the metric of the survey.
Here’s some facts from actual research TheContrarian, perhaps you might like to try it yourself sometime:
4% of NZ’ers admit paying a bribe to win business (c.f. 0% Denmark; 1% UK; 2% Australia)
Only 44% of NZX top 50 companies have anti-bribery policies (c.f. 72% UK; 69% USA; 50% Europe)
73% NZ’ers believe corruption is increasing
Despite these numbers that show New Zealand shouldn’t be perceived as the least corrupt country in the world, the actual mechanism of institutional corruption is very hard to quantify, and other studies have found that corrupt, fraudulent, coercive or collusive practices in New Zealand are endemic within our institutional arrangements.
This being the case, and making note of what the actual research shows, I would have to say you’re categorically wrong TheContrarian… But what else is new?
Jackal, all your figures show is that New Zealanders do a lot of business in corrupt countries – I would assume China, Indonesia, and the koha cultures of the Pacific would feature heavily. Not the same thing as New Zealand being particularly corrupt at all. At least that’s what I’m assuming as you haven’t bothered to link to any site that will tell me the context for the data, or even whether you just pulled those numbers out of your arse or not. Cite sources please.
“I would have to say you’re categorically wrong TheContrarian”
Well Jackal I suggest you also send your figures to transparency.org and let them know how wrong they are.
“73% NZ’ers believe corruption is increasing ”
Argumentum ad populum. Logical fallacy.
And yes, sources please.
@Felix:
“100% honest compared to other countries.”
Well yes, it is a comparative scale and no where do they, or I, suggest there is zero corruption in NZ.
Not really, you wouldn’t say because 98% of climatologists agree in Global Warming it is an Argumentum ad populum.
To say “73% NZ’ers believe corruption is increasing” therefore NZ is corrupt is an Argumentum ad populum.
It is the same as saying most of the population believes in some sort of god therefore god exists.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood what they’re describing.
I thought “perceived” referred to the perceptions of ordinary people as measured by corruption experts, as opposed to the perceptions of the corruption experts themselves.
A comparative study which publicly announces it’s methodology, results and is considered to be relatively accurately in its representation of real world corruption is much less of an argumentum ad populum than Jackal arguing the study is bunk because 76% of NZer’s said so.
I’ll throw my lot in with with well know and well respected international metrics which can be fairly well applied in the real world over Jackal and his unsourced statistics.
And whatever is or isn’t wrong with the 76% stat, you can’t really call it a popularity fallacy, when what you are seeking to find is a perception, even if you do put it in fucking latin.
if what your looking for is a perception, then ‘what people reckon’ is what you are looking for. To call that a fallacy would be a category error of some sort.
This might be news to you Populuxe1, but New Zealand companies do a lot of business within New Zealand. The research would be similar to the percentage difference between foreign business and local business. I believe local trade still makes up the biggest contributor to our GDP.
The statistical source is the Serious Fraud Office. There is other relevant research that backs up my argument btw. Instead of just being a couple of opinionated wankers TheContrarian and Populuxe1, why don’t you look into the matter yourselves?
Claiming that these figures should be sent to transparency.org is entirely stupid. Any research agency would be well versed in such information, and as McFlock succinctly points out it’s a perception index, not the reality of corruption within New Zealand.
If you don’t believe the opinion of the masses is correct, you must also be arguing against a majority voting in a government TheContrarian. Anti-democratic much?
You might note that the figures above the 73% of New Zealanders believing corruption is increasing ie 4% admitting paying bribes and 44% anti-bribery policies, is not Argumentum ad populum. Interesting that the research backs up the New Zealand public perception eh!
The index measures the perception of corruption in the public sector and not the financial sector, but Transparency’s Europe director Anne Koch…
Yeah, yeah. Possibly a deliberate and misleading point at which to cut the quoted text, but hey.
The survey, which was first conducted in 1995, draws on a variety of sources that capture perceptions of corruption, including World Bank and World Economic Forum assessments, the African Development Bank’s governance ratings, and Transparency International’s own Bribe Payers Survey.
Couldn’t bring myself to read the comments at KB, but I have to say that I’m in two minds about men’s clubs. I think it’s fine for different genders to have their own spaces (I’ve worked in feminist collectives where men are not allowed). The problem with men’s clubs historically is that they’ve been the bastions of the old boys who have been running the show and not willing to share that power and privilege with anyone else – hence the original challenges about membership. I’m guessing that women moving in those circles of power needed membership in order to make headway. The problem now is that they’re like to become bastions of the remnants of the old boy’s networks and/or repositories for the misogyny that’s no longer acceptable in open society (think men’s rights groups also).
Not sure what the solution is there, but the law firm in question, if it had any sense of anything, would hold the party somewhere else.
The difference between left and right is quite substantial. This is reflected in the nature of commenting between the standard and kiwiblog. People may appear roughly the same and live in the same types of houses and lead similar lives, but their underlying philosophies and approaches to life are often at opposite and extreme ends of the spectrum. A bit like how two seemingly similar people can live in the same street yet one believes in eternal life and one doesn’t – can’t get more extreme ends of outlook than that.
What would be interesting is to post the same subject on each site at the same time and see how different the comment streams are. And the one linked to by Felix would be a great one to try it out on.
I read a few comments. They don’t seem to get the difference between a single sex sports club or gym and that of an occupational group: the Law Society.
If Mr. Key is not clueless on intelligence and security matters, then the “spy” plane response and his other actions show that along with being contemptuous of those who may seek to hold him to account, he is arrogant, irresponsible, disloyal, mean-spirited and vindictive as well. To which can be added one more trait that has emerged in Mr. Key as of late: callous narcissism.
.
Draco is right above in that corruption is the in your face don’t care type.
Perfect example – get Wyatt Creech, an owner in the dairy industry, to write a fucking bullshit report on the state of water regs in Canterbury and use that to claim that democracy itself needs to be ripped out so the lying dirty business farming pricks who couldn’t achieve their business greed through usual business and democratic processes simply thieve what they want. All the while claiming it is something other than that.
