Audrey Young on the Herald is predicting that Key will announce a Cabinet reshuffle today, rather than after the summer holidays. Young is usually close on such matters.
A possibility is that Collins will take over Corrections.
Other possibles include Groser going to Washington as Ambassador in February with Todd McLay taking over Trade; Goldsmith taking over IRD; Foss out all together; Nick Smith out of Housing and Woodhouse out of Workplace Relations and Safety. She also predicts David Seymour (ACT) and Mark Mitchell receiving promotions.
iPredict, a NZ political and economic betting website, has sent out a general email to all members of the site about the gradual shutdown of the operation. No timeline available yet, but all couched in the most positive way possible.
Until early 2015, Professor Neil Quigley was the Chair of both Viclink, the parent body attached to Vitoria University, and the board of iPredict Ltd. Neil Quigley is a member of two U.S. think tanks, one of which is openly right-wing. Prof Quigley has taken up the job of Vice-Chancellor at Waikato University, and his place on the two boards at Victoria appear to have been given to Kate McGrath.
Whether this is part of the change of heart by Viclink, to shed this rather embarrassing site that was being openly hijacked by the Right, is open to conjecture, and will never be admitted to, if that is what has happened.
In any case, higher net worth members are disappearing from the iPredict list as they cash up, and as no money is allowed in to replace it -they haven’t provided a status report to the media since June 2015- this is a dead duck for sure. Good news, an election tool stripped away from the National Party and their bloggers.
Meanwhile, at open-plan Waikato University, Prof Quigley is making his mark by introducing staff and student carparking fees for the first time (since the 1970s). At a cost of either $300 or $750 per vehicle per year, it looks a lot like a pay decrease for staff, and an extra fee for students.
dv, you have to read between the lines here. Victoria Link experimented with this site for seven years, with Prof Quigley at the helm for most of that time. They could have put some more money/effort in to meet the new rules. But that would have been rough on the more affluent punters or the paid bloggers, who most likely had multiple accounts, defying the site’s rules. The site rules about membership were not enforced by anyone, and then to top it all off, an extreme right-wing person got control of the reporting function. This then led to press releases at crucial times close to the elections, that immediately followed fresh and unusual trades that flattered National’s position. I have no doubt that one of the reasons for the site being made ready just before the 2008 election, and following on from there, was to generally bolster National and neoliberal policies. Maybe RW Prof Quigley was quite happy with this state of affairs, but Victoria University’s board might have been perturbed about them being mentioned in “Dirty Politics”. The new money laundering rules don’t seem to need to apply to this site, but it’s the opportunity to cut it free, that Viclink seem to be interested in. Read the press release again, dv. Someone is poking something uphill with a pointed stick.
Artists Fill Paris With 600 Fake Ads To Protest Corporate Sponsorship Of Climate Conference
“Paris is grabbing the world’s attention again, but this time, it’s with environmental messages aimed at the world leaders, including Obama, that gathered for the COP21 climate conference on Monday. 600 fake posters denouncing major corporations were installed behind the glass at bus stops around the city by Brandalism, a UK-based project. 82 artists from 19 countries joined them to help fight corporate control in advertising.
“By sponsoring the climate talks, major polluters such as Air France and GDF-Suez-Engie can promote themselves as part of the solution – when actually they are part of the problem,” Joe Elan from Brandalism said in their press release.”
Have just been listening to the morning news on Channel 1, Rawden was interviewing Key, I think it’s his Monday interview he does. They came to the Christmas party held this weekend for National Party volunteers etc, which had a big protest outside of the venue. Key was questioned about this, and he was furious, said it was disgraceful that they tried to ruin the occasion. He even said angrily that “they stopped me from attending” – I couldn’t believe what the man was saying. He is scared stiff of protests and it’s either fear for his safety or embarrassment – probably fear knowing him, craven that he is. All I could think of was “own the situation mate and face up to poverty in NZ and how a great majority won’t be even able to have a Christmas meal let alone a party with all the trimmings”. I have never heard anything like it, a man afraid to face a protest – God save us all, who does he think he is, does he take his heavies with him to the bloody toilet.
“Paranoia involves feelings of persecution and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Paranoia occurs in many mental disorders and is rare as an isolated mental illness. Since the delusions involve only one area, a person with paranoia can usually work and function in everyday life, however, their lives may be limited and isolated. ”
Sufferers need help, not condemnation.
But I question the wisdom of having a sufferer in such a position.
Made me think Repateet that the lovely new Pope and the Queen for that matter often ignore security advice and go out and about with the crowds knowing full well the risks they take. That takes courage. Key is seriously full of his own importance, has feelings of the grandiose way out of proportion to his position. I just cannot believe that he is such a such a coward, but then bullies (like his yelling insults and throwing the dead cat regularly in the House etc) are always cowards. He is pathetic.
There’s a fascinating discussion about ShonKey’s personality type – narcisstic or “anti-social” on the post about that creepy Malaysian diplomat and Tania Billingsgate – about halfway down the comments. The discussion is between Emergency Mike, Pat and Anne.
Pathetic little bloke
Well no old style politician would have been that precious. Look what sound bites, brand image and Tv ads have done.
Once upon a time to get elected you had to go out and actualy interact with the electorate making speechs to crowds etc who gave a lot of immediate feedback some of it thrown. It must have bred a certain resilience and certainly a greater response to the needs of the voters. Couldn’t have imagined any of them minding a few protesters.
* Politicians have become disconnected from what happens in the lives of the majority of people
* The people themselves have become disconnected from what happens in real life due to the protective cocoon that we’ve wound around ourselves that disconnects us from each other and the Earth
Yep politics these days seem to be a brand marketing exercise where people shop for the shiny looks of the goods not their utility, usefulness or longevity.
Key also seems to be subscribing to this if he is afraid of his own electorate,
can’t be that he sees them very often.
No, RedBaronCV, Key is just a wimp good and proper, always has to be seen with a bunch of security compete with the shades on surrounding him, which satisfies his sense of importance and gives him the security blanket he needs. You are right, once upon a time, politicians spoke in open spaces, on stages etc and just got on with the job. They were “men” in the nicest sense and had guts. He sounded so petulant on the news this morning I couldn’t believe it, like a grizzly kid who needs a belt around the backside, but even that is outlawed these days. He is seriously flawed and if the males of NZ who routinely keep voting him in haven’t seen through this useless heap of a PM, then they are as useless as he is.
Grown up men who are truly secure and comfortable in their own person will own up to their mistakes or at least admit there is room for improvement – especially when they are the supposedly leader and are there to set an example. Key’s automatic response when he is asked awkward questions is to fudge or get nasty and throw a dead cat, even worse just deny it and keep on denying it even when its obvious to an idiot there has been a misjudgment or mistake made. People like him are truly not well and shouldn’t be in positions of power. I agree, some of the questions “Does the Minister stand by…” just ask for his type of response, they could may be just ask “Can the Minister please explain why ……” and persist and make sure he does reply. The sooner Carter leaves his role as Speaker the better for democracy. The both of them just put Government into bad repute for the rest of the world to see.
We all saw what a craven little creep he was on the day Parliament was sitting, and a man threatened to jump from the Public Gallery – other MPs were looking up in horror, hoping security would get to the man in time – what did Key do? Looked up and then ran away with his guards. So very embarrassing to have a PM that cowardly!
stop exaggerating … “a great majority won’t be even able to have a Christmas meal” .. is a ridiculous statement. Ridiculous exaggerations like this are really unhelpful. It leads to middle NZ raising their eye brows, and not taking this serious issue, seriously. If you want. Kiwis to believe we have poverty, and yes, we do, then stop fucken exaggerating how bad it is, and turning people off from it.
No they are not, it’s an SOE and they are the shareholding ministers. The story seems to crop up at least once a year and runs wild amongst those that don’t understand the concept of a shareholding minister.
So why are most people so bad? I blame the media and the way inaccurate information is continually being repeated. Unfortunately all these ill-informed people get to decide who runs the country based on incorrect information.
A morning with Hosking, then Leighton Smith, with Danny Watson to follow.
Other stations have their problems, but without a doubt NewstalkZB is THE worst.
NewstalkZB, Monday 7 December 2015, 7:40a.m.
MIKE “KING OF CONTRA” HOSKING: Later on I’ll be talking to a professor who says that if kids don’t read over the summer holidays, then they come back to school for the new year knowing LESS than they did before. I’ve always thought our schools need SHORTER summer holidays….. [drones on pompously and sententiously for several minutes]….
Like anyone with an IQ above room temperature, I switched Hosking off before he had worked up those observations into another of his foaming anti-teacher tirades. By chance, however, I happened on NewstalkZB an hour later. Incredibly, the intellectual level had sunk even lower….
LEIGHTON SMITH: Ahhhhhmmm, errrrrrr, I see the government has just given two hundred million dollars to South Pacific nations [snort] to “help them cope with climate change.” [guffaw] That fictitious, fraudulent thing. Two hundred million dollars, a WASTE OF MONEY. Ummmmm, errrrrrr, ahhhhhhmmmmm…..
POINT TO PONDER: One of NewstalkZB’s promotional tags used to be: “Tune Your Mind.”
Morrissey
Thanks you for performing such a critical role. Like the Lavatory Attendant you perform a role which we all know is necessary but which we would not volunteer to do ourselves.
