Gareth Hughes is calling for a moratorium on all tracking until “people’s health and safety can be guaranteed”.
Whistle-blowing MP Gareth Hughes has called on tracking to be halted in New Zealand while Parliament’s environmental watchdog carries out a top-level investigation into the controversial transportation industry process.
The process involves the high-pressure injection of diesel into combustion chambers to help release energy.
But it’s what you come to expect from an entity, with nothing of interest to say, and where, no one want’s to hear it’s drivel, hence it has to resort to sly methods, like link whoring.
The simple point is, how safe is safe enough? We can’t have 100% safe, it’s a matter of deciding on acceptable levels of risk. This applies to many things. Even electing parties.
Are you trying to say that because you can’t make something “100% safe” that gives you the right to go ahead and do it regardless?!
Your “simple point” about safety management is that you decide what is an acceptable level of risk. Exactly!! So if you decide that the consequences of a possible incident are unacceptable then not doing the thing that incurs the risk is the obvious thing to do.
You think that the risk of living is that one day you’ll die, wow… good argument. But completely irrelevant in terms of our freedom to decide how to manage most of the risks that life throws up.
As for electing parties … if only a few people had known the consequences of voting nact and their sycophantic allies they’d have made a different decision.
pg from the doing nothing party obviously your an expert as well as stating the the blindingly obvious.
Vote for Unbridled Fools
the low risk no risk party!
tc @ 7.30am I treat his posts as spam …. is there a filter for it? Either he’s a troll or he has a misguided belief his comments stack up as convincing arguments.
I’m waiting for the mozilla ad-on, though could be waiting some time. How many people do you reckon would use it?
I’m curious about what would fill the vacuum if he was censored. The other day, a newby was tapped on the shoulder by mods for a single instance of being open about their linking – and their content was actually interesting. Here is Pete, everyday spam spam spamming his way into the history books. So I guess there must be some officially sanctioned higher purpose he serves. Perhaps he is being farmed, like ants do to aphids, collecting their skicky honeydew excretions, so that newcomers have something to cut their teeth on.
Do you have any new tricks, Pete? The show is at risk of getting a little dull. Even Coronation Street had to spice it up. What about faking a party/ideological change, then switching back to the “moderation of the centre”? Could be exciting, like the time in Home and Away when Charlie flirted with lesbianism. Fancy being a lesbian for a few weeks, Pete?
Can this be ‘medicinal’? I need more energy in my chambers. But maybe it could be as addictive as Pete G finds this blog site. Whatever did he/she do before finding this ersatz family to squabble with all day. Churchill said Jaw jaw is better than war, war. I say what actual actions can each of us actually do to enhance the good things in the world? I get sick of words, words.
I suggest instead finding some useful volunteer work, outdoor could be healthy helping to plant streamside pollution catching and preventing shrubs etc. Or taking on a Big Brother Big Sister role to a child needing another stable caring person in their life. Or something else in NZ supporting a local initiative. If Pete G is already doing something, he has time for more useful stuff – I know what would be good. The Citizens Advice Bureau, a perfect place for a well-informed volunteer who wants to keep up to date and advise others.
‘Invigorating debate’ many times your pants get pulled down as you shift your position to try and keep alive your threads PG, sometimes it’s entertaining but mostly it’s boring….invigorating is not a word I’d used to describe you.
+1. I am really sick of PG virtually taking over this site. I am just surprised at the number of people who bite and fall into the trap that allows him to do so.
As I think it was RL commented yesterday, some useful discussions and facts sometimes come out of the ensuing discussions and threads, but his dominance in every post and thread is both boring and annoying. So, please DFTT.
LOL – but personally I don’t find your comments boring or annoying!
Notice he has been quiet for an hour or so now. Can’t be bothered looking but perhaps he is doing “his thing” over at WO or KB where he is also a regular. Also notice that he has not been active on the DimPost since his recent ban here expired; but not surprised as he certainly did not “win friends and influence people” there. What also annoys me is that he goes on these other blogs and disses the Standard and its followers, but still continues to participate here – a total hypocrite IMO.
Update – had a quick look at KB and there is PG pushing his bit at 1 above in the General Discussion thread. And here is an example of him dissing this site:
Peter George (12,813) Says:
April 7th, 2012 at 9:04 am
Other_Andy – here is proof, justed posted response to a simple question I asked.
Greens: From coal (lignite and conventional), gold, iron sands and other mineral mining to fracking and deep sea oil drilling
Me: Do the Greens want to stop or prevent all of that?
Jenny: The question is Pete. Do we need it? I challenge you, (or anyone else), to justify any of it.
Jenny: Apart from providing profits for some fat cats and despoiling the environment, what other purpose does it serve?
I asked that question a couple of times over the last couple of days, and this was the most reasonable response, the rest was personal attacks and abuse (one abuse on me was even censored by The Standard which is saying a lot, they are not usually sympathetic in attacks on me. I didn’t see what had been said).
For Tireless Rebutter there is no such thing as a trivial dispute. He regards all challenges as barbarians at the gates. His unflagging tenacity in making his points numbs and eventually wears down the opposition. Confident that his arguments are sound, Tireless Rebutter can’t understand why he is universally loathed.
LOL – spot on. Time to forget him and have a shower and do something ‘useful’ like dishes, gardening and bathing one dog. The other is a very large Rottie cross who doesn’t like baths and I am not game or stupid enough to try to bath him.
Labour MP Sue Moroney’s Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill has been drawn from the ballot and may have the numbers without National.
UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne has campaigned on extending paid parental leave to 12 months, and most other political parties, except ACT, are likely to support the bill. That will leave National in a tight spot if it chooses to vote against the family-friendly legislation.
I wouldn’t call it a tight spot, each party simply has to decide if it supports it or not, and be judged on it’s decision. I don’t care who opposes as long as enough support it.
This bill has been thoughtfully constructed, with an incremental approach that will make it difficult to oppose, even on the basis of fiscal constraints.
A classic case of how small flanking parties can embarrass the larger ruling parties to do the right thing.
Just as the Maori Party embarrassed Labour into reluctantly supporting taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables, when Rahui Katene’s private members bill was drawn from the ballot.
In this case, National is the one under pressure. But it is funny, (if it wasn’t so tragic), how their excuses against a family friendly measure, echo Labour’s lame excuse that taking GST off food is simply unaffordable.
Kate Wilkinson said the increase was “simply unaffordable”.
However in this case National is in an even weaker moral position than Labour in claiming unaffordability for a family friendly policy, when affordability was never issue for the Nats. when it came to bailing out rich folk to the tune of $billions when their speculative bubble burst in 2008.
In fact the Nats. gifted one loser in the South Canturbury collapse, Roger Kerr, a cool $100 million to cover his losses, no strings attached. (Despite the fact that he still had $180 million to his name.)
But when it comes to families trying to care for children and struggling to pay the bills, it’s another story, no relief is to be given here.
The crude and cruel partizan mask of the Nats. is in the process of being ripped off with this one policy.
I wouldn’t call it a tight spot, each party simply has to decide if it supports it or not, and be judged on it’s decision. I don’t care who opposes as long as enough support it.
This bill has been thoughtfully constructed, with an incremental approach that will make it difficult to oppose, even on the basis of fiscal constraints.
Pete George
This is a classic case of how small flanking parties can embarrass the larger ruling parties to do the right thing.
Just as the Maori Party embarrassed Labour into reluctantly supporting taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables, when Rahui Katene’s private members bill was drawn from the ballot.
In this case, National is the one under pressure. But it is funny, (if it wasn’t so tragic), how their excuses against a family friendly measure, echo Labour’s lame excuse that taking GST off food is simply unaffordable.
Kate Wilkinson for National, said the increase was “simply unaffordable”.
However in this case National’s Wilkinson is in an even weaker moral position than Labour in claiming unaffordability for a family friendly policy. Affordability was never issue for the Nats. when it came to bailing out rich folk to the tune of $billions when their speculative bubble burst in 2008.
In fact the Nats. gifted one loser in the South Canturbury collapse, Roger Kerr, a cool $100 million to cover his losses, no strings attached. (Despite the fact that he still had $180 million to his name.)
But when it comes to families trying to care for children and struggling to pay the bills, it’s another story, no relief is to be given here.
New Zealand is to witness the crude and cruel partizan face of the Nats. being revealed to all during the procession of this one bill.
I was pleased to see this Bill pulled, but time will tell.
I just did a quick (and these days rare) look at Kiwiblog and note that Farrar today has a post on the subject related to the Stuff article. He states:
It is worth mentioning that the Government can stop the bill being passed into law, even without a majority in Government. If the Minister of Finance signs a certificate saying the bill “would have more than a minor impact on the Government’s fiscal aggregates”, then under Standing Orders the Speaker will not give the bill a third reading. It can however proceed up until then.
On the merits of increasing paid parental leave, lets just say it is a debate which could be worthwhile to have when we are back in surplus, but while we are struggling with debt and deficit, it would be ir-responsible to do so.
Re the possibility of the government being able to stop the bill being passed into law even without a majority, I am not aware of this provision. Perhaps others with better knowledge can elucidate.
And how many are taking advantage of the things on offer, like PPL the DOLE, Sickness B, etc etc. And then go and rant and rave on Kiwiblog and The Whales slime pit.
Of course the real test Pete, is whether United Future will make this policy a make or break issue for their support of the National led coalition, as New Zealand First did with Labour with their NZF policy for a Gold Card for senior citizens.