Corrupt.
Liars and thieves – the farmers, the national government, David Carter, Nick Smith, Wyatt Creech, Amy Adams.
What is John Key, Prime Minister of the purportedly (first equal) ‘least corrupt country in the world’ going to do about this one?
WILL NZ PRIME MINISTER STAND DOWN JOHN BANKS AS MINISTER – WHEN BANKS APPEARS IN THE WELLINGTON DISTRICT COURT ON 11 DECEMBER 2012 TO FACE A PRIVATE PROSECUTION FOR ALLEGED ELECTORAL FRAUD? http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/peters-powerless-jettison-horan-parliament-academic-dw-133495#comment-598400
MY COMMENT – yet to be published:
What is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to do when his MMP coalition partner, ACT Leader and MP for Epsom, John Banks, Minister for Small Business and Regulatory Reform, and Associate Minister for Education and Commerce, appears in the Wellington District on Tuesday 11 December 2012 at 1.45pm to face a private prosecution alleging electoral fraud?
Is he going to, as a first step, stand John Banks down as a Minister?
If a Wellington District Court Judge believes there is arguably a case for John Banks to answer – or a summons would not have been issued.
Or is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to continue to defend the indefensible, and politically protect John Banks?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’ http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
The potential for fracking to pollute pasture and water supplies in Taranaki isn’t just speculation… Documented evidence shows that fracking fluid blow-down pits at the Kapuni site had polluted the groundwater which was no longer fit for human or stock consumption. The BETX (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylenes) contaminated water also didn’t meet the criteria for irrigation, meaning it was highly toxic.
Of course Shell Todd Oil Services, which owns Kapuni, and the complicit regional council say there’s no link with the fracking that’s occurred in the area and the groundwater contamination, however BETX has been regularly used in fracking around Taranaki and there’s no other explanation for it to be found in the groundwater other than unsafe storage of well fluids in fracking blow-down pits.
Ha! Nothing to do with fracking, the water was contaminated in the tank it was being held in, which had been previously used for mixing liquid fertiliser.
Seems its not the fert. But it’s a safe bet it was something in the water. And something pretty potent, at that. Hopefully its not another farmer family jealousy case and just misadventure.
Within the last hour there was a sudden loud thunder clap right above, that made me jump – freaky! Now reports are coming in of storm damage out here in west Auckland, including a tornado not far away in the Hobsonville area.
It seems to be clearing now, with all OK where I am….. but it was pretty scary for a moment. I hope people in the storm damage areas are doing OK.
Ummm some kind of bug showing up in the Cloudflare feature
Mirage/ PRO / BUSINESS / ENTERPRISE/ BETA
Lazy loader: Automatically turns all images into load-on-demand. Images on your site are not loaded until the visitor scrolls to their location.
On a couple of webkit renderer browsers (ie Chrome and Rekong) I started getting jams on loading images – probably a advertising image.
Turned the feature off as it is both beta and doesn’t really seem to speed the page loads.
There’s no question that Dr Norman articulates himself well and is as dedicated as they come to a future government that will reduce GHG emissions to protect our environment. In fact his ability in the house to show National up for their environmental failures is second to none…
Meanwhile, David Cunliffe MP for New Lynn, having checked his own electorate, rather than return to Parliament, is heading out west to check the PM’s electorate for him.
I don’t think the last two comments are in good taste, people have died out there, show just a little humanity, you are meant to be Left and for the “people”
[lprent: Off topic moved to OpenMike.
Hard to see why? ]
I certainly have concern for those who have died, and been injured. I am “out there” and was a little scared in the middle of the storm.
I have yet to see any comment from John Key about his electorate. i have seen comments and/or tweets from Len Brown & David Cunliffe during the afternoon. They are out here checking on people. I was not making that up. Check my link above to one of Cunliffe’s tweets.
Bomber Bradbury is banned, but Garth McVicar is not. What gives?
Susan Couch was the victim of a brutal assault eleven years ago, and it looks like she is now going to be compensated, at long last. Sounds like good news—until you realize that a particularly loathsome jackal has glommed onto her suffering, and milked it shamelessly for his own nefarious ends. I’m sure thousands of Jim’s listeners were dismayed and disgusted to hear Jim Mora interview, sympathetically, the head of the S.S. Trust, Garth “Mac the Knife” McVicar.
I sent Jim Mora the following e-mail….
Any decent organization would make Garth McVicar persona non grata
Dear Jim,
I am concerned to hear you giving a sympathetic forum to the S.S. Trust’s gruesome leader Garth McVicar. Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury was banned from your programme for daring to comment on the morals of a controversial politician; yet Garth McVicar seemingly has open access, no matter how brutal and vicious his statements.
You have repeatedly had Garth McVicar on The Panel and called him, absurdly, a “victims’ advocate”. I know that many, probably most, of your colleagues are appalled at this, yet you persist with it.
Perhaps you could explain on air one day why Bomber Bradbury is banned, yet Garth McVicar is not.
Myth: Auckland isn’t geographically suited to public transport.
I’m not sure where this myth even came from but if I had to guess, it would have been from the 50′s or 60′s, the same time that many of our transport myths originated from those looking to justify building the motorways instead of public transport. The theory goes that cities like Wellington are more suited to public transport, and in particular rail, due to the the geography largely forcing development into a couple of long thin corridors. As such, Auckland which extends out in all sorts of directions is said to be more suited to car based transport.
Great post pointing out how well Auckland is suited to PT.
Good post, DTB. Auckland can use a mixture of water, and land-based public transport. It’s a pity they never made a canal down by the Whau, from one harbour to the other.
Is there a meme developing about Russel Norman not caring about climate change? Where did it originate from?
It seems like a crude and obvious attempt to undercut his credibility – with Green Party members and with the wider public. And the timing of it seems odd: just as he’s getting a lot of notice for being an effective politician. Or is it just me?