I occasionally tune-in to these arseholes for a few difficult minutes in order to maintain my right to slag them legitimately.
Claire Trevett’s opinion piece “Coded messages go back and forth in reshuffle” contains a terrible allegation about Andrew Little which he needs to clear up.
It is effectively saying the Cunliffe’s shafting was Annette King’s price to give up her Rongotai seat for Andrew Little.
What other Faustian pacts get made in our Labour Party Caucus? No wonder they fought so hard to deny the membership a say in the selection of leader.
Can we drop talented people, promote unsuitable people, and expect to win the respect of the public?
I know NBI has come up before but I still find it interesting. The adult population of Finland is about the same as NZ. The fish-hooks are considered in this article as well. eg A woman with 3 kids versus a woman with no kids?
Every person or every adult? The Finnish government is currently drawing up plans to introduce a national basic income. A final proposal won’t be presented until November 2016, but if all goes to schedule, Finland will scrap all existing benefits and instead hand out €800 ($870) per month—to everyone.
It sounds far-fetched, but it’s looking likely that Finland will carry through with the idea. Whereas several Dutch cities will introduce basic income next year and Switzerland is holding a referendum on the subject, there is strongest political and public support for the idea in Finland.” http://qz.com/566702/finland-plans-to-give-every-citizen-a-basic-income-of-800-euros-a-month/
While it has not yet reached Latin America, experts say that it’s not a question of if, but when. The spores live in the soil and are able to travel in the wooden pallets used to load containers. Peter said, “You can be pretty sure that given the globalized economy, it’s just a matter of time.” And even after the spores have been treated with compounds as aggressive as methyl bromide (which essentially sterilizes the soil), they still come back. The lack of curative and preventative means has inspired a mass fear of banana extinction.
Globalisation: Just so fucking things up as what used to pass as a localised phenomenon gets passed around due to commercial imperatives.
The big concern with the Avian flu was that it could transmute into a global pandemic because of the ease with which people span the globe every day. The same applies to our food source.
You, as per normal with RWNJs, focussed solely upon the object mentioned and failed to understand that the concern extends beyond that one thing.
If it is a globalisation of ideas, and information then we are all for it, but unfortunately, we look to be seeing the globalisation of Indonesian level labour law and environmental regulations.
Along similar lines: ‘Without slavery you would neither know about nor care what happened to the modern global capitalist market economy (so stop criticising slavery).”
If you’re interested in the historical basis of that statement try these links:
Stop TPP, TTIP, TiSA
REGISTER 4 CALL: http://bit.ly/1NB7M8J
Sun Dec 6, 4:30pm Pacific/7:30 pm Eastern
“As COP21 continues in Paris, ostensibly to prevent the largest crisis of our time, the Obama administration is embarking on a spin campaign in an attempt to sell the benefits of the TPP both to Congress and the people. Yet, the TPP fails, in its 5,600 pages, to reference the words climate change even once. And the newly Wiki-leaked Trade in Services Agreement or TiSA, Environmental Chapter, proves that multinationals have no intention of working to prevent the looming climate disaster.”
— National TPP Team
GUEST SPEAKERS:
~ William Waren, Trade Policy Analyst, Friends of the Earth
~ Dr. Frank Ackerman, principal economist at Synapse Energy Economics
The call will begin with legislative and strategy updates from the TPP Team.
Breaking: Our boats have caught up with the BBC Shanghai aka “rust-bucket” carrying nuclear waste back to Australia. http://act.gp/1lDkYU6
Seeing as the government won’t tell us what’s going on, Greenpeace activists are documenting the waste’s arrival – from out at sea all the way to Lucas Heights.
Huge massive big ups to SAFE and Farmwatch on their work in exposing cruelty in the dairy industry and taking it global.
Some time ago, I don’t know when as I no sense of timing, John Darroch of Farmwatch put up a guest post on TS about footage he obtained of the inhumane conditions on pig farms, which, like the recent dairying video also include workers abusing the animals.
He had meetings with MPI to discuss the matter but was dissatisfied with their lack of follow through.
It is hardly surprising then, that SAFE felt compelled to take their campaign to the next level and take out ads in The Guardian to expose cruel farm practices to UK consumers of our products. It was the only way they could get our government and industry to listen and act.
But what do they do instead? They defend the dairy industry and shoot the messenger. Andrew Hoggard from Federated Farmers seems to think it’s a vegan conspiracy:
While Nathan Guy brushes the issue off and says it’s just a minority of farmers behaving badly, as if that makes it ok, and that he was disappointed with SAFE, as if they are the ones committing violent and cruel abuses. (RNZ this a.m) Both the industry have been blatant in their single minded concern for protecting farmers economic prospects while absolutely failing to address the issue.
It’s only because of the hard work of activists over the decades that NZer’s have any awareness of the cruelty of battery farming and can buy free range chicken, eggs and pig at the supermarket.
Exposing the cruelty within the dairy industry was inevitable and a natural progression from the battery farming issues. The industry and government are talking like this whole thing is going to blow over.
Lets hope it doesn’t. Lets hope this is only the beginning.
I personally think its good that the bad eggs are weeded out of the farming industry ,but think dragging the whole industry through the muck in an international attack is counter productive.
I also wonder how many lefties would be happy to have spy cameras set up to trap them in some sort of wrong doing?
I personally think its good that the bad eggs are weeded out of the farming industry ,but think dragging the whole industry through the muck in an international attack is counter productive.
Farming has been self-regulated for awhile now and so we actually do have to drag the whole lot of them through the muck so as to incentivise the good ones to do something about the bad ones. Unfortunately, most of them don’t believe that they have any responsibility for the bad ones and so nothing will continue to happen.
Much better just to drop the delusion that industries will self-regulate and put in some decent regulation and over-watch.
That’s a nice thought provoking piece by Chris Perley, although family farms could be rough and cruel as well. It sounds like his father was a good man.
Family farms are superior to the corporate model. The money that’s flooded the rural sector, increasing the number of multi-farms in the past decade, has in my view exacerbated the existing lack of professionalism and lack of feeling for the land and animals among a large portion of NZ rural people. This is about more than a few bad eggs.
Globalisation and modern media methods are highlighting it. Expect more exposes of this type. Loss of export markets is the only thing many of these guys understand, so I support it. And if lefties are abusing animals I’d expect them to be held to account as well.
The Australian writer Don Watson calls farming ”measured violence”; which is a good description for what even with best practice is a cruel business.
In this morning interview the calf defenders kept saying that SAFE should have handed the info over at the first chance instead of going public. Well they did hand over months ago, and MPI (?) did nothing. In the TV slot on”Sunday”, the MPI chap kept on refusing to say what if any action they had taken when they were given the info a long time ago. They had done nothing. Even the farmer featured had not been approached by anyone from MPI.
Key taught them well to deny, avoid, bluster.
“Frankie Boyle summed up my misgivings when he tweeted about Wednesday’s Commons debate: “Kind of disturbed by the palpable excitement in parliament. The truth is our politicians like wars because they make them feel important.”” – Who can forget Keys agitated puffed up “Get some guts” moment,
Interesting take on the situation in Venezuela where the ruling Socialists could lose their majority in the Congressional elections held yesterday/today.
I note how the writer blames the fact that the Chavista regime has being to accomodating towards opponents and that is why it is in the mess that it is in. This is why hard left wing political thought is a threat to democracy. The hard left wants to destroy and supporess anything that it perceives to be a threat.
“This is why extremist political thought is a threat to democracy. Political idealogues want to destroy and suppress anything that they perceive to be a threat.”
FTFY
Reminds me of how this National government shut down TVNZ 7 and have a deliberate funding freeze on RNZ.
so what does that mean for Cunliffe?…he is still pretty low down on the list ( not good management for Labour’s best and brightest…most able and popular…Little is running scared)
…i would still like to see Cunliffe jump ship and Manaia Mahuta with the Maori seats
…and I would still like to see a real Labour Mana Party…instead of the tepid thing we have
Sadly yes. Seemly Key us his own man and is comfortable with having complex and interesting people working in his team. Sadly Little had his team dictated to him by the ABCs according to TRP.
“Sadly Little had his team dictated to him by the ABCs according to TRP.”
If the TRP you are referring to is me, you’re barking up the wrong tree, because I’ve never said that. And the reason I’ve never said it is because it’s not true. Little is his own man and he’s done a great job of getting a dysfunctional, back biting caucus back on track. Something Goff, Shearer and Cunliffe never managed.
I appreciate there will always be some people who will always prefer to see Labour failing, but do try and keep up. Like Cunliffe, the ABCers are yesterday’s news.
A caucus who tries to get rid of someone as talented and gifted as David Cunliffe is liable to be looked upon with some derision – I mean, how much real talent and political ability does this Labour Party Caucus possess at the moment? The wishes of members of the Labour Party seem to be ignored. And the caucus wonder why there is no money in the kitty?
24 November 2014 at 9:05 am
Cheers, weka and karol. I think the problem with some of the comments around the deputy’s position is the ignorance about the process. Little can certainly nominate someone, but it’s a caucus decision, not his. And the numbers in caucus have not significantly changed; the ‘ABCers’ are still the biggest camp. They showed that by dumping Cunliffe’s chosen whips at the first opportunity.
