What will the Labour leadership team look like come Monday should, as is likely, he loses the defamation case?
Things to consider:
The party didn’t vote for him
Caucus didn’t vote for him
He’s only leader because of the Unions
Jacinda already polls better than him
Labour rates lower than when Shearer was rolled
Does making Jacinda leader improve Labour’s chances in September? And who do you think would be her deputy? And can she improve Labour’s numbers enough to ensure they win without having to rely on duplicitous people like Winston First?
The case brings to light the questionable donations made to the national party by wealthy business people who go on to get government support in one way or another. Any good opposition leader would question the governments actions, which the incoming PM has, those with money and business interests do not like those types of questions shining a spotlight on their dealings. And it’s all in the view of the public.
I’ve heard of so many Nat party supporters and voters deciding to vote for Winnie this year, so many and I can’t say I blame them.
I have not heard of one Labour voter or supporter who will not be voting for Labour because of this court case, rather I’ve heard people tell me they support him even more.
The party didn’t vote for him. Wrong. The party voted in huge numbers for him. Caucus didn’t vote for him. Half wrong. Nearly half the caucus voted for him. He’s only leader because of the Unions. Wrong. Union votes represent only 20% of the final result – if my memory serves me right. Jacinda already polls better. Inevitable. In a shallow consumer obsessed society you have to expect a good looking young woman is going to register well in the polls. Its more a negative reflection of the ignorance and shallowness of many voters. Its not the vote that counts. Labour rates lower than when Shearer was rolled. Bullshit and jellybeans. There’s been a lot of murky water flowing under that bridge and Shearer may well have ended up faring a lot worse than Little. Labour and the Greens are now close enough to the Nats backs they can almost touch them.
Trying to resurrect the fractious times of yesteryear are you LivinInThebay? Who are you working for? Slater and Carrick?
Exactly. And while I think that Ardern is skilled as an MP and has good potential as a future leader, I think putting her in as leader now would be purely for the advantage of the show pony effect (a reflection on NZ politics not Ardern) but to the detriment of all the other things Little has achieved.
Besides, I think Anne is right and LivinintheBay is concern trolling.
Also if Andrew does lose, the righties will try and frame it as should Andrew go as leader to try to get Natz in by default again and distract from the real issues about their terrible performance and their constant taking of public money to the private sector.
Instead the question should be back to should big business be funding political parties and should our aid money being spent on aiding business not those that actually need it?
There is a David and Goliath issue. The average joe is unable to even stand up for their rights anymore, let alone speak them.
Do we still have freedom of speech in this country?
Are we now unable to question where public money goes in case some rabid right winger with too much dough litigates from their near grave, because that’s all they believe in and can get a cool $2 million for their troubles?
In the first round of votes he got only 15.63% of caucus, and only 25.71% of party votes. The Unions’ votes of 64.12% of the Union vote is all that even kept him in the voting. In fact he didn’t receive over 50% of any of the votes of than from the Unions in any of the rounds of voting.
Moving on to the alleged defamation – why didn’t he apologise straight away and issue a retraction? Why when it came to light a trust board awarded the contract and not the Govt (a board that Mr Ardern was on by the way) didn’t he also make that known? Leaving it as long as he did could make one think he isn’t really sorry for the accusations he made.
Holding the Govt to account is important, and we need a strong opposition but at the same time we also need our politicians to know how to go about that.
From the Election Rules governing Parliamentary Leadership elections:
3.2.3 The votes of each candidate in each section will be calculated as a percentage of the total votes cast in that section, and shall then be apportioned as follows:
Section 1, individual members of the New Zealand Labour Party – 40%
Section 2, members of the Parliamentary Labour Party – 40%
Section 3, the affiliate vote as detailed above – 20%.
Yep. I was right. Union votes represent only 20% of the total vote count under the preferential system adopted by the conference delegates in 2012.
Concern troll LITB sounds like someone I used to know. If so, he was once an LP member but ‘turned’ some years ago under a massive cloud.
Without support in caucus he wouldn’t be leader.
Without support in the membership he wouldn’t be leader.
Little happened to outright win the sector that had the weakest vote weighting, but he still wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without significant support from the other sectors.
His support from both caucus and the wider membership was very very low. And if it hadn’t been for the fact that Unions get to block vote he wouldn’t be leader.
They don’t “block vote”. Different unions cast different votes according to the internal processes determined by their members. Because lots of union members aren’t party members, and vice versa, yet the Labour Party and the union movement are closely aligned.
A bit like the relationship between the nats and rich fuckwits, only the left are more honest about it.
If it weren’t for the Unions he wouldn’t be leader.
Bullshit!
If you were to say… if it weren’t for the membership dah,dah… then you would have a point. Since your reading ability appears below normal, let me reiterate… the union vote counts for 20% of the final tally. Got it? 20%.
Andrew Little won the leadership because during the leadership candidate meetings around the country he convinced the majority of the membership that he was the best person for the job of leader. End of story.
You are NOT a member and you say you have never been a member, so you can bow to the superior knowledge of those of us who ARE members and who know a darn sight more than you do what happened.
Go read the article I posted which shows clearly the voting % in each round of voting. He lagged a long way behind other candidates in the caucus and membership votes. That is a matter of public record. He got over the line because he had massive union support, even if that support ‘only counted’ for 20% of the vote.
Candidate Andrew Little Grant Robertson
Percentage 50.52%[1] 49.48%
Caucus 6.25% 17.5%
Members 10.28% 15.3%
Affiliates 12.82%. 3.78%
That was the final round – so Little won by 0.04% of the vote, and the only vote he won was the Union vote. So tell me again how the Unions weren’t responsible for him winning?
The Little/Ardern combination really gives you guys the shits. The “cosmetic change” approach tanked so you’re rehashing the Labour caucus leadership election? How democratic was the fucking change in prime minister?
Little is an awful leader. Which is probably why he polls at 7%.
For the right Ardern could actually be a god send as she’d be eaten alive in debates. She really is an example of form over substance.
As for the PM, I hate the fact someone can resign as PM and another can come in without having faced the electorate. That said someone on here posted along the lines of “we don’t vote for the leader” so on that basis given National won they are entitled to do it. Still something I don’t like myself and personally don’t think English has a mandate.
But carry on with the insults – note that I haven’t once resorted to insulting anyone here.
That said someone on here posted along the lines of “we don’t vote for the leader” so on that basis given National won they are entitled to do it.
As one of the people who posted along those lines (truthfully, at that, because Prime Ministers genuinely aren’t chosen by a poll of voters), I can tell you that Bill English has the same mandate to be Prime Minister as every other Prime Minister in recent history – he was handed the job by his colleagues. If Little becomes PM, at least he can say the franchise for his mandate extended a little further than his parliamentary caucus.
Changing leader at this stage in the electoral cycle would destroy Labour’s chances completely. At this point winning is dependent on presenting as competent as a party and yet another leadership change would undermine that.
Little will make a good PM and he’s been doing a good job at leading Labour. Focus on the strengths.
Money is needed in elections to find pretty much everything.
How would you see it working ifnthere wasn’t money involved?
Similarly, in a democratic society l, with the right of free speech isn’t it a right for all of us to be able to donate to whoever we want to?
These people seem to have donated to pretty much all the major parties over the years. And also, just because one party is better than another at fund raising should that be a reason to stop donations?
The rule of one person one vote is built on the principle that each individual should have an equal influence over the result of an election.
If money can be used to exercise influence then its use must also conform to that principle.
Therfore:
– no donations from organisations of any sort.
– transparent donations from named individuals only not exceeding 0.05% of the median fulltime income in any one year
– topup funding from the state especially during election campaigns. Most likely proportional to a party’s level of support.
I think these are very clear principles that would be supported by all true democrats.
Ok, so let’s say funding from the State was to happen – I don’t agree with it but I’ll play along.
How much do parties get, and howndo you allocate it? Does everyone get the same? If so why should a party polling a lot lower than another get the same? After all they’re not as popular.
Thanks for listing the National Party’s talking points for us, but if you want to do this on a regular basis you need to learn how to dress it up so it looks more like a personal opinion and less like you’re reading it off a piece of paper.
Not reading it from a piece of paper. And am not a National party member either. I would call myself a Capitalist/Socialist.
I believe in strong leadership, strong government, and also strong opposition. I dislike oppos My goodnpolicy for the sake of opposing. I’d think much more of politicians if when things are good for the country they admit it regardless of political persuasion – that’s probably naive of me but there you go.
I also believe in choice. Choice of schooling, choice of healthcare, choice of where I can live/work/play.
I believe that the Govt should only be providing essential services as they do a crap job running businesses, and that the private sector run business far better than any politician ever will.
I believe in freedom of speech and association. I’m not religious, but believe in freedom to worship who one wants to worship.
I believe in law and order and a strong police force. I believe there’s consequences to ones actions.
And I definitely don’t get my views from a piece of paper 🙂
I believe in capitalism. Without it we wouldn’t have the great things we have. We wouldn’t have some of the fantastic products we all take for granted – the phone I’m using to make this post for instance.
What I don’t like, is the obscene profits some of these companies make – how much money does one person need?
I also firmly believe in the welfare state – to a point. Helping those who genuinely can’t help themselves is something a civilised society should be proud of. The problem with the welfare state though, is some, not all, but some take advantage. It’s also hugely costly. Same with NZ Super – it’s amassive cost that is only going to increase as we get older, and have children later, and live longer.
I also dislike Govt control. The Govt should control very little of our lives. The vast majority of us can get on just fine without it.
Free speech has been mentioned – this is another bastion of a free society and should not be infringed. But that doesn’t mean you can defame someone which if you take off your Labour bias you’d admit that’s what Andrew has done here – linking a donation to potential corruption automatically links the person ornpwolle who made that donation.
Anyway, that’s why I call myself a capitalist/socialist. Maybe it is an oxymoron, but it fits how I think and view the world.
Basically, you’re a tory who wants the government to assist the “deserving poor” just enough that they don’t put you off your restaurant dining experience.
linking a donation to potential corruption automatically links the person ornpwolle who made that donation.
In the same way that checking to see if a person was struck “automatically links” them to a potential assault.