If National decide to shit all over this United Future policy and UF rolls over for them, then UF’s purpose for existence as a small flanker party holding the larger parties to account is effectively ended, along with all hopes of ever getting any voter support again.
Will the United Future Party make a stand?
Or will United Future disappear from the political landscape, (most likely forever)?
Good points and questions, Jenny – especially in view of Farrar’s comments I quoted in 3.2.1 above. Surely it would bring the whole National/UF agreement into jeopardy.
[PS – in case you didn’t see it, at the second of my (un-numbered) comments below 2.1.2.1.1 above, I have quoted some comments from Kiwiblog made by PG which include quoting from your comments here on the Standard. ]
Jenny:
a) I don’t think this will be a make or break issue, Peter Dunne is free to vote on many things. He has already indicated he will support the Labour Mondayisation bill.
b) If UF fade away (it’s obviously a possibility) I’ll make my decision then. Depends on how things evolve and the state of parties.
I’ve voted Labour before, I would consider them again if they rebuild successfully and have a better (in my opinion) mix of policies.
I’ve voted Greens before and would consider them again, I like some of their policies but think others are too extreme so it would depend on what they are giving a priority to and mix of personal.
I’d consider voting National but depends on if they had done their dash or not amongst other things. I may have voted National once.
Who I vote for can depend on whether I want to aim at boosting their numbers or limiting them, plus policies and personal and priorities.
I’ve been criticised here before for this approach to voting but I think it’s common amongst swing voters, the ones who often make the difference in elections.
We can be sued for any! laws which affect offshore corporate profits, as Canada has been, including labour protection laws, truth in advertising laws and consumer protection.
For example. McDonalds could sue for Mondayising public holidays.
As you can see from the link, this is not a scare. It is already occurring.
My response: Where are the ‘chairman’s card’ and cash- for- comments celebrities now that Sky City needs them? Would’ nt now be the time for Mike what’s his name to bare his conviction on his chest and come out swinging,saying this is not crony capitalism, and NZ really will be better off if we can get more struggling people pokies adicted?
Absolutely, and written with some passion that I didn’t expect. I wonder if Key has some ‘elegant solution’ he’s proposing so Act and the MP support him after their strong opposition.
I liked this bit too:
But it’s a message that the public should send John Key’s Government loud and clear. It’s not too late to walk away from an iniquitous deal which will see SkyCity underwrite the cost of building a new International Convention Centre adjoining its Auckland premises in return for being allowed to expand its casino business.
PG – Do the decent thing and read what people link to before making such a totally stupid and unwarranted comment. Wanting to know whether Joyce has a SkyCity free perks card is pertinent, as is wanting to know why Dave Cunliffe asked
David Cunliffe might find more fertile ground asking Joyce from the floor of the Parliament whether He,(Joyce), has all or part of His business interests held within a ”blind trust” managed by others which gives Joyce the ”no knowledge option of what shareholdings are ”bought” and sold from within such a ”blind trust” and would He be surprised if such a blind trust held an amount of Skycity shares…
It’s a damning indictment of ”an industry” from first the journalist and secondly the Herald which run with the story,
The torrid RED centre of our intellect immediately saw it,RED, that is,and began to have visions of truckloads of pokie machines still emitting their jingles and flashing lights of hypnotism being dumped off of the Auckland wharf into the harbour, and, the guts of the SkyCity complex being remodeled into a soup kitchen an emergency accommodation complex to serve Auckalnd,
The Green centre of such intellect of course objected strongly to the former idea and a compromise had to be quickly reached to simply pull them apart for recycling,
Like the Herald’s O’Sullivan , We like to have a good look over a period of time,sometimes months,at the things which concern us,and, brain-washed may spring to mind when we have sat and watched the inmates of various small time pokie operations in various bars round Wellington,
Anyone who has milked cows tho as part of our wee group of islands white gold rush will instantly understand the atmosphere in any place where a full room of pokie machines are being quietly attended to by an equal number of those quietly and (seemingly)contentedly being milked by machines that in all the times and time we observed gave back nothing but the flashing of lights and the various mechanically generated tunes?,
The fact that we have these things en masse sucking the life-blood from those who are captured by their allure both rich and poor is a blight on our landscape and the fact that ANY Government has now stooped so low as to give the perception of openly having ”legislation for sale” castes our minds back to literature we have read about the excesses of Batista’s Cuba not long befor Castro and the cadre kicked in the doors and destroyed every last venue of gambling on that island…
+1. I could virtually see the pokie machines being dumped in the harbour, and know what Bad12 means by the taldry little pokie parlours in Wellington. I will probably never be able to walk past one again without seeing cows instead of sad people! Although I have never been to Sky City, the imagery of it being turned into a giant soup kitchen……….! LOL.
A classic case of how small flanking parties can embarrass the larger ruling parties to do the right thing.
Just as the Maori Party embarrassed Labour into reluctantly supporting taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables, when Rahui Katene’s private members bill was drawn from the ballot.
In this case, National is the one under pressure. But it is funny, (if it wasn’t so tragic), how their excuses against a family friendly measure, echo Labour’s lame excuse that taking GST off food is simply unaffordable.
Kate Wilkinson said the increase was “simply unaffordable”.
However in this case National is in an even weaker moral position than Labour in claiming unaffordability for a family friendly policy, when affordability was never issue for the Nats. when it came to bailing out rich folk to the tune of $billions when their speculative bubble burst in 2008.
In fact the Nats. gifted one loser in the South Canturbury collapse, Roger Kerr, a cool $100 million to cover his losses, no strings attached. (Despite the fact that he still had $180 million to his name.)
But when it comes to families trying to care for children and struggling to pay the bills, it’s another story, no relief is to be given here.
The crude and cruel partizan mask of the Nats. is in the process of being ripped off with this one policy.
Fantastic, isn’t he? That’s resetting the narrative. He’s even taken out the far-right – taken that deep-seated fear of difference and pointed the anger to where it belongs.
‘Mélenchon has no intention of toning down his campaign or his anger. “You can’t present a programme like mine with the face of a sweet little boy taking his first communion,” he says’
Plenty of the most wealthy people in NZ think it’s stupid to pay tax if you can avoid and evade. Current NZ legislation permits far too much avoidance and given the current level of commitment to chasing up the evaders you might be right Lanth. But now is definitely the time to consider a 100% tax on income over say $500k combined with serious efforts to remove the loopholes, and well resourced teams to investigate, prosecute and punish evaders severely. Mélenchon’s ideas are inspirational.
I think the point is that people at that level of income pay little or no tax now, by hiding it behind trusts and other minimisation arrangements. I can’t remember which one it is, but one of the candidates in the Republican Party Presidential race pays less tax than his house cleaner. That won’t be much different for our Glorious Leader either, I imagine.
Melenchon has already won the 100% wealth tax argument just by having it discussed worldwide. That’s how framing works.
Crushing fat cat pay is pretty simple, he explained. “Anything above €360,000, we take it all. The tax bracket will be 100%. People say to me, that’s ideological. I say too right it is. It’s a vision of society. Just as we won’t allow poverty in our society, we won’t allow the hyper-accumulation of riches. Money should not be accumulated but circulated, invested, spent for the common good.”
Will rich people flee France, as his critics warn? “If they do, no problem. Bye bye,” he smiled.
He reasons that if the top tier of French bosses left, their deputies would take over. Not to mention another Mélenchon proposal – now also taken up by Sarkozy himself – that any tax exile would have to pay the difference back to the French state. “So there’s no point leaving, because we’ll catch you. If they don’t pay, we’ll seize what they own.
“Look, we have to smash this prejudice that the rich are useful just because they’re rich.”
“Capitalist propaganda always managed to make people think the markets’ interests were humanity’s interests.” For too long people have been made to feel that they were some kind of drain or problem for expecting free education, free healthcare or being able to stop working when they were old and spent.”
Finally someone says it out loud. We’ve had 30 years of being battered with an extremist capitalist message that anything normal, human even, feels strange.
Well you could say goodbye to France picking up the top talent – why would top CEOs go to work in France when they could just work in Germany or somewhere else? You’re also going to be forcing massive fire-sales of assets from people who can no longer afford to pay the finance on the property because they’re having all of their income confiscated by the government from the 100% tax.
I have also wondered about the impact of rich people keeping all the money in their bank accounts: effectively this fights inflation. If we give money to poor people, they spend it into the economy, creating a money-go-round, which in the end results in higher inflation. On the other hand rich people act like sponges, soaking up the excess cash and sitting on it.
I think maybe if you gave money to the poor people, you’d push up inflation to a sufficient level so that they weren’t better-off anyway.
Well you could say goodbye to France picking up the top talent – why would top CEOs go to work in France when they could just work in Germany or somewhere else?
The evidence I’ve seen (linked to before round here, just can’t be arsed finding it again) is that there is an inverse relationship between CEO pay and company wealth creation.
I think maybe if you gave money to the poor people, you’d push up inflation to a sufficient level so that they weren’t better-off anyway.
I think you are confusing the effects of the ‘quantity of money’ with the ‘velocity of money’. You are correct that the poor spend their income, but because that income was generated by economic activity in one form or another… it’s not inflationary.
Ok, so velocity vs quantity of money, I can buy that.
But if you’re talking about giving poor people more spending money, through tax cuts, then actually they haven’t produced anything extra today than they did yesterday, yet today they get to keep more of the money in their pockets because of lower tax.
That is increasing the quantity of available money and would therefore lead to inflation?