Yep, that’s the deputy’s position. Now for the evidence that I said Little had his team dictated to him by the ABCers. Nah, you’re not going to be able do that, eh?
1. You stated that the ABCers are the biggest camp.
2. You stated that they can choose the Deputy, no matter who Little wants.
3. If they can dictate the Deputy and are the biggest camp ergo they can dictate the other positions.
Chooky, I have a life. I’ve been out, as it happens, and even if I wasn’t, I answer if and when when I fucken well feel like it, not according to your agenda. Bill’s comments are full of shit. The shadow cabinet was chosen by Little as is his right.
I never said what Bill claimed I did, and what he claimed about caucus selecting the shadow cabinet was wrong in fact anyway and the that’s the end of that story.
Bill fucked up out of ignorance. What’s your excuse?
Bill, if you want to talk shit, you really need to do some research first. I’d say you really should start by looking up the rules of the Labour party. The deputies position is voted on by caucus, but you’ll note they voted to endorse the person Little preferred. Secondly, the shadow positions are Little’s choice, as I said. You’ll note that there hasn’t been a skerrick of dissent about it, even from DC, who has taken the demotion with considerable good grace.
As I said earlier….
7 December 2015 at 9:16 am
Claire Trevett’s opinion piece “Coded messages go back and forth in reshuffle” contains a terrible allegation about Andrew Little which he needs to clear up.
It is effectively saying the Cunliffe’s shafting was Annette King’s price to give up her Rongotai seat for Andrew Little.
What other Faustian pacts get made in our Labour Party Caucus? No wonder they fought so hard to deny the membership a say in the selection of leader.
Can we drop talented people, promote unsuitable people, and expect to win the respect of the public?
+100…interesting article …and this is the crux imo …”What other Faustian pacts get made in our Labour Party Caucus? No wonder they fought so hard to deny the membership a say in the selection of leader.
Can we drop talented people, promote unsuitable people, and expect to win the respect of the public?”
Good questions…This Labour Party seems to defy all common sense….and it looks corrupt, taken over by hostile forces, or at very least expedient and ruthless….
It would be very interesting if someone broke ranks and spilt the beans…or better still jumped ship …or forced the ABCs to walk the plank
( Cunliffe as Hamlet?: “The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right.”)
“…or forced the ABCs to walk the plank.”
To quote the great Orace himself, the well informed TRP, ” the ABCers are yesterday’s news.”
That suggests that, with Cunliffe shafted, the ABCers ARE the Labour Party. Grant and Annette own the shop.
Using TRPs analysis, factionalism is gone and he Labour Party is unified. The erstwhile Right, Cosgrove, Shearer, Nash, O’Connor, have accepted (bought off) the new status quo. The Neo-liberals have won. Time to break bread with Roger Douglas.
All this assumes the membership will be pliant.
My thoughts keep going back the sights of Little and Hipkins screaming at the membership during the Ellersli Conference. That was the day unions and the members voted for 40: 40: 20.
I am not an uncritical ‘my party right or wrong” commentator, but I want to suggest a possible, more positive scenario. For one thing, Labour cannot continue with the kind of centrism that they tried to sell us under Shearer. That approach is exhausted, if it had legs to begin with. Secondly, you cannot intrigue and dissemble your way through an infinite number of elections – if Labour doesn’t reverse the downward trend then getting to be the next leader will hardly be a prize.
This means that the dominant factions are now in the position where they must show their mettle, or get out of the way if they lack it. And if the sidelined Cunliffeites can manage to bite the bullet and put their weight behind winning, then we will at least end up with a larger Labour caucus, possibly even a Labour government. Either result would dilute factional pressures and hold people to task. I am far from happy about the insult to David Cunliffe – I am just suggesting that Little may yet make a virtue of necessity. If he doesn’t, it will mean another nail in Labour’s coffin rather than an opportunity for some eager beaver.
‘“Right now we’re in an economic war. Private companies hide food, or don’t produce food. To try to change the minds of us Chavistas, revolutionaries. They want to change our ideology. But us, we want to continue with the revolution,” Acosta concluded.’
The idea that Private companies have decided to lose money by deliberately stopping food getting to market just so that they can influence people’s political viewpoint. It highlights a degree of paranoia and disconect from reality which is astounding.
Pity poor Matthew Hooton: this morning he suffered nightmarish flashbacks to
being shown up and put down by Matthew Campbell and Laila Harré. Politics from the Left and from the Right, RNZ National, Monday 7 December 2015
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Stephen Mills
What a welcome replacement Stephen Mills is for that zombie Mike Williams! He did not once guffaw sycophantically at one of Hooton’s remarks, nor did he say: “I agree with Matthew”. Even better, he countered and refuted every single thing Hooton said, to Hooton’s evident discomfit.
Right near the end, after Hooton had claimed that New Zealand had set the agenda at the Paris climate talks, Mills said: “So John Key has saved the planet, has he?” Hooton, taken aback, was silent for a considerable time before scrambling with a platitudinous response.
Mills’ refusal to be cowered by Hooton’s antics even rubbed off on Kathryn Ryan, who actually found the courage to challenge Hooton’s statements herself, and to point out that his views represented no one but himself.
At the end, instead of Hooton finishing with a five-minute lecture, as he usually does when Williams is on the program, he had to listen to Stephen Mills delivering the last word—-Mills said the National Party’s climate “policy” was “dismal and cynical”.
Hooton. demoralised, didn’t have the heart or the wherewithal to shout anything incendiary, as he would have to Mike Williams.
To be honest key probably did “set the agenda” because all that will happen is a bunch of stuffed shirts will talk a lot of bullshit and things will not change.
So it goes.
Referencing monitoring reports and studies that normally lie beyond the public gaze in scholarly journals and the archives of regional councils, Niwa and other crown research institutes (CRIs), the essay is effectively a Mike Joy “state of the environment” report – one that paints a far bleaker picture than the official version published a month ago by the Ministry for the Environment.
Of 112 monitored lakes, a 2010 Niwa study found 44% are eutrophic – so burdened by excess agricultural nutrients that they have become murky, smelly and inhospitable to many fish, reports Joy. Almost all (90%) our lowland wetlands – the “kidneys of our waterways” – have been destroyed. Three-quarters of our native freshwater fish are threatened with extinction (up from 20% in the early 1990s), yet only one – the grayling, which has been extinct for decades – has legal protection.
Digging through the data on more than 300 monitored river sites, he reports that more than two-thirds of those surrounded by farmland exceed Australasian guidelines for nitrogen levels in water, beyond which aquatic life starts to be affected. That’s up from 40% in 1990. Phosphorous – the other key agricultural pollutant, carried into rivers by soil erosion – exceeds guidelines in most intensively farmed areas (although levels have been slowly falling since the late 1990s).
And then there are the tiny creatures whose presence signals the well-being of rivers – invertebrates such as mayflies and stoneflies, which are measured by the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI). Niwa has mapped MCI scores around the country, painting in red where low insect life denotes serious pollution: the map burns bright red throughout the intensively farmed regions of Canterbury, Southland, Auckland, Waikato and Taranaki.
Since migration is running at over 60,000 per year currently with no abatement, not quite sure what the middle class are supposed to do about it?
It is government policy that is putting the strain on housing and rentals!!!
And the government is selling off the state houses???
And the undemocratic SHA’s are being used to speculate with and profit from with only a fraction of houses being built so far and not aimed at Kiwis on local wages, more like over $800,000…
Yep, that is the governments idea of affordable housing…
The government wants you to blame the middle class, poor or who ever, not deliberate government policy to increase house prices by creating demand with immigration or cracking down on monopolies within building (it costs more per square meter to build here than Australia, USA even though we make a lot of the raw materials).
The u.s.a has previously help sponsor and support a military overthrow of the democratically elected government of Venezuela ……… as they have done before in Chile and many other countries ……. like Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat
The U.s.a has been waging a economic war against Venezuela ever since it elected a socialist Government which brought in things like free health care for the poor ……………. just like it did with Cuba.
The propaganda then becomes it’s the Venezuelan Governments fault for the pain that the u.s.a and its proxies are inflicting.
Sometimes the on-line discussion of scientific issues looks like a citation battle. People take sides, battle lines are drawn and struggle commences. Each side fires barrages of citations “proving” their own argument.
The battle progresses in real-time – the proferred citations are immediately rejected and alternatives offered. One would think the other side would take time out to actually read the offered citations – but no they are usually quickly rejected as unreliable. I also get the impression that in many cases the side offering the citation has also not bothered to read it – usually relying on its use by an ally or its coverage in a friendly on-line magazine.
OK, it natural to be lazy but wouldn’t we all learn a lot more by actually reading the citations being thrown around. And doesn’t it discredit one’s position to reject a citation out of hand for unjustified reasons?
The Logic of Science recently posted an analysis of the bad reasons people use for rejecting citations – 12 bad reasons for rejecting scientific studies. It is well worth a read – we will recognise these 12 reasons and hopefully learn not to use them ourselves in future.
Here are the 12 bad reasons:
Worth a a read. I’ve seen all 12 on this site used by both the Left and the Right-wing.
The Perils of Perception survey shows New Zealand is the most ignorant developed country, with most people misunderstanding the facts that make up our country’s society.
Kiwis hugely overestimated the proportion of wealth owned by the wealthiest 1 per cent in the country.