The one thing private enterprise does not do well is run public services, think Serco, think private hospitals who dump their private patients back on the public system as soon as there is a complication, think private schools who do not cater for the special needs of some children, think NGO,s who dump there difficult clients back on to the State system,
Livininthebay i think you are livininfools paradise and not livininaninclusivesociety.
OK, not a National Party member, just someone whose beliefs fit with the National Party and who happened to post the Party’s talking points on this thread. Glad we could clear that up.
Er, every sentence in comment 1. None of them is particularly more of a Nat talking point than the others.
Do you mean the fact that Mr Ardern sat on the board that awarded the contract to Scenic? Or is that just an inconvenient truth?
That wasn’t in the comment, but provides a handy example. It’s an irrelevant piece of information that might at first glance appear relevant to casual readers not familiar with what the term “relevant” means, and also sounds like it ought to be politicially damaging to Little in some way, although not in any way you could actually put your finger on. It’s a true statement that implies malfeasance or incompetence without actually claiming it or having any basis for claiming it, which makes it perfect propaganda material for dropping into conversations about the case. This is why it’s been handed to you for insertion here, although “handing it to you” may just have consisted of you reading it on Kiwblog, Whaleoil or similar.
But he was in the board, and still people here in particular seem to think the Govt awarded the contract.
The inconvenient truth is the above – Mr Ardern is really neither here nor there, it is ironic though.
I know you won’t believe it, butnthe above are my thoughts and mine alone. And for what it’s worth, I’m permanently banned from WhaleOil for providing dissenting opinion on his/her articles. Which is also ironic given he says he welcomes debate.
Ok, your own thoughts exactly match the talking points being distributed by Nat blogs. Not something I’d be proud of myself, but each to his own.
…still people here in particular seem to think the Govt awarded the contract.
Well, some maybe. I’d phrase it more like “people here in particular know that anything in which Murray McCully is even peripherally involved can be assumed likely to be well dodgy.”
“If” it goes against Andrew Little I hope those in New Zealand who feel it is the duty of the leader of the loyal opposition to hold the Government to account, are prepared to put their hand in their pockets to group fund his costs.
Surely civilised debate should be above that? I never understand the need to belittle people with insults such as “gutter scum”. To me it goes a way to negating your argument.
The bottom line is that the government appears to be running scared with its quick acceptance of the NZDF clean up job. One video from a US helicopter and the NZDF report on the raid – a chronicle of events that leaves numerous questions unanswered – is all that it took to convince PM Bill English that all was hunky dory that night. Given that there were likely to be multiple camera angles and audio communications recorded during the raid… the fact that just one served to convince the PM of the veracity of the NZDF account leaves me with only one simple conclusion with regard to Mr. English. In the words of Jack Nicholson playing a Marine Colonel under investigation for covering up a homicide… in the movie “A Few Good Men:”
YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
Perfectly sums up the current Govt. stance on the story.
Ray .If we don’t the Hagamans will seize Andrews house, gift it to the double dipper to add to his collection. Double dipper will then in turn rent it back to Andrew. Claim a grand a week back on it, and become Triple dipper.
Leave all as is . I don,t believe he set out to “defame” whatever the court outcome is . It would have been stupid to and he is not stupid. This is said by someone who is not necessarily a Labour supporter or an any party supporter , but one who votes on the year and the issues in front and the qualities of the people standing for the electorate.
BUT this round I definitely will not be voting National! I wish Winnie for PM and Little his righthand man – somehow – with lots of Green MPs ! Then National will be kicked for touch !
While I understand the attraction for some of Peters, the only parties committed to changing the govt and preventing National from a 4th term are Labour and the Greens. NZF could choose National under the right circumstances.
Gosh I don’t understand anyone voting for Winston.
I understand people voting Greens or Labour or National or Act. They’ve all shown consistency in their thoughts and policies over the last election cycle.
The only consistency Winston has shown is that he is an opportunist and will jump at most news cycles to get more exposure. He literally never delivers, and is a proven liar. NZF are still, as far as I am aware, to repay the money to the tax payer they spent illegally.
As a left or right supporter, why would you vote for someone that could jump either way depending on how big the bauble is?
No, if Winston is the answer the question is definitely wrong.
If you are an avid watcher of Parliament and have been for many years, you would have observed on many occassions how Winny gets on with the outgoing government, no love lost there.
You obviously don’t live in Northland.
I have always found Winston to be consistent on the big issues for years and years.
He consistently “listens” and correctly reflects back the views of the majority – the “silent” majority.
We all know he is very experienced at getting his vocal messages out but I am amazed at just how visible and available he has been in Northland. I hear he also works solidly behind the scenes for individuals.
But most importantly he has the experience, confidence and presence needed of a PM. I hate to see this go to waste and National get in again!
Based on the fact that the Natz even can arrange for the SIS to work for them and defame opposition like in the Phil Goff case, then it looks more like a set up for Natz cronies to cheat and cling to power by creating a scandal that takes the focus off their appalling running of this country into the ground and the theft and exploitation of it.
Hey Janet, I like your ideas 😀 A friend and I thought that Winston would make a wonderful “Speaker” of the House, as well as the Minister for Seniors (would be great to have a new ministry looking after the seniors). He was brilliant as Minister of Foreign Affairs and would make a very fine PM. It will be a great day when we can finally feel proud of our PM, it’s sure been a long time coming.
It sure is going to be an exciting election this year.
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President Hillary Clinton quietly sent her son-in-law, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, to Iraq on Monday, adding “winning the war against ISIS” to his growing list of responsibilities, which also include “solving Middle East peace,” “heading the new White House Office of American Innovation,” “managing the U.S.-China summit,” and “ending the opioid crisis.” The Chinese government, convinced of Mezvinsky’s importance in the Clinton White House, not only has established a “back channel” to him through its ambassador in Washington, it has also quietly encouraged a Chinese state bank to invest in his troubled hedge fund. While Clinton’s husband has largely stayed out of the White House and remained at home in New York, her daughter Chelsea has also taken a unpaid role in the administration while continuing to run the family foundation and earning five- and six-figure fees giving speeches to corporations with interests in Washington. Meanwhile, most top sub-Cabinet level positions are still unfilled, though in one piece of unexpected news, longtime Clinton confidante and political adviser Sidney Blumenthal has been removed from his brief stint as a member of the National Security Council.
The statement from Little that some could interpret as defamatory to the Hagamans is still on the Labour Party website. Is that wise, given the defamation proceedings that are happening at the moment?
I can imagine the Hagamans would not have been too happy about this from the statement:
It is why I have today written to the Auditor-General asking her to investigate whether Earl Hagaman – who was the largest living financial donor to the National Party – giving money to the party at the same time his company was tendering for the Niue contract was above board.
It’s the 5 or 6 statements to the media he then followed that up with that are where the defamation allegedly occurred.
I quote:
“The Hagamans’ lawyer Richard Fowler QC said Little’s comments went beyond a neutral position that the issue required investigation, as his use of the phrases “stinks to high heaven”, “murky” and “dodgy deals” showed.”
Yeah Right! Now that Assad is holding all the aces when it comes to defeating his enemies and the fact that Trump’s approval rating by the American public is below 35%, the major aggressors in the middle east can ease up.
Trump is playing the American public like a fiddle, just like during the election campaign. The USA will never send boots on the ground to fight Assad and sending the air force against Russian planes is out of the question, even Donald won’t be forced to play that game against Putin.
So basically Putin can back down publicly, or the Trump administration can back down publicly/disown the statement, or we’re looking at a war where both sides officially have troops on the ground.
Watch as Porter & Ross with 50+ tomahawks gives Assad a subtle message. No reply by the Russians, which means Putin is put on notice despite their two military bases. Trump is singing a different tune as the Generals call the shots in Washington.
edit: I’m not opposed to the strikes as such, and if the generals are in charge that’s not too bad. But the Russian committment is a massively complicating factor that to me requires serious input from diplomats, as well.
Before the tomahawks hit their target, the Russian top brass in Syria were notified/warned what was going to happen.
“But the Russian commitment is a massively complicating factor that to me requires serious input from diplomats, as well”. What the FUCK are you on about? The reason for Russian involvement in Syria is quite elementary. Do a little bit of research before shooting off your mouth.
Bases and internal prestige, as well as some nice systems evaluation opportunities.
But my point is that it’s all very well retaliating against someone who doesn’t have significant support from a dominant power, leave it to the generals. Fine.
But the changes in the state department, trump’s appointments, and his personality suggest that when it comes to nuances about international diplomacy, the US is a blind bull in a china shop (giggles @ appropriate metaphor).
So they warned the Russian top brass. Did they leave time for it to filter down to evacuate troops on the ground? Were they damned sure there weren’t even a couple of airplane mechanics advising the syrians on maintenance at that base? You know, genuine reasons for the Russians to get pissed rather than “yeah, fair call, Assad deserved a slap in the face”. Is the damage from the attack so bad it changes the picture in the battle zone, or is it just an inconvenience?
This isn’t like launching cruise missiles at Afghanistan or even Saddam’s Iraq: you might piss off someone who can do something in response. Do you trust trump to know how to deal with that sort of situation? I sure don’t.
You may want to get back to your readers, when you have some pertinent info instead of spouting off your fairy tale opinions.
You seem to have no idea about the time line of this event, who was informed and why Shayrat Air Base was targeted.
Well, if you have any you can feel free to present it, rather than just doing a TS-typical “you know nothing you silly person, educate yourself while I offer no evidence or even formulate an explicit contrary opinion”.
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Had a look at the Great Greens and it looks pretty good to me. It emphasises it is onto the modern pace, that any age, nationality, can be for the NZ life and citizenship. They are thinking of the future, that life should have its fun times that everyone can enjoy, that others out there care about the country and want friendly interaction with others, and they introduced a bit of humour, a cute animal, and I give it 100%. Time later for more definite details. We have lost our vision of NZ as a good place to live in, and this gives us a series of images to hold onto and showing the sort of outgoing, non pretentious people that it is easy to warm to.
That’s my feeling.
Donald Trump can show off to the media that he can walk on water, and the sooner the better.
It’s cheery, bright and full of smiley faces, but politically it doesn’t inspire me. It’s more like a send yourself to Wellington ad. Unlike Trumps ad that hits at the core of the problem. Thus I would have preferred something more along those lines.
