Open Mike 07/12/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 7th, 2016 - 153 comments
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153 comments on “Open Mike 07/12/2016 ”

  1. Every post here since Key’s announcement on Monday has been boo-Key and boo-National.

    National are vulnerable. The public will have an extra look to see who they think can run Government competently. But I see mostly see Opposition mud flying, still. It seems like a stupid first impression post-Key to present to the public.

    If opposition parties, and supporting online forums like The Standard, want to take advantage of National’s vulnerability surely they can at least try to look better, rather than worse.

    Is the left capable of being positive?

    • Stunned mullet 1.1

      This blog and others from the right or left of politics are not the face of a political bloc in NZ – they are the venting and ravings of a few signifying nothing. Most voters will look at those they are voting for and the respective party leaders when casting their vote at the general election not the standard where all authors and the vast majority of commenters have decided how they will vote years out from the election usually due to their entrenched views and personal prejudices

      • save nz 1.1.1

        @Stunned mullet – yet you still post in to ts….

      • Ad 1.1.2

        Until Key’s resignation, most voters had already made their minds up.

        He has unsettled both the commercial and political markets sufficiently for the polis to pause and reconsider.

    • Cinny 1.2

      Pete, maybe you would prefer to read the thoughts of one of the Herald writers on Keys departure… ?

      “I could have chosen to dress up my column today with all sorts of nuanced, insightful, and charitable words about John Key’s departure. It’d be akin to going to someone’s funeral that you consistently bagged – both publicly and privately. Tacky”

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11761381

      The opposition parties were on fire in Parliament yesterday, and I for one am extremely proud of how they have approached this shocking news.

      The statesman like response from the future PM of NZ aka Alpha Andy and Grant Robertson on the day Key announced his resignation spoke volumes. A stark contrast to the negative little personal put downs from the PM whom has quit.

      How about starting the day singing praises about the opposition parties rather than whining about Keys resignation and the fact that the national party is in tatters. Where are your positive stories about the outgoing government in the last few days Pete?

    • One Anonymous Bloke 1.3

      What a stream of negativity, and what could be more negative than lying about the Opposition’s response to Key’s resignation:

      On behalf of Metiria, the Green Party MPs and the Party, I would like to thank John Key for his eight years of service as Prime Minister,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw.

      “No matter your political allegiance, you have to respect someone who chooses to make the personal sacrifices required to be our country’s Prime Minister.”

      John Key has served New Zealand generously and with dedication. Although we may have had our policy differences over the years, I respect the Prime Minister’s decision to stand down.

      “I can empathise with his reasons. Politics requires much sacrifice. We may all be politicians, but not all our lives are politics.

      “The Prime Minister has served New Zealand through times of considerable global instability, and will leave politics proud of his achievements. I wish him and his family the best for the future.

      “Labour is ready and willing to contest the 2017 general election. We will present a credible choice for people and look forward to the opportunity to contest the election on our values and vision for New Zealand.”

      Why does Petty George tell so many desperate unoriginal lies? Does anyone care?

      • marty mars 1.3.1

        He does it for attention and no one cares because he is a very shallow thinker.

      • alwyn 1.3.2

        “On behalf of Metiria”
        Did he talk to Metria before he came out with this statement? It certainly isn’t the approach that Turei was expounding in her mean spirited little contribution in Parliament yesterday.
        Have they decided to play “good cop (Shaw) bad cop (Turei)”?

        The political parties in the Opposition are crazy. They should learn from the way Key behaved after Helen Clark was defeated and stood down after the 2008 election.
        She was defeated. She didn’t matter any more. He didn’t waste even a moment kicking a relic of the past on the side of the road because there was absolutely nothing to be gained.
        Why are Labour and the Green MPs continuing the fight with someone who is retiring. All they do is exhibit their bitter little approach to life. Wait till there is a new National leader, and Prime Minister, and attack them. That is what Key did. He forgot Clark and aimed his fire at the new leader from that moment on. Staying on a path that attacks Key is stupid.

        It doesn’t matter for people who contribute to this website, just as it didn’t matter to people who contributed to attacks on Clark on other sites after she had stood down. They were not MPs and nobody really cared about the mad ravings of a pack of loons, then against Clark or now against Key.
        It is MPs who have to avoid looking like idiots.