The average response on the percentage of wealth controlled by the wealthiest 1 per cent in New Zealand was 50 per cent. In reality, the wealthiest New Zealanders hold 18 per cent of the country’s wealth.
Well done to the left in NZ they’ve managed to alter the perception of the public which is no easy thing to do and the top 1% only owning 18% of the wealth…that’s pretty good
“Looks like the people of Venezuela are tired of waiting for the dream..”
That is sad as this was the darling cot case the right loved to quote. I enjoyed reading the mythical myopic views Gosman and others from the right took over Venezuela. The standard will never be the same again
I wonder what Gosman will do now? I suppose he can start giving us a blow by blow tirade of that other cot case, the right wing cot case called the Ukraine.
The Chavista regime is still in power in Venezuela. The Opposition has now gained an extra weapon to fight back against the policies that are ruining that once prosperous nation.
If the shift is anything like the current suggestions CV, it would require quite a significant % of The People to be voting against the Govt. Far more than 1%.
Looks like another failed socialist experiment has started to be consigned to the dustbin of history with the opposition MUD coalition winning the election to the National assempbly by a decisive margin.
“Safeguarded eavesdropping by the state is a price we might have to pay for our safety.”—was Max Ritchie’s speech the dumbest in radio history? The Panel, RNZ National, Monday 7 December 2015
Jim Mora, Ali Jones, Max Ritchie
Just before the 4:30 news, host Jim Mora called for opinions about the SAFE advertisement that appeared in the Guardian yesterday. [1] Predictably, both Ali Jones and Max Ritchie reiterated the Federated Farmers/Fonterra corporate line and upbraided Hans Kriek for not talking enough to farmers and for (according to Ritchie) pushing his vegetarian lifestyle on everyone else. Ritchie should have left his comments at that, but, foolishly, he then went on to quote one of the less respected, crazier people to have appeared on the Panel….
MAX RITCHIE: I heard on the radio earlier that professor of agriculture that frequently comes on your program, I forget what her name is.
JIM MORA: Jacqueline Rowarth.
MAX RITCHIE: That’s the one. Well, she said that our animal welfare standards are the best in the world.
Ritchie should have carried out due diligence. If he had, he would have quoted someone better than Jacqueline Rowarth, who has established herself alongside such notorious characters as Dov Bing, Ron Smith and Willem de Lange as one of the loopier academics to periodically slither out from under the rock of Waikato University. Jacqueline Rowarth blundered into our line of sight last year, when she came on to assure the Panel that there is no such thing as poverty in New Zealand, that it’s all in the minds of the poor, who actually don’t exist anyway, and that media reports of children without shoes were rubbish: it was nothing more than kids who just didn’t want to wear shoes. [2]
Endorsing a loopy provincial academic was bad enough, but there was worse to come from Max Ritchie. He announced grandly that his Soapbox piece after the news would be about “freedom”. In fact it turned out to be nothing more than a windy homily about how he is perfectly happy to prostrate himself to the state, which he trusts absolutely to do the right thing: “Safeguarded eavesdropping by the state is a price we might have to pay for our safety,” he intoned. He then went on, speaking as solemnly and as slowly as he could, to state that New Zealand doesn’t have a culture of heavy-handed persecution by the state, and that we could be perfectly confident if we did as he suggested, and surrendered all our rights to politicians and bureaucrats.
After he finished speaking, there was a pause. Jim Mora does have a tendency to make a glib wisecrack after one of his guests makes such a portentous statement, but this time he was obviously flabbergasted, and said nothing at all in response. Neither did Ali Jones. It was like they were hoping that what had just been said—in essence, “I am happy to be a slave, and so should all of us be happy to be slaves”—was a horrible phantasm, and would vanish into the ether if they just stayed silent.
Interestingly, five minutes after expressing his confidence in the benevolence of the state, Ritchie indulged in a lengthy whinge about being stopped by the police for speeding on Orakei Road on January 4th this year. “Utterly RIDICULOUS,” he growled, “I am not at ALL convinced that this is an appropriate way of policing!”
Perhaps Max Ritchie would not enjoy his voluntary enslavement as much as he thinks he would.
Yep! Whenever I hear Jacqueline Rowarth on air – I switch off – Why is she always the go to gal whenever they want some input on rural matters? Ok that’s her job – but surely there are others less loopy? She posts on Pundit too from time to time 🙄
You do a great job for us M, I don’t know how you do it! 🙂
Dutch citizens condemn the brutality and stupidity of the Bible
Some Dutch people were approached and asked to listen to some passages from the Koran. After being read out some particularly violent and bloodthirsty passages, they expressed some contemptuous opinions about the simpletons who believe in such a vile religion….
If you’ve been raised with this book and these kinds of thoughts it’s going to influence the way you think.”
The world is changing and I think they should have to adapt to it.”
How could anyone believe in this?! That’s unbelievable to me.”
Trouble is, the passage actually came not from the Koran but from the Bible….
Was there some point to the exercise, or was it shits and giggles? I guess one conclusion we could draw is, you’d be completely fucking nuts to have your schools devote large amounts of their teaching time to having kids memorise passages from said book. Good job the Dutch, at least, don’t go in for that…
Matthew Flanagan at mandm.org.nz has done some excellent work on this topic, to show that these violent passages were probably employing hyperbole common in ANE rhetoric/literature of the time, not to be taken literally.
A big problem with naive readings of these ancient documents is that we bring our 21st century scientific brains to the table and make some basic errors of interpretation. A lot of the narratives are figurative or mythical, conveying moral and spiritual truth, not cold empirical statements like the laws of physics.
I look at it this way:
Q: is Led Zep’s “Stairway to Heaven” true or false?
A: the question is poorly formulated as a song is open to interpretation. It’s art not science.
So it is with the text of the Bible.
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
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 in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
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Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
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Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
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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. ...
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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. ...
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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. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
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The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 30 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Director, Krongold Clinic (Research), Monash University Shutterstock/Brian A. Jackson “Charlie” is an eight-year-old child with autism. Her parents are worried because she often responds to requests with insults, aggression and refusal. Simple demands, such ...
Audrey Young on the Herald is predicting that Key will announce a Cabinet reshuffle today, rather than after the summer holidays. Young is usually close on such matters.
A possibility is that Collins will take over Corrections.
Other possibles include Groser going to Washington as Ambassador in February with Todd McLay taking over Trade; Goldsmith taking over IRD; Foss out all together; Nick Smith out of Housing and Woodhouse out of Workplace Relations and Safety. She also predicts David Seymour (ACT) and Mark Mitchell receiving promotions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11556876
iPredict, a NZ political and economic betting website, has sent out a general email to all members of the site about the gradual shutdown of the operation. No timeline available yet, but all couched in the most positive way possible.
https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=forum
Until early 2015, Professor Neil Quigley was the Chair of both Viclink, the parent body attached to Vitoria University, and the board of iPredict Ltd. Neil Quigley is a member of two U.S. think tanks, one of which is openly right-wing. Prof Quigley has taken up the job of Vice-Chancellor at Waikato University, and his place on the two boards at Victoria appear to have been given to Kate McGrath.
Whether this is part of the change of heart by Viclink, to shed this rather embarrassing site that was being openly hijacked by the Right, is open to conjecture, and will never be admitted to, if that is what has happened.
In any case, higher net worth members are disappearing from the iPredict list as they cash up, and as no money is allowed in to replace it -they haven’t provided a status report to the media since June 2015- this is a dead duck for sure. Good news, an election tool stripped away from the National Party and their bloggers.
Meanwhile, at open-plan Waikato University, Prof Quigley is making his mark by introducing staff and student carparking fees for the first time (since the 1970s). At a cost of either $300 or $750 per vehicle per year, it looks a lot like a pay decrease for staff, and an extra fee for students.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/69384730/students-oppose-paid-waikato-university-parking.html
Professor Quigley’s political beliefs are a conflict of interest; all his decisions will be pre-determined by them.
Wasn’t it because they were shut down because of bank regs re possible money laundering?
dv, you have to read between the lines here. Victoria Link experimented with this site for seven years, with Prof Quigley at the helm for most of that time. They could have put some more money/effort in to meet the new rules. But that would have been rough on the more affluent punters or the paid bloggers, who most likely had multiple accounts, defying the site’s rules. The site rules about membership were not enforced by anyone, and then to top it all off, an extreme right-wing person got control of the reporting function. This then led to press releases at crucial times close to the elections, that immediately followed fresh and unusual trades that flattered National’s position. I have no doubt that one of the reasons for the site being made ready just before the 2008 election, and following on from there, was to generally bolster National and neoliberal policies. Maybe RW Prof Quigley was quite happy with this state of affairs, but Victoria University’s board might have been perturbed about them being mentioned in “Dirty Politics”. The new money laundering rules don’t seem to need to apply to this site, but it’s the opportunity to cut it free, that Viclink seem to be interested in. Read the press release again, dv. Someone is poking something uphill with a pointed stick.
Nothing to see here, move on, all is well! http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/74658377/Ombudsman-barking-up-the-wrong-tree-blaming-some-media-as-rottweilers
Artists Fill Paris With 600 Fake Ads To Protest Corporate Sponsorship Of Climate Conference
“Paris is grabbing the world’s attention again, but this time, it’s with environmental messages aimed at the world leaders, including Obama, that gathered for the COP21 climate conference on Monday. 600 fake posters denouncing major corporations were installed behind the glass at bus stops around the city by Brandalism, a UK-based project. 82 artists from 19 countries joined them to help fight corporate control in advertising.