I don’t dispute his commitment to climate change. But I am not very happy about the way he his treated these days as the sole leader of the Greens. I feel this undermines the way Turei is very good on social policies – it marginalises that aspect of the Green Party.
Good point. It’s a bit weird: they’re both commenting on areas the National Party are weak on – I’d expect them to both be getting reasonably equal amounts of traction in the media.
Any theories about the reasons behind the disparity?
It’s more likely that Russel Norman simply gets up the noses of the Nats more and they respond, which creates a story. Whereas the Nats try their hardest to ignore Turei, so there’s not so much controversy for the media to latch onto.
I don’t think there’s any bias within the Greens and the bias you see from the media is something the Greens have little control over. Personally I’m just glad the Greens are getting a little bit of media coverage, although I would like to see more focus of social and environmental issues than who will be the next Minister of Finance.
Jenny, a commenter here on the Standard, has been running that line about Norman for the past few weeks. She’s not getting much traction though. Haven’t seen it anywhere else. Where did you pick it up?
I saw Jenny’s comments earlier this week, and then I read The Jackal’s blog-post about ‘Russel Norman – Hero of the Week’. I wondered whether I was seeing the beginnings of a reputational attack, followed by some quickly deployed defence.
Looks like it might be a more isolated thing, though.
I’ve been meaning to write that post for a while. As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing to defend re Jenny’s comments about Russel Norman… They’re entirely ludicrous! Was it a coincidence that the good Doctor was making a speech about climate change on the same day Jenny was saying he never talks about it? Most definitely.
“The reality that New Zealand is actually a corrupt, polluted, tax haven – will be revealed at 11.30am, Friday 7 December 2012 at Sky City Convention Centre by ‘Anti-corruption’ – TPPA ‘stakeholder’ Penny Bright”.
Bright will give her presentation as a TPPA ‘stakeholder’ at Sky City, on Friday 7 December 2012 at 11.30am.
OrganisationWater Pressure Group / Anti-corruption campaigner
Would you like to make a formal presentation?
Yes
Please enter the indicative title of your proposed presentation:
The need for transparency, accountability, and an independent ‘cost-benefit’ analysis of the benefits of ‘free trade’ agreements such as the TPPA, and the need for a ‘corruption-risk’ assessment (particularly the form of grand corruption known as ‘State Capture’) for ‘free trade’ agreements such as the TPPA.
What areas of TPP are you interested in?
Affordable medicines, land, environment (particularly water services) , work rights, the rest of our economy, especially the finance sector, sovereignty. “
“I am really looking forward to giving this ‘whistle-blowing’ presentation, particularly since Transparency International has AGAIN ranked corrupt, polluted, tax haven New Zealand as the first equal ‘least corrupt country in the world’, according to their 2012 Corruption Perception Index.
An entirely predictable blog from journalist and blogger, Tim Watkin, on the debate about blogging vs journalism, focussing on the divergence of opinions about Gower’s (and other msm reportage) of events at the recent the Labour Party Conference.
What caught my eye was this comment:
…..But the complaints still sound disingenuous to me. As best as I can see, Cunliffe got played, out-manouvered. He had ambitions to challenge for the leadership come February. Rather than waiting like a turkey for Christmas, those opposed to him pre-empted the challenge. When Cunliffe was unwilling to say he’d back his leader in a vote in three months’ time, it became a story….
Only, if this was indeed what happened, (that Cunliffe got played), why is Watkins defending msm coverage that it was Cunliffe who tried (unsuccessfully) to ‘play’ the conference. Or are the facts not really as important to “real” journalists as Watkins is claiming in this blog?
Yep, js, that’s what struck me earlier today when I read it. Watkin claimed the MSM journalists go to great lengths to ensure they are not biased. Then he made exactly the point about the conference that many TS posters and commenters made – ie Cunliffe was taken out. So how come most journalists peddled the line that Cunliffe staged a coup? Does that not indicate a bias?
Also Watkin rejects the suggestion by Trotter and RedLogix, that journalists shouldn’t report anonymous comments from politicians. Watkin’s argument is that, it would mean no leaks from politicians…. duh? So what would be so wrong with that? Surely it’s the anonymous leaks from pollies that skewed the main narrative about Cunliffe staging a coup.
Also, Watkin seems to be assuming that many of us bloggers want to replace MSM journalists, or, at least, do journalism better than the MSM. No – many of us just want journalists to be more critical and fulfill their fourth estate role – not just push the current line that is circulating from leaky MPs and from press releases. At the moment, many of us see our role as one of holding the MSM to account.
Frankly I’m stunned at the shallowness of Watkins ‘deconstruction’.
All interviews must be on-the-record. Almost all are. But should a journalist be banned from following a lead gained in more casual conversation?
All interviews, it’s suggested, should be online. Which would mean newsrooms having to hire transcribers rather than more journalists.
Well actually what I had in mind was a simple audio/video recorder and then attached to the online version of the story as a file. No need for transcribers.
All reportage must be fact-checked. If only. The last fact-checkers were being laid off from the Heald when I began there 12 years ago. The few US media who still employ them are the exception. But does that mean they never err? No. Is it reasonable to expect journalists to check their own facts? usually, although a lack of resources and time creates limitations. Are stories still checked? Yes, subs, editors and producers all have such a role.
Well that’s a bad slip up. Watkins selectively quotes me which went on: “and/or open to a right of reply from any participant, person or party mentioned.” … again in an online environment a highly achievable goal without too much extra in the way of staff. And then he goes on to ignore my additional suggestion that journalists could easily lift their game by linking to their references …like bloggers routinely do. None of this is commercially unrealistic or onerous.
All professional and personal relationships must be declared. In which we move from ignorance to plain silliness. Conflicts of interest should be declared. But every relationship? How far does that go? Is it just for the gallery or for bloggers and those of us outside Wellington who cover politics? Is it family relationships, whether they’ve played rugby together or does the odd drink count? Should I declare that I once helped Grant Robertson pull a drunk guy out of an NZUSA conference? That Metiria Turei and Gerry Brownlee have both yelled at me? Should Trotter declare every politician he’s ever met? And would REDLOGIX him/herself adhere to that?