The Chairman
Perhaps they are tailored to the progress of the campaign. Could it be they start off smiley before we get into the teeth baring when they may look too lightweight? Hitting the core of the problem at this moment may be too much of a punch, and they are saving that for the ko at the end. Woohoo for that.
Anyone who wants serious information about the Greens would look at their website, esp the policy and press releases.
The Chairman has a ratio of something like 90% negative criticism to 10% positive (Greens and Labour). Comparing the Greens to Trump tells me they don’t know much about the Greens, what they are doing or why. It’s a complete no-sequitur.
I like the video and agree that it’s part of a tailored campaign. Their strategy this year is showing voters who they are as people and as a party (they reckon that people know what their environmental stances are), and that they’re engaged and competent. This is the start of that.
weka
Any party seriously wanting to grow their support and voter interest to go look at their website would want to ensure they have an effective ad/marketing campaign to entice more to go there in the first place.
I wasn’t comparing the Greens to Trump. The Trump commercial was an example of the type of hard hitting political ad that inspired me.
The Greens ad didn’t relay they are engaged with the issues we are facing. Nor did they come across as professional and competent, but it did portray them and their supporters as a diverse, warm and cheery bunch.
However, those with serious political concerns and those doing it ruff will be wondering what they are so happy and cheery about? Therefore, to some, this ad would paint the Greens as being somewhat out of touch.
weka
As for being critical, am I not allowed to dislike the Green’s ad? Moreover, to express that dislike?
Does ones criticism have to fall within a certain ratio (negative positive) to be acceptable or considered? Was insinuating I’m more critical than not your attempt to somewhat invalidate me, thus imply any criticism from me holds no merit?
Surely it’s the criticism you should be looking at and addressing, not the ratio of ones criticism.
Can you not see how the Greens could benefit from the feedback (albeit if it’s criticism)? If a large number feel like me, it would be in their best interest to change tack. If I’m the odd one out and it’s widely liked, then they will know they are on the right track.
Additionally, if the Greens were confidently and genuinely happy with their ad, then wouldn’t any criticism merely be water off a ducks back?
The same applies to any party and the positions (and policies) they take or propose. Fear of criticism doesn’t relay confidence in their stance. And if they don’t believe in it, why would voters?
The Little jury is out now.
Jastice Karen Clark said to the jury: “…As Lani Hagaman had not been named by Little in any of his comments, the jury had to decide whether an ordinary, fair-minded reader would identify her as being criticised.
Clark said she had ruled that Little’s comments were protected by qualified privilege as he had a duty, “whether legal or social or moral”, to comment.
However, that defence could be “defeated or effectively negated” if the jury found his comments were predominantly motivated by ill will targeted directly at the Hagamans, or if he had taken improper advantage of the occasion….”
”Clark said she had ruled that Little’s comments were protected by qualified privilege as he had a duty, “whether legal or social or moral”, to comment.”
if that isn’t judge code for chuck this case in the trash were it belongs ill eat my cow shit stained hat.
Apparently the jury has retired for the weekend. Can’t find anything on the Stuff or RNZ websites but the Herald’s Claire Trevett gives me the impression that she really, really, really want’s the jury to find in the plaintiffs’ favour. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11834187
When housing problems became overwhelming in London in the 1960-70s young people would squat. And though frowned on it didn’t mean that you would be evicted by uniformed armed men. Does anyone have a tale to tell about those days?
Holiday homes are part of it. Lots of holiday towns have high rates of housing not permanently occupied. You can find the stats on line by city/town (can’t remember where).
The number of unoccupied dwellings rose 16.4 percent between 2006 and 2013. There were:
185,448 in 2013
159,276 in 2006.
In 2013, 1 in 10 dwellings were unoccupied. Nearly one-quarter were classified as unoccupied because all the occupants were temporarily away at the time of the census, but about three-quarters had no occupants at all.
Every region had more unoccupied dwellings than at the last census, although there was little change in the Auckland region. The largest percentage increase was in the Canterbury region, which had 28,317 unoccupied dwellings in 2013, up from 18,117 in 2006. This was a 56.3 percent increase, and was related to the 2010–11 Canterbury earthquakes.
Can’t find the Auckland or Welly numbers but here are some SI ones,
“There are 46,590 occupied dwellings and 3,915 unoccupied dwellings in Dunedin City.
…
There are 186 dwellings under construction in Dunedin City, and 9,756 under construction in New Zealand.”
“There are 11,508 occupied dwellings and 4,467 unoccupied dwellings in Queenstown-Lakes District.
…
There are 237 dwellings under construction in Queenstown-Lakes District, and 9,756 under construction in New Zealand.”
Woolsey’s beaten John bomb Iran Bolton to the punch.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey stopped by Jake Tapper’s show on CNN* to talk bombs, Iran and Syria. His goal, apparently, was to make the case that not only should the United States bomb Syria in retaliation for the gas attack earlier this week (because killing more innocents is clearly a way to punish Assad?), but also Iran
Breaking: U.S. launches cruise missiles at Syrian regime airbase in response to chemical attack https://t.co/JjOtG3LE6O— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 7, 2017
I sincerely hope, that if this is the first of a series of steps by western governments that we, ordinary people, see to it that it all blows up in the fuckers faces like nothing they’ve ever seen before.
” The airstrikes were carried out less than an hour after the president concluded a dinner with Xi Jinping, the president of China, at his estate in Mar-a-Lago in Florida, sending an unmistakably aggressive message about Mr. Trump’s willingness to use the military power at his disposal.
Mr. Trump authorized the strike with no congressional approval for the use of force, an assertion of presidential authority that contrasts sharply with the protracted deliberations over the use of force by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.
Unlike Mr. Obama, who weighed — and ultimately rejected — the use of a similar strike at targets after Syria used chemical weapons in 2013, Mr. Trump moved with remarkable speed, delivering the punishing military strike barely 72 hours after the devastating chemical attack that killed 80 people this week.”
With all the denial going on over Hit and Run, this interview on Hardtalk nine years ago is a very telling reminder of what we should be doing our utmost to avoid.
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the new figures for COVID-19 (as we must now call the novel coronavirus – though I’m not sure the capitalisation is correct) from Hubei province:Image from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51495484The spike yesterday is a consequence of a using a different way of ...
Bob Jones has dropped his defamation case against Renae Maihi. Good. But at the same time, it perfectly exposes what the case was all about: not protecting Jones' reputation, but punishing someone who had dared to criticise him, and deterring others from doing the same. This rich pompous asshat dragged ...
As I've done for the past few years, I'm curating and presenting The Listening Lounge, the talk programme at Splore. On the morning of Saturday the 22nd at the Living Lounge stage, the korero goes like this.Yes, we're talking about drugs again, not just because I'm professionally interested in drug ...
What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
The government today announced a major support package aimed at reducing homelessness. A thousand new transitional housing places, more support for people to find homes (or not lose them in the first place), all good stuff. The one problem with it is that they're going to start charging people in ...
Courtroom Drama: There is no off-switch in a courtroom. Neither is it possible to turn the page in disgust. Ill-formed and ill-defended opinions will be exposed ruthlessly and unapologetically. As Shakespeare put it: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Sometimes the ...
As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
The Global Protest to #FightInequality was powerful – thankyou and what next? Dear allies, We started the decade with a huge protest to #FightInequality that was heard around the world, including the 1% at Davos. Watch and share the highlights on facebook and twitter. A huge thank you. Together we ...
The Ministry of Health have announced a package that might ensure NZ will never experience another measles epidemic. While at the time of writing the details are still limited it appears that the important limitations in our current programme have been acknowledged and the intent is to address them. Great ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly summarise our assessment of the highly uncertain new coronavirus threat. Given its potential to become a severe and prolonged global pandemic, a precautionary response now means activating all components of our pandemic plan, with a particular focus on ‘keep ...
When Labour was running for election, Jacinda Ardern famously said that climate change was "my generation's nuclear free moment". The implication was that her government would take the problem seriously, and act swiftly to reduce emissions. The reality:New Zealand will emit a million more tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2020 ...
James Renwick is Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University of Wellington. He studied at Canterbury and the University of Washington and has worked on diverse aspects of climate science, including global atmospheric circulation and Antarctic sea ice. In December 2019 he was appointed to the New Zealand Climate Change ...
by Philip Ferguson Exit polls are showing a three-way virtual tie between the main parties in the south of Ireland. Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all on just over 22%. FG on 22.4, SF on 22.3, FF on 22.2. Exit polls indicate that over 30% of 18-24 ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is delivering on its commitment to unlock the potential of Māori-owned land with investments up and down the country making a genuine difference to communities, Regional Economic Development Shane Jones says.At Waitangi last year, the Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister The Government is placing temporary entry restrictions into New Zealand on all foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through mainland China to assist with the containment of the novel coronavirus and to protect New Zealand and the Pacific Islands from the disease. This ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ngā ...
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Introduction Mr Speaker We all know why we are here today. It has been a long journey. The journey did not actually begin on 15 March 2019. It began on 30 June 1997. Almost 23 years ago, Justice Sir Thomas Thorp told us what was wrong with our firearms legislation. ...
The Government’s work to put trades and vocational education back on the agenda took another major step forward today with the passing of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is a watershed day for trades and vocational education. These law changes formalise ...
Speeding up the return of Christchurch regeneration activities to local leadership is behind the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today by Minister Megan Woods. “As we approach nine years since the February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, and with the transition to local leadership well underway, the time ...
Hundreds of New Zealanders and international visitors will be able to get back out into nature with the Milford Track partially reopening next week, after extensive assessments and repairs, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The popular Great Walk has been closed since 3 February after an extreme ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
The Labour Party says it has received money from two of the people facing charges in relation to National Party donations but says they were above board. ...
New Zealand First’s action to halt the introduction of a ‘feebate’ scheme designed to support the nation’s transition to low-emission vehicles is a leap back into the industrial age, says Drive Electric Chairman Mark Gilbert. “While ...
Staff expenses at the Reserve Bank – which have increased by an average 4.4% a year since 2009/11 – surged by 14.8% in the 12 months to 2018/19. Total staff numbers increased by an average 3.4 a year during those nine years but shot up by 19 in 2018/19 from ...