If the economy was running at full capacity then yes.
Essentially the value of money is determined by the ratio of the total supply of money divided by the total supply of goods and services.
Imagine a toy economy with only one good…cows. And notched sticks were the only currency. If you had 100 cows and 100 sticks, then logically 1 cow = 1 stick.
If I doubled the number of sticks to 200 then 1 cow = 2 sticks. That’s inflation in the sense you are thinking of it.
But imagine if in our economy when we doubled the number of sticks to 200… AND the number of cows also doubled to 200. Then 1 cow = 1 stick. No inflation. This would happen if there was spare capacity in our toy economy so that when we increased the supply of money there was a rise in demand for cows that could be met.
The problem at the moment comes, when the wealthy increase the nominal amount of money, by speculative games between themselves, then try to spend it on real goods and services.
The answer is to stop giving them so much in the first place.
Note the irony of someone with a million dollar, unearned, trust fund, talking about having to support “bludging beneficiaries”.
I think maybe if you gave money to the poor people, you’d push up inflation to a sufficient level so that they weren’t better-off anyway.
that’s the most fucked, stupid, uneconomic reasoning in the world. Sorry Lanth, can’t pull the punch back there.
Its a story propogated by those who have the most to lose from inflation: those sitting on hoards of cash.
And why fight inflation by lettting the ultrarich hoard all that cash? Leaving aside for the moment that in a debt ridden world inflation is actually extremely useful.
Why not just cancel all that haorded cash (which you have to remember is a massive claim on future labour, services and physical goods) and provide to the economy just sufficient money to transact ordinary commerce and the activity of peoples’ day to day lives?
You also completely omit the other vital factor in fighting inflation in your monetarist approach – and that is ensuring vital productivity and true competition in the market place, preferably weighted towards smaller players.
Profiteering price hikes do not occur in markets where there are high levels of productivity and competition for the consumer and government dollar.
BTW there is now plenty of evidence to say that price hikes in ordinary commodities (inflation, if you will) has been occurring because of massive central bank money printing (QE). The mega wealthy have been using that money to buy up assets and speculate in commodity and equity markets, driving the price up on everyone else who unlike them, can’t access billions through the Fed window at 0.2% pa.
I’m not trying to say that is what will happen, I’m just wondering if it would be a consequence of it.
Seems like a reasonable question to me.
“Why not just cancel all that haorded cash (which you have to remember is a massive claim on future labour, services and physical goods)”
Only as long as the ponzi scheme keeps going. Once it falls over, all that hoarded cash will simply vanish into thin air, as you actually suggested we do. So the overall effect then is that the cash has been permanently removed from the economy at the time it was put in the bank.
Aha,and that thinking by Labour is in essence,(along with the rest of your rant), why Labour is stuck fighting for the middle/upper middle class vote with National in what has simply become a bidding war between political factions of the neo-capitalist ism,
Another poster pointed out in a post the other day that NZFirst is in fact the ”old” National Party way to the left of the neo-capitalist present one and we dare suggest that Labour also sits to the ”right” of NZFirst when viewed from a point of economic direction and policy,
Lets look at your first point from the view point of those on the shop floor,the dairy giant Fonterra pays its CEO what? 1 million, 2 million, 3 million, you see where we are heading?,
Meanwhile Fonterra pays the drivers of its trucking fleet what, 50,000, 75,000, 100,000,
If the CEO of Fonterra where to drop dead tomorrow what actual effect would this have upon the company,s operation?, We would dare suggest that the answer to that would be None, Nada, Zilch,
However,if Fonterra,s vehicle fleet drivers all en masse succumbed and transited to that great truck stop in the sky, what effect would that immediately have upon the company, our view there would be a huge one, Fonterra would cease to operate as a company until such time it could find and train new operators for its vehicle fleet,
Your point that under neo-capital giving the unemployed more cash in their pocket creates inflation is simply an echoing of Sir(spit)Roger Douglas and the whole Chicago school of economics neo-capitalist ism,
Using the employment via making people unemployed is simply an economic tool that kills economic activity in favor of protecting the value of the stash that the already rich already possess and is brought into whole-heartedly by the ownership classes wanting to keep their mortgage rates firmly mired in low single digit figures…
If the CEO of Fonterra where to drop dead tomorrow what actual effect would this have upon the company,s operation?, We would dare suggest that the answer to that would be None, Nada, Zilch,
However,if Fonterra,s vehicle fleet drivers all en masse succumbed and transited to that great truck stop in the sky, what effect would that immediately have upon the company
Even if just one truckie went to the Great Truck Stop it would have more effect upon Fonterra than if the CEO went to the Ninth Circle. If the truckie goes deliveries are delayed, work must be done to find a replacement immediately and the loss must be worked around until a replacement is found. The CEO goes, the vice CEO steps in and things continue as if nothing happened until a replacement is found.
Apologies DTB, I must be spending too much time around Viper.
I think you are drastically understating the value of a good CEO, as well as the intelligence of those business owners that appoint and pay them.
But you are correct that all other employees add value to a business.
The real problem is that managers value is over stated, massively so. No one is worth millions of dollars per year. Hell, I doubt if anyone is worth more than 100k.
We would dare further suggest that the unemployment benefit be done away with altogether and replaced with THE GUARANTEED MINIMUM WAGE,its a matter of Social Justice that We cant really see Labour being able to come to grips with,being all wrapped up in issues of ,”they didnt produce anything so why should they get more”,
We dare say that what the unemployed produced via their unemployment is an economic climate of basement level single digit inflation to the benefit of the middle/upper middle classes so as to enable them to play monopoly in the middle of a housing shortage…
Will rich people flee France, as his critics warn? “If they do, no problem. Bye bye,” he smiled.
He reasons that if the top tier of French bosses left, their deputies would take over. Not to mention another Mélenchon proposal – now also taken up by Sarkozy himself – that any tax exile would have to pay the difference back to the French state. “So there’s no point leaving, because we’ll catch you. If they don’t pay, we’ll seize what they own.
“Look, we have to smash this prejudice that the rich are useful just because they’re rich.”
I don’t understand international economics so will someone please explain to me why we are doing this? New Zealand has already given about $100 million to the IMF to help bail out the failing Euro economies. I presume for New Zealand to get this money it was borrowed from overseas banks. Now the IMF wants more money from us to pay the debts that other Euro countries have run up with overseas banks. We will again have to borrow this money from the overseas banks for the IMF to pay to the overseas banks to cover the overspending Euro economies debts. If the banks need this money why don’t they just borrow from each other, or are they already doing that? Is this is what is known as “punching above our weight”?
The banks we would borrow the money from are not the same banks (governments) that need the bailing out.
And yes, basically it is us taking on the cost of the debt to remain part of the club. The whole point of the IMF is that if we get into serious trouble we would be able to call on them for a bailout too (assuming the whole ponzi scheme hasn’t gone tits up at that point).
So effectively borrowing money and paying interest on it is just the membership fee to belong to this club. Really it’s just like insurance for your national economy: pay some interest costs now, so that in the future if you need a bailout from the IMF they’ll come to the party.
Wasn’t it the IMF that insisted on collapsing the community health operation and the free education which had been operating in Vietnam after the Vietnam War? They said get rid of those things and we will set up schools and hospitals and arrange for hotels to be built so that education, health, tourism will bring prosperity to all. The result was private enterprise which took away community schools and health care and the hotels employed only foreign staff (except for the cleaners and gardeners) and profits were exported to foreign investors.
Yeah, I don’t know a whole lot about the IMF but I believe that in practice you really don’t want an IMF bailout because they put very strict measures on it.
To give the IMF its due tho, they(the IMF)do an ongoing assessment of all the economy,s involved along with advice and warnings,
As an interim report to the incoming National Government in 2009 the IMF directly recommended that the incoming Government consider ”Quatitative Easing” as an economic tool to manage its way through the worst of the negative effects of the 07/08 financial collapse,
In its latest piece of advice to the Slippery Government the IMF warned against the Slippery Government making more cuts in Government employment as such would act as an anchor miring the economy in its current recession,
We always read what the IMF has to say to Government with interest, and yes, despise the methodology of that organization when it(the IMF)is let loose in any country,s economy…
“In its latest piece of advice to the Slippery Government the IMF warned against the Slippery Government making more cuts in Government employment as such would act as an anchor miring the economy in its current recession,”
I know its like a bad joke, they issue statements against implementing actions of austerity, which the IMF themselves insist on should they be needed to loan back your own money you have fronted to them for the “membership fee” in the first place..See what is happening in Greece, what happned in Argentina and many others. We need to Kick them out, because as a sovereign nation, should we need a bloody loan, we print it ourselves without interest surely! Otherwise we are not sovereign!
People need to read up on the history of the IMF, who are nothing more than the receivership arm of the global banking cartel!
There you go, did it take long to reach that conclusion about Sovereignty,and the answer of course is that we aint,
So as at early 2009 as per it’s(the IMF)interim report to the incoming National Government where they(the IMF)recommended just that, the printing of money via quantitive easing you, we and the IMF were all of the same opinion…
The banks we would borrow the money from are not the same banks (governments) that need the bailing out.
Not necessarily Lanth. Clarke and Dawe cover this off brilliantly. This is a capitalist ponzi scheme of lent, relent, hypthecated and rehypothecated funds.
