Thinking about lost causes, what’s happening with the the prosecution of Kim Dotcom?
We have had:
~ Search warrants found to be defective and then reinterpreted to be constructive.
~ The GSCB shown to have acted unlawfully by spying on him.
~ illegal bugging of him after his arrest that was said to have stopped, and then latter it was reavealed not to have stopped and continued for another month.
~ The then-police commissioner Peter Marshall sign an Agreement which would allow Dotcom to sue New Zealand if it emerged the FBI case against him was unfair and unfounded. (Dotcom has claimed the loss of Megaupload cost him more than $2 billion although others have argued the impact is far less…)
~ Dotcom has spent at least $10m on his legal defence so far, and the NZ Police will probably have spent at least $15m.
~ 5 days ago the NZ Police have backed down and reached a confidential settlement with Dotcom over their use of excessive force in undertaking the arrest, paying a six figure sum as settlement to him.
~ His arrest occurred in 2012: it’s now nearly 2018.
And remember, this is all about deporting him for a crime that is not a crime in NZ. (Whereas the USA will not deport a US citizen Dean Fletcher to Tonga for a very real crime. Fletcher is the murder suspect for the killing of his wife on his yacht there. It stinks of being a case of “him white ‘merican, them not white and foreigners.”)
Dotcom may not be the most likeable of people, but at what stage does the Government say to the NZ Police that there is a budget cap on this particular little cluster fuck. Is it time to say “Find a deal and get it done?”
This case has its own life, essentially independent of politics.
I can’t imagine the Attorney General interfering in the case at this stage. That would be a blatant political interference in the independence of the police and the courts. Besides New Zealand, as a state party to an extradition treaty with the US, has formal obligations under the treaty to do everything to facilitate extraditions. Not the reverse, which is what you are proposing.
The Court of Appeal is currently considering KDC’s appeal against his extradition, which was ordered by the District Court and which decision was approved in the High Court when KDC appealed.
Whoever loses in the Court of Appeal is likely to go to the Supreme Court.
If ultimately KDC’s extradition is confirmed, say around 2020, then the Minister of Justice has to actually decide to extradite. He/she, I am sure, will just go along with the court decision.
But that ministerial decision is also judicially reviewable. So another round of proceedings, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court (if the SC agrees to take the case). So lets say another 3 to 5 five years beyond 2020.
However, it is not appropriate to give a particularly well heeled litigant the advantage of them spending money and getting hearings at every possible point on every single arguable issue, to be able to say, “stop the proceedings, it has taken too long”. That would be justice for sale.
So no-one is going to give up now. Both parties, being KDC and NZ/US, have way too much invested in the case. And for the US, it is a case of “the FBI always gets its man” (even though they often don’t).
The case will simply go through to its final end, even though it is likely to be a 12 to 13 year long legal saga.
The benefits of unlimited resources (on both sides)!
Jennens v Jennens is not a situation that should be encouraged: 117 years of litigation before a draw was declared (due to insufficient funds.)
NZ’s big investment in this case is in the political relationship with US. Having a new Government does create the opportunity to reset the situation.
As to having a formal obligation to do “everything possible” to facilitate an extradition, this obviously does not mean everything. Anticipating this type of objection I had pointed to a very recent situation where the USA didn’t do go anywhere doing enough to to facilitate an extradition.
Sooner or later this becomes a political decision in that the Minister has sign off on the extradition. Discretion is available at this point.
It would be very inappropriate for a Minister to cut across a decision of the Supreme Court (because if KDC is to be extradited it will be the result of a SC decision) and effectively block a extradition on political grounds.
The only legitimate question for the Minister would be whether a person will get a fair trial. I can’t see a Minister suggesting US Federal courts are not independent courts applying the rule of law.
So I would be amazed (and frankly appalled) if a Minister of Justice exercising an extradition authority acted in such a manner. It would make a mockery of his/her duty to uphold the law.
I would also note that KDC might win in the Supreme Court. In that case it is the end of the matter, and he gets to stay in New Zealand.
So that is how the issue should be resolved; in the Supreme Court. If he wins in the SC he stays. If he loses he goes. A simple resolution to the case.
I would also note that it would be much harder in the US for a litigant as well heeled as KDC to delay the main proceedings by the number of interlocutory matters that KDC had. In the KDC case the various procedural hearings and associated appeals delayed the actual extradition hearing held in the District Court for 5 years.
In the US the judge has much more control over what happens in the court, and unhappy parties just can’t go and appeal procedural decisions of the judge they don’t like. They have to accept the trial judges decision on such matters, and proceed with the substantive hearing. Only after that has happened can they appeal.
I think that is because the US system is much more accustomed to dealing with very rich defendants, and doesn’t really let them game the system. That is why the the various criminal trials in New York following the GFC were all dealt within a year or so after the GFC. And most of the people charged were convicted and did jail time. As with New Zealand once convicted you immediately start your time, and have to appeal from inside the prison.
In NZ the cases arising from GFC issues typically took a at least one or more years longer than in the US before they happened.
The government has confirmed it is dumping National’s controversial data-for-funding plan that would have forced groups like Women’s Refuge to hand over personal client details.
Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said she was scrapping the plan because it was dangerous and unnecessary.