No journalist should be able to spend more than six years or 33% of their career in the gallery. Apart from the obvious nonsense of not being able to know how long a young reporter’s career will be, why show such little respect for experience and wisdom? It’s silliness piled on silliness.
Oh dear … strawman piled upon strawman. Everyone in public life knows exactly what ‘declaring your interests’ means. Relationships in which you have either a family, personal relationships (ie who you are sleeping with), business relationships or other plainly beneficial interests. In practise it’s not all that hard to get it right if you want to.
Ignored also is my suggestion that an online personal/professional bio is an entirely reasonably thing to ask of a professional. And by clinging to the outdated mode of thinking that print is primary, and that online is a secondary nuisance … Watkins has made a bunch of pretty elementary errors here.
Yes, it’s a weak defence by Watkin, RL. And I can’t believe he isn’t aware of how poor the NZ MSM and journalism actually is. I’m not peddling some theory of a deliberately orchestrated conspiracy – just aware of how biases and skewed stories can get accepted into the MSM.
Actually, interesting that Watkin made that point about fact checking. I was looking into that around the last time I did a post on the media. I knew facts often aren’t checked. This is a problem of the commercial imperative, keeping down costs etc. But, good journalism really does require fact checking. I don’t know how Watkin can claim journalist go out of their way to be non-biased, if they don’t check their facts.
I was trying to find evidence online of an occurrence a few years ago in Aussie. I saw the guys involved present a conference paper on it. Basically, as a kind of joke, a couple of guys published a story – false. It got picked up by the media. Once one outlet had repeated it, others followed, with none of them checking if it was real. This mis-information got widely circulated, all without the facts being checked. Eventually they had to come clean and say it wasn’t true.
Just shows how something like the content of the whispering campaign against Cunliffe can become accepted as true.
Listening to the alcohol debate in parliament today I keep hearing the same argument.
We must find a way to restrict access to alcohol for the poor, the young, and ethnic minorities because they can’t handle it, while maintaining or increasing access for people like me because we can.
I have heaps more of this indigenous music, it never plays in NZ media, sadly.
This is indio music from Peru, there is heaps more. I will not bother to inundate. Maori are justified to take their stand, ideally they will connect with indeginous peoples all over the world.
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When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Winston Peters says his party is a handbrake on bad ideas and a "supercharged turbo" for good ones - but will it be in the driver's seat come 2020? ...
Our former prime minister secured a meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping outside all normal diplomatic channels. Interest’s Jenée Tibshraeny asks what it means for New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the superpower.Former prime minister John Key secured a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without the involvement of ...
David Robiecontinues his three-part series about travelling in Iran. I stumbled on the scene by chance. Our host family in Iran’s second city Mashhad, a modern and beautiful metropolis that would comfortably fit in New Zealand’s entire population, was taking us on a drive to the outskirts to ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the media, in particular, MediaWorks, just a day after the company announced it was selling off its television arm. ...
About a hundred disgruntled licensed gun owners have descended on the New Zealand First conference to tell the party leader Winston Peters that they feel like victims. ...
New Zealand First members will vote on a policy today that would allow businesses of all sizes to enforce 90-day trials when they employ people straight out of prison. ...
"Each time she held her lighter underneath the pipe and sucked the smoke into the back of her throat, the promise was there": a New Zealand tragedy by Alice Tawhai. ...
With the future of Mediaworks’ TV business hanging in the balance, Al Jazeera news presenter Kamahl Santamaria reflects on what the imperilled channel meant, and continues to mean, to him.I always liked the logo. The fresh bright colours, the nod to a koru in its shape, and just the fact ...
There are still many barriers preventing people from voting in local elections. Laura O’Connell Rapira proposes some social solutions.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.To vote in the local elections, I cast ...
What’s really stood out for me being back in Tokyo is the unique qualities of Japan’s spectators, writes Richard Light, professor of sport coaching at the University of Canterbury.The Rugby World Cup has thrown a global spotlight on Japan over recent weeks. Not just the rugby: the distinctive culture and ...
As the New Zealand First Party gathers for its annual conference, the question swirling in the year is how it can carve out a path to avoid electoral defeat in 2020, writes Jo Moir for RNZ. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s a familiar break up excuse that’s used ...
To the early intervention therapists, to the teachers, to the speech therapists, the occupational therapists, music therapists, diabetes nurses and all: you change the world.When I was married almost a decade ago we had the following reading at our wedding:You are holding up a ceilingwith both arms. It is very ...
The faces said it all. The smiles of the European leaders crowded round Boris after the Brexit deal was struck. The deal his opponents – no, pretty much everyone – said was impossible.So what’s in it? The detail is still opaque, but subject to gremlins in the fine print, ...
Iran attracts an onslaught of negative media in New Zealand and Western media. But is it fair or deserved? David Robie has spent several weeks travelling in the country on sabbatical and finds the media negativity far from the reality of the “most friendly” country he has ever visited ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan. They talk about Alan Jones accusing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of failing the immediate needs of drought-striken farmers, ...
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Open mike 06/12/2012 
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NZ Perceived least corrupt 2012
What a great word to use when trying to fill peoples heads with nonsense..
I reckon people are seeing through it these days!
That’s actually scary. The corruption in NZ over the last few years has been of the in our face, don’t care variety and yet still people think we’re the least corrupt?
/facepalm
yes Draco knows much better than those silly fools at the international organisation who utilise their expertise and training in a transparent fashion.
I mean what do these idiots know?
http://www.transparency.org/whoweare/organisation/board_of_directors/1/
Draco’s knows best.
(p.s The report say’s NZ is least corrupt – not that there is no corruption)
Well I think the finding is highly questionable… Not only was the Serious Fraud Office predicting a huge increase in serious fraud cases, New Zealand has become one of the worlds favourite places for tax evaders to hide their ill-gotten gains.