        • Cinny 1.3.2.1

          Hi Alwyn, were you watching yesterday? I noticed a very cohesive group of opposition MP’s in the house yesterday, concentrating their questions on possible nat party leaders.

          3. ANDREW LITTLE to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that “the prices you pay for a house are ridiculous”, given New Zealand house prices have risen by over 50 percent since he made that statement?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b09iWjnarLE

          4. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Minister of Health: Does he expect an estimated 533,000 New Zealanders who did not visit a GP due to cost in the last year to continue to wait for primary care reform which might “form part of a future Budget”, possibly under a different health Minister as stated by him?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUg1JikLdLg

          7. PHIL TWYFORD to the Minister for Social Housing: Does she stand by her statement, “look I can’t guarantee that”, when asked if anyone living in a car can go to a Government agency today and get a roof over their head tonight?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bksgViHJ1MM

          8. RON MARK to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FNnms6R6T8

          9. DAVID CLENDON to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement to this House that “having surpluses does not mean that the Government can go spending more money on ineffective public services or infrastructure that may not be needed”?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqvLUqaRuWA

          11. STUART NASH to the Minister of Police: Does she think there is any correlation between the closure of over 20 Community Policing Centres and the 13,000 increase in victimisations in the last 12 months; if not, why not?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfQ7MtdWkk

          However the debate that followed gave way for all to vent or praise the outgoing PM or in the case of Crusher, Coca Coleman and Dippy a chance to push their own agendas.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGgIWCeyHiA

          Currently the outgoing government are infighting flat out with a leadership war. And the choices are so sad, I almost feel sorry for Nat voters, almost

          • alwyn 1.3.2.1.1

            The questions, except for Turei’s one to John Key were the MPs being sensible. They were focussing on now, not on something that has passed

            The speeches in the debate were not. He’s gone. Give up. You couldn’t lay a glove on him while he was PM and there is simply no point in trying to do it now. Have a read of Turei’s speech yesterday in that debate. The words of a bitter twisted woman who is still trying to fight what is yesterday’s war.
            https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20161206_056100000/turei-metiria

            As for your dream of there being a leadership war. Forget it. The National Party hasn’t had a real war since Muldoon came to be leader and even that wasn’t really out in the open.

            • Robert Guyton 1.3.2.1.1.1

              “couldn’t lay a glove on him…”

              ’cause, slippery.

              • alwyn

                It isn’t quite the word I would use but still.
                He was, as Chris Trotter pointed out once, the cleverest politician of our generation. He was vastly ahead of anyone else of his time.

                I remember looking at that list of stories blip used to link to. He claimed they were Key’s “lies”. When I checked some of them I found they weren’t lies at all. They may have been carefully composed statements that people “thought” were lies but they weren’t. People tended to read into the things he said meanings that simply weren’t there.

                If you didn’t like him you might say “slippery”. If you did like him, and clearly most New Zealanders do, you would simply say he was a master of his art. The only one in my lifetime who was in the same class was Keith Holyoake.

      • Macro 1.3.3

        Well you know – the more you complain – the longer god lets you live 😈

    • Incognito 1.4

      Is the left capable of being positive?

      Actually, we are on the cusp of something special and at the end of the day I’m relaxed and comfortable about that.

      Is that positive enough for you Pete? Not that this implies in any way or form that I am or speak for “the left” because that’s typically just a lovely meme for people that grapple with reality.

    • Is the left capable of being positive?

      Have you stopped beating your wife?

    • Puckish Rogue 1.6

      M’eh, its a left aligned political website so what do you expect? It’d be a pretty dull place if everyone played nice all of the time.

    • Macro 1.7

      Pete, if that’s all you can see then you a blinded by the “light”.

      Now let us get on with the rejoicing – because the “evil one” has gone.

      And yes he is evil. Some may think the sun shines from his posterior – but for many* he brought nothing, but hardship and suffering. He was appointed by the people to care for them, (that is the primary role of Government), but like the Levite, he simply walked by on the other side.