The Socialist Equality Group is holding a protest rally on Sunday February 23 in Wellington to demand freedom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Sunday 23 February, 3:00pm Cuba Street (Left Bank intersection) ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Lopez Katigbak has broken his silence amid the controversy over renewal of the Philippine TV giant’s broadcast franchise, which expires in one month. Katigbak, in a video posted on the ABS-CBN News site and aired over flagship ...
RNZ management wants to grow a youth audience without having to build a costly new platform. Anna Dean offers a bunch – none of which involves scrapping RNZ Concert.Over the next few weeks RNZ National Concert staff are set to take part in strategy workshops focused on “growth in audience reach, ...
Today LockerRoom brings you the first episode of Pure As, a mini documentary series on the Silver Ferns' personal journeys to World Cup glory. So much of the magic and composure Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio brings to the netball court today was learned from years of sitting on the ...
"He was an energy vacuum, a shit magnet, a waste of skin": a black comedy by Nelson writer Grant Smithies. The stars he saw were blue, green, golden. Little lights swam around slowly, then went out one by one. His face felt hot. His left eye wasn’t working. And ...
Yes, it’s still summer and, en route to that final festival or beach bolt-hole, the season of the road trip. Here Spinoff Art co-editor Mark Amery runs down some of the best North Island contemporary art stopovers, and the mavericks behind them. We cross the Cook Strait next year, promise.Back ...
The Star Wars prequels are universally regarded as the nadir of the franchise, but at least they gave us spinoff series The Clone Wars, writes Sam BrooksNobody likes the Star Wars prequels. Though that statement is slightly hyperbolic, it’s not far from the truth. Even if you can make a ...
Jai Breitnauer on what happens when male role models start disappearing from a child’s life.Recently, we saw a ghost from the past. Once a regular visitor to our home, there just after the birth of our first child and a constant presence for more than a decade, this individual disappeared ...
Dragon Quest: Your Story feels like an hour-and-a-half-long highlight reel of an adventure spanning dozens of hours, but it’s damn fun, writes Felix Walton.One of Netflix’s current hustles seems to be grabbing movies with little to no hope of a wide release and publishing them as “Netflix Originals.” The latest ...
The Ministry of Education is proposing a number of changes to NCEA Level One, including the merging of several subjects to be phased in over the next five years. Felix Walton looks into how, and why, these changes are happening.Why are they changing things now?They aren’t changing things now, per ...
Pacific Media Centre Chinese authorities are systematically harassing Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups even after they have left the country, according to new testimonies gathered by Amnesty International. Uyghur New Zealanders were among those interviewed, despite the threat of further intimidation. The case studies, published online today, reveal ...
A victim of the Generate KiwiSaver hack is considering legal action to seek compensation for stress and the risk of identity theft. One of the 26,000 KiwiSavers who had personal information, including their physical address, IRD number, bank statements and identification, stolen by an unknown third party has sought advice ...
Healthcare appliance manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has upped its profit forecasts for the third time this year, with increased sales off the back of the coronavirus. The company now expects a full year net profit of between $260 and $270 million, up 1.9 percent on its previous forecast. Chief ...
Power company Genesis Energy has taken a significant financial hit and lowered its guidance, because of lower hydro generation and gas shortages. Net profit for the six months ended December fell 81.4 percent to $9.2 million, from slightly lower revenue of $1.3 billion. Lower inflows for its hydro power stations ...
Kiwibank's first half profit is down on flat revenue growth and increased operations and compliance costs. The New Zealand-owned bank's net profit fell 18 percent to $51 million in the six months to December, compared with the year earlier's $62m. "As expected the bank faced rising operating costs due to ...
The New Zealand Bar Association has urged Parliament to balance carefully the need to reform legislation in respect of sexual violence with the need to ensure that only the guilty are convicted. The Association told the Justice Select Committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Michelle Grattan talks with Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher about the week in politics, including the extension of the coronavirus travel ban, the royal commission into the bushfires, and labor’s stance on a compulsory superannuation guarantee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Steen, Professor of Midwifery, University of South Australia In a new parenting podcast, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, said she used hypnobirthing techniques to help her get through severe morning sickness – a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum. She also used the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Alexander, Research fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne This article is the first in a three-part series on radical ideas to solve the environmental crisis. As the Productivity Commission confirmed this week, Australia’s economy has enjoyed uninterrupted growth for ...
The Nats are accusing Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor of being slow to act on a tuberculosis outbreak in Hawke’s Bay. Is it a fair cop? OSPRI confirmed an outbreak in Hawke’s Bay in April last year, but a disease management response wasn’t put in place until October, National agriculture spokesman ...
Porirua City Council is scratching its head on how it's going to meet the costs of a $2 billion bill to bring its water network up to scratch over the next two to three decades. ...
The sentencing of Grace Millane’s killer to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years marks the end of a judicial process that can only have been extremely harrowing for her family. They had already experienced the loss of their daughter, ...
Twenty years ago, Auckland’s streets were ruled by diesel-hating narcs. Josie Adams looks back at the short-lived 0800 SMOKEY campaign.For five chaotic weeks in 2000, the Auckland Regional Council experimented with extreme, multi-level peer pressure. The goal: to get cleaner-burning fuel into Auckland cars. The method: turning citizens against each ...
The National Party donations scandal that had nothing to do with the National Party was the big news of the week. James Elliott has some thoughts on that. Simon Bridges has climbed into double digits as preferred Prime Minister in the latest political polling which is significant for two reasons. ...
He thought he’d moved on, but the news the Holden brand was being killed off hit Trevor McKewen harder than he expected. Here he reminisces about a youthful infatuation that never quite burned out.A part of me died this week and I didn’t see it coming.Holden has shut up shop ...
Today the unnamed man found guilty of murdering Grace Millane was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 17. “One person has been locked away but are New Zealand women any safer?” asks White Ribbon Manager Rob McCann. “We certainly ...
Pacific Media Watch An Australian federal court decision upholding the legality of the police raid on the Sydney headquarters of the national public broadcaster ABC last June has dealt a major blow to the protection of journalists’ sources and poses a grave danger for the future of public interest ...
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 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador, $20)What is going on, Auckland? Is it just ...
A poem by US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.The FightThe rising sun paints the feet of night-crawling enemies. And they scatter into the burning hills. I have fought each of them. I know them by name. From before I could speak. I’ve used every weapon. To make them retreat. Yet they ...
A string of toy companies are facing legal action for selling unsafe toys that pose choking hazards for young children. Yesterday, Cinevan International was fined $81,000 and another four companies are before the courts. Businesses have been using a sticker on the packaging saying 'not suitable for children under three' ...
The Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee, Gareth Hughes, is calling for public submissions on the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which was referred to the committee on 20 February 2020. The Residential Tenancies Act ...
ANALYSIS:By Johnny Blades of RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has embarked on a state visit to New Zealand. It is the first visit to New Zealand by a sitting PNG prime minister since Marape’s predecessor Peter O’Neill’s trip in 2013. Marape, who rolled O’Neill ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentDonations scandals Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Who are the people at the centre of the SFO political donation row? Collette ...
Policyholders fear the sale of AMP LIfe to a Bermuda-based 'zombie fund guru' could leave them stranded because a legal gap means the FMA is powerless to protect them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Giancaspro, Lecturer in Law, University of Adelaide When booking a luxury cruise, you generally expect relaxation and enjoyment, not forced quarantine and distress. Unfortunately, for the thousands of vacationers trapped on cruise ships in Asia the past month, what started as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Courtney Hempton, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University The Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board has this week published a report detailing the first six months of the legislation in action in Victoria. The report reveals 52 people legally ended their lives from the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Blanca del Rosal Rabes, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology Brain temperature is implicated in many common conditions including stroke, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and headaches. Changes in brain temperature can indicate there is a disease developing, but researchers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese will commit a Labor government to adopting a target of zero net emissions by 2050, in a speech titled “Leadership in a New Climate” to be delivered on Friday. The opposition leader’s embrace ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy N. W. Jackson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian Venom Research Unit, University of Melbourne This is an article from I’ve Always Wondered, a series where readers send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. Send your question to alwayswondered@theconversation.edu.auWho would ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamen Franklen Gussen, Lecturer in Law, Swinburne University of Technology In 1971, a Time magazine article, titled “Should New York City Be the 51st State?”, observed: States have not only short-changed and hamstrung their cities but are themselves the least creative ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ida Kubiszewski, Associate professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Labor’s treasury spokesman, Jim Chalmers, wants to follow New Zealand’s example and introduce a “wellbeing budget” alongside the traditional budget that stresses economic growth, when Labor is next in office. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Andreallo, Honorary research fellow, University of Sydney A sea of oversized hair bows bobs through primary school gates each morning. It might be dismissed as a harmless children’s fad but big bows are back, driven by current fashions, tween influencers and ...
The Government of New Zealand has recognized that the country is facing a housing crisis, said Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, at the end of her visit to the country . “While the Government has taken important steps ...
Survey results released today by the Helen Clark Foundation and the New Zealand Drug Foundation show that support for cannabis legalisation grows when people know more about the proposed legislation. When respondents were asked how they would vote ...
In today’s edition: Views on cannabis legalisation could hardly be tighter, the Papua New Guinea PM arrives in NZ, and bad light threatens cricket on the radio.A new poll published this morning finds that 46% of those surveyed would vote yes, and 44% no, with 10% undecided. That’s a markedly different ...
Actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand Te Atamira, a long-time champion of the arts, and te reo Māoriis the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year for 2020. Mark Jennings reports on the night that honours the best of us. What does it mean to be a New Zealander? The question was posed by ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.FICTION 1 In the Clearing by JP Pomare (Hachette, $34.99) All next week at ReadingRoom is devoted to this brilliant thriller inspired by Australian cult The Family, led by ...
‘A life-changing experience’, ‘The greatest of the great! It must be experienced!’, ‘That show with the dancing lady on the billboard.’ Shen Yun ads are impossible to avoid, but what on earth is it?So what is Shen Yun?According to the Shen Yun website: “It is a brilliant artistic revival ...
A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to the attention of authorities, the poorly stored solvents remain a fire and environmental risk. While Government agencies struggled to get a polluter to clean up his mess, up to one million ...
Georgia Hale's tireless and compassionate work, using her sport of rugby league to create opportunities for many different communities, has earned her the title of Young New Zealander of the Year. As soon as she left high school, Georgia Hale began working with children with intellectual disabilities. It changed her ...