“By sponsoring the climate talks, major polluters such as Air France and GDF-Suez-Engie can promote themselves as part of the solution – when actually they are part of the problem,” Joe Elan from Brandalism said in their press release.”
http://www.boredpanda.com/corporate-sponsorship-ads-environmentalist-cop21-brandalism-paris/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=BPFacebook
“You ain’t no muslim bruv” an east Londoners perfect response to a knife wielding idiot running amok in London Underground. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/06/you-aint-no-muslim-bruv-britons-social-media
Have just been listening to the morning news on Channel 1, Rawden was interviewing Key, I think it’s his Monday interview he does. They came to the Christmas party held this weekend for National Party volunteers etc, which had a big protest outside of the venue. Key was questioned about this, and he was furious, said it was disgraceful that they tried to ruin the occasion. He even said angrily that “they stopped me from attending” – I couldn’t believe what the man was saying. He is scared stiff of protests and it’s either fear for his safety or embarrassment – probably fear knowing him, craven that he is. All I could think of was “own the situation mate and face up to poverty in NZ and how a great majority won’t be even able to have a Christmas meal let alone a party with all the trimmings”. I have never heard anything like it, a man afraid to face a protest – God save us all, who does he think he is, does he take his heavies with him to the bloody toilet.
A text book case….?
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/paranoia-and-paranoid-disorders
“Paranoia involves feelings of persecution and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Paranoia occurs in many mental disorders and is rare as an isolated mental illness. Since the delusions involve only one area, a person with paranoia can usually work and function in everyday life, however, their lives may be limited and isolated. ”
Sufferers need help, not condemnation.
But I question the wisdom of having a sufferer in such a position.
A marketing opportunity …
“Missed out on the Christmas party because you’re scared of going there?”
Go to the airport, hop on a plane and go to a Christmas party in Hawaii !”
Made me think Repateet that the lovely new Pope and the Queen for that matter often ignore security advice and go out and about with the crowds knowing full well the risks they take. That takes courage. Key is seriously full of his own importance, has feelings of the grandiose way out of proportion to his position. I just cannot believe that he is such a such a coward, but then bullies (like his yelling insults and throwing the dead cat regularly in the House etc) are always cowards. He is pathetic.
There’s a fascinating discussion about ShonKey’s personality type – narcisstic or “anti-social” on the post about that creepy Malaysian diplomat and Tania Billingsgate – about halfway down the comments. The discussion is between Emergency Mike, Pat and Anne.
Or is he trying to beat up the “danger” so that they can pass laws forcing protestors to register with the police like Cameron has tried in the UK.
Pathetic little bloke
Well no old style politician would have been that precious. Look what sound bites, brand image and Tv ads have done.
Once upon a time to get elected you had to go out and actualy interact with the electorate making speechs to crowds etc who gave a lot of immediate feedback some of it thrown. It must have bred a certain resilience and certainly a greater response to the needs of the voters. Couldn’t have imagined any of them minding a few protesters.
+1
Of there’s two aspects to this:
* Politicians have become disconnected from what happens in the lives of the majority of people
* The people themselves have become disconnected from what happens in real life due to the protective cocoon that we’ve wound around ourselves that disconnects us from each other and the Earth
Yep politics these days seem to be a brand marketing exercise where people shop for the shiny looks of the goods not their utility, usefulness or longevity.
Key also seems to be subscribing to this if he is afraid of his own electorate,
can’t be that he sees them very often.
No, RedBaronCV, Key is just a wimp good and proper, always has to be seen with a bunch of security compete with the shades on surrounding him, which satisfies his sense of importance and gives him the security blanket he needs. You are right, once upon a time, politicians spoke in open spaces, on stages etc and just got on with the job. They were “men” in the nicest sense and had guts. He sounded so petulant on the news this morning I couldn’t believe it, like a grizzly kid who needs a belt around the backside, but even that is outlawed these days. He is seriously flawed and if the males of NZ who routinely keep voting him in haven’t seen through this useless heap of a PM, then they are as useless as he is.
Could you imagine say Mabel Howard the first woman MP gojng on like Key has.
Grown up men who are truly secure and comfortable in their own person will own up to their mistakes or at least admit there is room for improvement – especially when they are the supposedly leader and are there to set an example. Key’s automatic response when he is asked awkward questions is to fudge or get nasty and throw a dead cat, even worse just deny it and keep on denying it even when its obvious to an idiot there has been a misjudgment or mistake made. People like him are truly not well and shouldn’t be in positions of power. I agree, some of the questions “Does the Minister stand by…” just ask for his type of response, they could may be just ask “Can the Minister please explain why ……” and persist and make sure he does reply. The sooner Carter leaves his role as Speaker the better for democracy. The both of them just put Government into bad repute for the rest of the world to see.
We all saw what a craven little creep he was on the day Parliament was sitting, and a man threatened to jump from the Public Gallery – other MPs were looking up in horror, hoping security would get to the man in time – what did Key do? Looked up and then ran away with his guards. So very embarrassing to have a PM that cowardly!
21 give or take protesters, and Key freaks out.
Man of the people.
Pretty rich of the simpering little prick Key to mutter on about thugs and bullies…….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11557095
He who repeatedly harrassed and assaulted a young woman in her place of work…….while his oh so macho goon squad looked on.
You’d never bring your kids up to behave like this entitled little prat.
stop exaggerating … “a great majority won’t be even able to have a Christmas meal” .. is a ridiculous statement. Ridiculous exaggerations like this are really unhelpful. It leads to middle NZ raising their eye brows, and not taking this serious issue, seriously. If you want. Kiwis to believe we have poverty, and yes, we do, then stop fucken exaggerating how bad it is, and turning people off from it.
Says entitled Amanda from her caccoon….
Did you see the rabid rent a mob crowd? I wouldn’t go there either.
And fanboy Rawden no doubt sympathised with the poor dear.
Just wondering if Bill English and David Carter are the owners of the company that brings in the 1080?
I see it being a topic on various FB feeds.
As far as I know, 1080 is distributed by Animal Control Products, a small SOE carved out of the old MAF in 1991.
No they are not, it’s an SOE and they are the shareholding ministers. The story seems to crop up at least once a year and runs wild amongst those that don’t understand the concept of a shareholding minister.
various FB feeds being the I HATE JOHN KEY pages. Yes.
NZ tops an international poll – for being the most ignorant country in the developed world.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-top-ten-most-ignorant-countries-unaware-of-their-countries-demographics-a6761541.html
Very interesting link, thank you, Karen.
You only have to look at voting patterns to see how ignorant and selfish we are.
Karen, That explains everything,
problem is, how do we fix it?
You can try the quiz yourself and see how you compare
http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/dec/02/how-well-do-you-really-know-your-country-take-our-quiz
(I aced it! 🤓)
So did I!
So why are most people so bad? I blame the media and the way inaccurate information is continually being repeated. Unfortunately all these ill-informed people get to decide who runs the country based on incorrect information.
A morning with Hosking, then Leighton Smith, with Danny Watson to follow.
Other stations have their problems, but without a doubt NewstalkZB is THE worst.
NewstalkZB, Monday 7 December 2015, 7:40a.m.
MIKE “KING OF CONTRA” HOSKING: Later on I’ll be talking to a professor who says that if kids don’t read over the summer holidays, then they come back to school for the new year knowing LESS than they did before. I’ve always thought our schools need SHORTER summer holidays….. [drones on pompously and sententiously for several minutes]….
Like anyone with an IQ above room temperature, I switched Hosking off before he had worked up those observations into another of his foaming anti-teacher tirades. By chance, however, I happened on NewstalkZB an hour later. Incredibly, the intellectual level had sunk even lower….
LEIGHTON SMITH: Ahhhhhmmm, errrrrrr, I see the government has just given two hundred million dollars to South Pacific nations [snort] to “help them cope with climate change.” [guffaw] That fictitious, fraudulent thing. Two hundred million dollars, a WASTE OF MONEY. Ummmmm, errrrrrr, ahhhhhhmmmmm…..
POINT TO PONDER: One of NewstalkZB’s promotional tags used to be: “Tune Your Mind.”
More wit and wisdom from Hosking, Smith, and their colleagues….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20012015/#comment-953987
Morrissey
Thanks you for performing such a critical role. Like the Lavatory Attendant you perform a role which we all know is necessary but which we would not volunteer to do ourselves.
I occasionally tune-in to these arseholes for a few difficult minutes in order to maintain my right to slag them legitimately.
Claire Trevett’s opinion piece “Coded messages go back and forth in reshuffle” contains a terrible allegation about Andrew Little which he needs to clear up.
It is effectively saying the Cunliffe’s shafting was Annette King’s price to give up her Rongotai seat for Andrew Little.
What other Faustian pacts get made in our Labour Party Caucus? No wonder they fought so hard to deny the membership a say in the selection of leader.
Can we drop talented people, promote unsuitable people, and expect to win the respect of the public?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11554882
Labour is not just no longer fit for purpose; it has utterly forgotten what that purpose even is.