      *
      40,000 more unemployed
      41,000 homeless
      300,000 children living in poverty
      foodbank cupboards around the country are now under severe threat of becoming empty as the number of parcels isssued this year doubles.
      Emergency shelters are permanently overflowing.
      the cost of providing shelter for oneself, or ones family, has doubled.
      Wages have risen barely 10% in the same period (if your lucky enough to earn a full time wage) – or stayed the same. Key on the other hand receives twice the renumeration for the “job” as does the British PM.
      Mental health services run down to such an extent, they can no longer care for the vulnerable.
      Our DHBs have been held to the same funding for almost a decade despite rising costs, and can now barely provide critical services, let alone “elective” surgery; and patients are pushed off, or kept off, “waiting” lists to make the statistics look good.
      Schools have been forced from providing education to children and are now mere training centres for a National testing regime that sees our children’s ability falling in comparison with children from other countries. But never mind soon there will be COOL, and they can stay at home and do nothing.
      And those are only the Social Justice Issues of the day.
      Key has overseen the embeggarment of future generations. His largesse to the wealthy has come at the expense of every one else, and the failure to provide for future generations will see him held responsible for a deriliction of duty. NZ’s GHG emmissions have continued to increase as he trashed the ETS, and removed all incentives for saving energy. Our rivers are now cess pits for the dairy industry. Our seas are denuded of their fish, and marine life, and the Tasman Sea is a garbage dump of plastic and flotsum endangering the lives of 50% of sea birds that breed on our Islands. There is virtually nothing that he has not seen deteriorate under his watch, except the bank balances of his mates.

      About the only thing “good” I can say is “GOOD RIDDANCE”

    • Whateva next? 1.8

      That’s very negative of you thanks Pete

      • greywarshark 1.8.1

        Sacha
        That was such a good story too. And you spoil it with the facts!

        And Pete George fertilises the post and I think 15 comments grew up in his shadow.. He certainly is stimulating. Like an electric shock, he can jerk everybody into a response. Some of them are very detailed and no doubt informative. So that is a positive result.

  2. Ad 2

    Check out that UN Security Council resolution for a Syrian ceasefire: blocked by both Russia and China.

    Interesting tag team.

    I think Russia and China are viewing Trumps isolationist election as a signal to rapidly accelerate their territorial ambition.

    • garibaldi 2.1

      Bullshit Ad. They are trying to rout ISIS ,which is more than the stupid Yanks could do with their ratbag bunch of unorganised mish mash factions.

      • Ad 2.1.1

        The resolution was seeking a ceasefire and was well supported across the Council.

      • Wayne 2.1.3

        garibaldi,

        To believe that you have to believe the insurgents in Aleppo are ISIS. There is precious little evidence of that.

        In fact Russia virtually ignores ISIS and leaves them to the western coalition.

        Russia is primarily concerned with supporting Assad. All his opponents are therefore fair game so far as the Russians are concerned.

        • Anne 2.1.3.1

          Russia is primarily concerned with supporting Assad. All his opponents are therefore fair game so far as the Russians are concerned.

          As someone who is far from an expert on the subject – indeed I am normally among the populace who leave such complex discussions to those who know what they’re talking about – I am nevertheless sure your premise that Russia is primarily concerned with supporting Assad is correct. But I will go further and posit the theory that their support has less to do with Assad himself, and more to do with the desire to gain dominance of the Middle East oil supply chain. And of course America’s basic premise for being so intimately involved in the region is exactly the same. That is, both sides are fighting to gain dominance over the same supply chain.

          The above will be seen by some as simplistic, but I venture to suggest that the moment technology produces an acceptable and easily produced alternative fuel hey presto… both sides will clear out of the Middle East and leave them to their own devices which is precisely what most of the M.E countries want to see happen.

          • inspider 2.1.3.1.1

            Syria is the wrong country to choose if you want to dominate the oil trade; it has no significant oil and, while close to Iraq, is not on a major oil trade route. Also Russia is a major producer in its own right so could influence the market more effectively by altering its production. As could the US.

            • Wayne 2.1.3.1.1.1

              inspider,

              Agreed about Syria and oil.

              However, Syria has long provided a Mediterranean port and two airbases to Russia. Without these, Russia’s presence in the Middle East and the Med would be very much reduced.