A new, "true green" party hoping to break into Parliament at this year's election has been hit by resignations and allegations of questionable conduct, Newsroom's political editor Sam Sachdeva reports Fledgling political party Sustainable New Zealand has been rocked by a flurry of resignations and allegations of questionable behaviour by its ...
"To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices." These are the words of Hildur Guðnadóttir, who recently accepted the Oscar for best original score for the film Joker at the 92nd ...
Dr Amanda Landers discusses the stigma associated with palliative care and why the field deserves recognition Scalpels are a powerful tool in medicine, but words can be just as mighty. Some medical specialties are easy to comprehend - they cut, stitch, unblock, restart or fix. Others are just too hard ...
A rare visit by a prime minister of Papua New Guinea to New Zealand highlights a strong friendship, but one which could be closer, writes Johnny Blades for RNZ.Papua New Guinea’s James Marape has embarked on a state visit to New Zealand. It’s the first visit to New Zealand by ...
Plant-based food producers ‘stigmatise and demonise’ traditional agriculture, according to Jones, but those working in the new industry say it should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat. NZ First minister Shane Jones’ suggestion that plant-based food must be “stopped in its tracks” has been labelled concerning, negligent and anti-competitive ...
The prospect of going to the Red Planet is possibly a step closer with the US President's State of the Nation speech, in which he promises we will land there. The chances of anything coming from Mars - according to the 1978 Jeff Wayne musical War of the Worlds - are ...
Jennifer Ward-Lealand’s dedication to acting, directing and te ao Māori saw her named the 2020 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year at a special dinner in Auckland last night. Alice Webb-Liddall speaks to her about how she hopes to nurture the future of the craft that has given her so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Seen as a political narrative, the Morrison government’s handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) fits the patterns of its approaches on border security and anti-terrorism. Stressing the central imperative is to “keep Australians safe”, it has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The coronavirus is presenting a major threat to Australia’s education export industry, which is highly dependant upon the China market, and a huge challenge to the universities. Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The corona virus is presenting a major threat to Australia’s education export industry, which is highly dependant upon the China market, and a huge challenge to the universities. Phillip Honeywood, CEO of the International Education ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stacey L Rowe, PhD candidate, Monash University Today’s evacuation of about 180 passengers from the cruise ship Diamond Princess to serve another period of quarantine back in Australia has raised questions about the best way to control spread of the coronavirus. The ...
Open Mike 07/04/2017 
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...2 hours ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...4 hours ago
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...8 hours ago
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...20 hours ago
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...1 day ago
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...1 day ago
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...1 day ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...3 days ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...6 days ago
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Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...1 day ago
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...1 week ago
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...6 hours ago
The Labour Party says it has received money from two of the people facing charges in relation to National Party donations but says they were above board. ...1 hour ago
New Zealand First’s action to halt the introduction of a ‘feebate’ scheme designed to support the nation’s transition to low-emission vehicles is a leap back into the industrial age, says Drive Electric Chairman Mark Gilbert. “While ...3 hours ago
Staff expenses at the Reserve Bank – which have increased by an average 4.4% a year since 2009/11 – surged by 14.8% in the 12 months to 2018/19. Total staff numbers increased by an average 3.4 a year during those nine years but shot up by 19 in 2018/19 from ...6 hours ago
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Lopez Katigbak has broken his silence amid the controversy over renewal of the Philippine TV giant’s broadcast franchise, which expires in one month. Katigbak, in a video posted on the ABS-CBN News site and aired over flagship ...10 hours ago
RNZ management wants to grow a youth audience without having to build a costly new platform. Anna Dean offers a bunch – none of which involves scrapping RNZ Concert.Over the next few weeks RNZ National Concert staff are set to take part in strategy workshops focused on “growth in audience reach, ...11 hours ago
Today LockerRoom brings you the first episode of Pure As, a mini documentary series on the Silver Ferns' personal journeys to World Cup glory. So much of the magic and composure Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio brings to the netball court today was learned from years of sitting on the ...13 hours ago
"He was an energy vacuum, a shit magnet, a waste of skin": a black comedy by Nelson writer Grant Smithies. The stars he saw were blue, green, golden. Little lights swam around slowly, then went out one by one. His face felt hot. His left eye wasn’t working. And ...13 hours ago
Peter Griffin looks past the rollercoaster ride that is cryptocurrency to find out its true potential. ...1 day ago
A victim of the Generate KiwiSaver hack is considering legal action to seek compensation for stress and the risk of identity theft. One of the 26,000 KiwiSavers who had personal information, including their physical address, IRD number, bank statements and identification, stolen by an unknown third party has sought advice ...1 day ago
Apple is the latest tech firm to warn that Kiwis may lose access to streaming content if a new parental guidance law goes ahead. ...1 day ago
Healthcare appliance manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has upped its profit forecasts for the third time this year, with increased sales off the back of the coronavirus. The company now expects a full year net profit of between $260 and $270 million, up 1.9 percent on its previous forecast. Chief ...1 day ago
Power company Genesis Energy has taken a significant financial hit and lowered its guidance, because of lower hydro generation and gas shortages. Net profit for the six months ended December fell 81.4 percent to $9.2 million, from slightly lower revenue of $1.3 billion. Lower inflows for its hydro power stations ...1 day ago
Kiwibank's first half profit is down on flat revenue growth and increased operations and compliance costs. The New Zealand-owned bank's net profit fell 18 percent to $51 million in the six months to December, compared with the year earlier's $62m. "As expected the bank faced rising operating costs due to ...1 day ago
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has landed the first blow in the demolition of a leaky St John call centre in Auckland. ...1 day ago
The National Party donations scandal that had nothing to do with the National Party was the big news of the week. James Elliott has some thoughts on that. Simon Bridges has climbed into double digits as preferred Prime Minister in the latest political polling which is significant for two reasons. ...1 day ago
A string of toy companies are facing legal action for selling unsafe toys that pose choking hazards for young children. Yesterday, Cinevan International was fined $81,000 and another four companies are before the courts. Businesses have been using a sticker on the packaging saying 'not suitable for children under three' ...1 day ago
The number of 14 and 15 year olds who have tried cannabis has fallen by more than a quarter. ...1 day ago
Paid parking on weekends looks set to stay, as Wellington Mayor Andy Foster struggles to find support for his agenda around the council table. ...1 day ago
Southland cleanup highlights climate change threat - Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage; and new taskforce to look at Wellington water issues. ...1 day ago
Policyholders fear the sale of AMP LIfe to a Bermuda-based 'zombie fund guru' could leave them stranded because a legal gap means the FMA is powerless to protect them ...2 days ago
Over the next three weeks Rod Oram will be cycling the length of New Zealand ...2 days ago
Actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand Te Atamira, a long-time champion of the arts, and te reo Māori is the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year for 2020. Mark Jennings reports on the night that honours the best of us. What does it mean to be a New Zealander? The question was posed by ...2 days ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias. FICTION 1 In the Clearing by JP Pomare (Hachette, $34.99) All next week at ReadingRoom is devoted to this brilliant thriller inspired by Australian cult The Family, led by ...2 days ago
A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to the attention of authorities, the poorly stored solvents remain a fire and environmental risk. While Government agencies struggled to get a polluter to clean up his mess, up to one million ...2 days ago
Georgia Hale's tireless and compassionate work, using her sport of rugby league to create opportunities for many different communities, has earned her the title of Young New Zealander of the Year. As soon as she left high school, Georgia Hale began working with children with intellectual disabilities. It changed her ...2 days ago
A new, "true green" party hoping to break into Parliament at this year's election has been hit by resignations and allegations of questionable conduct, Newsroom's political editor Sam Sachdeva reports Fledgling political party Sustainable New Zealand has been rocked by a flurry of resignations and allegations of questionable behaviour by its ...2 days ago
"To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices." These are the words of Hildur Guðnadóttir, who recently accepted the Oscar for best original score for the film Joker at the 92nd ...2 days ago
Dr Amanda Landers discusses the stigma associated with palliative care and why the field deserves recognition Scalpels are a powerful tool in medicine, but words can be just as mighty. Some medical specialties are easy to comprehend - they cut, stitch, unblock, restart or fix. Others are just too hard ...2 days ago
The prospect of going to the Red Planet is possibly a step closer with the US President's State of the Nation speech, in which he promises we will land there. The chances of anything coming from Mars - according to the 1978 Jeff Wayne musical War of the Worlds - are ...2 days ago
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Question
What will the Labour leadership team look like come Monday should, as is likely, he loses the defamation case?
Things to consider:
The party didn’t vote for him
Caucus didn’t vote for him
He’s only leader because of the Unions
Jacinda already polls better than him
Labour rates lower than when Shearer was rolled
Does making Jacinda leader improve Labour’s chances in September? And who do you think would be her deputy? And can she improve Labour’s numbers enough to ensure they win without having to rely on duplicitous people like Winston First?
The case brings to light the questionable donations made to the national party by wealthy business people who go on to get government support in one way or another. Any good opposition leader would question the governments actions, which the incoming PM has, those with money and business interests do not like those types of questions shining a spotlight on their dealings. And it’s all in the view of the public.
I’ve heard of so many Nat party supporters and voters deciding to vote for Winnie this year, so many and I can’t say I blame them.
I have not heard of one Labour voter or supporter who will not be voting for Labour because of this court case, rather I’ve heard people tell me they support him even more.
The party didn’t vote for him. Wrong. The party voted in huge numbers for him.
Caucus didn’t vote for him. Half wrong. Nearly half the caucus voted for him.
He’s only leader because of the Unions. Wrong. Union votes represent only 20% of the final result – if my memory serves me right.
Jacinda already polls better. Inevitable. In a shallow consumer obsessed society you have to expect a good looking young woman is going to register well in the polls. Its more a negative reflection of the ignorance and shallowness of many voters. Its not the vote that counts.
Labour rates lower than when Shearer was rolled. Bullshit and jellybeans. There’s been a lot of murky water flowing under that bridge and Shearer may well have ended up faring a lot worse than Little. Labour and the Greens are now close enough to the Nats backs they can almost touch them.
Trying to resurrect the fractious times of yesteryear are you LivinInThebay? Who are you working for? Slater and Carrick?