I know NBI has come up before but I still find it interesting. The adult population of Finland is about the same as NZ. The fish-hooks are considered in this article as well. eg A woman with 3 kids versus a woman with no kids?
Every person or every adult?
The Finnish government is currently drawing up plans to introduce a national basic income. A final proposal won’t be presented until November 2016, but if all goes to schedule, Finland will scrap all existing benefits and instead hand out €800 ($870) per month—to everyone.
It sounds far-fetched, but it’s looking likely that Finland will carry through with the idea. Whereas several Dutch cities will introduce basic income next year and Switzerland is holding a referendum on the subject, there is strongest political and public support for the idea in Finland.”
http://qz.com/566702/finland-plans-to-give-every-citizen-a-basic-income-of-800-euros-a-month/
@ianmac – great link
Good news: Bananas aren’t going extinct. Bad news: They are in trouble
Globalisation: Just so fucking things up as what used to pass as a localised phenomenon gets passed around due to commercial imperatives.
Without Globalisation you would neither know about nor care what happened to Bananas in Latin America.
The big concern with the Avian flu was that it could transmute into a global pandemic because of the ease with which people span the globe every day. The same applies to our food source.
You, as per normal with RWNJs, focussed solely upon the object mentioned and failed to understand that the concern extends beyond that one thing.
That would require cognitive ability. Gossie blows a mean dog whistle and parrots along with the best which is the RWNJ mandatory minimum.
That would require cognitive ability. Gossie blows a mean dog whistle and parrots along with the best which is the RWNJ mandatory minimum.
It depends what globalisation you want to happen.
If it is a globalisation of ideas, and information then we are all for it, but unfortunately, we look to be seeing the globalisation of Indonesian level labour law and environmental regulations.
Contributions like that only reinforce stats that NZ is the most ignorant nation.
Hi Gosman,
Along similar lines: ‘Without slavery you would neither know about nor care what happened to the modern global capitalist market economy (so stop criticising slavery).”
If you’re interested in the historical basis of that statement try these links:
Here, here, here and here.
Stop TPP, TTIP, TiSA
REGISTER 4 CALL: http://bit.ly/1NB7M8J
Sun Dec 6, 4:30pm Pacific/7:30 pm Eastern
“As COP21 continues in Paris, ostensibly to prevent the largest crisis of our time, the Obama administration is embarking on a spin campaign in an attempt to sell the benefits of the TPP both to Congress and the people. Yet, the TPP fails, in its 5,600 pages, to reference the words climate change even once. And the newly Wiki-leaked Trade in Services Agreement or TiSA, Environmental Chapter, proves that multinationals have no intention of working to prevent the looming climate disaster.”
— National TPP Team
GUEST SPEAKERS:
~ William Waren, Trade Policy Analyst, Friends of the Earth
~ Dr. Frank Ackerman, principal economist at Synapse Energy Economics
The call will begin with legislative and strategy updates from the TPP Team.
+100…and where is the New Zealand Labour Party on this?…nowhere to be seen?
Breaking: Our boats have caught up with the BBC Shanghai aka “rust-bucket” carrying nuclear waste back to Australia. http://act.gp/1lDkYU6
Seeing as the government won’t tell us what’s going on, Greenpeace activists are documenting the waste’s arrival – from out at sea all the way to Lucas Heights.
Follow #dodgyWaste on Twitter @greenpeaceaustp
Huge massive big ups to SAFE and Farmwatch on their work in exposing cruelty in the dairy industry and taking it global.
Some time ago, I don’t know when as I no sense of timing, John Darroch of Farmwatch put up a guest post on TS about footage he obtained of the inhumane conditions on pig farms, which, like the recent dairying video also include workers abusing the animals.
He had meetings with MPI to discuss the matter but was dissatisfied with their lack of follow through.
It is hardly surprising then, that SAFE felt compelled to take their campaign to the next level and take out ads in The Guardian to expose cruel farm practices to UK consumers of our products. It was the only way they could get our government and industry to listen and act.
But what do they do instead? They defend the dairy industry and shoot the messenger. Andrew Hoggard from Federated Farmers seems to think it’s a vegan conspiracy:
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/safe-ad-nz-dairy-contaminated-with-cruelty-2015120616#axzz3tZgSMAQf
While Nathan Guy brushes the issue off and says it’s just a minority of farmers behaving badly, as if that makes it ok, and that he was disappointed with SAFE, as if they are the ones committing violent and cruel abuses. (RNZ this a.m) Both the industry have been blatant in their single minded concern for protecting farmers economic prospects while absolutely failing to address the issue.
It’s only because of the hard work of activists over the decades that NZer’s have any awareness of the cruelty of battery farming and can buy free range chicken, eggs and pig at the supermarket.
Exposing the cruelty within the dairy industry was inevitable and a natural progression from the battery farming issues. The industry and government are talking like this whole thing is going to blow over.
Lets hope it doesn’t. Lets hope this is only the beginning.
Kia Kaha SAFE and Farmwatch.
+1
+100 Rosie…it was sickening…and it deserves international coverage…this is far worse than the milk botulism scare
http://farmersweekly.co.nz/article/pulpit-money-root-of-industrial-cruelty?p=6
Here’s an interesting take on some of the causes of animal abuse.
I personally think its good that the bad eggs are weeded out of the farming industry ,but think dragging the whole industry through the muck in an international attack is counter productive.
I also wonder how many lefties would be happy to have spy cameras set up to trap them in some sort of wrong doing?
Farming has been self-regulated for awhile now and so we actually do have to drag the whole lot of them through the muck so as to incentivise the good ones to do something about the bad ones. Unfortunately, most of them don’t believe that they have any responsibility for the bad ones and so nothing will continue to happen.
Much better just to drop the delusion that industries will self-regulate and put in some decent regulation and over-watch.
That’s a nice thought provoking piece by Chris Perley, although family farms could be rough and cruel as well. It sounds like his father was a good man.
Family farms are superior to the corporate model. The money that’s flooded the rural sector, increasing the number of multi-farms in the past decade, has in my view exacerbated the existing lack of professionalism and lack of feeling for the land and animals among a large portion of NZ rural people. This is about more than a few bad eggs.
Globalisation and modern media methods are highlighting it. Expect more exposes of this type. Loss of export markets is the only thing many of these guys understand, so I support it. And if lefties are abusing animals I’d expect them to be held to account as well.
The Australian writer Don Watson calls farming ”measured violence”; which is a good description for what even with best practice is a cruel business.
In this morning interview the calf defenders kept saying that SAFE should have handed the info over at the first chance instead of going public. Well they did hand over months ago, and MPI (?) did nothing. In the TV slot on”Sunday”, the MPI chap kept on refusing to say what if any action they had taken when they were given the info a long time ago. They had done nothing. Even the farmer featured had not been approached by anyone from MPI.
Key taught them well to deny, avoid, bluster.
“Frankie Boyle summed up my misgivings when he tweeted about Wednesday’s Commons debate: “Kind of disturbed by the palpable excitement in parliament. The truth is our politicians like wars because they make them feel important.”” – Who can forget Keys agitated puffed up “Get some guts” moment,
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/06/words-of-war-can-seduce-david-mitchell-hilary-benn-speech?CMP=share_btn_fb
Palestinian and expelled UAE resident Iyad El-Baghdadi –
Iyad El-Baghdadi
@iyad_elbaghdadi
If the local population switches from seeing ISIS as occupiers to seeing them as protectors, we have a huge, huge problem. @comomx32010
Iyad El-Baghdadi @iyad_elbaghdadi 22h22 hours ago Ulu Langat, Selangor
And I believe that ISIS wants to be bombed precisely because of this. It plans on it. And the world obliges. @comomx32010
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/673540901151510528
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11752
Interesting take on the situation in Venezuela where the ruling Socialists could lose their majority in the Congressional elections held yesterday/today.
I note how the writer blames the fact that the Chavista regime has being to accomodating towards opponents and that is why it is in the mess that it is in. This is why hard left wing political thought is a threat to democracy. The hard left wants to destroy and supporess anything that it perceives to be a threat.
“This is why extremist political thought is a threat to democracy. Political idealogues want to destroy and suppress anything that they perceive to be a threat.”
FTFY
Reminds me of how this National government shut down TVNZ 7 and have a deliberate funding freeze on RNZ.
Gosman, you are utterly ignorant. Why do you not do some reading?
And for pity’s sake, stop believing everything you hear on Fox News.
He has no critical thinking.
Sad, really.
News just out.
Key replaces Lotu-liga with Collins.
Little replaces Cosgrove with Cunliffe
so what does that mean for Cunliffe?…he is still pretty low down on the list ( not good management for Labour’s best and brightest…most able and popular…Little is running scared)
…i would still like to see Cunliffe jump ship and Manaia Mahuta with the Maori seats
…and I would still like to see a real Labour Mana Party…instead of the tepid thing we have
This is a joke, right?
Sadly yes. Seemly Key us his own man and is comfortable with having complex and interesting people working in his team. Sadly Little had his team dictated to him by the ABCs according to TRP.
“Sadly Little had his team dictated to him by the ABCs according to TRP.”
If the TRP you are referring to is me, you’re barking up the wrong tree, because I’ve never said that. And the reason I’ve never said it is because it’s not true. Little is his own man and he’s done a great job of getting a dysfunctional, back biting caucus back on track. Something Goff, Shearer and Cunliffe never managed.