We also have a largely ineffective system to address various types of fraud and you would be hard pressed to find anybody who hasn’t been affected. Not to mention that this is meant to be an annual report that actually gets trotted out around three or four times a year or whenever National needs some good news.
PS the report says we’re PERCEIVED to be least corrupt not that we are actually least corrupt. So a perception from various institutes with a vested interest and academics from other countries or a perception from New Zealanders… Take your pick.
“Not only was the Serious Fraud Office predicting a huge increase in serious fraud cases”
Fraud =/= corruption
Seriously, if you want to know what proper corruption looks like spend sometime in South Africa. I have spent a lot of time there and have witnessed first hand what institutional corruption looks like and NZ doesn’t have it.
Yes! Fraud is a type of corruption TheContrarian. I’m sure you’re right that South Africa has a lot of corruption, but unless corruption has become a lot worse in other countries at a time corruption in New Zealand has become worse according to the Serious Fraud Office, the perception index is wrong! To argue that NZ doesn’t have any institutional corruption is naive.
This is true, but the survey is of perceptions in relation to other countries.
So rewriting the tax codes to some of the lowest levels in the world is unethical, but as long as the majority of people paid the legally required amount, it’s not “corrupt”.
Whether NZ is more corrupt than it once was is not the metric of the survey.
So the metric of the survey is whether people can be duped into thinking New Zealand is the least corrupt country 🙂 Glad we figured that one out.
Well, it might actually be less corrupt than, e.g. Aus, Greece, Russia or the US.
Whether that means we have an objectively honest population is another matter entirely. But at least we’re not as bad as the French.
In comparison to most countries NZ does not have a problem with institutional corruption.
100% honest compared to other countries.
Here’s some facts from actual research TheContrarian, perhaps you might like to try it yourself sometime:
4% of NZ’ers admit paying a bribe to win business (c.f. 0% Denmark; 1% UK; 2% Australia)
Only 44% of NZX top 50 companies have anti-bribery policies (c.f. 72% UK; 69% USA; 50% Europe)
73% NZ’ers believe corruption is increasing
Despite these numbers that show New Zealand shouldn’t be perceived as the least corrupt country in the world, the actual mechanism of institutional corruption is very hard to quantify, and other studies have found that corrupt, fraudulent, coercive or collusive practices in New Zealand are endemic within our institutional arrangements.
This being the case, and making note of what the actual research shows, I would have to say you’re categorically wrong TheContrarian… But what else is new?
Jackal, all your figures show is that New Zealanders do a lot of business in corrupt countries – I would assume China, Indonesia, and the koha cultures of the Pacific would feature heavily. Not the same thing as New Zealand being particularly corrupt at all. At least that’s what I’m assuming as you haven’t bothered to link to any site that will tell me the context for the data, or even whether you just pulled those numbers out of your arse or not. Cite sources please.
“I would have to say you’re categorically wrong TheContrarian”
Well Jackal I suggest you also send your figures to transparency.org and let them know how wrong they are.
“73% NZ’ers believe corruption is increasing ”
Argumentum ad populum. Logical fallacy.
And yes, sources please.
@Felix:
“100% honest compared to other countries.”
Well yes, it is a comparative scale and no where do they, or I, suggest there is zero corruption in NZ.
“Argumentum ad populum. Logical fallacy.”
Doesn’t that apply to the whole thing though? Seeing as it’s only measuring “perceived” corruption?
Not really, you wouldn’t say because 98% of climatologists agree in Global Warming it is an Argumentum ad populum.
To say “73% NZ’ers believe corruption is increasing” therefore NZ is corrupt is an Argumentum ad populum.
It is the same as saying most of the population believes in some sort of god therefore god exists.
(Though I see your point)
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood what they’re describing.
I thought “perceived” referred to the perceptions of ordinary people as measured by corruption experts, as opposed to the perceptions of the corruption experts themselves.
Lets put it this way
A comparative study which publicly announces it’s methodology, results and is considered to be relatively accurately in its representation of real world corruption is much less of an argumentum ad populum than Jackal arguing the study is bunk because 76% of NZer’s said so.
What does “perception” mean?
Hard.
Well, whatever.
I’ll throw my lot in with with well know and well respected international metrics which can be fairly well applied in the real world over Jackal and his unsourced statistics.
Sure, although I don’t actually see a contradiction between those two claims.
i.e. we can be perceived as being less corrupt than others while also perceiving ourselves becoming more corrupt than we were.
Measuring two completely different things, innit.
innit indeed.
And whatever is or isn’t wrong with the 76% stat, you can’t really call it a popularity fallacy, when what you are seeking to find is a perception, even if you do put it in fucking latin.
if what your looking for is a perception, then ‘what people reckon’ is what you are looking for. To call that a fallacy would be a category error of some sort.
This might be news to you Populuxe1, but New Zealand companies do a lot of business within New Zealand. The research would be similar to the percentage difference between foreign business and local business. I believe local trade still makes up the biggest contributor to our GDP.
The statistical source is the Serious Fraud Office. There is other relevant research that backs up my argument btw. Instead of just being a couple of opinionated wankers TheContrarian and Populuxe1, why don’t you look into the matter yourselves?
Claiming that these figures should be sent to transparency.org is entirely stupid. Any research agency would be well versed in such information, and as McFlock succinctly points out it’s a perception index, not the reality of corruption within New Zealand.
If you don’t believe the opinion of the masses is correct, you must also be arguing against a majority voting in a government TheContrarian. Anti-democratic much?
You might note that the figures above the 73% of New Zealanders believing corruption is increasing ie 4% admitting paying bribes and 44% anti-bribery policies, is not Argumentum ad populum. Interesting that the research backs up the New Zealand public perception eh!
Yeah, yeah. Possibly a deliberate and misleading point at which to cut the quoted text, but hey.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greece-most-corrupt-eu-country-survey-reveals-8386456.html
Jeebers. Any ladies thinking of voting National should probably have a squiz at this thread and see what they really think of you: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/12/men_only_clubs.html
Troglodytes.