+1. NZers don’t party vote PMs. Putting Ardern in because of a popularity contest would be daft.
There’s more to being a leader than public popularity.
Exactly. And while I think that Ardern is skilled as an MP and has good potential as a future leader, I think putting her in as leader now would be purely for the advantage of the show pony effect (a reflection on NZ politics not Ardern) but to the detriment of all the other things Little has achieved.
Besides, I think Anne is right and LivinintheBay is concern trolling.
+1 Anne
Also if Andrew does lose, the righties will try and frame it as should Andrew go as leader to try to get Natz in by default again and distract from the real issues about their terrible performance and their constant taking of public money to the private sector.
Instead the question should be back to should big business be funding political parties and should our aid money being spent on aiding business not those that actually need it?
There is a David and Goliath issue. The average joe is unable to even stand up for their rights anymore, let alone speak them.
Do we still have freedom of speech in this country?
Are we now unable to question where public money goes in case some rabid right winger with too much dough litigates from their near grave, because that’s all they believe in and can get a cool $2 million for their troubles?
Thank you Anne for bringing us back to the facts from the alphabet soup of reality-deniers.
@Anne
I’m not sure where you got your numbers from:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Labour_Party_leadership_election,_2014
In the first round of votes he got only 15.63% of caucus, and only 25.71% of party votes. The Unions’ votes of 64.12% of the Union vote is all that even kept him in the voting. In fact he didn’t receive over 50% of any of the votes of than from the Unions in any of the rounds of voting.
Moving on to the alleged defamation – why didn’t he apologise straight away and issue a retraction? Why when it came to light a trust board awarded the contract and not the Govt (a board that Mr Ardern was on by the way) didn’t he also make that known? Leaving it as long as he did could make one think he isn’t really sorry for the accusations he made.
Holding the Govt to account is important, and we need a strong opposition but at the same time we also need our politicians to know how to go about that.
From the Election Rules governing Parliamentary Leadership elections:
Yep. I was right. Union votes represent only 20% of the total vote count under the preferential system adopted by the conference delegates in 2012.
Concern troll LITB sounds like someone I used to know. If so, he was once an LP member but ‘turned’ some years ago under a massive cloud.
I’ve never been a LP member so doubt I’m someone you know.
My point is that if it weren’t for the Unions he wouldn’t be leader. Like it or not, that much is fact.
ooow gee a labour party leader having the backing of the unions (those people that protect workers from scum) shocking news !!
My point was that without their support he wouldn’t be leader as the party membership clearly wanted someone else, as did caucus.
Without support in caucus he wouldn’t be leader.
Without support in the membership he wouldn’t be leader.
Little happened to outright win the sector that had the weakest vote weighting, but he still wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without significant support from the other sectors.
keep spinning, though
That is true enough, but again misses the point.
His support from both caucus and the wider membership was very very low. And if it hadn’t been for the fact that Unions get to block vote he wouldn’t be leader.
Whatever happened to one person, one vote?
They don’t “block vote”. Different unions cast different votes according to the internal processes determined by their members. Because lots of union members aren’t party members, and vice versa, yet the Labour Party and the union movement are closely aligned.
A bit like the relationship between the nats and rich fuckwits, only the left are more honest about it.
If it weren’t for the Unions he wouldn’t be leader.
Bullshit!
If you were to say… if it weren’t for the membership dah,dah… then you would have a point. Since your reading ability appears below normal, let me reiterate… the union vote counts for 20% of the final tally. Got it? 20%.
Andrew Little won the leadership because during the leadership candidate meetings around the country he convinced the majority of the membership that he was the best person for the job of leader. End of story.
You are NOT a member and you say you have never been a member, so you can bow to the superior knowledge of those of us who ARE members and who know a darn sight more than you do what happened.
Go and do your lying elsewhere.
Go read the article I posted which shows clearly the voting % in each round of voting. He lagged a long way behind other candidates in the caucus and membership votes. That is a matter of public record. He got over the line because he had massive union support, even if that support ‘only counted’ for 20% of the vote.
But hey, accuse me of lying all you like.
Here’s the figures for you:
Candidate Andrew Little Grant Robertson
Percentage 50.52%[1] 49.48%
Caucus 6.25% 17.5%
Members 10.28% 15.3%
Affiliates 12.82%. 3.78%
That was the final round – so Little won by 0.04% of the vote, and the only vote he won was the Union vote. So tell me again how the Unions weren’t responsible for him winning?
No more than any of the members and caucus who voted for him, but whatever.
How many national party members voted for Bill English as caucus leader/pm?
lolnice.
The Little/Ardern combination really gives you guys the shits. The “cosmetic change” approach tanked so you’re rehashing the Labour caucus leadership election? How democratic was the fucking change in prime minister?
Careful, your tory hypocrisy is showing…
Little is an awful leader. Which is probably why he polls at 7%.
For the right Ardern could actually be a god send as she’d be eaten alive in debates. She really is an example of form over substance.
As for the PM, I hate the fact someone can resign as PM and another can come in without having faced the electorate. That said someone on here posted along the lines of “we don’t vote for the leader” so on that basis given National won they are entitled to do it. Still something I don’t like myself and personally don’t think English has a mandate.
But carry on with the insults – note that I haven’t once resorted to insulting anyone here.
Except for insulting everyone’s intelligence.
That said someone on here posted along the lines of “we don’t vote for the leader” so on that basis given National won they are entitled to do it.
As one of the people who posted along those lines (truthfully, at that, because Prime Ministers genuinely aren’t chosen by a poll of voters), I can tell you that Bill English has the same mandate to be Prime Minister as every other Prime Minister in recent history – he was handed the job by his colleagues. If Little becomes PM, at least he can say the franchise for his mandate extended a little further than his parliamentary caucus.
Changing leader at this stage in the electoral cycle would destroy Labour’s chances completely. At this point winning is dependent on presenting as competent as a party and yet another leadership change would undermine that.
Little will make a good PM and he’s been doing a good job at leading Labour. Focus on the strengths.
The court case highlights the need to take the money out of election politics.
to Carolyn_ nth at 1.4 : Really good point …long time since I’ve heard it.
Agree – take the money out of election politics.
@Corolyn_nrh
Money is needed in elections to find pretty much everything.
How would you see it working ifnthere wasn’t money involved?
Similarly, in a democratic society l, with the right of free speech isn’t it a right for all of us to be able to donate to whoever we want to?
These people seem to have donated to pretty much all the major parties over the years. And also, just because one party is better than another at fund raising should that be a reason to stop donations?
You appear to be confusing money with speech.
The rule of one person one vote is built on the principle that each individual should have an equal influence over the result of an election.
If money can be used to exercise influence then its use must also conform to that principle.
Therfore:
– no donations from organisations of any sort.
– transparent donations from named individuals only not exceeding 0.05% of the median fulltime income in any one year
– topup funding from the state especially during election campaigns. Most likely proportional to a party’s level of support.
I think these are very clear principles that would be supported by all true democrats.
Ok, so let’s say funding from the State was to happen – I don’t agree with it but I’ll play along.
How much do parties get, and howndo you allocate it? Does everyone get the same? If so why should a party polling a lot lower than another get the same? After all they’re not as popular.
Oh and if money = election wins, why didn’t Clinton won given they spent a significant amount more than Trump?
Money has a powerful effect != money trumps all other factors.
Thanks for listing the National Party’s talking points for us, but if you want to do this on a regular basis you need to learn how to dress it up so it looks more like a personal opinion and less like you’re reading it off a piece of paper.
Hi @Psycho Milt
Not reading it from a piece of paper. And am not a National party member either. I would call myself a Capitalist/Socialist.
I believe in strong leadership, strong government, and also strong opposition. I dislike oppos My goodnpolicy for the sake of opposing. I’d think much more of politicians if when things are good for the country they admit it regardless of political persuasion – that’s probably naive of me but there you go.
I also believe in choice. Choice of schooling, choice of healthcare, choice of where I can live/work/play.
I believe that the Govt should only be providing essential services as they do a crap job running businesses, and that the private sector run business far better than any politician ever will.
I believe in freedom of speech and association. I’m not religious, but believe in freedom to worship who one wants to worship.
I believe in law and order and a strong police force. I believe there’s consequences to ones actions.
And I definitely don’t get my views from a piece of paper 🙂
Cognitive dissonance exemplified.
Haha maybe, maybe not.
Let me explain myself.
I believe in capitalism. Without it we wouldn’t have the great things we have. We wouldn’t have some of the fantastic products we all take for granted – the phone I’m using to make this post for instance.
What I don’t like, is the obscene profits some of these companies make – how much money does one person need?
I also firmly believe in the welfare state – to a point. Helping those who genuinely can’t help themselves is something a civilised society should be proud of. The problem with the welfare state though, is some, not all, but some take advantage. It’s also hugely costly. Same with NZ Super – it’s amassive cost that is only going to increase as we get older, and have children later, and live longer.
I also dislike Govt control. The Govt should control very little of our lives. The vast majority of us can get on just fine without it.
Free speech has been mentioned – this is another bastion of a free society and should not be infringed. But that doesn’t mean you can defame someone which if you take off your Labour bias you’d admit that’s what Andrew has done here – linking a donation to potential corruption automatically links the person ornpwolle who made that donation.
Anyway, that’s why I call myself a capitalist/socialist. Maybe it is an oxymoron, but it fits how I think and view the world.
Basically, you’re a tory who wants the government to assist the “deserving poor” just enough that they don’t put you off your restaurant dining experience.
In the same way that checking to see if a person was struck “automatically links” them to a potential assault.
It’s an oxymoron because what you describe is not socialism.
The one thing private enterprise does not do well is run public services, think Serco, think private hospitals who dump their private patients back on the public system as soon as there is a complication, think private schools who do not cater for the special needs of some children, think NGO,s who dump there difficult clients back on to the State system,
Livininthebay i think you are livininfools paradise and not livininaninclusivesociety.
OK, not a National Party member, just someone whose beliefs fit with the National Party and who happened to post the Party’s talking points on this thread. Glad we could clear that up.
Which talking points in particular?
Do you mean the fact that Mr Ardern sat on the board that awarded the contract to Scenic? Or is that just an inconvenient truth?