I appreciate there will always be some people who will always prefer to see Labour failing, but do try and keep up. Like Cunliffe, the ABCers are yesterday’s news.
“Like Cunliffe, the ABCers are yesterday’s news”…really ?
maybe it is little Labour that is yesterday’s news? ( Little just shows himself to be, at very least, a poor manager)
…Cunliffe and Mahuta bringing in the Maori seats were Labour’s hope
Didnt Boag support Little as Leader?
A caucus who tries to get rid of someone as talented and gifted as David Cunliffe is liable to be looked upon with some derision – I mean, how much real talent and political ability does this Labour Party Caucus possess at the moment? The wishes of members of the Labour Party seem to be ignored. And the caucus wonder why there is no money in the kitty?
24 November 2014 at 9:05 am
Cheers, weka and karol. I think the problem with some of the comments around the deputy’s position is the ignorance about the process. Little can certainly nominate someone, but it’s a caucus decision, not his. And the numbers in caucus have not significantly changed; the ‘ABCers’ are still the biggest camp. They showed that by dumping Cunliffe’s chosen whips at the first opportunity.
Thus Spoke TRP.
Reply
Yep, that’s the deputy’s position. Now for the evidence that I said Little had his team dictated to him by the ABCers. Nah, you’re not going to be able do that, eh?
The fact is that Little chose his shadow cabinet.
1. You stated that the ABCers are the biggest camp.
2. You stated that they can choose the Deputy, no matter who Little wants.
3. If they can dictate the Deputy and are the biggest camp ergo they can dictate the other positions.
TRP still waiting for your answer to Bill Drees…looks like he has you snookered
in the meantime …here is how the vote went
http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/little-wins-labour-leadership
Little has one shot at being Labour Leader. If Little loses the election in 2017, Grant Robertson will be leader within weeks
…and if Grant Robertson becomes leader …bye bye Labour Party grassroots voter appeal …maybe this is the end game ?
he cant even win his own seat , nor can jacinda Adern and nor can Andrew Little
If I pick it right, “Labour grassroots appeal” is already mostly over.
Time for a new grassroots real Labour Party
Chooky, I have a life. I’ve been out, as it happens, and even if I wasn’t, I answer if and when when I fucken well feel like it, not according to your agenda. Bill’s comments are full of shit. The shadow cabinet was chosen by Little as is his right.
I never said what Bill claimed I did, and what he claimed about caucus selecting the shadow cabinet was wrong in fact anyway and the that’s the end of that story.
Bill fucked up out of ignorance. What’s your excuse?
Bill, if you want to talk shit, you really need to do some research first. I’d say you really should start by looking up the rules of the Labour party. The deputies position is voted on by caucus, but you’ll note they voted to endorse the person Little preferred. Secondly, the shadow positions are Little’s choice, as I said. You’ll note that there hasn’t been a skerrick of dissent about it, even from DC, who has taken the demotion with considerable good grace.
As I said earlier….
7 December 2015 at 9:16 am
Claire Trevett’s opinion piece “Coded messages go back and forth in reshuffle” contains a terrible allegation about Andrew Little which he needs to clear up.
It is effectively saying the Cunliffe’s shafting was Annette King’s price to give up her Rongotai seat for Andrew Little.
What other Faustian pacts get made in our Labour Party Caucus? No wonder they fought so hard to deny the membership a say in the selection of leader.
Can we drop talented people, promote unsuitable people, and expect to win the respect of the public?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11554882
Claire Trevett effectively is saying Little is not his own man, that Auntie Annette has him by the short and curlies.
IMHO when the time is right Auntie will kill off Little and finally. oh finally, have her dear Grant installed in his rightful possie.
+100…interesting article …and this is the crux imo …”What other Faustian pacts get made in our Labour Party Caucus? No wonder they fought so hard to deny the membership a say in the selection of leader.
Can we drop talented people, promote unsuitable people, and expect to win the respect of the public?”
Good questions…This Labour Party seems to defy all common sense….and it looks corrupt, taken over by hostile forces, or at very least expedient and ruthless….
It would be very interesting if someone broke ranks and spilt the beans…or better still jumped ship …or forced the ABCs to walk the plank
( Cunliffe as Hamlet?: “The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right.”)
“…or forced the ABCs to walk the plank.”
To quote the great Orace himself, the well informed TRP, ” the ABCers are yesterday’s news.”
That suggests that, with Cunliffe shafted, the ABCers ARE the Labour Party. Grant and Annette own the shop.
Using TRPs analysis, factionalism is gone and he Labour Party is unified. The erstwhile Right, Cosgrove, Shearer, Nash, O’Connor, have accepted (bought off) the new status quo. The Neo-liberals have won. Time to break bread with Roger Douglas.
All this assumes the membership will be pliant.
My thoughts keep going back the sights of Little and Hipkins screaming at the membership during the Ellersli Conference. That was the day unions and the members voted for 40: 40: 20.
I am not an uncritical ‘my party right or wrong” commentator, but I want to suggest a possible, more positive scenario. For one thing, Labour cannot continue with the kind of centrism that they tried to sell us under Shearer. That approach is exhausted, if it had legs to begin with. Secondly, you cannot intrigue and dissemble your way through an infinite number of elections – if Labour doesn’t reverse the downward trend then getting to be the next leader will hardly be a prize.
This means that the dominant factions are now in the position where they must show their mettle, or get out of the way if they lack it. And if the sidelined Cunliffeites can manage to bite the bullet and put their weight behind winning, then we will at least end up with a larger Labour caucus, possibly even a Labour government. Either result would dilute factional pressures and hold people to task. I am far from happy about the insult to David Cunliffe – I am just suggesting that Little may yet make a virtue of necessity. If he doesn’t, it will mean another nail in Labour’s coffin rather than an opportunity for some eager beaver.
Another revealing insight in to the mind of the hard left.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11747
‘“Right now we’re in an economic war. Private companies hide food, or don’t produce food. To try to change the minds of us Chavistas, revolutionaries. They want to change our ideology. But us, we want to continue with the revolution,” Acosta concluded.’
The idea that Private companies have decided to lose money by deliberately stopping food getting to market just so that they can influence people’s political viewpoint. It highlights a degree of paranoia and disconect from reality which is astounding.
Another revealing insight into the mind of the centre right.
How is that Centre Right?
Oh, sorry, are you not the specious comparison master I am seeking?
Are you disputing that the supporters of the Chavista regime are not generally regarded as hard left?
The Centre Right has a lot to answer for.
Donald’s loony right, not centre right.
I can see how you would make the mistake when talking about American politics, though.
Try looking at him through Gosman’s specious comparison lens.
I’m not sure that there’s a difference any more. Hell, just look at Gosman’s rantings.
And yet he is very popular with people who are sick and tired of the lies and obfuscation of establishment politicians.
That’s ok, there are alternative politicians whose lies we can get sick of too.
Pity poor Matthew Hooton: this morning he suffered nightmarish flashbacks to
being shown up and put down by Matthew Campbell and Laila Harré.
Politics from the Left and from the Right, RNZ National, Monday 7 December 2015
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Stephen Mills
What a welcome replacement Stephen Mills is for that zombie Mike Williams! He did not once guffaw sycophantically at one of Hooton’s remarks, nor did he say: “I agree with Matthew”. Even better, he countered and refuted every single thing Hooton said, to Hooton’s evident discomfit.
Right near the end, after Hooton had claimed that New Zealand had set the agenda at the Paris climate talks, Mills said: “So John Key has saved the planet, has he?” Hooton, taken aback, was silent for a considerable time before scrambling with a platitudinous response.
Mills’ refusal to be cowered by Hooton’s antics even rubbed off on Kathryn Ryan, who actually found the courage to challenge Hooton’s statements herself, and to point out that his views represented no one but himself.
At the end, instead of Hooton finishing with a five-minute lecture, as he usually does when Williams is on the program, he had to listen to Stephen Mills delivering the last word—-Mills said the National Party’s climate “policy” was “dismal and cynical”.
Hooton. demoralised, didn’t have the heart or the wherewithal to shout anything incendiary, as he would have to Mike Williams.
ANOTHER NIGHTMARE FLASHBACK: An unpleasant experience for Hooton came on Bastille Day this year, when he had to endure the no-nonsense Lynn Freeman as host of the program…..
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14072015/#comment-1043304
+1 Morrissey
To be honest key probably did “set the agenda” because all that will happen is a bunch of stuffed shirts will talk a lot of bullshit and things will not change.
So it goes.
No! He set the agenda by being so obviously flaky that he helped NZ to be awarded the Fossil of The Day award.
http://www.eco-business.com/news/nz-cop21-seemingly-bold-announcements-end-with-a-fossil-of-the-day-award/
River stance
Clean and Green? Not bloody likely.
The housing crisis Auckland is under supplied by 31, 000 odd houses. Joy, no wonder people are living in garages.
Good bless our middle class and their complete disconnect from reality on this issue.
http://www.horizonpoll.co.nz/page/421/the-big-home?gtid=8529406816627DJJ
Since migration is running at over 60,000 per year currently with no abatement, not quite sure what the middle class are supposed to do about it?
It is government policy that is putting the strain on housing and rentals!!!
And the government is selling off the state houses???