Most people will consider this alarmist and deliberate scare reporting. I don’t agree the Fukushima disaster just gets worse and worse. It’s enlightening to me that our MSM have completely dropped it round the World. What do you think about this article? Helen Caldicott is continuing to warn of the extreme dangers of nuclear power for the World.
“It’s Not Over: Government Plans for the Worst: Forced Evacuation of Tokyo…”
While it has for the most part disappeared from mainstream view, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is anything but over. In fact, the situation in Japan has gone from bad to worse.
Bottom line: There is no way to contain the radiation.
Even more alarming is that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and other agencies have warned that the nuclear storage pools (the containment units that are being used to cool the nuclear fuel) have been damaged and may collapse under their own weight.
Such an event would cause widespread nuclear fallout throughout the region and force the government to evacuate the nearly 10 million residents of Tokyo and surrounding areas, a scenario which government emergency planners are now taking into serious consideration.
Leading Japanese newspaper The Mainichi Daily News reports:
One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse. This is something that experts from both within and outside Japan have pointed out since the massive quake struck. TEPCO, meanwhile, says that the situation is under control. However, not only independent experts, but also sources within the government say that it’s a grave concern.
The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. The roof has been blown away. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area. Both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and French nuclear energy company Areva have warned about this risk.
———————————————————————————————————-
Another report:
Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident
“Japan’s former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata, ” says:
“Ambassador Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4—with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground—collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries. Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421 ”
It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on NO.4 reactor. This is confirmed by most reliable experts like Dr. Arnie Gundersen or Dr. Fumiaki Koide.
Makes our Politics down here look rather minute in comparison to the huge disaster unfolding in the Northern Hemisphere which isn’t being reported by msm worldwide Why?
The only reason I see for Fukishima being dropped by msm, or them churning out pap pieces that peddle official ‘it’s all okay here’ lines, is that the nuclear lobby is very powerful, wants to expand and is able to spoon feed a fellow corporate and generally incurious msm.
And we can’t have authorities (scientific, technical and political) being seen to be out of their depth either now, can we? There’s an unspoken yet almost audible order going down that basically runs as… “Retain the faith, lads… retain the faith”. So, no allusions to the quiet deep dread that must be haunting any of those directly involved in the technical/engineering aspects of Fukishima. And no taking of govenrment/industry announcements on what has happened or is likely to happen and ‘holding them up to the light’ of real world, factual and easily recoverable data.
I occasionally visit Gunersen’s site http://www.fairewinds.com/ for info…knowledgable and informative. No scaremongering.
I’m a bit surprised that a Japanese official has ‘broken ranks’ and signposted the unholy fucking roiling catastrophe that could eventuate if an aftershock collapsed ‘Unit 4’.
(Ah, I should read things more carefully. He’s an ex ambassador.)
So, no allusions to the quiet deep dread that must be haunting any of those directly involved in the technical/engineering aspects of Fukishima
Knowledge lends no comfort.
You can only handle this lethally dangerous spent fuel while it is submersed in water so that the neutrons are moderated, yet crucially all the equipment essential to handling it has been destroyed. Replacing this equipment is impossible because no-one can get near it.
Remote robotics can only achieve so much, especially in such a rubble strewn, chaotic environment.
Yeah, granted that knowledge is cold comfort or no comfort. But keeping people in the dark is fucking criminal. eg. Apparently 1/3 of a 1000 children tested have lumps in their thyroid. The government simply says it’s ‘monitoring the situation’. No biopsies. Nothing.
And the pretence that ‘everything is under control’ ought to be dropped. There was and is no ‘cold shut down’ in spite of government/industry proclamations to that effect. The radiation effects are far worse than officially admitted. Radiation levels higher than admitted (they are only measuring and reporting on Gamma radiation). And then there’s the dumping radioactive waste in Tokyo Bay…
Time lamp posts were brought back into fashion…,not for people trying their best…but for the dishonest bastards whose lies (official lines) are going to lead to unnecessary deaths. Lots of them.
I didn’t mean to come across unconcerned. Quite the contrary; I’ve been following dear old Arnie from the outset and learnt a huge amount from him. And even then he’s just one man and doesn’t have a monopoly on the truth.
What is alarming is just how few trustworthy voices there are out there. On one hand there are laughable alarmist nut-jobs and on the other there is the blatant cover-up by the industry and media.
Believe it or not, the best information I could get my hands on as the crisis developed was from nuclear physicists discussing it among themselves. It is hard to hide information from people armed with with intimate knowledge of reactor design and news-media and satellite photographs. They were confident that a melt-down was occurring long before any other source I saw at the time.
Didn’t think you were unconcerned. Possibly misinterpreted the “knowledge lends no comfort” as meaning that since a lot of what’s happened/is happening is beyond our ken and control, that we might as well not know.
On one hand there are laughable alarmist nut-jobs and on the other there is the blatant cover-up by the industry and media.
What to believe?
I don’t think it’s too difficult to decide who’s info should be treated with suspicion and so on. Nut-jobs are fairly easy to discern and to dismiss. Industry and government have *understandable* motives to play things down. Individuals within industry are somewhat gagged if they have an eye to an ongoing career. (Gunersen is the example they are meant to heed.)
On the other hand, people doing research not immediately and obviously connected with Fukishima can throw up insights (I’m thinking of the tests performed on the car air filters for example). And, of course, ex-industry personnel can speak freely. True, some may be grinding axes, but the more the industry lambasts them, the more likely they are saying something industry would rather was not heard. (Gunersen is a good example again.)
And once you’re satisfied with your ‘in’ to reasonable info, just follow the signposts they offer to other sources (and if those sources begin to seem questionable, then re-appraise your entry point)
“What is alarming is just how few trustworthy voices there are out there. On one hand there are laughable alarmist nut-jobs and on the other there is the blatant cover-up by the industry and media. ”
Alarmist nut jobs – RL I think you need to examine your use of derogitory name calling, because Fukishima has a high chance of becoming the worlds worst nuclear catastrophe, (if it isn’t already) which would put it at the top of historical global fuckups, with horrendous long term wide spread impacts!
What to believe?” – Well obviously not those in charge of the operation or the media coverage seen, and now not really seen at all eh. Those people would seem to be the “nut jobs” you refer, handling the cover up!
Too black and white Muzza. Just because someone offers something contrary to the ‘official line’, that doesn’t make what they are saying any more trustworthy than the official line.
Bill you hit on one of my favourite points, which is of course propaganda, missinformation and the like. My response might seem black and white Bill, we know that events sometimes appear too complex in nature, but in this instance we are talking about nuclear reactors, and the melting down of them, hence it becomes rather black and white. IT IS ALREADY BAD!
This is not political point scoring or the GOP primaries Bill this is a nuclear disaster!
Getting cute about degrees of information accuracy is not going to lessen the fact!
Bill I am curious about these nut bars you refer – Can you give some examples of the sort of info being spread around in regards to this nuclear disaster?
With regards to propaganda, not reporting information, or under-reporting is propaganda , you are aware of that right?
It is not just the people of Japan who need to know, the rest of the planet also Bill, and that includes little old sandpit news reporting NZ!
The default position of lying to the public at every turn , gives rise to speculation right, you know that too surely!
Banking sector driving the tech firms which they are all major shareholders of, who would have thought eh. So when the chips are hacked and people keep losing their phones, what then I wonder!
This should be just the answer to those pesky global financial crises we keep expereiencing. Cash, you needs it eh.
Big banks must have worked out how they will replace the cash money laundering they already do using money from drug cartels etc, hmmm how will they replace that stream of liquidity once cash is gone I wonder…..
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, when any injury or damage to any land or to any property on any land has arisen owing to the presence on the land of any wildlife for the time being specified in Schedule 2 hereto, the occupier of the land or any other person with the authority of the occupier may hunt or kill on the land any such wildlife, subject to any regulations for the time being in force under this Act:”
Flashback’s success has been assisted by the culture of denial that — with Apple’s encouragement — exists in the Mac market. Most Mac users don’t use anti-virus software because they believe that their machines are impervious to malware. This outbreak could make the Apple ecosystem more secure by encouraging more Mac users to defend their systems.
600k systems botted all because a lot of Mac users believe their machines are impervious to malware.
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
Gareth Hughes is calling for a moratorium on all tracking until “people’s health and safety can be guaranteed”.
Warning – no “tracking” provided in the above. Link is yet again to his own site.
Bloody police state.
I hope I’m not tracked by having diesel injected into my combustion chambers.
Sounds terribly painful.
+1
As I just found out.
But it’s what you come to expect from an entity, with nothing of interest to say, and where, no one want’s to hear it’s drivel, hence it has to resort to sly methods, like link whoring.
The simple point is, how safe is safe enough? We can’t have 100% safe, it’s a matter of deciding on acceptable levels of risk. This applies to many things. Even electing parties.
“The simple point is, how safe is safe enough? ”
No that’s a complex point.
“We can’t have 100% safe”
We can, it’s called not doing it.
Doing nothing can be unsafe too. Living is a risk – and we all succumb in the end.
Are you trying to say that because you can’t make something “100% safe” that gives you the right to go ahead and do it regardless?!
Your “simple point” about safety management is that you decide what is an acceptable level of risk. Exactly!! So if you decide that the consequences of a possible incident are unacceptable then not doing the thing that incurs the risk is the obvious thing to do.
You think that the risk of living is that one day you’ll die, wow… good argument. But completely irrelevant in terms of our freedom to decide how to manage most of the risks that life throws up.