LivinInTheBay….. strikes me you are too young to know what a good society was/is like.
Which talking points in particular?
Er, every sentence in comment 1. None of them is particularly more of a Nat talking point than the others.
Do you mean the fact that Mr Ardern sat on the board that awarded the contract to Scenic? Or is that just an inconvenient truth?
That wasn’t in the comment, but provides a handy example. It’s an irrelevant piece of information that might at first glance appear relevant to casual readers not familiar with what the term “relevant” means, and also sounds like it ought to be politicially damaging to Little in some way, although not in any way you could actually put your finger on. It’s a true statement that implies malfeasance or incompetence without actually claiming it or having any basis for claiming it, which makes it perfect propaganda material for dropping into conversations about the case. This is why it’s been handed to you for insertion here, although “handing it to you” may just have consisted of you reading it on Kiwblog, Whaleoil or similar.
But he was in the board, and still people here in particular seem to think the Govt awarded the contract.
The inconvenient truth is the above – Mr Ardern is really neither here nor there, it is ironic though.
I know you won’t believe it, butnthe above are my thoughts and mine alone. And for what it’s worth, I’m permanently banned from WhaleOil for providing dissenting opinion on his/her articles. Which is also ironic given he says he welcomes debate.
Ok, your own thoughts exactly match the talking points being distributed by Nat blogs. Not something I’d be proud of myself, but each to his own.
…still people here in particular seem to think the Govt awarded the contract.
Well, some maybe. I’d phrase it more like “people here in particular know that anything in which Murray McCully is even peripherally involved can be assumed likely to be well dodgy.”
Livinginthebay – your use of the word, “duplicitous” sounds very natural.
“If” it goes against Andrew Little I hope those in New Zealand who feel it is the duty of the leader of the loyal opposition to hold the Government to account, are prepared to put their hand in their pockets to group fund his costs.
Here’s one who will…
to Anne at 3.1 : and another…
I’ll support Andrew
It’s the least we can do for a man of honour
The man of honour is Mr Hagaman and the defamation case is because Chicken defamed a man of honour.
Are you paid per comment or per word?
Oh really! I knew some nincompoop would come up with something like that!
National Party gutter scum don’t have ethics let alone honour.
So about 46-48 % of voters in NZ are gutter scum without ethics or honour.
Good work OAB, you are a great advocate for the left, keep it up.
Alan you are pretty close to being correct. However , many of that 46% are too stupid to realize that they are basically ‘scum’ of this planet.
OAB – why the need to resort to name-calling?
Surely civilised debate should be above that? I never understand the need to belittle people with insults such as “gutter scum”. To me it goes a way to negating your argument.
It’s not a need.
It’s often a pleasure when the opponent is not interested in genuine debate.
Absolutely, count me in.
Superb reflections on Hit & Run aftermath by Paul Buchanan over at Kiiwipolitico:
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/
An abridged version of last few sentences:
Perfectly sums up the current Govt. stance on the story.
Ray .If we don’t the Hagamans will seize Andrews house, gift it to the double dipper to add to his collection. Double dipper will then in turn rent it back to Andrew. Claim a grand a week back on it, and become Triple dipper.
+100 The decrypter
Leave all as is . I don,t believe he set out to “defame” whatever the court outcome is . It would have been stupid to and he is not stupid. This is said by someone who is not necessarily a Labour supporter or an any party supporter , but one who votes on the year and the issues in front and the qualities of the people standing for the electorate.
BUT this round I definitely will not be voting National! I wish Winnie for PM and Little his righthand man – somehow – with lots of Green MPs ! Then National will be kicked for touch !
While I understand the attraction for some of Peters, the only parties committed to changing the govt and preventing National from a 4th term are Labour and the Greens. NZF could choose National under the right circumstances.
@weka 6.1
Gosh I don’t understand anyone voting for Winston.
I understand people voting Greens or Labour or National or Act. They’ve all shown consistency in their thoughts and policies over the last election cycle.
The only consistency Winston has shown is that he is an opportunist and will jump at most news cycles to get more exposure. He literally never delivers, and is a proven liar. NZF are still, as far as I am aware, to repay the money to the tax payer they spent illegally.
As a left or right supporter, why would you vote for someone that could jump either way depending on how big the bauble is?
No, if Winston is the answer the question is definitely wrong.
If you are an avid watcher of Parliament and have been for many years, you would have observed on many occassions how Winny gets on with the outgoing government, no love lost there.
Don’t trust NZF. How many times does their track record have to be regurgitated?
The outgoing government are freaking out about New Zealand First, as well they should be.
Move aside and let the man go through..
You obviously don’t live in Northland.
I have always found Winston to be consistent on the big issues for years and years.
He consistently “listens” and correctly reflects back the views of the majority – the “silent” majority.
We all know he is very experienced at getting his vocal messages out but I am amazed at just how visible and available he has been in Northland. I hear he also works solidly behind the scenes for individuals.
But most importantly he has the experience, confidence and presence needed of a PM. I hate to see this go to waste and National get in again!
Based on the fact that the Natz even can arrange for the SIS to work for them and defame opposition like in the Phil Goff case, then it looks more like a set up for Natz cronies to cheat and cling to power by creating a scandal that takes the focus off their appalling running of this country into the ground and the theft and exploitation of it.
Wasn’t there a famous court case involving Defamation and David Lange? I think it ended with the right to opinion especially re politics.
Hey Janet, I like your ideas 😀 A friend and I thought that Winston would make a wonderful “Speaker” of the House, as well as the Minister for Seniors (would be great to have a new ministry looking after the seniors). He was brilliant as Minister of Foreign Affairs and would make a very fine PM. It will be a great day when we can finally feel proud of our PM, it’s sure been a long time coming.
It sure is going to be an exciting election this year.
“He was a brilliant minister of foreign affairs”
Really?
You do know that it took years to rebuild relations with some of our closest partners after her was foreign affairs minister?
I know you just said it. Does that make it fact?
Yes really… ask Condoleeza Rice ex US Secretary of State.
LITB you’ve been busy as on here today, how about you back up your reply to my comment with some facts.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Winston_Peters_Condoleezza_Rice_Auckland_2008_DSC_4939_a.jpg
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Awesomesauce, thank you for the link, will tune into the stream, sounds like it will be a brilliant event. Enjoy 😀
Cheers Cinny
Meanwhile, far far away, in a parallel universe……
President Hillary Clinton quietly sent her son-in-law, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, to Iraq on Monday, adding “winning the war against ISIS” to his growing list of responsibilities, which also include “solving Middle East peace,” “heading the new White House Office of American Innovation,” “managing the U.S.-China summit,” and “ending the opioid crisis.” The Chinese government, convinced of Mezvinsky’s importance in the Clinton White House, not only has established a “back channel” to him through its ambassador in Washington, it has also quietly encouraged a Chinese state bank to invest in his troubled hedge fund. While Clinton’s husband has largely stayed out of the White House and remained at home in New York, her daughter Chelsea has also taken a unpaid role in the administration while continuing to run the family foundation and earning five- and six-figure fees giving speeches to corporations with interests in Washington. Meanwhile, most top sub-Cabinet level positions are still unfilled, though in one piece of unexpected news, longtime Clinton confidante and political adviser Sidney Blumenthal has been removed from his brief stint as a member of the National Security Council.
https://civichall.org/civicist/imagine-the-alternatives/
+1
+2.
You missed out the results of Hillary’s war against Russia!
https://28pages.org/2017/04/06/complaint-in-911-suit-reveals-depth-of-case-against-kingdom/
‘Where Britain’s Regions Fit in the Brexit’
.. free article from a well-known US publisher
https://www.stratfor.com/sample/image/where-britains-regions-fit-brexit?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_3E0tg1_cgmXuMH2WnSO0xOcNRbHR-OblrnVjROQuHVwywDpUpQ8ecOZvRBgjy7j3k97UGNP1oWFjipmlUK82-Jf9oiQ&_hsmi=50112927&utm_campaign=LL_Content_Digest&utm_content=50110662&utm_medium=email&utm_source=hs_email
The statement from Little that some could interpret as defamatory to the Hagamans is still on the Labour Party website. Is that wise, given the defamation proceedings that are happening at the moment?
http://www.labour.org.nz/auditor_general_must_investigate_niue_deal_for_donor
I can imagine the Hagamans would not have been too happy about this from the statement:
You think that is defamation? Wow.
It’s the 5 or 6 statements to the media he then followed that up with that are where the defamation allegedly occurred.
I quote:
“The Hagamans’ lawyer Richard Fowler QC said Little’s comments went beyond a neutral position that the issue required investigation, as his use of the phrases “stinks to high heaven”, “murky” and “dodgy deals” showed.”
The Hagaman’s lawyer is being paid a lot of money to say stupid nonsense like that. Such statements do not constitute defamation.
Yep might as well be in a political police state if that’s considered defamation! Oops maybe we are….
US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson “those steps are underway” in reference to an international coalition to remove Assad. Shit, not good.
Yeah Right! Now that Assad is holding all the aces when it comes to defeating his enemies and the fact that Trump’s approval rating by the American public is below 35%, the major aggressors in the middle east can ease up.
Trump is playing the American public like a fiddle, just like during the election campaign. The USA will never send boots on the ground to fight Assad and sending the air force against Russian planes is out of the question, even Donald won’t be forced to play that game against Putin.
Fucking stupid statement.
So basically Putin can back down publicly, or the Trump administration can back down publicly/disown the statement, or we’re looking at a war where both sides officially have troops on the ground.
Watch as Porter & Ross with 50+ tomahawks gives Assad a subtle message. No reply by the Russians, which means Putin is put on notice despite their two military bases. Trump is singing a different tune as the Generals call the shots in Washington.
“Fucking stupid statement”, Yeah Right!
…and what if Russians at this base were killed?
edit: I’m not opposed to the strikes as such, and if the generals are in charge that’s not too bad. But the Russian committment is a massively complicating factor that to me requires serious input from diplomats, as well.
Before the tomahawks hit their target, the Russian top brass in Syria were notified/warned what was going to happen.
“But the Russian commitment is a massively complicating factor that to me requires serious input from diplomats, as well”. What the FUCK are you on about? The reason for Russian involvement in Syria is quite elementary. Do a little bit of research before shooting off your mouth.