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/troglodyte.htm
Couldn’t bring myself to read the comments at KB, but I have to say that I’m in two minds about men’s clubs. I think it’s fine for different genders to have their own spaces (I’ve worked in feminist collectives where men are not allowed). The problem with men’s clubs historically is that they’ve been the bastions of the old boys who have been running the show and not willing to share that power and privilege with anyone else – hence the original challenges about membership. I’m guessing that women moving in those circles of power needed membership in order to make headway. The problem now is that they’re like to become bastions of the remnants of the old boy’s networks and/or repositories for the misogyny that’s no longer acceptable in open society (think men’s rights groups also).
Not sure what the solution is there, but the law firm in question, if it had any sense of anything, would hold the party somewhere else.
Trust me weka, most of the comments had very little to do with men’s clubs.
And yep, the issue is with the attitude of the Law Society, not with the rules of the club.
I had to give up.
There is only so much ‘sex advice for Pete George from someone dumber than Pete Geroge’ I can take.
But there were lolz.
Oh come on, you have to link to that now Pb.
It all starts about half way through the thread felix linked to.
You were warned. *shudders*
The difference between left and right is quite substantial. This is reflected in the nature of commenting between the standard and kiwiblog. People may appear roughly the same and live in the same types of houses and lead similar lives, but their underlying philosophies and approaches to life are often at opposite and extreme ends of the spectrum. A bit like how two seemingly similar people can live in the same street yet one believes in eternal life and one doesn’t – can’t get more extreme ends of outlook than that.
What would be interesting is to post the same subject on each site at the same time and see how different the comment streams are. And the one linked to by Felix would be a great one to try it out on.
Done…. Apart from the same time part.
You mean i didn’t go far enough last time ? Aaaaahhhgggggg.
I read a few comments. They don’t seem to get the difference between a single sex sports club or gym and that of an occupational group: the Law Society.
Well, it looks as though the spam filter at work has a low tolerence for troglodytes:
Access to http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz has been restricted.
Reason: Based on a content scan of this URL, it is suspected this site may contain offensive material.
URL: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/12/men_only_clubs.html
LOL! Good job. Doubly funny because Farrar often gets on his high horse about sites that are blocked… Now he can add Kiwibog to the list.
Great to see on DF some of the RW trolls seen here FTTT. It is a good thing to have DF’s blog – gives the blowflies a place to hover and deposit.
Pablo on Dear Leader.
If Mr. Key is not clueless on intelligence and security matters, then the “spy” plane response and his other actions show that along with being contemptuous of those who may seek to hold him to account, he is arrogant, irresponsible, disloyal, mean-spirited and vindictive as well. To which can be added one more trait that has emerged in Mr. Key as of late: callous narcissism.
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2012/12/familiarity-becomes-contempt/
.
Draco is right above in that corruption is the in your face don’t care type.
Perfect example – get Wyatt Creech, an owner in the dairy industry, to write a fucking bullshit report on the state of water regs in Canterbury and use that to claim that democracy itself needs to be ripped out so the lying dirty business farming pricks who couldn’t achieve their business greed through usual business and democratic processes simply thieve what they want. All the while claiming it is something other than that.
Corrupt.
Liars and thieves – the farmers, the national government, David Carter, Nick Smith, Wyatt Creech, Amy Adams.
They should all just fuck off to Zimbabwe
What is John Key, Prime Minister of the purportedly (first equal) ‘least corrupt country in the world’ going to do about this one?
WILL NZ PRIME MINISTER STAND DOWN JOHN BANKS AS MINISTER – WHEN BANKS APPEARS IN THE WELLINGTON DISTRICT COURT ON 11 DECEMBER 2012 TO FACE A PRIVATE PROSECUTION FOR ALLEGED ELECTORAL FRAUD?
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/peters-powerless-jettison-horan-parliament-academic-dw-133495#comment-598400
MY COMMENT – yet to be published:
What is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to do when his MMP coalition partner, ACT Leader and MP for Epsom, John Banks, Minister for Small Business and Regulatory Reform, and Associate Minister for Education and Commerce, appears in the Wellington District on Tuesday 11 December 2012 at 1.45pm to face a private prosecution alleging electoral fraud?
Is he going to, as a first step, stand John Banks down as a Minister?
If a Wellington District Court Judge believes there is arguably a case for John Banks to answer – or a summons would not have been issued.
Or is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to continue to defend the indefensible, and politically protect John Banks?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
Farmers should oppose fracking
The potential for fracking to pollute pasture and water supplies in Taranaki isn’t just speculation… Documented evidence shows that fracking fluid blow-down pits at the Kapuni site had polluted the groundwater which was no longer fit for human or stock consumption. The BETX (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylenes) contaminated water also didn’t meet the criteria for irrigation, meaning it was highly toxic.
Of course Shell Todd Oil Services, which owns Kapuni, and the complicit regional council say there’s no link with the fracking that’s occurred in the area and the groundwater contamination, however BETX has been regularly used in fracking around Taranaki and there’s no other explanation for it to be found in the groundwater other than unsafe storage of well fluids in fracking blow-down pits.
And http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/disbelief-120-cows-drop-dead-5265162
“No Evidence Fracking harms ground water” …. yeah right M8!
Ha! Nothing to do with fracking, the water was contaminated in the tank it was being held in, which had been previously used for mixing liquid fertiliser.
Yeah heard that , didn’t strike me as being true, calling vets, good looking animals and he couldn’t be bothered cleaning his water tanker?
More likely he got the water from a local stream…
Seems its not the fert. But it’s a safe bet it was something in the water. And something pretty potent, at that. Hopefully its not another farmer family jealousy case and just misadventure.
True, it’ll be interesting to see the analysis of the water.
Jackal. Cue for some dissidents=
“The existence of fracking is all David Shearer’s fault. Why didn’t he stop fracking!!!” 👿
R.I.P Dave. Thanks for the link geoff.
Thanks geoff. Forever a classic!