              Russia is generally hemmed in by geography. All the ‘Stans and deserts to the South. Mostly hostile Europeans to the West. Ice to the North and a bleak Pacific coast on the East.

              The Black Sea is their easiest access to much of the world and Syria figures in that. Less about oil, more about centuries old geo-politics.

              • Anne

                Fair enough Wayne but lets balance the situation. Whilst America has oil wells of it’s own, it is also dependent upon M.E. oil to cover the balance of it’s needs. That is my understanding anyway.

                I read an analysis by Robert Kennedy Jr. a month or two ago where he talked of a major pipe-line still on the drawing board which both East and West are currently attempting to gain control over by way of the proposed route it will take. I can’t remember the exact details but it certainly brought home to me the fundamental essence of most of the warring factions… and it is really all about oil.

          • Foreign waka 2.1.3.1.2

            It is the Kurdish population that is playing a major role in the alliances chosen by Russia, Turkey and the US.
            This is a comment by Dr Ismail Besikci:
            “why did the British and the French decided to erase Kurdistan from the map and deny the Kurds existence by parting Kurdistan into four between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria?”
            This is as much about access to the Mediteranian as it is about a deal that has a Kurdistan to be kept from forming (Kurds refer to their ancestry back in 600BC, Arabs mentioned Kurds in the 7th century as nomadic people) Turkey plays a big role in that.

        • adam 2.1.3.2

          And then most of the time it’s the Kurd’s doing the hard yards on the ground.

          I read recently, and can’t find the piece. That Russia is mainly avoiding ISIS so as not to rack up the Muslim at home. Chechnya has been, and still is a major thorn for Russia.

    • I don’t think the Chinese will be viewing Trump’s agenda as isolationist, not after the “Fuck you” messages he’s been sending them the last week. Still, the fact they’re not chuffed with him might also explain that veto.

      • Ad 2.2.1

        China has a shot at a regional trade agreement in 2017 excluding all the environmental and labour controls of TPPA such as they were.

        China gets Trump as the US eclipse it is, and is making its own space fast.

    • mauī 2.3

      Keep watching MSNBC and CNN Ad, Hillary cant lose from here and there’s russian airplanes just off the coast.

  3. Cinny 3

    Political broadcast brought to you via exiting entertainer Paul Henry interviewing Judith this morning…

    Crusher says….

    She will make Pike a memorial tomb.

    She will suck up to Winny, says he is one of the best politicians who has ever been in Parliament and wants more options with support parties.

    She’s not into English, he’s been preventing an increase in the police force apparently

    Has no faith in Coleman

    With a wavering voice says she wants more police

    IMHO she doesn’t appear to be very confident in her chances. If her leadership bid fails will she form a breakaway party? Interesting times ahead.

    PS Merry Christmas Paddy, maybe the Nation should do a special episode in the weekend, you’ll be bumming a bit that last week was your Christmas final. And you thought the Trump election was the highlight of your year lololol been thinking of you, happy for you, i don’t like you, but i’m happy for you. What a year huh?

  4. Carolyn_nth 4

    Rachel Stewart pulls no punches in saying honestly what she thinks of John key. She tells of voting Nats for Key’s first term – I’m constantly surprised that people couldn’t tell Key was slippery as from the getgo.

    Stewart fell out of support for Key over water quality, and it was all down hill from there, through rising inequality to tasteless media stunts and women being relegated to cheerleaders.

    Stewart’s column: John Key era one giant facepalm”

    A good money man? Key’s bold and brassy belief that he managed the Global Financial Crisis well is, shall we say, deluded. He got lucky. Pure and simple.

    I’ll wager that within the next 12 months, and well before the 2017 election, our economy will match the global outlook perfectly. It’ll be munted. He is less an economic guru and more a tinny bastard, frankly.

    I say this in complete awe at Key’s uncanny ability to ride the rollercoaster of pure providence. Despite the poor getting poorer, and the rich getting richer, he somehow managed to convince the wider electorate that he was a financial whizz – as opposed to the money trading gambler he ultimately is.

    • Paul 4.1

      Her three reasons for disliking Key’s government.

      1. Destruction of waterways and lack of care for the environment.
      2. Mismanagement of the economy so we have become a very unequal society.
      3. His gutter behaviour towards women.

    • Chch_chiquita 4.2

      This – “He seemed to me to care only for running New Zealand like a huge corporation by squeezing every last dollar out of it – no matter the downstream consequences.”
      A country isn’t a corporation and shouldn’t be run like one. Hell, even a corporation shouldn’t be run like corporations are run these days. Every business should care about the environment and about the people it employs and their well being.

  5. Cinny 5

    Questions please

    Do the Nat MP’s ask their constituents whom they feel would be the best choice in the race for leader of the national party and then vote accordingly?

    Or do the MP’s vote according to their own wants and needs?

    It just doesn’t seem very democratic to me, I’d be a bit pissy i think if i was a nat party member and did not have a say in whom the leader of the party i belong to should be.

    • Carolyn_nth 5.1

      From the the National Party Rules

      Leader
      82.
      (a) The Parliamentary Section shall appoint its Leader as soon as
      practicable after each General Election.

      (b) If at any time the leadership of the Parliamentary Section falls vacant,
      the Parliamentary Section shall appoint a Leader to fill such vacancy.
      Notwithstanding Rule 82 (a), the Parliamentary Section may at any
      time between General Elections confirm or change its Leader.

      (c) The Leader of the Parliamentary Section shall, upon receiving the
      approval of the Board, become the Leader of the Party. The Board shall
      consider such approval as soon as practicable after the appointment
      by the Parliamentary Section of its Leader.

    • Wayne 5.2

      As the rules indicate it is the MP’s who decide. Otherwise how could it be done in a week.

      However, I am pretty sure the MP’s will be thinking who will be the most effective in the next election and will be taking more than a few soundings on that very point.

      • Cinny 5.2.1

        Interesting listening to talk back, some are ringing concerned at the procedure, fascinating talk back this week.

  6. Tautoko Mangō Mata 6

    I hope that some of those people who voted for John Key will reflect on what he actually did or didn’t do for NZ and start to consider the pressing issues facing this country and the world. That so many people could fail to see past the fawning MSM smokescreen for 8 years has never failed to amaze me. I also hope that those journalists who were “seduced’ by Key’s “friendliness” will take the opportunity to look back at their own contribution to the distraction he provided for a government that failed to deal with the pressing issues apart from a few superficial interventions. An alternative government could have made quite a difference to the current housing situation, reduced the foreign ownership of land, removed the tax haven status and worked with the Pike River families in a more compassionate manner had not the “show us the money” , the dirty politics/Ede/Slater feeding of MSM clouded the public’s view of the real issues.

    The purpose of journalism is thus to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.
    https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/purpose-journalism/

    • framu 6.1

      i hope for similar – but its been a cult of personality for years.
      And with all cults, when your in it, its hard to see it from the outside

  7. Andre 7

    How fake news has trashed the old idea of checking facts before publishing and tried to replace it with the idea that any kind of nutso raving is truth until someone else proves it wrong (to the nutso raver’s standards).

    https://thinkprogress.org/the-most-dangerous-thing-about-fake-news-sites-is-not-what-they-say-but-how-they-say-it-f7bd89501028#.tl759hzes

  8. Puckish Rogue 8

    Ok so prediction time

    Bill English will be the next PM but it will be close, very close with Jude so close in fact that I wouldn’t be at all surprised if theres a coup a year or so into Englishs reign, obviously it will be much earlier if English loses the next election

    Having said that I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jude managed to take the leadership of English

    If I could pick I’d pick Coleman as he’s the freshest (or least most unknown) face and being a medical doctor is not exactly a bad thing to have on ones CV but he won’t get near the leadership

    • Prediction time?
      Cut’n’run Key will be seen as shallower and shallower as time passes.
      Cigar-smoke Coleman will be unable to hide his arrogance.
      Crusher Collins will be unable to shake off the Slater on her back.
      Boring Bill will fail to rid himself of his Double-Dipton title.

      You must feel bereft, Pucky, and appalled by the present state of affairs.