As for electing parties … if only a few people had known the consequences of voting nact and their sycophantic allies they’d have made a different decision.
pg from the doing nothing party obviously your an expert as well as stating the the blindingly obvious.
Vote for Unbridled Fools
the low risk no risk party!
True. 100% risk the country is almost irretrievably fucked, under National.
National, on their past record, should be banned until proven safe.
Pete’s probably referring to this worker being spied on by his boss. Expensive bit of snooping, as it turns out.
I agree there should be no tracking until workers’ health is guaranteed. Bloody trackers …
tc @ 7.30am I treat his posts as spam …. is there a filter for it? Either he’s a troll or he has a misguided belief his comments stack up as convincing arguments.
I’m waiting for the mozilla ad-on, though could be waiting some time. How many people do you reckon would use it?
I’m curious about what would fill the vacuum if he was censored. The other day, a newby was tapped on the shoulder by mods for a single instance of being open about their linking – and their content was actually interesting. Here is Pete, everyday spam spam spamming his way into the history books. So I guess there must be some officially sanctioned higher purpose he serves. Perhaps he is being farmed, like ants do to aphids, collecting their skicky honeydew excretions, so that newcomers have something to cut their teeth on.
Do you have any new tricks, Pete? The show is at risk of getting a little dull. Even Coronation Street had to spice it up. What about faking a party/ideological change, then switching back to the “moderation of the centre”? Could be exciting, like the time in Home and Away when Charlie flirted with lesbianism. Fancy being a lesbian for a few weeks, Pete?
Yes. Stop all the trackers before they become little Frackers.
Could we get hackers to stop the pre-fracker trackers, I wonder?
Agreed Pete, that movie with Tem Morrison was god-awful. A sequel would be toe-curling. Say no to The Tracker 2!
Can this be ‘medicinal’? I need more energy in my chambers. But maybe it could be as addictive as Pete G finds this blog site. Whatever did he/she do before finding this ersatz family to squabble with all day. Churchill said Jaw jaw is better than war, war. I say what actual actions can each of us actually do to enhance the good things in the world? I get sick of words, words.
I suggest instead finding some useful volunteer work, outdoor could be healthy helping to plant streamside pollution catching and preventing shrubs etc. Or taking on a Big Brother Big Sister role to a child needing another stable caring person in their life. Or something else in NZ supporting a local initiative. If Pete G is already doing something, he has time for more useful stuff – I know what would be good. The Citizens Advice Bureau, a perfect place for a well-informed volunteer who wants to keep up to date and advise others.
Pg is making this site a tiresome bore at times due to his constant carping on……perhaps that’s part of his masters plan.
I often just ignore anything I think is boring. Like…
“Boo Key, boo Collins, Yay!….um, uh, boo National, boo PG”.
Try adding what you think is exciting and promote invigorating debate, if that’s what you prefer.
‘Invigorating debate’ many times your pants get pulled down as you shift your position to try and keep alive your threads PG, sometimes it’s entertaining but mostly it’s boring….invigorating is not a word I’d used to describe you.
Let’s have a DNFTT day with Petey. Every time he posts something someone posts “DNFTT” immediately afterwards.
+1. I am really sick of PG virtually taking over this site. I am just surprised at the number of people who bite and fall into the trap that allows him to do so.
As I think it was RL commented yesterday, some useful discussions and facts sometimes come out of the ensuing discussions and threads, but his dominance in every post and thread is both boring and annoying. So, please DFTT.
+1
Me too with bells on. It’s got to the stage that I stop reading comments because I can’t be bothered scrolling over the PG barrage.
Please don’t respond folks then he might (eventually) go away and once again we can follow intelligent and informed conversations.
Perhaps I could try a bit harder 😛
LOL – but personally I don’t find your comments boring or annoying!
Notice he has been quiet for an hour or so now. Can’t be bothered looking but perhaps he is doing “his thing” over at WO or KB where he is also a regular. Also notice that he has not been active on the DimPost since his recent ban here expired; but not surprised as he certainly did not “win friends and influence people” there. What also annoys me is that he goes on these other blogs and disses the Standard and its followers, but still continues to participate here – a total hypocrite IMO.
Update – had a quick look at KB and there is PG pushing his bit at 1 above in the General Discussion thread. And here is an example of him dissing this site:
Peter George (12,813) Says:
April 7th, 2012 at 9:04 am
Other_Andy – here is proof, justed posted response to a simple question I asked.
Greens: From coal (lignite and conventional), gold, iron sands and other mineral mining to fracking and deep sea oil drilling
Me: Do the Greens want to stop or prevent all of that?
Jenny: The question is Pete. Do we need it? I challenge you, (or anyone else), to justify any of it.
Jenny: Apart from providing profits for some fat cats and despoiling the environment, what other purpose does it serve?
I asked that question a couple of times over the last couple of days, and this was the most reasonable response, the rest was personal attacks and abuse (one abuse on me was even censored by The Standard which is saying a lot, they are not usually sympathetic in attacks on me. I didn’t see what had been said).
PG is a Kiwiblog plant …
he gives me the hebes
I think Pete’s of the Tireless Rebutter variety.
For Tireless Rebutter there is no such thing as a trivial dispute. He regards all challenges as barbarians at the gates. His unflagging tenacity in making his points numbs and eventually wears down the opposition. Confident that his arguments are sound, Tireless Rebutter can’t understand why he is universally loathed.
LOL – spot on. Time to forget him and have a shower and do something ‘useful’ like dishes, gardening and bathing one dog. The other is a very large Rottie cross who doesn’t like baths and I am not game or stupid enough to try to bath him.
Hehe joe….we’re all there.
PG you must be in anguish all the time trying to ignore you and your leader
I wouldn’t call it a tight spot, each party simply has to decide if it supports it or not, and be judged on it’s decision. I don’t care who opposes as long as enough support it.
This bill has been thoughtfully constructed, with an incremental approach that will make it difficult to oppose, even on the basis of fiscal constraints.
A classic case of how small flanking parties can embarrass the larger ruling parties to do the right thing.
Just as the Maori Party embarrassed Labour into reluctantly supporting taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables, when Rahui Katene’s private members bill was drawn from the ballot.
In this case, National is the one under pressure. But it is funny, (if it wasn’t so tragic), how their excuses against a family friendly measure, echo Labour’s lame excuse that taking GST off food is simply unaffordable.
Kate Wilkinson said the increase was “simply unaffordable”.
However in this case National is in an even weaker moral position than Labour in claiming unaffordability for a family friendly policy, when affordability was never issue for the Nats. when it came to bailing out rich folk to the tune of $billions when their speculative bubble burst in 2008.
In fact the Nats. gifted one loser in the South Canturbury collapse, Roger Kerr, a cool $100 million to cover his losses, no strings attached. (Despite the fact that he still had $180 million to his name.)
But when it comes to families trying to care for children and struggling to pay the bills, it’s another story, no relief is to be given here.
The crude and cruel partizan mask of the Nats. is in the process of being ripped off with this one policy.
All power to United Future and Sue Maroney.
This is a classic case of how small flanking parties can embarrass the larger ruling parties to do the right thing.
Just as the Maori Party embarrassed Labour into reluctantly supporting taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables, when Rahui Katene’s private members bill was drawn from the ballot.
In this case, National is the one under pressure. But it is funny, (if it wasn’t so tragic), how their excuses against a family friendly measure, echo Labour’s lame excuse that taking GST off food is simply unaffordable.
Kate Wilkinson for National, said the increase was “simply unaffordable”.
However in this case National’s Wilkinson is in an even weaker moral position than Labour in claiming unaffordability for a family friendly policy. Affordability was never issue for the Nats. when it came to bailing out rich folk to the tune of $billions when their speculative bubble burst in 2008.
In fact the Nats. gifted one loser in the South Canturbury collapse, Roger Kerr, a cool $100 million to cover his losses, no strings attached. (Despite the fact that he still had $180 million to his name.)
But when it comes to families trying to care for children and struggling to pay the bills, it’s another story, no relief is to be given here.
New Zealand is to witness the crude and cruel partizan face of the Nats. being revealed to all during the procession of this one bill.
All power to United Future and Sue Maroney.
I was pleased to see this Bill pulled, but time will tell.
I just did a quick (and these days rare) look at Kiwiblog and note that Farrar today has a post on the subject related to the Stuff article. He states:
It is worth mentioning that the Government can stop the bill being passed into law, even without a majority in Government. If the Minister of Finance signs a certificate saying the bill “would have more than a minor impact on the Government’s fiscal aggregates”, then under Standing Orders the Speaker will not give the bill a third reading. It can however proceed up until then.
On the merits of increasing paid parental leave, lets just say it is a debate which could be worthwhile to have when we are back in surplus, but while we are struggling with debt and deficit, it would be ir-responsible to do so.
Re the possibility of the government being able to stop the bill being passed into law even without a majority, I am not aware of this provision. Perhaps others with better knowledge can elucidate.
PS – guess who was the first to comment? PG……….
haha, That thread’s hilarious:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/04/paid_parental_leave.html#comments
Widespread deep ignorance about what the bill would do, and knee jerk threats to stop employing teh womenz.
Given that it’s UF policy I expect PG will be in there boots and all with the same style of comments that he uses here.
And how many are taking advantage of the things on offer, like PPL the DOLE, Sickness B, etc etc. And then go and rant and rave on Kiwiblog and The Whales slime pit.
Of course the real test Pete, is whether United Future will make this policy a make or break issue for their support of the National led coalition, as New Zealand First did with Labour with their NZF policy for a Gold Card for senior citizens.
If National decide to shit all over this United Future policy and UF rolls over for them, then UF’s purpose for existence as a small flanker party holding the larger parties to account is effectively ended, along with all hopes of ever getting any voter support again.
Will the United Future Party make a stand?
Or will United Future disappear from the political landscape, (most likely forever)?
Where will your political support go then, Pete?
National?
Labour?
NZF?
Come on Pete, give us clue.
Good points and questions, Jenny – especially in view of Farrar’s comments I quoted in 3.2.1 above. Surely it would bring the whole National/UF agreement into jeopardy.
[PS – in case you didn’t see it, at the second of my (un-numbered) comments below 2.1.2.1.1 above, I have quoted some comments from Kiwiblog made by PG which include quoting from your comments here on the Standard. ]
Jenny:
a) I don’t think this will be a make or break issue, Peter Dunne is free to vote on many things. He has already indicated he will support the Labour Mondayisation bill.
b) If UF fade away (it’s obviously a possibility) I’ll make my decision then. Depends on how things evolve and the state of parties.
I’ve voted Labour before, I would consider them again if they rebuild successfully and have a better (in my opinion) mix of policies.
I’ve voted Greens before and would consider them again, I like some of their policies but think others are too extreme so it would depend on what they are giving a priority to and mix of personal.
I’d consider voting National but depends on if they had done their dash or not amongst other things. I may have voted National once.
Who I vote for can depend on whether I want to aim at boosting their numbers or limiting them, plus policies and personal and priorities.
I’ve been criticised here before for this approach to voting but I think it’s common amongst swing voters, the ones who often make the difference in elections.
For those who are deluded enough to still believe that agreements like the TPP cannot affect our National Sovereignty.
http://www.alternet.org/food/154855/Monsanto_Threatens_to_Sue_Vermont_if_Legislators_Pass_a_Bill_Requiring_GMO_Food_to_Be_Labeled/
We can be sued for any! laws which affect offshore corporate profits, as Canada has been, including labour protection laws, truth in advertising laws and consumer protection.
For example. McDonalds could sue for Mondayising public holidays.
As you can see from the link, this is not a scare. It is already occurring.
Fran O’Sullivan has a crushing piece in today’s Herald on the Sky City chequebook legislation deal.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10797154
My response: Where are the ‘chairman’s card’ and cash- for- comments celebrities now that Sky City needs them? Would’ nt now be the time for Mike what’s his name to bare his conviction on his chest and come out swinging,saying this is not crony capitalism, and NZ really will be better off if we can get more struggling people pokies adicted?
For once I gree with Ms O’Sullivan.
Absolutely, and written with some passion that I didn’t expect. I wonder if Key has some ‘elegant solution’ he’s proposing so Act and the MP support him after their strong opposition.
I liked this bit too:
David Cunliffe asked in Parliament if Joyce had one of these cards. I would be interested to see why he asked.
“DNFTT”
Aaaannndd PG ruins another thread.
PG – Do the decent thing and read what people link to before making such a totally stupid and unwarranted comment. Wanting to know whether Joyce has a SkyCity free perks card is pertinent, as is wanting to know why Dave Cunliffe asked
David Cunliffe might find more fertile ground asking Joyce from the floor of the Parliament whether He,(Joyce), has all or part of His business interests held within a ”blind trust” managed by others which gives Joyce the ”no knowledge option of what shareholdings are ”bought” and sold from within such a ”blind trust” and would He be surprised if such a blind trust held an amount of Skycity shares…
It’s a damning indictment of ”an industry” from first the journalist and secondly the Herald which run with the story,
The torrid RED centre of our intellect immediately saw it,RED, that is,and began to have visions of truckloads of pokie machines still emitting their jingles and flashing lights of hypnotism being dumped off of the Auckland wharf into the harbour, and, the guts of the SkyCity complex being remodeled into a soup kitchen an emergency accommodation complex to serve Auckalnd,
The Green centre of such intellect of course objected strongly to the former idea and a compromise had to be quickly reached to simply pull them apart for recycling,
Like the Herald’s O’Sullivan , We like to have a good look over a period of time,sometimes months,at the things which concern us,and, brain-washed may spring to mind when we have sat and watched the inmates of various small time pokie operations in various bars round Wellington,
Anyone who has milked cows tho as part of our wee group of islands white gold rush will instantly understand the atmosphere in any place where a full room of pokie machines are being quietly attended to by an equal number of those quietly and (seemingly)contentedly being milked by machines that in all the times and time we observed gave back nothing but the flashing of lights and the various mechanically generated tunes?,
The fact that we have these things en masse sucking the life-blood from those who are captured by their allure both rich and poor is a blight on our landscape and the fact that ANY Government has now stooped so low as to give the perception of openly having ”legislation for sale” castes our minds back to literature we have read about the excesses of Batista’s Cuba not long befor Castro and the cadre kicked in the doors and destroyed every last venue of gambling on that island…
A lot of passion and great imagery there bad12. Cow milking analogy great stuff.
+1. I could virtually see the pokie machines being dumped in the harbour, and know what Bad12 means by the taldry little pokie parlours in Wellington. I will probably never be able to walk past one again without seeing cows instead of sad people! Although I have never been to Sky City, the imagery of it being turned into a giant soup kitchen……….! LOL.
Well, if we did turn Sky City into a soup kitchen it would at least become useful.
A classic case of how small flanking parties can embarrass the larger ruling parties to do the right thing.
Just as the Maori Party embarrassed Labour into reluctantly supporting taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables, when Rahui Katene’s private members bill was drawn from the ballot.
In this case, National is the one under pressure. But it is funny, (if it wasn’t so tragic), how their excuses against a family friendly measure, echo Labour’s lame excuse that taking GST off food is simply unaffordable.
However in this case National is in an even weaker moral position than Labour in claiming unaffordability for a family friendly policy, when affordability was never issue for the Nats. when it came to bailing out rich folk to the tune of $billions when their speculative bubble burst in 2008.
In fact the Nats. gifted one loser in the South Canturbury collapse, Roger Kerr, a cool $100 million to cover his losses, no strings attached. (Despite the fact that he still had $180 million to his name.)
But when it comes to families trying to care for children and struggling to pay the bills, it’s another story, no relief is to be given here.
The crude and cruel partizan mask of the Nats. is in the process of being ripped off with this one policy.
All power to United Future and Sue Maroney.
I think I’ve found the anti-PG. Well, anti-Shearer/Key/Hair et al.
100% tax on income above NZ $1 million. Now that’s sensible economic policy; super rich is just as bad for an economy as grinding poverty is.
Fantastic, isn’t he? That’s resetting the narrative. He’s even taken out the far-right – taken that deep-seated fear of difference and pointed the anger to where it belongs.
‘Mélenchon has no intention of toning down his campaign or his anger. “You can’t present a programme like mine with the face of a sweet little boy taking his first communion,” he says’
100% tax is ridiculous and would never work. If you thought evasion was bad enough when we went from 33% to 39%…
Plenty of the most wealthy people in NZ think it’s stupid to pay tax if you can avoid and evade. Current NZ legislation permits far too much avoidance and given the current level of commitment to chasing up the evaders you might be right Lanth. But now is definitely the time to consider a 100% tax on income over say $500k combined with serious efforts to remove the loopholes, and well resourced teams to investigate, prosecute and punish evaders severely. Mélenchon’s ideas are inspirational.
I think the point is that people at that level of income pay little or no tax now, by hiding it behind trusts and other minimisation arrangements. I can’t remember which one it is, but one of the candidates in the Republican Party Presidential race pays less tax than his house cleaner. That won’t be much different for our Glorious Leader either, I imagine.
Melenchon has already won the 100% wealth tax argument just by having it discussed worldwide. That’s how framing works.
Yes, as a narrative technique to draw attention to his campaign it is amazingly effective.
As a policy that could be implemented or people would actually vote for, not so much.
umm… argue with this:
Finally someone says it out loud. We’ve had 30 years of being battered with an extremist capitalist message that anything normal, human even, feels strange.
Well you could say goodbye to France picking up the top talent – why would top CEOs go to work in France when they could just work in Germany or somewhere else? You’re also going to be forcing massive fire-sales of assets from people who can no longer afford to pay the finance on the property because they’re having all of their income confiscated by the government from the 100% tax.
I have also wondered about the impact of rich people keeping all the money in their bank accounts: effectively this fights inflation. If we give money to poor people, they spend it into the economy, creating a money-go-round, which in the end results in higher inflation. On the other hand rich people act like sponges, soaking up the excess cash and sitting on it.
I think maybe if you gave money to the poor people, you’d push up inflation to a sufficient level so that they weren’t better-off anyway.
Well you could say goodbye to France picking up the top talent – why would top CEOs go to work in France when they could just work in Germany or somewhere else?
The evidence I’ve seen (linked to before round here, just can’t be arsed finding it again) is that there is an inverse relationship between CEO pay and company wealth creation.
I think maybe if you gave money to the poor people, you’d push up inflation to a sufficient level so that they weren’t better-off anyway.
I think you are confusing the effects of the ‘quantity of money’ with the ‘velocity of money’. You are correct that the poor spend their income, but because that income was generated by economic activity in one form or another… it’s not inflationary.
Ok, so velocity vs quantity of money, I can buy that.
But if you’re talking about giving poor people more spending money, through tax cuts, then actually they haven’t produced anything extra today than they did yesterday, yet today they get to keep more of the money in their pockets because of lower tax.