Within the last hour there was a sudden loud thunder clap right above, that made me jump – freaky! Now reports are coming in of storm damage out here in west Auckland, including a tornado not far away in the Hobsonville area.
It seems to be clearing now, with all OK where I am….. but it was pretty scary for a moment. I hope people in the storm damage areas are doing OK.
Now we have reports of fatalities, with warnings to stay indoors, maybe more stormy weather about to hit.
Cunliffe tweet about his west Auckland staff:
Deeply concerned by tornado and injury reports in West Auckland. My staff can pass damage reports to Civil Defence. Phone (09) 827 3062.
Today in history: 1st Labour Government takes office, 6 December 1935.
Ummm some kind of bug showing up in the Cloudflare feature
On a couple of webkit renderer browsers (ie Chrome and Rekong) I started getting jams on loading images – probably a advertising image.
Turned the feature off as it is both beta and doesn’t really seem to speed the page loads.
Russel Norman – Hero of the Week
There’s no question that Dr Norman articulates himself well and is as dedicated as they come to a future government that will reduce GHG emissions to protect our environment. In fact his ability in the house to show National up for their environmental failures is second to none…
Our PM’s electorate!!!! Thankfully he’s never there, he could have been injured!
[lprent: Off topic moved to OpenMike. ]
“A spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Key – the MP for Helensville, which includes Hobsonville – said he is being kept informed of the situation.
“Emergency services are currently responding. People are being advised to remain indoors and to avoid the area, if possible.”
She added: “The Prime Minister will continue to assess the situation as information becomes available throughout the day.”
Later the PM called for a map and was shown where Hobsonville is.
“Oh” he said” I rememebr now, I used to go to the hot pools at paratai when I was a kid.”
[lprent: Off topic moved to OpenMike. ]
Meanwhile, David Cunliffe MP for New Lynn, having checked his own electorate, rather than return to Parliament, is heading out west to check the PM’s electorate for him.
Oh dear, you’ve upset the baby farmer.
Thanks, Lynn. I was thinking to try to do that myself, but was a bit nervous I’d do some damage.
I don’t think the last two comments are in good taste, people have died out there, show just a little humanity, you are meant to be Left and for the “people”
[lprent: Off topic moved to OpenMike.
Hard to see why? ]
Fuck off Raymond, tracey was simply passing comment on the laziness of a politician.
You, on the other hand, are trying to politicise a tragedy.
I’m not sure what the baby farmer comment meant.
I certainly have concern for those who have died, and been injured. I am “out there” and was a little scared in the middle of the storm.
I have yet to see any comment from John Key about his electorate. i have seen comments and/or tweets from Len Brown & David Cunliffe during the afternoon. They are out here checking on people. I was not making that up. Check my link above to one of Cunliffe’s tweets.
Tony doesn’t like people saying mean things about jonky
http://keepingstock.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/setting-low-standard.html
Bomber Bradbury is banned, but Garth McVicar is not. What gives?
Susan Couch was the victim of a brutal assault eleven years ago, and it looks like she is now going to be compensated, at long last. Sounds like good news—until you realize that a particularly loathsome jackal has glommed onto her suffering, and milked it shamelessly for his own nefarious ends. I’m sure thousands of Jim’s listeners were dismayed and disgusted to hear Jim Mora interview, sympathetically, the head of the S.S. Trust, Garth “Mac the Knife” McVicar.
I sent Jim Mora the following e-mail….
Any decent organization would make Garth McVicar persona non grata
Dear Jim,
I am concerned to hear you giving a sympathetic forum to the S.S. Trust’s gruesome leader Garth McVicar. Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury was banned from your programme for daring to comment on the morals of a controversial politician; yet Garth McVicar seemingly has open access, no matter how brutal and vicious his statements.
You have repeatedly had Garth McVicar on The Panel and called him, absurdly, a “victims’ advocate”. I know that many, probably most, of your colleagues are appalled at this, yet you persist with it.
Perhaps you could explain on air one day why Bomber Bradbury is banned, yet Garth McVicar is not.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
Myth Busting: Aucklands Geography
Great post pointing out how well Auckland is suited to PT.
Good post, DTB. Auckland can use a mixture of water, and land-based public transport. It’s a pity they never made a canal down by the Whau, from one harbour to the other.
NOAA has released the 2012 Arctic report card.
ffs. in one of the pdf docs, it looks like the max volume of winter ice (2012) now more or less equals what used to be the summer min (2007).
Is there a meme developing about Russel Norman not caring about climate change? Where did it originate from?
It seems like a crude and obvious attempt to undercut his credibility – with Green Party members and with the wider public. And the timing of it seems odd: just as he’s getting a lot of notice for being an effective politician. Or is it just me?
Not seen anything credible on it.
I don’t dispute his commitment to climate change. But I am not very happy about the way he his treated these days as the sole leader of the Greens. I feel this undermines the way Turei is very good on social policies – it marginalises that aspect of the Green Party.
Hi karol,
Good point. It’s a bit weird: they’re both commenting on areas the National Party are weak on – I’d expect them to both be getting reasonably equal amounts of traction in the media.
Any theories about the reasons behind the disparity?
It’s more likely that Russel Norman simply gets up the noses of the Nats more and they respond, which creates a story. Whereas the Nats try their hardest to ignore Turei, so there’s not so much controversy for the media to latch onto.
I don’t think there’s any bias within the Greens and the bias you see from the media is something the Greens have little control over. Personally I’m just glad the Greens are getting a little bit of media coverage, although I would like to see more focus of social and environmental issues than who will be the next Minister of Finance.
Jenny, a commenter here on the Standard, has been running that line about Norman for the past few weeks. She’s not getting much traction though. Haven’t seen it anywhere else. Where did you pick it up?
Hi weka,
I saw Jenny’s comments earlier this week, and then I read The Jackal’s blog-post about ‘Russel Norman – Hero of the Week’. I wondered whether I was seeing the beginnings of a reputational attack, followed by some quickly deployed defence.
Looks like it might be a more isolated thing, though.