Under the policy, which was meant to be in place from July, the National government made it a contractual requirement for providers to hand over the personal details – such as the names, birth dates and ethnicities of their clients.
Excellent indeed. All small steps to overturn dangerous and petty (well it is petty, and just plain nasty) Natz policy are more than welcome. Keep at it!
Did the lost comment begin “Thanks, weka. I think there have been one or two women killing multiple people. But when I looked …”
I just newly found it sitting in “trash”. I can’t send it back to Weka’s post, but can cut and paste it there if you want. (Don’t know why it would have gone to the “trash” folder btw)
Probably got bumped in auto-moderation because Carolyn has a login as a subscriber on TS. Any comment that she writes when not logged in shows up as a probable attempt to impersonate a author and goes into auto-moderation
Can I reiterate. If you have a login to the site, then please login. It causes issues for moderators if you don’t as they have to release all your comments. If you don’t know your password, then slip me a email with your handle and a valid email, and I’ll reset and send you a new password via email.
In my view the best gift the world should give all Our small Island nations
Is renewable energy and with this energy they will be able to have safe drinking water they could grow vegetables hydroponicly there are many low costs systems out there this could miter gate salt water leaching there land. And give them the research information to survive climate change humanly. With the education thing with OUR Australian cousins well the cost of living is so high here and the lack of houseing In my view coming here won’t be attractive.
Ka pai
1. It is the Commission Opening of Parliament starting at 11am (with the State opening tomorrow at 10.30am – could be fun seeing Trevor Mallard being ‘reluctantly’ dragged to the Speaker’s Chair.
“The opening of Parliament consists of two ceremonies – the Commission Opening on Tuesday 7 November and the State Opening on Wednesday 8 November.
The Commission Opening will take place at 11.00am on Tuesday 7 November. The Chief Justice, acting as a Royal Commissioner, will open Parliament so that members can be sworn in and a Speaker elected.
The formal State Opening will be on the next day, Wednesday 8 November at 10.30am.
The Speech from the Throne takes place at the State Opening when the Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy sets out the Labour-led Government’s intentions for the next three years.
On a much more serious note, than my earlier comments here today, it is also a Big Day for the Manus Island refugees.
The PNG Supreme Court (which in March this year ordered the closing of the Centre) is to rule today on the resumption of supplying power, food, water, medicines etc to the men remaining in the Centre. An application filed by a lawyer last week was heard by the Supreme Court yesterday. More here:
RNZ is doing a good job of keeping up to date with the situation IMHO.
Yesterday, I also found a regularly updated resource on Facebook for “from the horse’s mouth” reporting well worth reading – somewhat surprisingly the PNG Govt Today site.
“cause international embarrassment” to Australia if they do not accept an offer for New Zealand to take up to 150 people a year from offshore detention centres, Labour leader Andrew Little says.
“If the Australians aren’t going to cooperate and allow New Zealand’s offer to assist – which is the right thing to do – then John Key should cause international embarrassment to Australia,” Little said today.
“This is a time to step up and say, in an age of world wide humanitarian crises, one that is on our doorstep, one that involves our nearest neighbour physically and diplomatically then we need to be applying a bit of a stiff arm on it and say, ‘we can help.”
So where is Labour on this now.
Seems like Jacinda just rolled over and said “OK” – there certainly (as far as I have seen) been anything else she has done.
Where is Andrew Little on this now? Kelvin Davis? nothing from them – do they find this acceptable now Jacinda is leaving the government.
James you are an idiot for making up stuff. Get your facts straight, what Ardern said about the Aussie rejection, was ” our offer is still on the table”.
I do realize you are not a fond Labour supporter, but stop lying.
“Seems like Jacinda just rolled over and said “OK” – there certainly (as far as I have seen) been anything else she has done.” As I said Ardern did not roll-over, the offer is still on the table. Australia don’t wan’t any detainees in New Zealand simply because they may end up across the ditch, some time in the future.
Secondly, I say something like this: “I’m sure you’ve heard the expression ‘everyone is entitled to their opinion.’ Perhaps you’ve even said it yourself, maybe to head off an argument or bring one to a close. Well, as soon as you walk into this room, it’s no longer true. You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to what you can argue for.”
A bit harsh? Perhaps, but philosophy teachers owe it to our students to teach them how to construct and defend an argument – and to recognize when a belief has become indefensible.
You may be right, I don’t know, but mere conjecture isn’t good enough.
Radio NZ reporting in the news that the government didn’t have enough MPs in the House today to ensure the election of Trevor Mallard as Speaker? A deal had to be cut with National, trading off the number of Select Committee places from 96 to 108. Pretty messy stuff.
It wasn’t just pretty messy stuff. I wasn’t just a big whoopsie. It was diabolical, inexcusable, it was beyond amateurish. The fact that so many weren’t there was inexcusable. Nothing at all should have had precedence over being in the House, anywhere in the world.
They were expecting to kick the conversion when they hadn’t even scored the try.
If the level of awareness is so low of what is likely to happen with that Opposition they may as well resign now.
I’m trying to figure it out. Reports say the government was down 5 MPs (from 63 to 58) and Opposition was down 1 (from 58 to 57? So technically the government still had a majority?
That’s right Scott. I hate to say it but Bridges and the Nats bluffed and it worked. Jacinda and Hipkins were quite simply panicked possums in the headlights. They are going to have to do about 1000 percent better than that from tomorrow onwards or we are all in for some miserable times when parliament is sitting. Talk about amateur hour. And the Nats got the select committee MP numbers increased to 108 from 97 in the on-the-spot deal they talked Hipkins and Jacinda into on the floor of the house as a result of their bluff.
It’s not a deal that was diabolical, double-inexcuseable, yadda yadda, no.
It was a fuckup that might make things more difficult in a select committee or two, but everything needs to go through the House anyway, ministers will still be able to regulate, and if the committee is particularly obstructive then urgency still exists.
It’s not the end of the government, and frankly I doubt it will particularly affect the government’s agenda.
On the flipside, if it had been a vote on welfare reform, or getting rid of the fire at will act or hobbit law, that would have been a major blow, delaying any reintroduction of that bill for the remainder of the year.
No you did not say that! However, in fact, the small increase in select committee numbers from 96 to 108 will not make much difference as National are not the sole beneficiary of the 12 places. The increase is split almost evenly between National on the one hand, and Labour, NZF and the Greens on the other hand.
As you said it was not like a vote on the Budget, or vote of confidence, and Mallard was still elected to Speaker unopposed. But several lessons learnt today, for example:
1. The Labour, NZF and Green whips need to work very closely together to avoid a repeat.
2. Check everything National says before accepting it.
I suspect the PM will pull finger – three strikes? . Hipkins and she go back a long way but I have no doubt that she will pull the plug if necessary.
Re my comment above, I have now checked and the 12 extra select committee places will be split evenly – 6 to National/Act and 4 to Labour and 1 each to NZF and Greens.
Great fun for National no doubt. You’d have to think though that pulling a stunt for no more reason than trying to embarrass the government is likely to wear thin for the general public pretty smartly.
The MPs not present were David Parker (L) , Winston Peters (NZF) , Poto Williams (L) , Priyanca Radhakrishanan (L), and Gareth Hughes (G).
I wonder whether Parker (as Trade Minister) and Winston Peters (as Foreign Minister) were tied up with MFAT on TPP negotiation matters; or have already left for the APEC meetings which start in Vietnam tomorrow (8 Nov) with TPP negotiations happening on the sidelines. They were due to fly out with the PM either tomorrow night or Thursday morning.
English and Co may have won that small concession on select committee numbers; but good ole Peters has today filed legal action against English, several other National Ministers, a couple of beaurocrats, and two journalists re the leak of information on his having been overpaid his superannuation.
UPDATE – RNZ is now reporting that Labour DID have the numbers to elect Mallard as Speaker but fell for National telling them that they did not have the numbers…. Dirty Politics anyone?
If the Government carry on like this they won’t last to the end of their first term. They deserve this – Winston and Parker were valid absentees – where the hell were the other two that supposedly were missing – if they did have the correct numbers then surely they can tell National to get stuffed over the 108 select committee members they had to negotiate over – lying in the House surely is against the parliamentary laws.
Cringe making – sorry folks but it just won’t cut it if they think they’re going to be able to combat the evil bastards on the other side of the House. They will be mincemeat.
Well, Kate is right, and so are you. It’s one of those “if these trends continue…” things.
Unlike AGW, we have little reason to assume that these trends will continue. But then… Trump. So who knows?
I suspect it was Hipkins who made the fuckup, because Hipkins seemed to do the negotiating. But maybe Hipkins wasn’t the one supposed to count. Either way, someone needs to stand up and take a rap across the knuckles, and smarten up. They’re in government now, they need to get up to speed quickly.
I doubt it was habitual incompentence, probably more a change in pace that caught them wrong-footed. But still…
It’s a passing giggle compared to the belly-laugh the election brought.
Did Bridges play sneaky today?
Or was it a genuine mistake on his part, claiming Labour had too few MPs in the House?
Ummmm… I’d say, sneaky going by a number of indicators.
“Or was it a genuine mistake on his part, claiming Labour had too few MPs in the House?”
citation that he made that claim Robert?
“However, in what is an embarrassing oversight for the new Government, at least five of its MPs were absent and things threatened to go pear-shaped when National MP and shadow leader of the House Simon Bridges raised a point of order, querying whether MPs who weren’t sworn-in could participate in the vote.”
I cannot see anywhere that he made the claim you stated?
Disgusting.
Demeaning.
Embarrassing.
Humiliating.
And incorrect…*
“I, Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her heirs and successors, according to law.”
Did we campaign and vote for our Labour PM to swear allegiance to a foreign monarch rather than than The People of New Zealand?
When can we stop this trite insulting infuriating shite?
I look forward to Labour immediately scrapping the knight and dame garbage that the Natz reintroduced.
I look forward to Labour declaring Aotearoa an Independent republic with an elected Head of State.
*NZs current head of state is the monarch of the UK. There was no Queen Elizabeth the First of the United Kingdom. There was one for England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603.
“I look forward to Labour declaring Aotearoa an Independent republic with an elected Head of State”
Yeah because Labour has the mandate for that tiny constitutional change???
Are you going to consult one of the two signatories to the treaty before doing so. I think Maori may have a fairly strong view on your republican opinion.
“New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. This system is based on the Westminster system, although that term is increasingly inapt given constitutional developments particular to New Zealand. The head of state, the monarch of New Zealand is represented in the Realm of New Zealand by the Governor-General and is the source of executive, judicial and legislative power.”
The Monarch of NZ is Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She is not a ‘foreign ‘monarch.
Well, lovely for her – and if the illness indeed lasted only a week per person then they were lucky; 7-10 days is the norm for uncomplicated measles. But measles infection carries a range of costs and risks, about which she seemed blissfully ignorant. Or couldn’t care less; on that thread, it was hard to tell sometimes.
It then goes on to detail all the added costs of having the measles.
There was a pretty hard core of anti-vax kooks long before Wakefield’s lies. But fuck me, Wakefield certainly managed to inflate it from a minor lunatic fringe nuisance into a full-blown public-health problem.
Or National looking sneaky. Either way, it’s unbecoming. Minor glitch though, like getting stung by one hornet and noticing the nest you were about to step on. I guess we should thank Sneaky Simon 🙂
Its not looking sneaky – its just shows when there is such a large opposition how they can make life difficult for the government, and that they really intend to.
maybe it’s about time James the national party grew up and realize they are not in high school anymore, they are a party of has been’s so desperate to cling to power, it is not about people at all but there own ego’s and what they get out of it, Collins and Bennett people loath those two, I personally loath the whole party actually, none of them of them have any scruples
Being a strong opposition for Natz, is playing dirty politics. It’s all it knows.
As it is now a proven fact government did actually after all have the numbers over Natz for the Speaker vote, why isn’t it possible to withdraw the select committees deal?
Today’s events I’m sure will be a wake up call for the government to be even more alert for the expected Natz cesspit of murk and filth to raise its odorous stench to score points.
Sore losers Natz obviously still stinging badly about being sent to the opposition benches!
Mediaz having a poor property investor moment saying they might not be able to afford to stuff some basic insulation in a house and provide just one source of heating for their tenants.
No talk of how a family could be freezing to death in there, no just how the investor could shock horror lose everything with these additional costs and how the bastard investors would make the tenants pay for it.
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In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
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The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
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Thinking about lost causes, what’s happening with the the prosecution of Kim Dotcom?
We have had:
~ Search warrants found to be defective and then reinterpreted to be constructive.
~ The GSCB shown to have acted unlawfully by spying on him.
~ illegal bugging of him after his arrest that was said to have stopped, and then latter it was reavealed not to have stopped and continued for another month.
~ The then-police commissioner Peter Marshall sign an Agreement which would allow Dotcom to sue New Zealand if it emerged the FBI case against him was unfair and unfounded. (Dotcom has claimed the loss of Megaupload cost him more than $2 billion although others have argued the impact is far less…)
~ Dotcom has spent at least $10m on his legal defence so far, and the NZ Police will probably have spent at least $15m.
~ 5 days ago the NZ Police have backed down and reached a confidential settlement with Dotcom over their use of excessive force in undertaking the arrest, paying a six figure sum as settlement to him.
~ His arrest occurred in 2012: it’s now nearly 2018.
And remember, this is all about deporting him for a crime that is not a crime in NZ. (Whereas the USA will not deport a US citizen Dean Fletcher to Tonga for a very real crime. Fletcher is the murder suspect for the killing of his wife on his yacht there. It stinks of being a case of “him white ‘merican, them not white and foreigners.”)
Dotcom may not be the most likeable of people, but at what stage does the Government say to the NZ Police that there is a budget cap on this particular little cluster fuck. Is it time to say “Find a deal and get it done?”
This case has its own life, essentially independent of politics.
I can’t imagine the Attorney General interfering in the case at this stage. That would be a blatant political interference in the independence of the police and the courts. Besides New Zealand, as a state party to an extradition treaty with the US, has formal obligations under the treaty to do everything to facilitate extraditions. Not the reverse, which is what you are proposing.
The Court of Appeal is currently considering KDC’s appeal against his extradition, which was ordered by the District Court and which decision was approved in the High Court when KDC appealed.
Whoever loses in the Court of Appeal is likely to go to the Supreme Court.
If ultimately KDC’s extradition is confirmed, say around 2020, then the Minister of Justice has to actually decide to extradite. He/she, I am sure, will just go along with the court decision.
But that ministerial decision is also judicially reviewable. So another round of proceedings, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court (if the SC agrees to take the case). So lets say another 3 to 5 five years beyond 2020.
However, it is not appropriate to give a particularly well heeled litigant the advantage of them spending money and getting hearings at every possible point on every single arguable issue, to be able to say, “stop the proceedings, it has taken too long”. That would be justice for sale.
So no-one is going to give up now. Both parties, being KDC and NZ/US, have way too much invested in the case. And for the US, it is a case of “the FBI always gets its man” (even though they often don’t).
The case will simply go through to its final end, even though it is likely to be a 12 to 13 year long legal saga.
The benefits of unlimited resources (on both sides)!
Jennens v Jennens is not a situation that should be encouraged: 117 years of litigation before a draw was declared (due to insufficient funds.)
NZ’s big investment in this case is in the political relationship with US. Having a new Government does create the opportunity to reset the situation.
As to having a formal obligation to do “everything possible” to facilitate an extradition, this obviously does not mean everything. Anticipating this type of objection I had pointed to a very recent situation where the USA didn’t do go anywhere doing enough to to facilitate an extradition.
Sooner or later this becomes a political decision in that the Minister has sign off on the extradition. Discretion is available at this point.
It would be very inappropriate for a Minister to cut across a decision of the Supreme Court (because if KDC is to be extradited it will be the result of a SC decision) and effectively block a extradition on political grounds.
The only legitimate question for the Minister would be whether a person will get a fair trial. I can’t see a Minister suggesting US Federal courts are not independent courts applying the rule of law.
So I would be amazed (and frankly appalled) if a Minister of Justice exercising an extradition authority acted in such a manner. It would make a mockery of his/her duty to uphold the law.
I would also note that KDC might win in the Supreme Court. In that case it is the end of the matter, and he gets to stay in New Zealand.
So that is how the issue should be resolved; in the Supreme Court. If he wins in the SC he stays. If he loses he goes. A simple resolution to the case.
Spoken as a Law Commissioner. Just looking back at Parihaka and the actions of the Judiciary to accommodate political outcomes.
I would also note that it would be much harder in the US for a litigant as well heeled as KDC to delay the main proceedings by the number of interlocutory matters that KDC had. In the KDC case the various procedural hearings and associated appeals delayed the actual extradition hearing held in the District Court for 5 years.
In the US the judge has much more control over what happens in the court, and unhappy parties just can’t go and appeal procedural decisions of the judge they don’t like. They have to accept the trial judges decision on such matters, and proceed with the substantive hearing. Only after that has happened can they appeal.
I think that is because the US system is much more accustomed to dealing with very rich defendants, and doesn’t really let them game the system. That is why the the various criminal trials in New York following the GFC were all dealt within a year or so after the GFC. And most of the people charged were convicted and did jail time. As with New Zealand once convicted you immediately start your time, and have to appeal from inside the prison.
In NZ the cases arising from GFC issues typically took a at least one or more years longer than in the US before they happened.
Enron collapsed in 2001. Ten years on US prosecutions were still being litigated.
Other cases of well heeled defendants pushing cases out are easy to find with a Google search.
We cannot afford the rich.
The Paradise Papers reveals even more of their tax dodging.
And who and what they are.
Bono.
The Queen.
Uber.
Apple
Nike
https://www.theguardian.com/news/live/2017/nov/06/reaction-around-world-release-paradise-papers-live
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/paradise-papers-latest-apple-nike-glencore-everton-fc-tax-leak-offshore-investment-haven-companies-a8040056.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/paradise-papers-latest-jeremy-corbyn-queen-apology-investing-millions-offshore-tax-leaks-haven-a8040061.html
Excellent news from Carmel Sepuloni – reported on RNZ:
Excellent indeed. All small steps to overturn dangerous and petty (well it is petty, and just plain nasty) Natz policy are more than welcome. Keep at it!
yep – a petty and nasty measure we’re well rid of.
I submitted a comment under weka’s “Guns don’t shoot people…” post. It disappeared into the ether. Are comments under that post being fully moderated?
Oh. A second attempt to post a comment under that post went straight through. Don’t know what happened to the first one.
Did the lost comment begin “Thanks, weka. I think there have been one or two women killing multiple people. But when I looked …”
I just newly found it sitting in “trash”. I can’t send it back to Weka’s post, but can cut and paste it there if you want. (Don’t know why it would have gone to the “trash” folder btw)
Probably got bumped in auto-moderation because Carolyn has a login as a subscriber on TS. Any comment that she writes when not logged in shows up as a probable attempt to impersonate a author and goes into auto-moderation
Can I reiterate. If you have a login to the site, then please login. It causes issues for moderators if you don’t as they have to release all your comments. If you don’t know your password, then slip me a email with your handle and a valid email, and I’ll reset and send you a new password via email.
Otherwise create a new identity
The work around appears to be using a different email address.
Ah. OK. Thanks.
Yes, that was it, Bill.
If you have a bucket nearby , you could try this…
https://youtu.be/zotdxQGCM0s
Oh My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Wayne – have you seen this?
Y’know, if there was any hint of intentional self-parody in that, it would actually be funny. But as it is, well, my eyes and ears are still in pain.
Think…Thelma and Louise, final scene
Think…Thelma and Louise, final scene
In my view the best gift the world should give all Our small Island nations
Is renewable energy and with this energy they will be able to have safe drinking water they could grow vegetables hydroponicly there are many low costs systems out there this could miter gate salt water leaching there land. And give them the research information to survive climate change humanly. With the education thing with OUR Australian cousins well the cost of living is so high here and the lack of houseing In my view coming here won’t be attractive.
Ka pai
Woman who gave Trump the finger fired.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11941192
@ (7) James … give that woman a medal 🙂
I think she would prefer a job.
Kim Hill had English on the ropes this morning…..
Looks like he makes her skin crawl. Or something.
Still skewered the lying scumbag though.
Today is a Big Day …
1. It is the Commission Opening of Parliament starting at 11am (with the State opening tomorrow at 10.30am – could be fun seeing Trevor Mallard being ‘reluctantly’ dragged to the Speaker’s Chair.
“The opening of Parliament consists of two ceremonies – the Commission Opening on Tuesday 7 November and the State Opening on Wednesday 8 November.
The Commission Opening will take place at 11.00am on Tuesday 7 November. The Chief Justice, acting as a Royal Commissioner, will open Parliament so that members can be sworn in and a Speaker elected.
The formal State Opening will be on the next day, Wednesday 8 November at 10.30am.
The Speech from the Throne takes place at the State Opening when the Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy sets out the Labour-led Government’s intentions for the next three years.
The public can watch both ceremonies in Parliament grounds or live on Parliament TV and RNZ.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1710/S00072/state-opening-of-the-52nd-parliament.htm
2. Then the Melbourne Cup at 5pm – Jacinda is apparently having a bet according to Morning Report …
3, If you have not had enough, then Jacinda Ardern on TVNZ1 at 8.30pm in The DNA Detectives finding her ancestors.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11939688
Parliament is getting with it – great little guide to the opening of Parliament
https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/parliament-in-election-year/te-whakatuwheratanga-o-te-p%C4%81remata-opening-of-parliament/step-by-step-guide-to-the-opening-of-parliament/
h/t Claire Trevett Twitter
Manus Island Update
On a much more serious note, than my earlier comments here today, it is also a Big Day for the Manus Island refugees.
The PNG Supreme Court (which in March this year ordered the closing of the Centre) is to rule today on the resumption of supplying power, food, water, medicines etc to the men remaining in the Centre. An application filed by a lawyer last week was heard by the Supreme Court yesterday. More here:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/pacific/343232/court-decision-on-manus-detention-centre-services-due
In the meantime the health of the men is deteriorating badly
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/343217/emergency-exposes-manus-island-healthcare-deficit
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018620560/the-health-of-the-manus-island-detainees
RNZ is doing a good job of keeping up to date with the situation IMHO.
Yesterday, I also found a regularly updated resource on Facebook for “from the horse’s mouth” reporting well worth reading – somewhat surprisingly the PNG Govt Today site.
https://www.facebook.com/PNG-Govt-Today-1974657442816433/?ref=nf&hc_ref=ARTQH9l6DNb_R7OSY9bhIVhmGjs–Ud_lY49K7qKVxop5LDi-JSYneZy4ZOTmvHO9tI
This contains a number of local PNG media reports yesterday on the situation – eg
http://www.thenational.com.pg/asylum-seekers-claim-situation-worsening-manus/
http://postcourier.com.pg/refugees-application-go-sir-salamo/
It also contains this PNG govt photo and statement that did not give me much comfort re the refugee’s safety …
https://www.facebook.com/1974657442816433/photos/a.1981407718808072.1073741828.1974657442816433/2008672982748212/?type=3&theater
IMHO this is a disaster in waiting which needs to be sorted urgently – regardless of ideologies, rights and wrongs etc.
“cause international embarrassment” to Australia if they do not accept an offer for New Zealand to take up to 150 people a year from offshore detention centres, Labour leader Andrew Little says.
“If the Australians aren’t going to cooperate and allow New Zealand’s offer to assist – which is the right thing to do – then John Key should cause international embarrassment to Australia,” Little said today.
“This is a time to step up and say, in an age of world wide humanitarian crises, one that is on our doorstep, one that involves our nearest neighbour physically and diplomatically then we need to be applying a bit of a stiff arm on it and say, ‘we can help.”
So where is Labour on this now.
Seems like Jacinda just rolled over and said “OK” – there certainly (as far as I have seen) been anything else she has done.
Where is Andrew Little on this now? Kelvin Davis? nothing from them – do they find this acceptable now Jacinda is leaving the government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11730987
James you are an idiot for making up stuff. Get your facts straight, what Ardern said about the Aussie rejection, was ” our offer is still on the table”.
I do realize you are not a fond Labour supporter, but stop lying.
Where have I lied. Where is the fight that labour had before on this issue ?
Are they doing anything about it?
“Seems like Jacinda just rolled over and said “OK” – there certainly (as far as I have seen) been anything else she has done.” As I said Ardern did not roll-over, the offer is still on the table. Australia don’t wan’t any detainees in New Zealand simply because they may end up across the ditch, some time in the future.
Bit of a “tell’ there James. Now Jacinda is leaving ? (leading)? government.
Oops. Apologies.
fingers crossed for them.
Good article with accessable and interesting information.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/06-11-2017/gods-whanau-body-parts-making-sense-of-health-with-whakapapa/
Yep that pissed them off LOL you no what they can go and do
And with that I’d say that you’re talking out your arse.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
You, of course, have a much better idea than I so as such your opinion must be more valid than mine
Well, you’re the one who made the assertion in the first place – now you need to back it up.
And, as always, No, you’re not entitled to your opinion:
You may be right, I don’t know, but mere conjecture isn’t good enough.
Radio NZ reporting in the news that the government didn’t have enough MPs in the House today to ensure the election of Trevor Mallard as Speaker? A deal had to be cut with National, trading off the number of Select Committee places from 96 to 108. Pretty messy stuff.
well, that’s a big whoopsie.
I was watching and guessed what was unfolding.
It wasn’t just pretty messy stuff. I wasn’t just a big whoopsie. It was diabolical, inexcusable, it was beyond amateurish. The fact that so many weren’t there was inexcusable. Nothing at all should have had precedence over being in the House, anywhere in the world.
They were expecting to kick the conversion when they hadn’t even scored the try.
If the level of awareness is so low of what is likely to happen with that Opposition they may as well resign now.
wtaf?
Was that Hipkin’s fault? Or the MPs who weren’t present?
Mallard’s Speaker…but the Government has crow for dinner tonight.
I’m trying to figure it out. Reports say the government was down 5 MPs (from 63 to 58) and Opposition was down 1 (from 58 to 57? So technically the government still had a majority?
You are right – see my comment at 14.2.
That’s right Scott. I hate to say it but Bridges and the Nats bluffed and it worked. Jacinda and Hipkins were quite simply panicked possums in the headlights. They are going to have to do about 1000 percent better than that from tomorrow onwards or we are all in for some miserable times when parliament is sitting. Talk about amateur hour. And the Nats got the select committee MP numbers increased to 108 from 97 in the on-the-spot deal they talked Hipkins and Jacinda into on the floor of the house as a result of their bluff.
geez, chill, dude.
Yeah, the whip screwed up. But it’s not like it was budget day or something.
You don’t think the numbers on select committees is very important? How come?
Did I say that?
I thought you implied that it wasn’t such a big deal, which is why I asked for clarification.
It’s not a deal that was diabolical, double-inexcuseable, yadda yadda, no.
It was a fuckup that might make things more difficult in a select committee or two, but everything needs to go through the House anyway, ministers will still be able to regulate, and if the committee is particularly obstructive then urgency still exists.
It’s not the end of the government, and frankly I doubt it will particularly affect the government’s agenda.
On the flipside, if it had been a vote on welfare reform, or getting rid of the fire at will act or hobbit law, that would have been a major blow, delaying any reintroduction of that bill for the remainder of the year.
No you did not say that! However, in fact, the small increase in select committee numbers from 96 to 108 will not make much difference as National are not the sole beneficiary of the 12 places. The increase is split almost evenly between National on the one hand, and Labour, NZF and the Greens on the other hand.
As you said it was not like a vote on the Budget, or vote of confidence, and Mallard was still elected to Speaker unopposed. But several lessons learnt today, for example:
1. The Labour, NZF and Green whips need to work very closely together to avoid a repeat.
2. Check everything National says before accepting it.
Exactly – it was a slap and a rude awakening.
Although too many of these oversights will be a rust on the government. Someone needs to pull finger.
I suspect the PM will pull finger – three strikes? . Hipkins and she go back a long way but I have no doubt that she will pull the plug if necessary.
Re my comment above, I have now checked and the 12 extra select committee places will be split evenly – 6 to National/Act and 4 to Labour and 1 each to NZF and Greens.
There’s a new post up too,
https://thestandard.org.nz/build-a-bridge-and-get-over-it/
Great fun for National no doubt. You’d have to think though that pulling a stunt for no more reason than trying to embarrass the government is likely to wear thin for the general public pretty smartly.
It wasnt for no reason – there were at least 2.
1 – to get the select committee numbers where National wanted them – tick (a good win for National)
2 – to make the government look like fools – tick ( http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11941411 )
Yes, that certainly was messy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11941362
The MPs not present were David Parker (L) , Winston Peters (NZF) , Poto Williams (L) , Priyanca Radhakrishanan (L), and Gareth Hughes (G).
I wonder whether Parker (as Trade Minister) and Winston Peters (as Foreign Minister) were tied up with MFAT on TPP negotiation matters; or have already left for the APEC meetings which start in Vietnam tomorrow (8 Nov) with TPP negotiations happening on the sidelines. They were due to fly out with the PM either tomorrow night or Thursday morning.
English and Co may have won that small concession on select committee numbers; but good ole Peters has today filed legal action against English, several other National Ministers, a couple of beaurocrats, and two journalists re the leak of information on his having been overpaid his superannuation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11941372
UPDATE – RNZ is now reporting that Labour DID have the numbers to elect Mallard as Speaker but fell for National telling them that they did not have the numbers…. Dirty Politics anyone?
lol nah, fair cop. Someone’s in the schtuck.
My guess is that the whips were looking to their own parties, and not too closely with their colleagues.
If the Government carry on like this they won’t last to the end of their first term. They deserve this – Winston and Parker were valid absentees – where the hell were the other two that supposedly were missing – if they did have the correct numbers then surely they can tell National to get stuffed over the 108 select committee members they had to negotiate over – lying in the House surely is against the parliamentary laws.
Cringe making – sorry folks but it just won’t cut it if they think they’re going to be able to combat the evil bastards on the other side of the House. They will be mincemeat.
They didn’t lie – read the news reports. Labour just didn’t count their people.
It’s hilarious.
Gee, Whispering, you’re quick to doom-monger! Does getting caught out by National’s sneakiness really bode so ill? Mincemeat Nah!
Well, Kate is right, and so are you. It’s one of those “if these trends continue…” things.
Unlike AGW, we have little reason to assume that these trends will continue. But then… Trump. So who knows?
I suspect it was Hipkins who made the fuckup, because Hipkins seemed to do the negotiating. But maybe Hipkins wasn’t the one supposed to count. Either way, someone needs to stand up and take a rap across the knuckles, and smarten up. They’re in government now, they need to get up to speed quickly.
I doubt it was habitual incompentence, probably more a change in pace that caught them wrong-footed. But still…
That’s not dirty politics- it just labour cannot count. By god it’s laughable.
It’s a passing giggle compared to the belly-laugh the election brought.
Did Bridges play sneaky today?
Or was it a genuine mistake on his part, claiming Labour had too few MPs in the House?
Ummmm… I’d say, sneaky going by a number of indicators.
“Or was it a genuine mistake on his part, claiming Labour had too few MPs in the House?”
citation that he made that claim Robert?
“However, in what is an embarrassing oversight for the new Government, at least five of its MPs were absent and things threatened to go pear-shaped when National MP and shadow leader of the House Simon Bridges raised a point of order, querying whether MPs who weren’t sworn-in could participate in the vote.”
I cannot see anywhere that he made the claim you stated?
Disgusting.
Demeaning.
Embarrassing.
Humiliating.
And incorrect…*
“I, Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her heirs and successors, according to law.”
Did we campaign and vote for our Labour PM to swear allegiance to a foreign monarch rather than than The People of New Zealand?
When can we stop this trite insulting infuriating shite?
I look forward to Labour immediately scrapping the knight and dame garbage that the Natz reintroduced.
I look forward to Labour declaring Aotearoa an Independent republic with an elected Head of State.
*NZs current head of state is the monarch of the UK. There was no Queen Elizabeth the First of the United Kingdom. There was one for England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603.
“I look forward to Labour declaring Aotearoa an Independent republic with an elected Head of State”
Yeah because Labour has the mandate for that tiny constitutional change???
Are you going to consult one of the two signatories to the treaty before doing so. I think Maori may have a fairly strong view on your republican opinion.
Ignorance of the level in PB’s comment is just not worth replying to. LOL.
Back up your remark please or don’t write at all.
Try these for a start
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_New_Zealand
“New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. This system is based on the Westminster system, although that term is increasingly inapt given constitutional developments particular to New Zealand. The head of state, the monarch of New Zealand is represented in the Realm of New Zealand by the Governor-General and is the source of executive, judicial and legislative power.”
The Monarch of NZ is Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She is not a ‘foreign ‘monarch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_New_Zealand
…….a bit change resistant sweetie?
This is what happens when vaccination levels aren’t good enough:
This is a good article on the added costs of measles:
It then goes on to detail all the added costs of having the measles.
All still fall out from that fraud Wakefield.
There was a pretty hard core of anti-vax kooks long before Wakefield’s lies. But fuck me, Wakefield certainly managed to inflate it from a minor lunatic fringe nuisance into a full-blown public-health problem.
NZ Herald on how the new government looked today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11941411
Guess the news tonight will be the new government looking stupid on day 1.
once bitten, twice shy.
Or National looking sneaky. Either way, it’s unbecoming. Minor glitch though, like getting stung by one hornet and noticing the nest you were about to step on. I guess we should thank Sneaky Simon 🙂
Its not looking sneaky – its just shows when there is such a large opposition how they can make life difficult for the government, and that they really intend to.
maybe it’s about time James the national party grew up and realize they are not in high school anymore, they are a party of has been’s so desperate to cling to power, it is not about people at all but there own ego’s and what they get out of it, Collins and Bennett people loath those two, I personally loath the whole party actually, none of them of them have any scruples
No – not in high school – agreed.
However if Labour was smart enough to count to a high school level – then they wouldn’t have made this stupid mistake.
Now National have the majority in 7 of the 12 select committees.
Do you mean a majority or a plurality?
It is not a “large opposition” – actually one seat smaller than in the last term. However a govt that cannot count looks foolish, yes.
simple simon met a pieman
“Simple Simon met a pieman”,
trying to elect a speaker;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
Ill take all the select committee seats we want”
It dosnt rhyme, but its the end result.
Ten Reasons We Got Rid of National
No. 3: Dr. Jian Yang
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11937380
Being a strong opposition for Natz, is playing dirty politics. It’s all it knows.
As it is now a proven fact government did actually after all have the numbers over Natz for the Speaker vote, why isn’t it possible to withdraw the select committees deal?
Today’s events I’m sure will be a wake up call for the government to be even more alert for the expected Natz cesspit of murk and filth to raise its odorous stench to score points.
Sore losers Natz obviously still stinging badly about being sent to the opposition benches!
So Mary_A – nobody said that they didnt have the numbers, so nobody has ever disputed the fact you are pointing out.
Bridges asked if people who were not sworn in could vote.
Labour are bumbling idiots, who couldn’t count and panicked. But at no point in this did Bridges tell a lie.
So no dirty politics – its incompetence.
But a great result on the select committee seats !
Mediaz having a poor property investor moment saying they might not be able to afford to stuff some basic insulation in a house and provide just one source of heating for their tenants.
No talk of how a family could be freezing to death in there, no just how the investor could shock horror lose everything with these additional costs and how the bastard investors would make the tenants pay for it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses/98628647/proposed-changes-spell-trouble-for-young-landlord