That is increasing the quantity of available money and would therefore lead to inflation?
If the economy was running at full capacity then yes.
Essentially the value of money is determined by the ratio of the total supply of money divided by the total supply of goods and services.
Imagine a toy economy with only one good…cows. And notched sticks were the only currency. If you had 100 cows and 100 sticks, then logically 1 cow = 1 stick.
If I doubled the number of sticks to 200 then 1 cow = 2 sticks. That’s inflation in the sense you are thinking of it.
But imagine if in our economy when we doubled the number of sticks to 200… AND the number of cows also doubled to 200. Then 1 cow = 1 stick. No inflation. This would happen if there was spare capacity in our toy economy so that when we increased the supply of money there was a rise in demand for cows that could be met.
The problem comes when you can no longer increase the number of cows and still keep increasing the amount of money.
The problem at the moment comes, when the wealthy increase the nominal amount of money, by speculative games between themselves, then try to spend it on real goods and services.
The answer is to stop giving them so much in the first place.
Note the irony of someone with a million dollar, unearned, trust fund, talking about having to support “bludging beneficiaries”.
Well they would not go to work in Germany.
The gap between CEO pay and workers pay is much less in Germany.
Germany and Japan seem to find competent managers even so.
The link was here.
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/kia-ora-corporatism-and-neo-liberalism.html
“The corporations with the largest income gap between Directors/Managers and employees have proven to be the least functional. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25145966?uid=3738776&uid=2&uid=4&sid=47698850862127
that’s the most fucked, stupid, uneconomic reasoning in the world. Sorry Lanth, can’t pull the punch back there.
Its a story propogated by those who have the most to lose from inflation: those sitting on hoards of cash.
And why fight inflation by lettting the ultrarich hoard all that cash? Leaving aside for the moment that in a debt ridden world inflation is actually extremely useful.
Why not just cancel all that haorded cash (which you have to remember is a massive claim on future labour, services and physical goods) and provide to the economy just sufficient money to transact ordinary commerce and the activity of peoples’ day to day lives?
You also completely omit the other vital factor in fighting inflation in your monetarist approach – and that is ensuring vital productivity and true competition in the market place, preferably weighted towards smaller players.
Profiteering price hikes do not occur in markets where there are high levels of productivity and competition for the consumer and government dollar.
BTW there is now plenty of evidence to say that price hikes in ordinary commodities (inflation, if you will) has been occurring because of massive central bank money printing (QE). The mega wealthy have been using that money to buy up assets and speculate in commodity and equity markets, driving the price up on everyone else who unlike them, can’t access billions through the Fed window at 0.2% pa.
I’m not trying to say that is what will happen, I’m just wondering if it would be a consequence of it.
Seems like a reasonable question to me.
“Why not just cancel all that haorded cash (which you have to remember is a massive claim on future labour, services and physical goods)”
Only as long as the ponzi scheme keeps going. Once it falls over, all that hoarded cash will simply vanish into thin air, as you actually suggested we do. So the overall effect then is that the cash has been permanently removed from the economy at the time it was put in the bank.
You mean like the top CEOs that just caused a global recession? Yeah, I think we (and France) can probably do without them.
Aha,and that thinking by Labour is in essence,(along with the rest of your rant), why Labour is stuck fighting for the middle/upper middle class vote with National in what has simply become a bidding war between political factions of the neo-capitalist ism,
Another poster pointed out in a post the other day that NZFirst is in fact the ”old” National Party way to the left of the neo-capitalist present one and we dare suggest that Labour also sits to the ”right” of NZFirst when viewed from a point of economic direction and policy,
Lets look at your first point from the view point of those on the shop floor,the dairy giant Fonterra pays its CEO what? 1 million, 2 million, 3 million, you see where we are heading?,
Meanwhile Fonterra pays the drivers of its trucking fleet what, 50,000, 75,000, 100,000,
If the CEO of Fonterra where to drop dead tomorrow what actual effect would this have upon the company,s operation?, We would dare suggest that the answer to that would be None, Nada, Zilch,
However,if Fonterra,s vehicle fleet drivers all en masse succumbed and transited to that great truck stop in the sky, what effect would that immediately have upon the company, our view there would be a huge one, Fonterra would cease to operate as a company until such time it could find and train new operators for its vehicle fleet,
Your point that under neo-capital giving the unemployed more cash in their pocket creates inflation is simply an echoing of Sir(spit)Roger Douglas and the whole Chicago school of economics neo-capitalist ism,
Using the employment via making people unemployed is simply an economic tool that kills economic activity in favor of protecting the value of the stash that the already rich already possess and is brought into whole-heartedly by the ownership classes wanting to keep their mortgage rates firmly mired in low single digit figures…
Even if just one truckie went to the Great Truck Stop it would have more effect upon Fonterra than if the CEO went to the Ninth Circle. If the truckie goes deliveries are delayed, work must be done to find a replacement immediately and the loss must be worked around until a replacement is found. The CEO goes, the vice CEO steps in and things continue as if nothing happened until a replacement is found.
What are they serving for lunch today DTB? Do you take the tranquilizers before or after?
[That’s not an argument and isn’t funny. It’s just dickhead behaviour and attracts unwelcome attention from the moderators…RL]
Apologies DTB, I must be spending too much time around Viper.
I think you are drastically understating the value of a good CEO, as well as the intelligence of those business owners that appoint and pay them.
But you are correct that all other employees add value to a business.
By that logic the Bridgecorp CEO was paid very little for his services, given his performance.
The real problem is that managers value is over stated, massively so. No one is worth millions of dollars per year. Hell, I doubt if anyone is worth more than 100k.
Not enough, I would suggest.
The literal best of the best are worth $250K-$300K p.a. IMO
These aren’t accountants and financiers, please note. These are engineers, surgeons, other people whose specialist judgements mean life or death.
The main issue however remains one of a select few living off masses of capital and unearned wealth generated by other people.
We would dare further suggest that the unemployment benefit be done away with altogether and replaced with THE GUARANTEED MINIMUM WAGE,its a matter of Social Justice that We cant really see Labour being able to come to grips with,being all wrapped up in issues of ,”they didnt produce anything so why should they get more”,
We dare say that what the unemployed produced via their unemployment is an economic climate of basement level single digit inflation to the benefit of the middle/upper middle classes so as to enable them to play monopoly in the middle of a housing shortage…
The wealthy have been let off the hook big time during this recession. Time that changed.
… if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my bunk.
Viva la Mélenchon! It is so heartening to see the dialogue of the past 30 years seriously challenged.
That’s just being silly.
The old top US income tax rate of 91% was much more sensible.
Yes it was.
Quoting article:
Exactly.
I don’t understand international economics so will someone please explain to me why we are doing this? New Zealand has already given about $100 million to the IMF to help bail out the failing Euro economies. I presume for New Zealand to get this money it was borrowed from overseas banks. Now the IMF wants more money from us to pay the debts that other Euro countries have run up with overseas banks. We will again have to borrow this money from the overseas banks for the IMF to pay to the overseas banks to cover the overspending Euro economies debts. If the banks need this money why don’t they just borrow from each other, or are they already doing that? Is this is what is known as “punching above our weight”?
The banks we would borrow the money from are not the same banks (governments) that need the bailing out.
And yes, basically it is us taking on the cost of the debt to remain part of the club. The whole point of the IMF is that if we get into serious trouble we would be able to call on them for a bailout too (assuming the whole ponzi scheme hasn’t gone tits up at that point).
So effectively borrowing money and paying interest on it is just the membership fee to belong to this club. Really it’s just like insurance for your national economy: pay some interest costs now, so that in the future if you need a bailout from the IMF they’ll come to the party.
Wasn’t it the IMF that insisted on collapsing the community health operation and the free education which had been operating in Vietnam after the Vietnam War? They said get rid of those things and we will set up schools and hospitals and arrange for hotels to be built so that education, health, tourism will bring prosperity to all. The result was private enterprise which took away community schools and health care and the hotels employed only foreign staff (except for the cleaners and gardeners) and profits were exported to foreign investors.
Yeah, I don’t know a whole lot about the IMF but I believe that in practice you really don’t want an IMF bailout because they put very strict measures on it.
To give the IMF its due tho, they(the IMF)do an ongoing assessment of all the economy,s involved along with advice and warnings,
As an interim report to the incoming National Government in 2009 the IMF directly recommended that the incoming Government consider ”Quatitative Easing” as an economic tool to manage its way through the worst of the negative effects of the 07/08 financial collapse,
In its latest piece of advice to the Slippery Government the IMF warned against the Slippery Government making more cuts in Government employment as such would act as an anchor miring the economy in its current recession,
We always read what the IMF has to say to Government with interest, and yes, despise the methodology of that organization when it(the IMF)is let loose in any country,s economy…
“In its latest piece of advice to the Slippery Government the IMF warned against the Slippery Government making more cuts in Government employment as such would act as an anchor miring the economy in its current recession,”
I know its like a bad joke, they issue statements against implementing actions of austerity, which the IMF themselves insist on should they be needed to loan back your own money you have fronted to them for the “membership fee” in the first place..See what is happening in Greece, what happned in Argentina and many others. We need to Kick them out, because as a sovereign nation, should we need a bloody loan, we print it ourselves without interest surely! Otherwise we are not sovereign!
People need to read up on the history of the IMF, who are nothing more than the receivership arm of the global banking cartel!