I’ve been meaning to write that post for a while. As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing to defend re Jenny’s comments about Russel Norman… They’re entirely ludicrous! Was it a coincidence that the good Doctor was making a speech about climate change on the same day Jenny was saying he never talks about it? Most definitely.
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/bloggers-v-journalists-why-cant-we-all-get-along
An entirely predictable blog from journalist and blogger, Tim Watkin, on the debate about blogging vs journalism, focussing on the divergence of opinions about Gower’s (and other msm reportage) of events at the recent the Labour Party Conference.
What caught my eye was this comment:
…..But the complaints still sound disingenuous to me. As best as I can see, Cunliffe got played, out-manouvered. He had ambitions to challenge for the leadership come February. Rather than waiting like a turkey for Christmas, those opposed to him pre-empted the challenge. When Cunliffe was unwilling to say he’d back his leader in a vote in three months’ time, it became a story….
Only, if this was indeed what happened, (that Cunliffe got played), why is Watkins defending msm coverage that it was Cunliffe who tried (unsuccessfully) to ‘play’ the conference. Or are the facts not really as important to “real” journalists as Watkins is claiming in this blog?
Yep, js, that’s what struck me earlier today when I read it. Watkin claimed the MSM journalists go to great lengths to ensure they are not biased. Then he made exactly the point about the conference that many TS posters and commenters made – ie Cunliffe was taken out. So how come most journalists peddled the line that Cunliffe staged a coup? Does that not indicate a bias?
Also Watkin rejects the suggestion by Trotter and RedLogix, that journalists shouldn’t report anonymous comments from politicians. Watkin’s argument is that, it would mean no leaks from politicians…. duh? So what would be so wrong with that? Surely it’s the anonymous leaks from pollies that skewed the main narrative about Cunliffe staging a coup.
Also, Watkin seems to be assuming that many of us bloggers want to replace MSM journalists, or, at least, do journalism better than the MSM. No – many of us just want journalists to be more critical and fulfill their fourth estate role – not just push the current line that is circulating from leaky MPs and from press releases. At the moment, many of us see our role as one of holding the MSM to account.
Frankly I’m stunned at the shallowness of Watkins ‘deconstruction’.
All interviews must be on-the-record. Almost all are. But should a journalist be banned from following a lead gained in more casual conversation?
All interviews, it’s suggested, should be online. Which would mean newsrooms having to hire transcribers rather than more journalists.
Well actually what I had in mind was a simple audio/video recorder and then attached to the online version of the story as a file. No need for transcribers.
All reportage must be fact-checked. If only. The last fact-checkers were being laid off from the Heald when I began there 12 years ago. The few US media who still employ them are the exception. But does that mean they never err? No. Is it reasonable to expect journalists to check their own facts? usually, although a lack of resources and time creates limitations. Are stories still checked? Yes, subs, editors and producers all have such a role.
Well that’s a bad slip up. Watkins selectively quotes me which went on: “and/or open to a right of reply from any participant, person or party mentioned.” … again in an online environment a highly achievable goal without too much extra in the way of staff. And then he goes on to ignore my additional suggestion that journalists could easily lift their game by linking to their references …like bloggers routinely do. None of this is commercially unrealistic or onerous.
All professional and personal relationships must be declared. In which we move from ignorance to plain silliness. Conflicts of interest should be declared. But every relationship? How far does that go? Is it just for the gallery or for bloggers and those of us outside Wellington who cover politics? Is it family relationships, whether they’ve played rugby together or does the odd drink count? Should I declare that I once helped Grant Robertson pull a drunk guy out of an NZUSA conference? That Metiria Turei and Gerry Brownlee have both yelled at me? Should Trotter declare every politician he’s ever met? And would REDLOGIX him/herself adhere to that?
No journalist should be able to spend more than six years or 33% of their career in the gallery. Apart from the obvious nonsense of not being able to know how long a young reporter’s career will be, why show such little respect for experience and wisdom? It’s silliness piled on silliness.
Oh dear … strawman piled upon strawman. Everyone in public life knows exactly what ‘declaring your interests’ means. Relationships in which you have either a family, personal relationships (ie who you are sleeping with), business relationships or other plainly beneficial interests. In practise it’s not all that hard to get it right if you want to.
Ignored also is my suggestion that an online personal/professional bio is an entirely reasonably thing to ask of a professional. And by clinging to the outdated mode of thinking that print is primary, and that online is a secondary nuisance … Watkins has made a bunch of pretty elementary errors here.
Meanwhile.. back at the ranch.
Yes, it’s a weak defence by Watkin, RL. And I can’t believe he isn’t aware of how poor the NZ MSM and journalism actually is. I’m not peddling some theory of a deliberately orchestrated conspiracy – just aware of how biases and skewed stories can get accepted into the MSM.
Actually, interesting that Watkin made that point about fact checking. I was looking into that around the last time I did a post on the media. I knew facts often aren’t checked. This is a problem of the commercial imperative, keeping down costs etc. But, good journalism really does require fact checking. I don’t know how Watkin can claim journalist go out of their way to be non-biased, if they don’t check their facts.
I was trying to find evidence online of an occurrence a few years ago in Aussie. I saw the guys involved present a conference paper on it. Basically, as a kind of joke, a couple of guys published a story – false. It got picked up by the media. Once one outlet had repeated it, others followed, with none of them checking if it was real. This mis-information got widely circulated, all without the facts being checked. Eventually they had to come clean and say it wasn’t true.
Just shows how something like the content of the whispering campaign against Cunliffe can become accepted as true.
Listening to the alcohol debate in parliament today I keep hearing the same argument.
That is what happens when politics comes down to managing people rather than representing them.
Yup, that is pretty much the raison d’etre of the neo-temperance movement.
I have heaps more of this indigenous music, it never plays in NZ media, sadly.
This is indio music from Peru, there is heaps more. I will not bother to inundate. Maori are justified to take their stand, ideally they will connect with indeginous peoples all over the world.
Interesting developments!
Further to that: