According to the newsroom. Republished in stuff. Pounced-upon by the Little-obsessed James and shoved into into the faces of Labour supporters for the sly pleasure of a confidence-troll who revels in creating discomfort and division. All on a Sunday morning, early, when thoughtful, kindly people least expect such miserly-of-spirit behaviour.
James, your nit-picky, boringly repetitiousness snipes at Andrew Little are dull enough on a week day, but please spare us those on beautiful Sundays like this one. Get outside, James, let the sun wash away your bitterness. Breath some fresh air and think of someone other than yourself and Andy.
They’ve always “loved” whoever the deputy is, because they want to make people worriedf about leadership instability. If Little were deputy they’d love him too. It’s a transparent tactic.
Loving your contribution to the discussion today, James. Having a snippy critic of Andrew Little expose your churlisness so early in the piece gave all of us a chance to show our support for the Labour leader; an opportunity we mightn’t have taken, but for the opportunity you so thoughtfully presented.
Keep up the sterling work. Never let your tightness of spirit ease, you’re one of our best assets here on TS.
Indeed. You think he’s great – media seem to think he’s the problem.
But at the end of the day news postings about how he is the problem will have more of an impact as opposed to a few people on a blog that are generally all voting left anyway.
In fairness his surname could be his biggest handicap…words being soooo important, as we were all educated about (ad bloody nauseum) here on TS yesterday….
not give (a) tuppence
To not care in the slightest (about something or someone). ” I know that James has a crush on me, but to be honest I couldn’t give tuppence for him.”
If you do a bit of a search I think you will find you go around replying (and generally trying to insult on a lot of post I make) – not the other way around- so I think that it’s you that has the crush on me.
I’m not that way inclined- but if I was I would like to think I could do better than you. 🙂
Hi Grey
All is well here, in fact, the day is gloriously fine and sunny (and warm!) All my whanau are here today; sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, most helping with a shared project involving canvas and ropes, poles and pegs 🙂
Hearing that for a while now from MSM against Labour. Yep, problems with Cunliffe, problems with Shearer, problems with Goff. Helen Clark has to go.. Of course Little is terrible too, from the MSM and not so M, SM sites.
Granny’s sister sites might get more readership if they actually print real news and if they want to talk politics about the 9 year legacy of the Natz as well as the failed neoliberal ideology of English. Since they are just an echo chamber from the centre right discourses they have no credibility.
Try reading this instead – a more accurate view of Andrew Little and his leadership .
FRIDAY, 5 MAY 2017
Telling The Story Of Labour’s List Differently.
All Good: As a result of Little’s recruitment of Jackson, Labour’s ability to attract Maori support has been enhanced. And, thanks to Labour’s List Moderating Committee, New Zealand will soon be appreciating the contributions of Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Jan Tinetti, Willow-Jean Prime and Kiri Allan.
Chris is getting his lines from McCarten. Not exactly “accurate” from the perspecrtive of anyone who realy supports Labour values. Labour already got plenty of Maori support thanks to (demoted) MPs like Mahuta. People should stop crying triumph for Jackson until he proves himself.
Wainwright
You make assertions, and I don’t think this one is right. Of course Trotter should listen to McCarten as he listens across the spectrum.
Also he will sometimes do a scenario piece of what might happen which doesn’t follow from an embedded viewpoint. So he can surprise, seem certainly left, centre, or right in particular posts.
I hope your ideas are not too embedded to enable you to correctly judge and make your pronouncements. Anyone who is absolutely certain they are correct all the time is someone to be wary of. I hope you aren’t here just to affirm your preconceptions.
Tha’ts a very nice little lecture, grey. Doesn’t cahnge the fact Chris has been talking complete bollocks for years, changes his spots on a weekly basis to try to look relevant, and gets all his good gossip from the Galbraith’s happy hour crew. If you want to give anyone a growling for ’embedded ideas’ why not Jenny, whose idea of ‘accuracy’ is based on ‘things that Jenny agrees with because she thinks th eLabour Party never does any wrong’?
Thank goodness that chris Trotter does try on different coats, think around his subjects, or we would get the same old thinking and assertions all the time from people whose minds have rusted over.
Chris Trotter has regularly been critical of Labour in recent years, and he doesn’t get “fed” lines. He’s not a favourite commenter of mine, but in this case I think he’s got a point. Labour’s list is actually pretty damn impressive and Little has shown some canny judgement in terms of Jackson. I admit that I was somewhat taken aback when his candidacy was announced, but then I’m not one of the people who’s being targeted by this move and I do acknowledge that Jackson would have added considerably to the Māori Party’s fire-power.
Canny judgment? You mean pissing off a helluva lot of people when he announced Jackson would be at the top of the list, then pissing of Jackson by not putting him at the top of the list? Those headlines have been great for Labour. And once again the hard work and loyalty of actual Maori MPs gets shafted for one of McCarten’s old Alliance buddies. You guys aren’t selling this very well.
James doesn’t like the fact that Andrew Little speaks with integrity and honesty and it worries him that people might just start analysing WHAT is being said instead of THE WAY it is said. The performing snake oil salesman has vanished without trace and people are starting to wake up that he was simply an illusionist. People also see how Trump got voted in the US and that entertaining attention-seeking is not the defining quality for a good leader.
People also see how Trump got voted in the US and that entertaining attention-seeking is not the defining quality for a good leader.
Seems to work for the RWNJs who really don’t seem to read up on what policies will actually do and just go on the shallow, feel good sound bites of such leaders.
But I try the Prime Minister test:
Little will be a more just and inclusive Prime Minister than Bill English.
Little will also be braver, less technocratic Prime Minister, because the expectations and momentum are so high upon him.
Even after his first term, I’m also confident of this: Andrew Little will not lie.
Put “will not lie” in a sentence with Bill English and you will choke on your Weetbix.
And as Prime Minister, LIttle will have earned it not inherited it.
I could not say that of Bill English. Which is why I already respect Little more.
Andrew Little takes his role seriously, unlike John Key, who wanted to be a creepy clown half the time. So Andrew Little is not going to be all jokey about important issues facing the country. He is true to himself.
Bill English – not exactly oozing charm and personality, if that is what you are looking for James. Have you been taking notes on how the operatives from Dirty Politics went about their “work”? Horrible people – who would want them as a friend, neighbour, relative?
The problem I have with Little is that he seems to have poor judgement. From time to time he opens his mouth and weird stuff comes out, without apparently having passed through his brain en route. I regard this as a problematic quality in a PM.
I’m sure he’s a good dude and is sincere and hard working.
It appears to be good enough for POTUS and let’s not even go to the obfuscating language and semantic back flips by John Key, for example. But obviously it is o.k. to have double standards for some but not for others …
Sure, Andrew Little and the Labour Party good do better in the PR department, etc., but what really counts is the policies and what they actually achieve once in Government.
A while back there was a post about a woman who was being released from jail on compassionate grounds due to cancer.
If I think back – I may have been in the “do the crime – do the time” camp.
Well she’s in the press again with her final interview.
Its sobering reading – having read it – I have no doubt that my original view of the situation was wrong and that the right decision was made for this lady. You couldn’t wish this on anybody.
That’s the trouble with you righties. You can’t recognise a true story when you see it. Everything is coloured by your tunnel-visioned view of anyone who isn’t the same as yourselves, or who have made some mistakes in their past life. They are to be punished for the rest of their lives.
I will give you full credit though for having the nous to fess up you were wrong.
Sorry James. I worded that very badly. You are correct. There are things where people from both sides can be in full agreement. In fact you left a comment yesterday (or the day before) that I thought was reasonable and fair.
My response was more an observation of right- wingers in general which many commentators here have noted before. It’ll try to be less hasty and more careful in future.
Anne – I wouldn’t be too apologetic.
It is of course excellent that James has changed his mind in this case and he should be congratulated for it wholeheartedly.
However his propensity to make the mistake in the first place is still a valid and very interesting area of discussion.
Anne -And comments like these just brass me off, ungracious, spiteful and condescending. I am a green voter and leaning more to the left than the right but by god, if that is what the left represents, good ridden’s.
Identity politics vs we are simply all individuals, Condescending attitude and some sort of morale superiority is common amoung hard lefties and it is why they alienate the masses They absolutely loose it when such is highlighted or the artifice of their beliefs are challenged and contradictions are high lighted
I mostly see such vile behaviour from the RWNJs. They really, really don’t like it when their beliefs are not only challenged but proved wrong. Still, they won’t change their beliefs.
And this thread is mostly Anne being corrected by others on the left and Anne apologising for her initial comment.
On the other hand, over the last ten years on this board, I’ve seen the RWNJs get really brassed off and swing to ad hominem attacks when their beliefs are challenged but I’ve very rarely seen that from those on the Left.
One thing I’ve noticed is the truth of what (IIRC) George Hendry once pointed out: that you can always tell what right wingers intend, by listening to accusations they level at others.
Anyhow, you have some putting up or shutting up to do. When you fail to put up, your total lack of personal responsibility means you won’t even have the guts to admit it.
I don’t want to be pedantic but “Anne being corrected by others on the left” is very different from what actually happened, which is that Anne ‘corrected’ herself. The first is the moralistic and patronising arrogance that often rubs many people the wrong way. The second is a person realising the consequence of her actions not aligning well with who she is and taking responsibility for that – I applaud her.
Science yes accept but not when contrary to left ideology, ie degree of impact and response to climate change, abortion, LGBT debate, identity politics
economics, Venezuela, North Korea, history of Soviet Union, abject failure of closed economies and socialism in the 20th century doesn’t count as does not fit the left narrative, oh but it works in Scandinavia, under very unique circumstances however let’s ignore the balance of overwhelming evidence
selected morality, the left dancers on the graves of pike river for political expediency, Dirty politics is only dirty if the other guys do it
Sure I do: it’s a pack of lies. Unless of course you can find some examples of anyone defending Venezuelan economic policies, or North Korean anything, or rejoicing at Pike River deaths. Put up or shut up.
The fact is the NZ left has always run this economy better than the right. You can’t handle that fact so you drivel on about the USSR.
As for condescending attitudes and superiority, calling dead children “feral” is a pretty good example, and so is almost everything that oozes out of Gerry Brownlee.
Some things are simply self evident OAB, ie socialism has been adject failure from a logic, evidence and competing alternate system basis, You can choose to accept this or not, your a prisoner of your own anger so I don’t believe anything will change your mind, likewise not really wanting to get into a personal abuse session with you where such debates normally go Saying that i respect your right for you to give your views but not necessarily agree with or how you express them which I feel is counter to you and the left cause in winning hearts and minds
Some things are simply self evident OAB, ie socialism has been adject failure from a logic, evidence and competing alternate system basis,
And yet the scientific evidence shows the exact opposite. The most prosperous time the world has ever seen was between ~1945 and the ~1970s under huge socialism and building environmentalism.
On the other hand, under capitalism we’re seeing increasing poverty and environmental degradation. In fact, the last 5000 years shows that capitalism like societies always collapse due to the rich always demanding more and preventing the poor from having anything.
You can choose to accept this or not, your a prisoner of your own anger
And there’s more of that psychological projection that RWNJs compulsively engage in when their beliefs are proved wrong.
“The fact is the NZ left has always run this economy better than the right. You can’t handle that fact so you drivel on about the USSR.”
eeeeekkkk ! where did that come from,
Where were you during Rogernomics?
Where were you when this happened (wikipedia)
“On 12 March 2004, Minister of Conservation Chris Carter approved the access arrangement for Pike River Coal Ltd”
Science yes accept but not when contrary to left ideology, ie degree of impact and response to climate change
And yet it’s the RWNJs that are disagreeing with what the science says because they need to keep the Ponzi Scheme that is capitalism going.
economics, Venezuela, North Korea, history of Soviet Union, abject failure of closed economies and socialism in the 20th century doesn’t count as does not fit the left narrative
I haven’t seen anyone on the Left call for a closed economy. Even I haven’t done that but I have pointed out that free-market should result in limited trade because trade is more expensive, in real terms, than each country producing what it uses.
selected morality, the left dancers on the graves of pike river for political expediency
It wasn’t the Left that promised to go get them and then reneged on that promise and lied about the reasons. the RWNJs don’t have any morality or ethics.
And doesn’t Vicki herself display it well in the article: “…”But I think things need to be re-looked at when you’re given a time frame on your life … It’s not a life sentence.”
She was also concerned other inmates faced with life-threatening conditions might not get the chance she had to go home to their family, because they don’t have the same support she received from her well-known brother, professional boxer David “Brown Buttabean” Letele and the public he rallied….
Have to agree with Winston on this. Have a relative in hospitality for 8 years at the same job. The firm has changed ownership and he’s been told to sign a zero hour contract (which I thought was banned). So many of the hospitality jobs are not real or sustainable jobs. The power balance is wrong in this industry and the NZ taxpayer has to subsidise all these hospitality workers on minimum wages and zero hour contracts with WINZ, Health, social services. Meanwhile real hospitality businesses are going under because there are so many fake ones competing against each other on each corner and most of them half empty.
Like 3rd rate private education providers, hospitality has the side industry of supplying work and residency visas to people as the real goal.
“Winston Peters has rubbished claims New Zealand needs another 200,000 workers in the service industry as “alternative facts”.”
“If there is a shortage, Mr Peters says it can be filled by the 92,000 young people not in education, training or employment, and the 130,000 currently unemployed.”
saveNZ – I saw the other day a program about recruitment of mercenaries and the business model designed to squeeze the wages – race to the bottom policies.
This has created child soldiers.
Is the same “model” applied in our service industries, just replace child with immigrant.
“Winston Peters has rubbished claims New Zealand needs another 200,000 workers in the service industry as “alternative facts”.”
I’m skeptical about those claims myself. My daughter does ten hours a week at Dominos – she tells me they’re advertising for staff even though they just hired four people. It’s a mystery to her, but not to me, having done rostered part-time work before: rostering staff gets so much easier when you have a large pool of workers available, and it also means you can give them fewer hours than they’d like, which fosters a healthy (for the employer’s profits) sense of competition among the staff for increased hours. Why we as a society would want to encourage and facilitate that practice is beyond me (it’s clear enough why National and its donors would want us to, but what about the rest of us?).
> “Winston Peters has rubbished claims New Zealand needs another 200,000 workers in the service industry as “alternative facts”. If there is a shortage, Mr Peters says it can be filled by the 92,000 young people not in education, training or employment, and the 130,000 currently unemployed.”
That’s going to do wonders for the level of service
Re the French election which is about to take place. It looks similar to the American election….. neither candidate is suitable.
The best one-liner I have seen was from Le Pen who said France will get a woman leader, either herself or Angela Merkel. Good one!
On any objective measure he is a very impressive candidate. Sure he has not run for elective office before. But he has been a Minister in government. He also has one of the most impressive academic and intellectual records seen in recent years among presidential candidates.
Couple that withe amazing chutzpah to even stand in the circumstances, then he could be quite an extraordinary president. Or not.
It’s a good sign that Macron in France is considered as toxic by the hard left and much as the hard right. Both extremes in recent European and UK elections have been shown to be as divisive and unable to govern as each other.
I think the result won’t be as big a winning gap as one might hope – maybe 57% Macron to 43% Le Pen. So it’s another very clear warning to the Brussels bureaucrats to reform – hard and fast and big.
And with zero Parliamentary friends Macron has yet to build a machine and win. That means he is going to have to be an astonishingly good coalition-builder.
But he’s fresh, young, bright, and supports the broader collective called Europe.
It’s all to play for.
How about listing his actual policies instead. Here’s a few:
– The CICE tax credit system for firms would be converted into permanent payroll tax breaks for low-wage workers.
– Low-wage earners would be exempted from certain social welfare levies, a measure that would put an extra month’s wage per year in the employee’s pocket.
– 15 billion on energy/environment targets: exit within 5 years from coal-based energy production, shift towards alternative, renewable energy sources, rise in carbon tax.
– 5 billion euros on health sector, including better reimbursement of glasses, dentures and hearing aids, plus move away from wasteful medicine packages that contain more pills than a patient needs.
– State subsidy of 15,000 euros over 3 years for firms that hire people in 200 low-income neighborhoods.
– Halve number of early primary school pupils to 12 per class in 12,000 low-income zones, with teachers given a bonus of 3,000 euros a year to work in such areas.
All of which outflank on the left the UK, Australian or NZ Labour Parties.
You missed the one he introduced to parliament Ad.
The anti-strike law
And the his support of and possible drafting of the state of emergency act (against terrorists) which has curtailed rights in France for the last year.
But sure, keep going with he is a good guy. Don’t listen to the unions and social democrat’s within France. They all far left in your opinion now?
We’ve got a choice between two evils too – one greate rand one lesser. Labour stands for “budget responsibility” and slashing immigration and tinkering at the edges of the tax system. Same old neolib stuff. Liberals everywhere are demanding voters put two ticks next to Labour. But does it stack up? Is it the only game in town?
NO, friends. There’s a third way! The crucial bit people miss is the hyping of a fourth term National government. Same as how Trumnp was attacked as a scary rightwing nightmare in the US, and he’s only just eradicated healthcare for millions of people.
So maybe if you happen to be a true leftwing New Zealander, have a vote and want liberalism ended to create the space for the beginnings of a decent society, then cast some form of tactical vote for The Act Party.
They’ll only get two or three members from a total of 121 in Parliament and support National. It would look like a one-term, lame duck Government, as opposed to a powerful LIttle Prime Ministership enjoing support from across the political spectrum.
Under National/Act, media will (for some reason) not attack the left any more, so we’ll have space to breathe while neoliberalism (for some reason) fades away. And we can doo all that agitating and organising stuff too.
But like Bill said, it’s maybe for the best if you don’t bother yourself by thinking about it. It’s probably safer and easier to just keep following instructions, and inventing strategies for people on the other side of the world whose election results won’t actually effect you.
Ridding NZ of liberalism – even simply replacing it with social democratic governance -would be a good thing Wainwright, right?
In Scotland, there was an opening that was taken. In England and Wales there’s a possibility that is being diminished. In France there’s a small window of opportunity.
And satire, unlike what you’ve written, is intelligent and cutting.
Interesting you didn’t engage with the real point: if it’s so good for the left to vote in a hostile rightwing government in France, why not here? But in my experience your MO is always to assume anyone who doesn’t agree with you is stupid.
What strategy is there in NZ for ridding it of this political and economic cancer that you’d rather not see called liberalism? I don’t see any strategy – there is no opening or opportune set of circumstances in NZ at the moment that a strategy could be applied to.
I don’t think there is much in the way of useful strategy being discussed in NZ. As you know, my own position is that we hold as much of a left wing line as we can in the meantime. I’m open to radical change and would be interested in things that have some chance of working. But I also think that traditional ideas about that are problematic because we are running out of time re CC. I think CC will be the revolution of our lifetime and we’d best be ready for the tipping point.
I see Jane Kelsey is giving a lecture on Beyond Neoliberalism next week. I don’t know if it’s being recorded.
I do think the time is ripe for discussions about strategies, because there is enough in the mainstream now about how neoliberalism has failed that there is an opportunity to influence the debate about what we should do instead.
Bill’s post (and others advocating this approach) seemed to be largely predicated on a post-election activist movement accompanying the strategy of voting right, but I just don’t see that activist movement and consider the strategy reckless in its absence. If such an activist movement is possible at this time why isn’t it happening already?
I think if “the left” had the organisational capacity of ‘yesteryear’ to communicate across its various facets, it could have taken a reasonable punt on the Presidency front.
The piece was supposed to be descriptive rather than prescriptive – highlighting possible openings.
Perhaps La France insoumise (Mélenchon’s party) can make significant inroads in the up coming National Assembly elections.
Regardless, for reasons I stated in the post, I think opposing Macron’s upcoming austerity is going far more problematic than tackling a ‘lame duck’ Le Pen.
Incognito
Thanks for that delicious titbit. Dann’s definitely a bit of a twit! All this head thrashing, it’s bad, boring news. Probably the bored and the restless got tired of watching Vesuvius erupt after a while, if they felt they were safely distanced. Let’s look at kittens.
Watched Q+A this morning and was very impressed by brilliant young woman
standing for Labour, Kiri Allan, you are a star. Looking forward to seeing you in the house later this year.
James James James has plenty to say, that is important.
He makes me think of AAMilne’s James James Robinson Robinson Weatherby George Dupree.
Lots of repetition with James, and self-importance – though he was only three.
James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James Said to his Mother,
“Mother,” he said, said he;
“You must never go down
to the end of the town,
if you don’t go down with me.” https://allpoetry.com/Disobedience
Unfortunately TS commenters are a wandering lot in their search for Truth, Fairness and Decent Housing etc. So James, you can’t be blamed if you go somewhere else to play.
President Donald Trump signaled Friday that he may not implement a 25-year-old federal program that helps historically black colleges finance construction projects on their campuses, suggesting that it may run afoul of the Constitution.
In a signing statement on the $1.1 trillion omnibus government spending bill, Trump singled out the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program as an example of provisions in the funding bill “that allocate benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender.”
It’s ok Joe, I hear Trump isn’t really going to be that bad it’s just a beat-up by the Hillary-loving media, just like Assad using sarin on kids. Wikileaks has the truth, just ignore the fact they haven’t leaked anything which didn’t serve Russian interests for years. Don’t buy into the liberal conspiracy!!! 🙄
Hopefully the disaster for Labour in the UK is not an pointer for their parliamentary elections.
If nothing else it should wake the Left to what could happen if they don’t get out and vote, hopefully this will be a real energiser for those who tend to not bother to vote.
Interesting times eh!
I think we have to acknowledge that it probably is an indicator of the likely result in the upcoming general election, Ray. Labour in the UK is tearing itself apart, and unlike many others on this thread, I don’t blame just the parliamentary caucus or the supposed neo-liberals amongst its ranks: everyone is part of the same party and all must share the blame if they’re not managing to discuss their differences and then agree to a common approach and set of policies. I include Corbyn and his fans: they have to take their share of the blame. This election is going to be a rout and I doubt Corbyn will survive as leader (although who would want to step up in this situation is a pretty big question).
everyone is part of the same party and all must share the blame if they’re not managing to discuss their differences and then agree to a common approach and set of policies.
True to some degree. If one side isn’t willing to talk and goes straight to the MSM with their BS then who’s fault is it?
Only ooption for Corbyn and his fans was to not elect Corbyn leader because the neolibs were always willing to sink the party rather than grow spines and demonstrate real principle. How do you compromise with terrorists?
Was a bit disquieting this morning to read that the Orange Order has won seats in Scotland by way of the Tory Party. Don’t think I can overstate the fuck-edness of that.
Run that alongside the UKIP vote folding into the Tory vote south of the border…
You’d think msm might pick up on that and scream blue murder, yes? Nah. Keep to the plan of dragging down Corbyn.
That is depressing news, Bill. Just when I thought the sectarianism in Scotland was starting to decline. (My partner is Scottish – grew up in a Catholic town in Ayrshire)
The NZ oligarchs of the 1980’s Gibbs, Fay Richwhite, Brierly and Fletchers did particularly well out of the sale of State Assets and the systemic asset stripping of
NZ Inc. In hindsight our politicans were incredibly naive and shortsighted and quickly squandered any cash generated by the sale of these State Assets, also we as a country lost the revenue producing capacity of these assets to fund social services ?
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A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Sheedy, Professor – Risk governance, culture, remuneration, Macquarie University This week the corporate regulator is taking on executives and directors of Star Entertainment in the Federal Court, in a landmark case for Australian corporate governance. ASIC will allege that despite multiple ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Allen, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Shutterstock It’s hard to remember a time the United States seemed as tense and divided as it does today. That should serve as a stark reminder of just how important it is to monitor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kaitlin Barham, Wildlife ecology researcher, The University of Queensland Australia Zoo Crocodiles are hardy creatures, capable of adjusting their behaviour to cope with the heat of the tropics. But there’s a limit to their endurance. Our new research shows the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damien O’Meara, Lecturer, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University Stan Stan’s new series Invisible Boys follows four young gay men as they understand and explore their identities while living in Geraldton, a regional town in Western Australia. Charlie Roth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pandanus Petter, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University The upcoming federal election will see the incumbent Labor prime minister, Anthony Albanese, face off against Liberal opposition leader, Peter Dutton. We’ll likely see a strong focus on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Barnes, Lecturer in Physics, Western Sydney University An artist’s impression of a high-energy particle travelling through the KM3NeT neutrino telescope.KM3NeT Three and a half kilometres beneath the Mediterranean Sea, around 80km off the coast of Sicily, lies half of a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Jensen, Associate professor, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra, University of Canberra Kemarrravv13/Shutterstock Hate speech on X was consistently 50% higher for at least eight months after tech billionaire Elon Musk bought the social media platform, new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Ufuk Zivana/Shutterstock Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wants New Zealand to “go for growth”. But his plan, focused on reforming foreign investment, planning and competition laws, as well as boosting the ...
‘An economic own-goal’ or a triumph of democracy? Stewart Sowman-Lund explains in today’s edition of The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. No McDonald’s for Wānaka Wānaka ...
The PSA filed proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority on Wednesday, seeking an urgent hearing to try to immediately stop any dismissals. ...
The lead witness in Ngāi Tahu’s freshwater claim says the case raises an “existentialist question” for his people.“My greatest fear is that we will have our connection with our land and waterways extinguished,” Te Maire Tau (Ngāi Tahu/Ngāi Tūāhuriri) said in the Christchurch High Court, before Justice Melanie Harland. The university history ...
New Zealand employers are well-used to the constant evolution of employment and workplace health and safety law – but we think the scope of changes in this area may still surprise in 2025. In our view, the number of changes under active consideration and the potential practical impact of those ...
As New Zealand woke to Waitangi Day, 1600 athletes and their support crew began to descend on the sleepy west coast town of Greymouth, ready to take on the iconic multisport race, the Coast to Coast.Among the cars laden with kayaks, bikes and enough race food to feed a small ...
I collect sailing books, especially solo sailing adventures. I sail a lot and when in meetings, I think about sailing rather than focus on the dry PowerPoint presentations of earnest landlubbers. Just quietly, I also offer dead sailors drinks and occasionally good books over the side when I am at ...
Over the past few weeks, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has had public tiffs with the leaders of both the Cook Islands and Kiribati.The issues: first Peters put foreign aid to Kiribati under review after President Taneti Maamau cancelled a meeting with him. Then this week, Peters accused the PM of ...
Proposed changes to the Fisheries Act 1996 could see on-board cameras, introduced to protect endangered marine and seabird species, shut off from public view. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith explains.Minister for oceans and fisheries Shane Jones was in his element on Wellington’s waterfront on Wednesday morning. While waves crashed onto the rocks ...
The prime minister has had a bad week, and it’s barely Thursday. This week’s Luxon low points, ranked.8. Bad poll, part oneA Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll released on Monday showed that Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori could form a government. Christopher Luxon is down 3.8 points at ...
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https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/05/01/23499/dont-mind-the-list-labour-has-bigger-issues-to-handle
Labours main problem is andrew little according to newsroom.
Republished in stuff
According to the newsroom. Republished in stuff. Pounced-upon by the Little-obsessed James and shoved into into the faces of Labour supporters for the sly pleasure of a confidence-troll who revels in creating discomfort and division. All on a Sunday morning, early, when thoughtful, kindly people least expect such miserly-of-spirit behaviour.
you have a go at the poster not the article- simply because you know it’s true.
And I would never describe you as thoughtful or kindly. Enjoy your Sunday.
James, your nit-picky, boringly repetitiousness snipes at Andrew Little are dull enough on a week day, but please spare us those on beautiful Sundays like this one. Get outside, James, let the sun wash away your bitterness. Breath some fresh air and think of someone other than yourself and Andy.
For a long, long time the current deputy has been the preferred Labour leader of those on the Right….why is this?
Just the other day Farrar’s Ferals were delighting in a Little hate session, magnifying his deficits and promoting his deputy as the de facto Boss.
There’s something about Little that the Right really, really dislikes.
Good thing, no?
Could it be that the right doesn’t like him because he was a Union leader?
They’ve always “loved” whoever the deputy is, because they want to make people worriedf about leadership instability. If Little were deputy they’d love him too. It’s a transparent tactic.
Wainwright
I hadn’t caught onto that tactic, but I feel sure you are right.
I don’t know about ‘always’, but yes, when the right supports Jacintda it’s all about undermining Little.
A.
According to polls – its more than the right that do not like him.
They can see he has substance and some spine and they don’t like it, basically nasty little trolls at work ?
“your nit-picky, boringly repetitiousness snipes at Andrew Little …”
In fairness he gives so much material.
Loving your contribution to the discussion today, James. Having a snippy critic of Andrew Little expose your churlisness so early in the piece gave all of us a chance to show our support for the Labour leader; an opportunity we mightn’t have taken, but for the opportunity you so thoughtfully presented.
Keep up the sterling work. Never let your tightness of spirit ease, you’re one of our best assets here on TS.
Indeed. You think he’s great – media seem to think he’s the problem.
But at the end of the day news postings about how he is the problem will have more of an impact as opposed to a few people on a blog that are generally all voting left anyway.
Media.
Lordy.
Good drying weather up here in the North.
In fairness his surname could be his biggest handicap…words being soooo important, as we were all educated about (ad bloody nauseum) here on TS yesterday….
Too late for Deed Poll…?
Playing the man not the ball. Straight out of the labour play book since before the end of the Clark government. Notice a trend guyton?
Most of Robert’s remarks are aimed at James’ behaviour, hence, not “playing the man”.
As for playbooks, you sound like a “screaming conspiracy theorist” to me.
not give (a) tuppence
To not care in the slightest (about something or someone). ” I know that James has a crush on me, but to be honest I couldn’t give tuppence for him.”
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/wouldn%27t+give+tuppence
If you do a bit of a search I think you will find you go around replying (and generally trying to insult on a lot of post I make) – not the other way around- so I think that it’s you that has the crush on me.
I’m not that way inclined- but if I was I would like to think I could do better than you. 🙂
Strange, I could have sworn that was James engaged in and that we see it from the RWNJs all the bloody time.
Hi Robert
You express the situation well. And I hope that you all are well down there. Getting colder eh.
Hi Grey
All is well here, in fact, the day is gloriously fine and sunny (and warm!) All my whanau are here today; sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, most helping with a shared project involving canvas and ropes, poles and pegs 🙂
Robert
Is it a guessing contest? Is it a yurt?
Ger. You get the cigar.
You must following Nationals housing plan
Hearing that for a while now from MSM against Labour. Yep, problems with Cunliffe, problems with Shearer, problems with Goff. Helen Clark has to go.. Of course Little is terrible too, from the MSM and not so M, SM sites.
Granny’s sister sites might get more readership if they actually print real news and if they want to talk politics about the 9 year legacy of the Natz as well as the failed neoliberal ideology of English. Since they are just an echo chamber from the centre right discourses they have no credibility.
Try reading this instead – a more accurate view of Andrew Little and his leadership .
FRIDAY, 5 MAY 2017
Telling The Story Of Labour’s List Differently.
All Good: As a result of Little’s recruitment of Jackson, Labour’s ability to attract Maori support has been enhanced. And, thanks to Labour’s List Moderating Committee, New Zealand will soon be appreciating the contributions of Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Jan Tinetti, Willow-Jean Prime and Kiri Allan.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Chris is getting his lines from McCarten. Not exactly “accurate” from the perspecrtive of anyone who realy supports Labour values. Labour already got plenty of Maori support thanks to (demoted) MPs like Mahuta. People should stop crying triumph for Jackson until he proves himself.
Wainwright
You make assertions, and I don’t think this one is right. Of course Trotter should listen to McCarten as he listens across the spectrum.
Also he will sometimes do a scenario piece of what might happen which doesn’t follow from an embedded viewpoint. So he can surprise, seem certainly left, centre, or right in particular posts.
I hope your ideas are not too embedded to enable you to correctly judge and make your pronouncements. Anyone who is absolutely certain they are correct all the time is someone to be wary of. I hope you aren’t here just to affirm your preconceptions.
Tha’ts a very nice little lecture, grey. Doesn’t cahnge the fact Chris has been talking complete bollocks for years, changes his spots on a weekly basis to try to look relevant, and gets all his good gossip from the Galbraith’s happy hour crew. If you want to give anyone a growling for ’embedded ideas’ why not Jenny, whose idea of ‘accuracy’ is based on ‘things that Jenny agrees with because she thinks th eLabour Party never does any wrong’?
Thank goodness that chris Trotter does try on different coats, think around his subjects, or we would get the same old thinking and assertions all the time from people whose minds have rusted over.
Chris Trotter has regularly been critical of Labour in recent years, and he doesn’t get “fed” lines. He’s not a favourite commenter of mine, but in this case I think he’s got a point. Labour’s list is actually pretty damn impressive and Little has shown some canny judgement in terms of Jackson. I admit that I was somewhat taken aback when his candidacy was announced, but then I’m not one of the people who’s being targeted by this move and I do acknowledge that Jackson would have added considerably to the Māori Party’s fire-power.
Canny judgment? You mean pissing off a helluva lot of people when he announced Jackson would be at the top of the list, then pissing of Jackson by not putting him at the top of the list? Those headlines have been great for Labour. And once again the hard work and loyalty of actual Maori MPs gets shafted for one of McCarten’s old Alliance buddies. You guys aren’t selling this very well.
Actuall link
James doesn’t like the fact that Andrew Little speaks with integrity and honesty and it worries him that people might just start analysing WHAT is being said instead of THE WAY it is said. The performing snake oil salesman has vanished without trace and people are starting to wake up that he was simply an illusionist. People also see how Trump got voted in the US and that entertaining attention-seeking is not the defining quality for a good leader.
Seems to work for the RWNJs who really don’t seem to read up on what policies will actually do and just go on the shallow, feel good sound bites of such leaders.
LIttle is boring. Sure.
But I try the Prime Minister test:
Little will be a more just and inclusive Prime Minister than Bill English.
Little will also be braver, less technocratic Prime Minister, because the expectations and momentum are so high upon him.
Even after his first term, I’m also confident of this: Andrew Little will not lie.
Put “will not lie” in a sentence with Bill English and you will choke on your Weetbix.
And as Prime Minister, LIttle will have earned it not inherited it.
I could not say that of Bill English. Which is why I already respect Little more.
Andrew Little takes his role seriously, unlike John Key, who wanted to be a creepy clown half the time. So Andrew Little is not going to be all jokey about important issues facing the country. He is true to himself.
Bill English – not exactly oozing charm and personality, if that is what you are looking for James. Have you been taking notes on how the operatives from Dirty Politics went about their “work”? Horrible people – who would want them as a friend, neighbour, relative?
The problem I have with Little is that he seems to have poor judgement. From time to time he opens his mouth and weird stuff comes out, without apparently having passed through his brain en route. I regard this as a problematic quality in a PM.
I’m sure he’s a good dude and is sincere and hard working.
A.
It appears to be good enough for POTUS and let’s not even go to the obfuscating language and semantic back flips by John Key, for example. But obviously it is o.k. to have double standards for some but not for others …
Sure, Andrew Little and the Labour Party good do better in the PR department, etc., but what really counts is the policies and what they actually achieve once in Government.
I wasn’t defending Trump!!
A while back there was a post about a woman who was being released from jail on compassionate grounds due to cancer.
If I think back – I may have been in the “do the crime – do the time” camp.
Well she’s in the press again with her final interview.
Its sobering reading – having read it – I have no doubt that my original view of the situation was wrong and that the right decision was made for this lady. You couldn’t wish this on anybody.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/92290197/allowed-home-from-prison-to-spend-her-last-days-with-her-family-vicki-letele-gives-her-final-interview
That’s the trouble with you righties. You can’t recognise a true story when you see it. Everything is coloured by your tunnel-visioned view of anyone who isn’t the same as yourselves, or who have made some mistakes in their past life. They are to be punished for the rest of their lives.
I will give you full credit though for having the nous to fess up you were wrong.
If you think those views are exclusively for righties – you would be wrong. There are plenty of lefties that think that way as well.
But hey – everyone needs to step back and revisit their positions from time to time.
Sorry James. I worded that very badly. You are correct. There are things where people from both sides can be in full agreement. In fact you left a comment yesterday (or the day before) that I thought was reasonable and fair.
My response was more an observation of right- wingers in general which many commentators here have noted before. It’ll try to be less hasty and more careful in future.
Anne – I wouldn’t be too apologetic.
It is of course excellent that James has changed his mind in this case and he should be congratulated for it wholeheartedly.
However his propensity to make the mistake in the first place is still a valid and very interesting area of discussion.
Anne -And comments like these just brass me off, ungracious, spiteful and condescending. I am a green voter and leaning more to the left than the right but by god, if that is what the left represents, good ridden’s.
Identity politics vs we are simply all individuals, Condescending attitude and some sort of morale superiority is common amoung hard lefties and it is why they alienate the masses They absolutely loose it when such is highlighted or the artifice of their beliefs are challenged and contradictions are high lighted
I mostly see such vile behaviour from the RWNJs. They really, really don’t like it when their beliefs are not only challenged but proved wrong. Still, they won’t change their beliefs.
Really ? Because you are replying to a thread that is exactly the opposite to what you just said.
Yes, really.
And this thread is mostly Anne being corrected by others on the left and Anne apologising for her initial comment.
On the other hand, over the last ten years on this board, I’ve seen the RWNJs get really brassed off and swing to ad hominem attacks when their beliefs are challenged but I’ve very rarely seen that from those on the Left.
your Selective bias is very strong DB if you believe that
One thing I’ve noticed is the truth of what (IIRC) George Hendry once pointed out: that you can always tell what right wingers intend, by listening to accusations they level at others.
Anyhow, you have some putting up or shutting up to do. When you fail to put up, your total lack of personal responsibility means you won’t even have the guts to admit it.
I don’t have a selective bias but the RWNJs engage in projection quite liberally. As OAB points out RWNJs almost universally.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/4/16/1083830/-Republican-Politics-of-Projection
book page
http://prospect.org/article/projection-party
And the list goes on and on.
Me- “I have no doubt that my original view of the situation was wrong”
You. “They really, really don’t like it when their beliefs are not only challenged but proved wrong. Still, they won’t change their beliefs”
I think that perfectly sums you up – stating something as a fact- even in reply to a comment that proves you wrong.
I wasn’t responding to what you said but what Red said and a single point of data does not make a statistic.
@ Draco T Bastard 12:29 pm:
I don’t want to be pedantic but “Anne being corrected by others on the left” is very different from what actually happened, which is that Anne ‘corrected’ herself. The first is the moralistic and patronising arrogance that often rubs many people the wrong way. The second is a person realising the consequence of her actions not aligning well with who she is and taking responsibility for that – I applaud her.
sadly i agree with Red here. and don’t have a lot of hope that those responsible will own this.
Some examples
Science yes accept but not when contrary to left ideology, ie degree of impact and response to climate change, abortion, LGBT debate, identity politics
economics, Venezuela, North Korea, history of Soviet Union, abject failure of closed economies and socialism in the 20th century doesn’t count as does not fit the left narrative, oh but it works in Scandinavia, under very unique circumstances however let’s ignore the balance of overwhelming evidence
selected morality, the left dancers on the graves of pike river for political expediency, Dirty politics is only dirty if the other guys do it
Many more but you get my gist
Sure I do: it’s a pack of lies. Unless of course you can find some examples of anyone defending Venezuelan economic policies, or North Korean anything, or rejoicing at Pike River deaths. Put up or shut up.
The fact is the NZ left has always run this economy better than the right. You can’t handle that fact so you drivel on about the USSR.
As for condescending attitudes and superiority, calling dead children “feral” is a pretty good example, and so is almost everything that oozes out of Gerry Brownlee.
An emotiional response OAB, exactly my point when lefts contradictions are highlighted and beliefs are challenged
Can’t find any examples eh. You made assertions of fact that you cannot support, and when challenged to do so, you failed.
Do you disagree that calling people “feral” is an example of a condescending superior attitude? Can’t you defend your spiritual leader?
Some things are simply self evident OAB, ie socialism has been adject failure from a logic, evidence and competing alternate system basis, You can choose to accept this or not, your a prisoner of your own anger so I don’t believe anything will change your mind, likewise not really wanting to get into a personal abuse session with you where such debates normally go Saying that i respect your right for you to give your views but not necessarily agree with or how you express them which I feel is counter to you and the left cause in winning hearts and minds
So you think that NZ was an abject failure before 1984?
Yawn Red.
I’m a social democrat. As such, I have no need to defend myself against your mis-aimed shots: they are off target.
You can’t meet the challenge I gave you, and cannot admit that. Thanks for making my point.
And yet the scientific evidence shows the exact opposite. The most prosperous time the world has ever seen was between ~1945 and the ~1970s under huge socialism and building environmentalism.
On the other hand, under capitalism we’re seeing increasing poverty and environmental degradation. In fact, the last 5000 years shows that capitalism like societies always collapse due to the rich always demanding more and preventing the poor from having anything.
And there’s more of that psychological projection that RWNJs compulsively engage in when their beliefs are proved wrong.
Red’s argument is so poewrful he doesn’t have to justify it! Classic righties.
“The fact is the NZ left has always run this economy better than the right. You can’t handle that fact so you drivel on about the USSR.”
eeeeekkkk ! where did that come from,
Where were you during Rogernomics?
Where were you when this happened (wikipedia)
“On 12 March 2004, Minister of Conservation Chris Carter approved the access arrangement for Pike River Coal Ltd”
Arguably Rogernomics wasn’t left wing 😉
I said “better than the right”. Not “well”.
And yet it’s the RWNJs that are disagreeing with what the science says because they need to keep the Ponzi Scheme that is capitalism going.
I haven’t seen anyone on the Left call for a closed economy. Even I haven’t done that but I have pointed out that free-market should result in limited trade because trade is more expensive, in real terms, than each country producing what it uses.
It wasn’t the Left that promised to go get them and then reneged on that promise and lied about the reasons. the RWNJs don’t have any morality or ethics.
You find yourself feeling empathy.
And doesn’t Vicki herself display it well in the article:
“…”But I think things need to be re-looked at when you’re given a time frame on your life … It’s not a life sentence.”
She was also concerned other inmates faced with life-threatening conditions might not get the chance she had to go home to their family, because they don’t have the same support she received from her well-known brother, professional boxer David “Brown Buttabean” Letele and the public he rallied….
Compassion is impossible to measure but often easier to spot although sometimes it is seen as ‘being soft’ or a sign of ‘weakness’.
Many studies have shown that empathy and compassion can be learned.
NB this is a response to your comment, not to you personally.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Have to agree with Winston on this. Have a relative in hospitality for 8 years at the same job. The firm has changed ownership and he’s been told to sign a zero hour contract (which I thought was banned). So many of the hospitality jobs are not real or sustainable jobs. The power balance is wrong in this industry and the NZ taxpayer has to subsidise all these hospitality workers on minimum wages and zero hour contracts with WINZ, Health, social services. Meanwhile real hospitality businesses are going under because there are so many fake ones competing against each other on each corner and most of them half empty.
Like 3rd rate private education providers, hospitality has the side industry of supplying work and residency visas to people as the real goal.
“Winston Peters has rubbished claims New Zealand needs another 200,000 workers in the service industry as “alternative facts”.”
“If there is a shortage, Mr Peters says it can be filled by the 92,000 young people not in education, training or employment, and the 130,000 currently unemployed.”
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/05/worker-shortage-alternative-facts-winston-peters.html
God! I’m agreeing with Winston on this one.
saveNZ – I saw the other day a program about recruitment of mercenaries and the business model designed to squeeze the wages – race to the bottom policies.
This has created child soldiers.
Is the same “model” applied in our service industries, just replace child with immigrant.
“Winston Peters has rubbished claims New Zealand needs another 200,000 workers in the service industry as “alternative facts”.”
I’m skeptical about those claims myself. My daughter does ten hours a week at Dominos – she tells me they’re advertising for staff even though they just hired four people. It’s a mystery to her, but not to me, having done rostered part-time work before: rostering staff gets so much easier when you have a large pool of workers available, and it also means you can give them fewer hours than they’d like, which fosters a healthy (for the employer’s profits) sense of competition among the staff for increased hours. Why we as a society would want to encourage and facilitate that practice is beyond me (it’s clear enough why National and its donors would want us to, but what about the rest of us?).
> “Winston Peters has rubbished claims New Zealand needs another 200,000 workers in the service industry as “alternative facts”. If there is a shortage, Mr Peters says it can be filled by the 92,000 young people not in education, training or employment, and the 130,000 currently unemployed.”
That’s going to do wonders for the level of service
A.
If you have the time a awesome interview with film maker Alex Winter. A real nice deconstruction of the trial and punishment of Ross Ulbricht.
Re the French election which is about to take place. It looks similar to the American election….. neither candidate is suitable.
The best one-liner I have seen was from Le Pen who said France will get a woman leader, either herself or Angela Merkel. Good one!
Whats wrong with Macron?
On any objective measure he is a very impressive candidate. Sure he has not run for elective office before. But he has been a Minister in government. He also has one of the most impressive academic and intellectual records seen in recent years among presidential candidates.
Couple that withe amazing chutzpah to even stand in the circumstances, then he could be quite an extraordinary president. Or not.
Not !
Corporate finance plant, IMHO
It’s a good sign that Macron in France is considered as toxic by the hard left and much as the hard right. Both extremes in recent European and UK elections have been shown to be as divisive and unable to govern as each other.
I think the result won’t be as big a winning gap as one might hope – maybe 57% Macron to 43% Le Pen. So it’s another very clear warning to the Brussels bureaucrats to reform – hard and fast and big.
And with zero Parliamentary friends Macron has yet to build a machine and win. That means he is going to have to be an astonishingly good coalition-builder.
But he’s fresh, young, bright, and supports the broader collective called Europe.
It’s all to play for.
Macron supports war, privatisation, deregulation and austerity. At best, the French will probably get a continuation of Hollandism.
How about listing his actual policies instead. Here’s a few:
– The CICE tax credit system for firms would be converted into permanent payroll tax breaks for low-wage workers.
– Low-wage earners would be exempted from certain social welfare levies, a measure that would put an extra month’s wage per year in the employee’s pocket.
– 15 billion on energy/environment targets: exit within 5 years from coal-based energy production, shift towards alternative, renewable energy sources, rise in carbon tax.
– 5 billion euros on health sector, including better reimbursement of glasses, dentures and hearing aids, plus move away from wasteful medicine packages that contain more pills than a patient needs.
– State subsidy of 15,000 euros over 3 years for firms that hire people in 200 low-income neighborhoods.
– Halve number of early primary school pupils to 12 per class in 12,000 low-income zones, with teachers given a bonus of 3,000 euros a year to work in such areas.
All of which outflank on the left the UK, Australian or NZ Labour Parties.
You missed the one he introduced to parliament Ad.
The anti-strike law
And the his support of and possible drafting of the state of emergency act (against terrorists) which has curtailed rights in France for the last year.
But sure, keep going with he is a good guy. Don’t listen to the unions and social democrat’s within France. They all far left in your opinion now?
I’ve been thinking about it, and i reckon Bill’s right. We need to bring liberalism down – in NZ!
https://thestandard.org.nz/liberalism-and-the-left/
We’ve got a choice between two evils too – one greate rand one lesser. Labour stands for “budget responsibility” and slashing immigration and tinkering at the edges of the tax system. Same old neolib stuff. Liberals everywhere are demanding voters put two ticks next to Labour. But does it stack up? Is it the only game in town?
NO, friends. There’s a third way! The crucial bit people miss is the hyping of a fourth term National government. Same as how Trumnp was attacked as a scary rightwing nightmare in the US, and he’s only just eradicated healthcare for millions of people.
So maybe if you happen to be a true leftwing New Zealander, have a vote and want liberalism ended to create the space for the beginnings of a decent society, then cast some form of tactical vote for The Act Party.
They’ll only get two or three members from a total of 121 in Parliament and support National. It would look like a one-term, lame duck Government, as opposed to a powerful LIttle Prime Ministership enjoing support from across the political spectrum.
Under National/Act, media will (for some reason) not attack the left any more, so we’ll have space to breathe while neoliberalism (for some reason) fades away. And we can doo all that agitating and organising stuff too.
But like Bill said, it’s maybe for the best if you don’t bother yourself by thinking about it. It’s probably safer and easier to just keep following instructions, and inventing strategies for people on the other side of the world whose election results won’t actually effect you.
(This comment is obviously satire)
Ridding NZ of liberalism – even simply replacing it with social democratic governance -would be a good thing Wainwright, right?
In Scotland, there was an opening that was taken. In England and Wales there’s a possibility that is being diminished. In France there’s a small window of opportunity.
And satire, unlike what you’ve written, is intelligent and cutting.
Interesting you didn’t engage with the real point: if it’s so good for the left to vote in a hostile rightwing government in France, why not here? But in my experience your MO is always to assume anyone who doesn’t agree with you is stupid.
Riding NZ of neoliberalism is probably supported by most people here. It’s the strategy that is in contention.
What strategy is there in NZ for ridding it of this political and economic cancer that you’d rather not see called liberalism? I don’t see any strategy – there is no opening or opportune set of circumstances in NZ at the moment that a strategy could be applied to.
I don’t think there is much in the way of useful strategy being discussed in NZ. As you know, my own position is that we hold as much of a left wing line as we can in the meantime. I’m open to radical change and would be interested in things that have some chance of working. But I also think that traditional ideas about that are problematic because we are running out of time re CC. I think CC will be the revolution of our lifetime and we’d best be ready for the tipping point.
I see Jane Kelsey is giving a lecture on Beyond Neoliberalism next week. I don’t know if it’s being recorded.
I do think the time is ripe for discussions about strategies, because there is enough in the mainstream now about how neoliberalism has failed that there is an opportunity to influence the debate about what we should do instead.
Bill’s post (and others advocating this approach) seemed to be largely predicated on a post-election activist movement accompanying the strategy of voting right, but I just don’t see that activist movement and consider the strategy reckless in its absence. If such an activist movement is possible at this time why isn’t it happening already?
I have tried to address this and twice submitted a Guest Post – most recent attempt yesterday afternoon – but the ‘lines are busy’ …
shall I email you and you can submit it via me?
Have just seen it and cut and pasted t the back end for someone to work on. I don’t have any time in coming days.
ok, I’ve picked it up. Incognito, it should go up in the morning, thanks!
I don’t have access to the original email, what is footnote 2?
Oops. Have dropped both footnotes on bottom.
still can’t see them.
@ weka,
If it is of any help I can e-mail it directly to you but then I’ll need your e-mail address 😉
Thanks in advance!
I’ve emailed you 🙂
Done and formatted.
Ta
Bill’s post was predicated on the existence of a very specific set of circumstances existing in a specific location – ie, France.
Fair enough. Do you think France has a chance at the right political movement to effect useful change then?
I think if “the left” had the organisational capacity of ‘yesteryear’ to communicate across its various facets, it could have taken a reasonable punt on the Presidency front.
The piece was supposed to be descriptive rather than prescriptive – highlighting possible openings.
Perhaps La France insoumise (Mélenchon’s party) can make significant inroads in the up coming National Assembly elections.
Regardless, for reasons I stated in the post, I think opposing Macron’s upcoming austerity is going far more problematic than tackling a ‘lame duck’ Le Pen.
“Liam Dann: Why I hate politics”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11849862
I cannot tell whether this is sarcasm or satire or both, with a light sprinkling of hypocrisy.
Mr Dann wants to have his (quiet) life back and do just (!) business without the distractions of politics and all its machinations.
Satire, surely …
Here’s my reply to Mr Dann’s commiserations:
Incognito
Thanks for that delicious titbit. Dann’s definitely a bit of a twit! All this head thrashing, it’s bad, boring news. Probably the bored and the restless got tired of watching Vesuvius erupt after a while, if they felt they were safely distanced. Let’s look at kittens.
And for anyone wanting a light cute animal experience that leaves you feeling warm and happy for a minute I give you prairie dogs.
(http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/wild-kingdom/videos/prairie-dogs-sound-the-alarm/ – coyote
and
(http://dailymotion.nz/watch/p0ZG8YpQAUA/brave-prairie-dog-confronts-snake-north-america.html – snake
If we get a Labour-Green win I will happily jump up and down and fall over too.
Watched Q+A this morning and was very impressed by brilliant young woman
standing for Labour, Kiri Allan, you are a star. Looking forward to seeing you in the house later this year.
James James James has plenty to say, that is important.
He makes me think of AAMilne’s James James Robinson Robinson Weatherby George Dupree.
Lots of repetition with James, and self-importance – though he was only three.
James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James Said to his Mother,
“Mother,” he said, said he;
“You must never go down
to the end of the town,
if you don’t go down with me.”
https://allpoetry.com/Disobedience
Unfortunately TS commenters are a wandering lot in their search for Truth, Fairness and Decent Housing etc. So James, you can’t be blamed if you go somewhere else to play.
It’s ok. I like it here.
Yes a secure place for a 3 year old going on 43. Wise decision until you get a better idea, or just an idea.
.
Lots, apparently.
President Donald Trump signaled Friday that he may not implement a 25-year-old federal program that helps historically black colleges finance construction projects on their campuses, suggesting that it may run afoul of the Constitution.
In a signing statement on the $1.1 trillion omnibus government spending bill, Trump singled out the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program as an example of provisions in the funding bill “that allocate benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/05/trump-historically-black-colleges-financing-unconstitutional-238061
Not Black but White….. whatever that means… Trumped maybe…
http://gcaptain.com/trumps-arctic-drill-plan-challenged-environmental-groups/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+%28gCaptain.com%29
It’s ok Joe, I hear Trump isn’t really going to be that bad it’s just a beat-up by the Hillary-loving media, just like Assad using sarin on kids. Wikileaks has the truth, just ignore the fact they haven’t leaked anything which didn’t serve Russian interests for years. Don’t buy into the liberal conspiracy!!! 🙄
Hopefully the disaster for Labour in the UK is not an pointer for their parliamentary elections.
If nothing else it should wake the Left to what could happen if they don’t get out and vote, hopefully this will be a real energiser for those who tend to not bother to vote.
Interesting times eh!
I think we have to acknowledge that it probably is an indicator of the likely result in the upcoming general election, Ray. Labour in the UK is tearing itself apart, and unlike many others on this thread, I don’t blame just the parliamentary caucus or the supposed neo-liberals amongst its ranks: everyone is part of the same party and all must share the blame if they’re not managing to discuss their differences and then agree to a common approach and set of policies. I include Corbyn and his fans: they have to take their share of the blame. This election is going to be a rout and I doubt Corbyn will survive as leader (although who would want to step up in this situation is a pretty big question).
True to some degree. If one side isn’t willing to talk and goes straight to the MSM with their BS then who’s fault is it?
The membership will determine that. (Corbyn’s continued leadership)
Only ooption for Corbyn and his fans was to not elect Corbyn leader because the neolibs were always willing to sink the party rather than grow spines and demonstrate real principle. How do you compromise with terrorists?
Was a bit disquieting this morning to read that the Orange Order has won seats in Scotland by way of the Tory Party. Don’t think I can overstate the fuck-edness of that.
Run that alongside the UKIP vote folding into the Tory vote south of the border…
You’d think msm might pick up on that and scream blue murder, yes? Nah. Keep to the plan of dragging down Corbyn.
Glad I don’t live there anymore.
That is depressing news, Bill. Just when I thought the sectarianism in Scotland was starting to decline. (My partner is Scottish – grew up in a Catholic town in Ayrshire)
When the public rebels against unfair taxation, governments can change.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/92207613/kiwisavers-harshly-taxed-compared-to-property-investors-book-claims
‘NZ’s wealthiest UK-based citizens add millions to their fortunes’
The events of the 1980s were most beneficial to these people.
Gibbs.
Myers
Richwhite
Watson
To call them Zealanders is a bit of a stretch. The 0.01% owe allegiance to no society but themselves.
Many would describe these vulture capitalists in ungenerous terms. Stuff does not because it is owned by another billionaire.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/92309942/never-mind-the-brexit-new-zealands-wealthiest-ukbased-citizens-add-hundreds-of-millions-to-their-fortunes
The NZ oligarchs of the 1980’s Gibbs, Fay Richwhite, Brierly and Fletchers did particularly well out of the sale of State Assets and the systemic asset stripping of
NZ Inc. In hindsight our politicans were incredibly naive and shortsighted and quickly squandered any cash generated by the sale of these State Assets, also we as a country lost the revenue producing capacity of these assets to fund social services ?
In other countries, these people would not be knighted.
They would be tried.
For treason.
Some of our politicians may have been shortsighted and naive; others will not get such a generous report in history.
Does anyone know why this link goes to iCloud?
http://web.me.com/jane_kelsey/Jane/Welcome.html