There you go, did it take long to reach that conclusion about Sovereignty,and the answer of course is that we aint,
So as at early 2009 as per it’s(the IMF)interim report to the incoming National Government where they(the IMF)recommended just that, the printing of money via quantitive easing you, we and the IMF were all of the same opinion…
Agreed again! Monti is part of the IMF, am I right? Unelected, he rules Italy. That truly sucks… My Italian friends are all so angry about it.
Not necessarily Lanth. Clarke and Dawe cover this off brilliantly. This is a capitalist ponzi scheme of lent, relent, hypthecated and rehypothecated funds.
Most people will consider this alarmist and deliberate scare reporting. I don’t agree the Fukushima disaster just gets worse and worse. It’s enlightening to me that our MSM have completely dropped it round the World. What do you think about this article? Helen Caldicott is continuing to warn of the extreme dangers of nuclear power for the World.
“It’s Not Over: Government Plans for the Worst: Forced Evacuation of Tokyo…”
link: http://totalcollapse.com/2012/04/04/its-not-over-government-plans-for-the-worst-forced-evacuation-of-tokyo/
While it has for the most part disappeared from mainstream view, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is anything but over. In fact, the situation in Japan has gone from bad to worse.
Bottom line: There is no way to contain the radiation.
Even more alarming is that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and other agencies have warned that the nuclear storage pools (the containment units that are being used to cool the nuclear fuel) have been damaged and may collapse under their own weight.
Such an event would cause widespread nuclear fallout throughout the region and force the government to evacuate the nearly 10 million residents of Tokyo and surrounding areas, a scenario which government emergency planners are now taking into serious consideration.
Leading Japanese newspaper The Mainichi Daily News reports:
One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse. This is something that experts from both within and outside Japan have pointed out since the massive quake struck. TEPCO, meanwhile, says that the situation is under control. However, not only independent experts, but also sources within the government say that it’s a grave concern.
The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. The roof has been blown away. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area. Both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and French nuclear energy company Areva have warned about this risk.
———————————————————————————————————-
Another report:
Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident
Link: http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html
“Japan’s former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata, ” says:
“Ambassador Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4—with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground—collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries. Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421 ”
It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on NO.4 reactor. This is confirmed by most reliable experts like Dr. Arnie Gundersen or Dr. Fumiaki Koide.
Makes our Politics down here look rather minute in comparison to the huge disaster unfolding in the Northern Hemisphere which isn’t being reported by msm worldwide Why?
The only reason I see for Fukishima being dropped by msm, or them churning out pap pieces that peddle official ‘it’s all okay here’ lines, is that the nuclear lobby is very powerful, wants to expand and is able to spoon feed a fellow corporate and generally incurious msm.
And we can’t have authorities (scientific, technical and political) being seen to be out of their depth either now, can we? There’s an unspoken yet almost audible order going down that basically runs as… “Retain the faith, lads… retain the faith”. So, no allusions to the quiet deep dread that must be haunting any of those directly involved in the technical/engineering aspects of Fukishima. And no taking of govenrment/industry announcements on what has happened or is likely to happen and ‘holding them up to the light’ of real world, factual and easily recoverable data.
I occasionally visit Gunersen’s site http://www.fairewinds.com/ for info…knowledgable and informative. No scaremongering.
I’m a bit surprised that a Japanese official has ‘broken ranks’ and signposted the unholy fucking roiling catastrophe that could eventuate if an aftershock collapsed ‘Unit 4’.
(Ah, I should read things more carefully. He’s an ex ambassador.)
So, no allusions to the quiet deep dread that must be haunting any of those directly involved in the technical/engineering aspects of Fukishima
Knowledge lends no comfort.
You can only handle this lethally dangerous spent fuel while it is submersed in water so that the neutrons are moderated, yet crucially all the equipment essential to handling it has been destroyed. Replacing this equipment is impossible because no-one can get near it.
Remote robotics can only achieve so much, especially in such a rubble strewn, chaotic environment.
A massive engineering challenge.
Yeah, granted that knowledge is cold comfort or no comfort. But keeping people in the dark is fucking criminal. eg. Apparently 1/3 of a 1000 children tested have lumps in their thyroid. The government simply says it’s ‘monitoring the situation’. No biopsies. Nothing.
And the pretence that ‘everything is under control’ ought to be dropped. There was and is no ‘cold shut down’ in spite of government/industry proclamations to that effect. The radiation effects are far worse than officially admitted. Radiation levels higher than admitted (they are only measuring and reporting on Gamma radiation). And then there’s the dumping radioactive waste in Tokyo Bay…
Time lamp posts were brought back into fashion…,not for people trying their best…but for the dishonest bastards whose lies (official lines) are going to lead to unnecessary deaths. Lots of them.
I didn’t mean to come across unconcerned. Quite the contrary; I’ve been following dear old Arnie from the outset and learnt a huge amount from him. And even then he’s just one man and doesn’t have a monopoly on the truth.
What is alarming is just how few trustworthy voices there are out there. On one hand there are laughable alarmist nut-jobs and on the other there is the blatant cover-up by the industry and media.
What to believe?
Believe it or not, the best information I could get my hands on as the crisis developed was from nuclear physicists discussing it among themselves. It is hard to hide information from people armed with with intimate knowledge of reactor design and news-media and satellite photographs. They were confident that a melt-down was occurring long before any other source I saw at the time.
Didn’t think you were unconcerned. Possibly misinterpreted the “knowledge lends no comfort” as meaning that since a lot of what’s happened/is happening is beyond our ken and control, that we might as well not know.
I don’t think it’s too difficult to decide who’s info should be treated with suspicion and so on. Nut-jobs are fairly easy to discern and to dismiss. Industry and government have *understandable* motives to play things down. Individuals within industry are somewhat gagged if they have an eye to an ongoing career. (Gunersen is the example they are meant to heed.)
On the other hand, people doing research not immediately and obviously connected with Fukishima can throw up insights (I’m thinking of the tests performed on the car air filters for example). And, of course, ex-industry personnel can speak freely. True, some may be grinding axes, but the more the industry lambasts them, the more likely they are saying something industry would rather was not heard. (Gunersen is a good example again.)
And once you’re satisfied with your ‘in’ to reasonable info, just follow the signposts they offer to other sources (and if those sources begin to seem questionable, then re-appraise your entry point)
“What is alarming is just how few trustworthy voices there are out there. On one hand there are laughable alarmist nut-jobs and on the other there is the blatant cover-up by the industry and media. ”
Alarmist nut jobs – RL I think you need to examine your use of derogitory name calling, because Fukishima has a high chance of becoming the worlds worst nuclear catastrophe, (if it isn’t already) which would put it at the top of historical global fuckups, with horrendous long term wide spread impacts!
What to believe?” – Well obviously not those in charge of the operation or the media coverage seen, and now not really seen at all eh. Those people would seem to be the “nut jobs” you refer, handling the cover up!
Too black and white Muzza. Just because someone offers something contrary to the ‘official line’, that doesn’t make what they are saying any more trustworthy than the official line.
Bill you hit on one of my favourite points, which is of course propaganda, missinformation and the like. My response might seem black and white Bill, we know that events sometimes appear too complex in nature, but in this instance we are talking about nuclear reactors, and the melting down of them, hence it becomes rather black and white. IT IS ALREADY BAD!
This is not political point scoring or the GOP primaries Bill this is a nuclear disaster!
Getting cute about degrees of information accuracy is not going to lessen the fact!
There is a disaster (fact) surrounded by a lot of propaganda (industry and government), misinformation (nut-bars) and information.
And a lot of people in Japan deserve to be able to make informed decisions. Nothing cute about it.
Bill I am curious about these nut bars you refer – Can you give some examples of the sort of info being spread around in regards to this nuclear disaster?
With regards to propaganda, not reporting information, or under-reporting is propaganda , you are aware of that right?
It is not just the people of Japan who need to know, the rest of the planet also Bill, and that includes little old sandpit news reporting NZ!
The default position of lying to the public at every turn , gives rise to speculation right, you know that too surely!
Nuclear eh, not really something to play games with!
Cashless society picking up pace again.
Banking sector driving the tech firms which they are all major shareholders of, who would have thought eh. So when the chips are hacked and people keep losing their phones, what then I wonder!
This should be just the answer to those pesky global financial crises we keep expereiencing. Cash, you needs it eh.
Big banks must have worked out how they will replace the cash money laundering they already do using money from drug cartels etc, hmmm how will they replace that stream of liquidity once cash is gone I wonder…..
The shooting of a black teenager in the US has them crawling out of the woodwork.
The Talk: Nonblack Version
Cameron Slater has been spending Easter illegally killing native birds: http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/04/easter-is-off/#disqus_thread
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1953/0031/latest/DLM278553.html#DLM278553
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1953/0031/latest/DLM278183.html#DLM278183
I stand corrected. As they eat grapes they would be legal to shoot in this case.
seriously?
Yes.
“Certain wildlife partially protected
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, when any injury or damage to any land or to any property on any land has arisen owing to the presence on the land of any wildlife for the time being specified in Schedule 2 hereto, the occupier of the land or any other person with the authority of the occupier may hunt or kill on the land any such wildlife, subject to any regulations for the time being in force under this Act:”
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1953/0031/latest/DLM277093.html#DLM277093
Surprised the fat brute did not harpoon the poor little birdies.
Apple malware flourishes in a culture of denial
600k systems botted all because a lot of Mac users believe their machines are impervious to malware.
Pride goeth before the fail…