And the undemocratic SHA’s are being used to speculate with and profit from with only a fraction of houses being built so far and not aimed at Kiwis on local wages, more like over $800,000…
Yep, that is the governments idea of affordable housing…
The government wants you to blame the middle class, poor or who ever, not deliberate government policy to increase house prices by creating demand with immigration or cracking down on monopolies within building (it costs more per square meter to build here than Australia, USA even though we make a lot of the raw materials).
+100 savenz
We like our privacy.
http://www.horizonpoll.co.nz/page/422/warning-to-c?gtid=0829406815013JLS
http://johnpilger.com/videos/the-war-on-democracy
The u.s.a has previously help sponsor and support a military overthrow of the democratically elected government of Venezuela ……… as they have done before in Chile and many other countries ……. like Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat
The U.s.a has been waging a economic war against Venezuela ever since it elected a socialist Government which brought in things like free health care for the poor ……………. just like it did with Cuba.
The propaganda then becomes it’s the Venezuelan Governments fault for the pain that the u.s.a and its proxies are inflicting.
http://johnpilger.com/videos/the-war-on-democracy …….. watch the film and then clearly see Gosmans posts for what they are………. he only has one eye and its an evil one
Even the apologists for the Chavista regime in Venezuela aren’t stupid enough to blame the problems that the country now faces purely on the US.
It would be equally stupid to pretend that US interference has had no impact.
Meanwhile, on the Centre Right.
And don’t forget the rest of the history of the centre-right.
Rejection of scientific studies in online discusions
Worth a a read. I’ve seen all 12 on this site used by both the Left and the Right-wing.
Scientific progress is growing increasingly irrelevant as the problems society faces are now predominantly caused by corporate and political power.
Hooray! 13 reasons!
Looks like the people of Venezuela are tired of waiting for the dream..
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-idUSKBN0TP03Y20151207#Ftb9UapLgBj8pPio.97
Gosman’s got a pet 😆
The Centre Right, one original thought is all they need.
And spread it round like Marmite, tart flavour, meanly spread, dark and dense.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11557000
The Perils of Perception survey shows New Zealand is the most ignorant developed country, with most people misunderstanding the facts that make up our country’s society.
Kiwis hugely overestimated the proportion of wealth owned by the wealthiest 1 per cent in the country.
The average response on the percentage of wealth controlled by the wealthiest 1 per cent in New Zealand was 50 per cent. In reality, the wealthiest New Zealanders hold 18 per cent of the country’s wealth.
Well done to the left in NZ they’ve managed to alter the perception of the public which is no easy thing to do and the top 1% only owning 18% of the wealth…that’s pretty good
1% owning 18% of wealth is still 1% owning far too much.
The top 10% in NZ own more than the rest of all Kiwis put together.
“Looks like the people of Venezuela are tired of waiting for the dream..”
That is sad as this was the darling cot case the right loved to quote. I enjoyed reading the mythical myopic views Gosman and others from the right took over Venezuela. The standard will never be the same again
I wonder what Gosman will do now? I suppose he can start giving us a blow by blow tirade of that other cot case, the right wing cot case called the Ukraine.
The Chavista regime is still in power in Venezuela. The Opposition has now gained an extra weapon to fight back against the policies that are ruining that once prosperous nation.
In other words, the 1% are shifting the balance back in their favour against the rest of the nation.
If the shift is anything like the current suggestions CV, it would require quite a significant % of The People to be voting against the Govt. Far more than 1%.
To add to TLS comments above :
Looks like another failed socialist experiment has started to be consigned to the dustbin of history with the opposition MUD coalition winning the election to the National assempbly by a decisive margin.
http://caracaschronicles.com/2015/12/06/49466/
If they get over 2/3rds majority (which some are predicting) they can make life very difficult for the Chavista regime.
More difficult than US interference? I doubt it.
I see the Centre Right is at it again.
“Safeguarded eavesdropping by the state is a price we might have to pay for our safety.”—was Max Ritchie’s speech the dumbest in radio history?
The Panel, RNZ National, Monday 7 December 2015
Jim Mora, Ali Jones, Max Ritchie
Just before the 4:30 news, host Jim Mora called for opinions about the SAFE advertisement that appeared in the Guardian yesterday. [1] Predictably, both Ali Jones and Max Ritchie reiterated the Federated Farmers/Fonterra corporate line and upbraided Hans Kriek for not talking enough to farmers and for (according to Ritchie) pushing his vegetarian lifestyle on everyone else. Ritchie should have left his comments at that, but, foolishly, he then went on to quote one of the less respected, crazier people to have appeared on the Panel….
MAX RITCHIE: I heard on the radio earlier that professor of agriculture that frequently comes on your program, I forget what her name is.
JIM MORA: Jacqueline Rowarth.
MAX RITCHIE: That’s the one. Well, she said that our animal welfare standards are the best in the world.
Ritchie should have carried out due diligence. If he had, he would have quoted someone better than Jacqueline Rowarth, who has established herself alongside such notorious characters as Dov Bing, Ron Smith and Willem de Lange as one of the loopier academics to periodically slither out from under the rock of Waikato University. Jacqueline Rowarth blundered into our line of sight last year, when she came on to assure the Panel that there is no such thing as poverty in New Zealand, that it’s all in the minds of the poor, who actually don’t exist anyway, and that media reports of children without shoes were rubbish: it was nothing more than kids who just didn’t want to wear shoes. [2]
Endorsing a loopy provincial academic was bad enough, but there was worse to come from Max Ritchie. He announced grandly that his Soapbox piece after the news would be about “freedom”. In fact it turned out to be nothing more than a windy homily about how he is perfectly happy to prostrate himself to the state, which he trusts absolutely to do the right thing: “Safeguarded eavesdropping by the state is a price we might have to pay for our safety,” he intoned. He then went on, speaking as solemnly and as slowly as he could, to state that New Zealand doesn’t have a culture of heavy-handed persecution by the state, and that we could be perfectly confident if we did as he suggested, and surrendered all our rights to politicians and bureaucrats.
After he finished speaking, there was a pause. Jim Mora does have a tendency to make a glib wisecrack after one of his guests makes such a portentous statement, but this time he was obviously flabbergasted, and said nothing at all in response. Neither did Ali Jones. It was like they were hoping that what had just been said—in essence, “I am happy to be a slave, and so should all of us be happy to be slaves”—was a horrible phantasm, and would vanish into the ether if they just stayed silent.
Interestingly, five minutes after expressing his confidence in the benevolence of the state, Ritchie indulged in a lengthy whinge about being stopped by the police for speeding on Orakei Road on January 4th this year. “Utterly RIDICULOUS,” he growled, “I am not at ALL convinced that this is an appropriate way of policing!”
Perhaps Max Ritchie would not enjoy his voluntary enslavement as much as he thinks he would.
[1] http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/74783076/new-zealand-dairy-cruelty-claims-target-uk-consumer-in-guardian-ad-campaign
[2] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-23092014/#comment-895173
Yep! Whenever I hear Jacqueline Rowarth on air – I switch off – Why is she always the go to gal whenever they want some input on rural matters? Ok that’s her job – but surely there are others less loopy? She posts on Pundit too from time to time 🙄
You do a great job for us M, I don’t know how you do it! 🙂
+100 Morrissey…for stripping down what they say and critically examining it
I also think Prof Rowarth is loopy…and a mouth piece for interests which are not necessarily farmers’
….”Waikato University agribusiness professor Jacqueline Rowarth questioned whether New Zealand should be doing business with Russia.
“We need to be looking carefully at the reasons others have stopped trading with Russia,” she said.
“We stood up against the Springboks in 1981 because we didn’t like the way people were being treated.”
Rowarth said New Zealand could experience “short-term gain, long-term pain” from continuing to send dairy products and other food to Russia.
“There could be repercussions for other trade if we just say we’ll keep selling you our products,” she said..”..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/10363174/Russia-wants-our-cheese-but-at-what-cost
Dutch citizens condemn the brutality and stupidity of the Bible
Some Dutch people were approached and asked to listen to some passages from the Koran. After being read out some particularly violent and bloodthirsty passages, they expressed some contemptuous opinions about the simpletons who believe in such a vile religion….
Trouble is, the passage actually came not from the Koran but from the Bible….
http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/what-happens-when-you-read-people-the-bible-and-tell-them-its-the-koran-exactly-what-you-expect–WkbZzP1Jv9e
Was there some point to the exercise, or was it shits and giggles? I guess one conclusion we could draw is, you’d be completely fucking nuts to have your schools devote large amounts of their teaching time to having kids memorise passages from said book. Good job the Dutch, at least, don’t go in for that…
Yep! The bible contains some pretty graphic and sordid passages…
Which is why a literal reading of it is not recommended.
+1 totally.
Matthew Flanagan at mandm.org.nz has done some excellent work on this topic, to show that these violent passages were probably employing hyperbole common in ANE rhetoric/literature of the time, not to be taken literally.
A big problem with naive readings of these ancient documents is that we bring our 21st century scientific brains to the table and make some basic errors of interpretation. A lot of the narratives are figurative or mythical, conveying moral and spiritual truth, not cold empirical statements like the laws of physics.
I look at it this way:
Q: is Led Zep’s “Stairway to Heaven” true or false?
A: the question is poorly formulated as a song is open to interpretation. It’s art not science.
So it is with the text of the Bible.