Bases and internal prestige, as well as some nice systems evaluation opportunities.
But my point is that it’s all very well retaliating against someone who doesn’t have significant support from a dominant power, leave it to the generals. Fine.
But the changes in the state department, trump’s appointments, and his personality suggest that when it comes to nuances about international diplomacy, the US is a blind bull in a china shop (giggles @ appropriate metaphor).
So they warned the Russian top brass. Did they leave time for it to filter down to evacuate troops on the ground? Were they damned sure there weren’t even a couple of airplane mechanics advising the syrians on maintenance at that base? You know, genuine reasons for the Russians to get pissed rather than “yeah, fair call, Assad deserved a slap in the face”. Is the damage from the attack so bad it changes the picture in the battle zone, or is it just an inconvenience?
This isn’t like launching cruise missiles at Afghanistan or even Saddam’s Iraq: you might piss off someone who can do something in response. Do you trust trump to know how to deal with that sort of situation? I sure don’t.
You may want to get back to your readers, when you have some pertinent info instead of spouting off your fairy tale opinions.
You seem to have no idea about the time line of this event, who was informed and why Shayrat Air Base was targeted.
🙄
Well, if you have any you can feel free to present it, rather than just doing a TS-typical “you know nothing you silly person, educate yourself while I offer no evidence or even formulate an explicit contrary opinion”.
Anyone watching RNZ’s Prime Minister retrospective series by Guyon? Quite enlightening so far:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/the-9th-floor/story/201839427/the-reformer-geoffrey-palmer
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New Zealand
Seems the Greens want to make Aotearoa great again.
Does their new campaign commercial inspire you to vote Green? Or do they need to go back to the drawing-board?
I’m sure the Greens would appreciate your feedback.
Say what you like about Trump, but I personally found this ad inspiring:
Had a look at the Great Greens and it looks pretty good to me. It emphasises it is onto the modern pace, that any age, nationality, can be for the NZ life and citizenship. They are thinking of the future, that life should have its fun times that everyone can enjoy, that others out there care about the country and want friendly interaction with others, and they introduced a bit of humour, a cute animal, and I give it 100%. Time later for more definite details. We have lost our vision of NZ as a good place to live in, and this gives us a series of images to hold onto and showing the sort of outgoing, non pretentious people that it is easy to warm to.
That’s my feeling.
Donald Trump can show off to the media that he can walk on water, and the sooner the better.
It’s cheery, bright and full of smiley faces, but politically it doesn’t inspire me. It’s more like a send yourself to Wellington ad. Unlike Trumps ad that hits at the core of the problem. Thus I would have preferred something more along those lines.
The Chairman
Perhaps they are tailored to the progress of the campaign. Could it be they start off smiley before we get into the teeth baring when they may look too lightweight? Hitting the core of the problem at this moment may be too much of a punch, and they are saving that for the ko at the end. Woohoo for that.
Anyone who wants serious information about the Greens would look at their website, esp the policy and press releases.
The Chairman has a ratio of something like 90% negative criticism to 10% positive (Greens and Labour). Comparing the Greens to Trump tells me they don’t know much about the Greens, what they are doing or why. It’s a complete no-sequitur.
I like the video and agree that it’s part of a tailored campaign. Their strategy this year is showing voters who they are as people and as a party (they reckon that people know what their environmental stances are), and that they’re engaged and competent. This is the start of that.
Thanks weka for that about the Greens. That sounds very wise and media sussed to me.
weka
Any party seriously wanting to grow their support and voter interest to go look at their website would want to ensure they have an effective ad/marketing campaign to entice more to go there in the first place.
I wasn’t comparing the Greens to Trump. The Trump commercial was an example of the type of hard hitting political ad that inspired me.
The Greens ad didn’t relay they are engaged with the issues we are facing. Nor did they come across as professional and competent, but it did portray them and their supporters as a diverse, warm and cheery bunch.
However, those with serious political concerns and those doing it ruff will be wondering what they are so happy and cheery about? Therefore, to some, this ad would paint the Greens as being somewhat out of touch.
weka
As for being critical, am I not allowed to dislike the Green’s ad? Moreover, to express that dislike?
Does ones criticism have to fall within a certain ratio (negative positive) to be acceptable or considered? Was insinuating I’m more critical than not your attempt to somewhat invalidate me, thus imply any criticism from me holds no merit?
Surely it’s the criticism you should be looking at and addressing, not the ratio of ones criticism.
Can you not see how the Greens could benefit from the feedback (albeit if it’s criticism)? If a large number feel like me, it would be in their best interest to change tack. If I’m the odd one out and it’s widely liked, then they will know they are on the right track.
Additionally, if the Greens were confidently and genuinely happy with their ad, then wouldn’t any criticism merely be water off a ducks back?
The same applies to any party and the positions (and policies) they take or propose. Fear of criticism doesn’t relay confidence in their stance. And if they don’t believe in it, why would voters?
greywarshark
One certainly hopes they will progress and improve as they go. I wouldn’t rely on this one drawing in the crowds.
The Little jury is out now.
Jastice Karen Clark said to the jury: “…As Lani Hagaman had not been named by Little in any of his comments, the jury had to decide whether an ordinary, fair-minded reader would identify her as being criticised.
Clark said she had ruled that Little’s comments were protected by qualified privilege as he had a duty, “whether legal or social or moral”, to comment.
However, that defence could be “defeated or effectively negated” if the jury found his comments were predominantly motivated by ill will targeted directly at the Hagamans, or if he had taken improper advantage of the occasion….”
There is s smidgen of hope then.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/91320547/jury-retires-in-labour-leader-andrew-littles-defamation-trial
”Clark said she had ruled that Little’s comments were protected by qualified privilege as he had a duty, “whether legal or social or moral”, to comment.”
if that isn’t judge code for chuck this case in the trash were it belongs ill eat my cow shit stained hat.
Yeah, that “predominantly motivated by ill will or targeted directly at the Hagamans” was a good line, too.
Either way I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s appealed.
what would be the timeframe for an appeal?
no idea. I just think one side has money to burn, and the other side might well be irked at falling foul of an injustice.
just wondering if it would happen before the election. In which case there is probably added motivation for the Hagaman’s to go to appeal.
agreed
Apparently the jury has retired for the weekend. Can’t find anything on the Stuff or RNZ websites but the Herald’s Claire Trevett gives me the impression that she really, really, really want’s the jury to find in the plaintiffs’ favour. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11834187
Yes, she’s a thoroughly nasty piece of work, that one , isn’t she!
Tweet from Vernon Small today:
It’s here on the Stats NZ website.
So, if that’s an accurate measurement, it means there are over 100,000 unoccupied dwellings in NZ. How so?
When housing problems became overwhelming in London in the 1960-70s young people would squat. And though frowned on it didn’t mean that you would be evicted by uniformed armed men. Does anyone have a tale to tell about those days?
Holiday homes are part of it. Lots of holiday towns have high rates of housing not permanently occupied. You can find the stats on line by city/town (can’t remember where).
e.g.
More unoccupied dwellings
The number of unoccupied dwellings rose 16.4 percent between 2006 and 2013. There were:
185,448 in 2013
159,276 in 2006.
In 2013, 1 in 10 dwellings were unoccupied. Nearly one-quarter were classified as unoccupied because all the occupants were temporarily away at the time of the census, but about three-quarters had no occupants at all.
Every region had more unoccupied dwellings than at the last census, although there was little change in the Auckland region. The largest percentage increase was in the Canterbury region, which had 28,317 unoccupied dwellings in 2013, up from 18,117 in 2006. This was a 56.3 percent increase, and was related to the 2010–11 Canterbury earthquakes.
http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-housing/occupied-unoccupied-dwellings.aspx
Can’t find the Auckland or Welly numbers but here are some SI ones,
“There are 46,590 occupied dwellings and 3,915 unoccupied dwellings in Dunedin City.
…
There are 186 dwellings under construction in Dunedin City, and 9,756 under construction in New Zealand.”
http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-a-place.aspx?request_value=15022&tabname=
“There are 11,508 occupied dwellings and 4,467 unoccupied dwellings in Queenstown-Lakes District.
…
There are 237 dwellings under construction in Queenstown-Lakes District, and 9,756 under construction in New Zealand.”
http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-a-place.aspx?request_value=15000&tabname=
Bill English is just like us….
http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/opinion-i-too-am-a-human-look-at-my-failure-it-is-like-your-failure/
Woolsey’s beaten John bomb Iran Bolton to the punch.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey stopped by Jake Tapper’s show on CNN* to talk bombs, Iran and Syria. His goal, apparently, was to make the case that not only should the United States bomb Syria in retaliation for the gas attack earlier this week (because killing more innocents is clearly a way to punish Assad?), but also Iran
http://crooksandliars.com/2017/04/former-cia-director-argues-two-fer-bomb
They’re off.
Reacting on the balance of probability? Where’s the proof, the smoking gun etc…
Nice video. Obvious parallels.
I sincerely hope, that if this is the first of a series of steps by western governments that we, ordinary people, see to it that it all blows up in the fuckers faces like nothing they’ve ever seen before.
Yes, unfortunately the parallels are far to similar.
the world is full of fuckwits.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/us-said-to-weigh-military-responses-to-syrian-chemical-attack.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
” The airstrikes were carried out less than an hour after the president concluded a dinner with Xi Jinping, the president of China, at his estate in Mar-a-Lago in Florida, sending an unmistakably aggressive message about Mr. Trump’s willingness to use the military power at his disposal.
Mr. Trump authorized the strike with no congressional approval for the use of force, an assertion of presidential authority that contrasts sharply with the protracted deliberations over the use of force by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.
Unlike Mr. Obama, who weighed — and ultimately rejected — the use of a similar strike at targets after Syria used chemical weapons in 2013, Mr. Trump moved with remarkable speed, delivering the punishing military strike barely 72 hours after the devastating chemical attack that killed 80 people this week.”
the world is full of fuckwits.
Depressingly true.
Exactly , and it turns out Obama was one of them!
I know, and Labour did it too.
I mean, gosh, golly and here have some pudding.
With all the denial going on over Hit and Run, this interview on Hardtalk nine years ago is a very telling reminder of what we should be doing our utmost to avoid.
Wow. Never thought the damages would be that much.