      • Puckish Rogue 8.1.1

        Its not ideal but lets say National lose 7-8% over Key leaving, that leaves National on approx. 40%, I’d suggest NZFirst might gain as much as 3-4% of that which puts NZFirst well and truly over 10%

        Jude would have no issues working with Winston and, probably, vice versa so the most logical outcome is a National/NZFirst government in 2017 and every other party on the outside unless Winston wants them in

        Not sure how Winston and English get on though so its certainly made the upcoming election more interesting

        • Robert Guyton 8.1.1.1

          “Its not ideal”

          Ha ha ha ha ha!

          No. It’s not ideal for the likes of you and other Key-adorers. In fact, it’s THE WORST POSSIBLE THING, and that’s, as you say, not ideal. For you. For others, myself included, this is High Humour and Pure Oxygen to the Soul 🙂 Now, you are reduced to trying to build something from a pile of fetid goop, relatively speaking, given that previously, you (believed) you were spinning with gold. How quickly that precious metal turned to straw. You must feel betrayed, as indeed you were. Key’s smiled as he assassinated National and the hopes of his sycophants such as your pucky self. These are dark days for you, Pucky, and all you can do now is try to make purses from sow’s ears. Good luck, ol’ chappy!

          • Puckish Rogue 8.1.1.1.1

            I thought you might appreciate that 🙂

            “These are dark days for you, Pucky, and all you can do now is try to make purses from sow’s ears”

            Yes its this exactly, we could sit around and go into mourning and think the worst has happened and we should all just give up but that won’t achieve anything and would almost certainly guarantee an election loss

            Or we could see what we’re left with and go from there and it looks like there’s now no real impediment to National and Winston combining that that’s a…positive I guess

            Its not what I (or anyone) would have wanted but sometimes you have to play the hand you’re dealt and National did manage to win one or two elections without John Key and I dare say they’ll be able to do it again

            I suppose if ones trying to look positive I’d say that John Key has the left the party in the high 40s and there won’t be a bye-election needed, which is something a certain ex-Labour leader maybe should have looked at doing

            • Robert Guyton 8.1.1.1.1.1

              Sitting around, mourning…yes, there’ll be a lot of that going on, Pucky, and more of it to come for your horrid crew who over the past 8 years have been crowing from the top of the dunghill you now discover is all thart remains for you. You had a merry trickster as your star and he’s dumped on you all from his great height – what treachery! How neatly and heartlessly he’s slid his dagger into the heart of his party and his supporters! Smiling Assassin indeed – did you think you were exempt? What I see now, is Mr Little, solid and trustworthy, established and supported, generously suppressing his delight at Key’s feckless knee-capping of the Right, eyes fixed on his up-coming win in 2017 – Little’s played it perfectly, as he’s played you and your gutted team. A marvelous week for the Left, Pucky, and the first of many.

              • Puckish Rogue

                Well leaving National in the high 40s and with the door fully open for NZFirst is not a bad position to be in

                I know you don’t like my predictions but I predict that after the next general election National will still be in power and I think its now going to be National/NZFirst

                Who do you think will make up the next government?

          • Rosemary McDonald 8.1.1.1.2

            “trying to build something from a pile of fetid goop, ”

            Like the golem…

            “In Jewish folklore, a golem (/ˈɡoʊləm/ goh-ləm; Hebrew: גולם‎‎) is an animated anthropomorphic being that is magically created entirely from inanimate matter (specifically clay or mud). The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing.[1]

            The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late-16th-century rabbi of Prague. There are many tales differing on how the golem was brought to life and afterwards controlled.”

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem

            Jewish folklore is spattered with tales of golem failing to obey the will of their controllers and running amok….creating havoc and disorder…

            Shalom.

            • greywarshark 8.1.1.1.2.1

              Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series features allusions to many beliefs and weaves them into his stories. The golems appear particularly in Feet of Clay. The ideas about them seem to have been carried further into the thinking about how robots could be limited in their free will by Asimov.

              This is from wiki –
              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golems_%28Discworld%29

              http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Golems

              • Rosemary McDonald

                Yes…some may cast doubt upon the value of fiction and folklore, but they both have their roots in the vast arena of human experience over the ages.

                I’ve always seen golem as a metaphor for the potential of one’s creation to go beyond one’s control.

                Especially when the quality of raw material for that creation is less than optimal.

                When I have the time I will read my way through Pratchett’s work, perhaps there is a good starting point?

                • Puckish Rogue

                  Sounds more like Frankensteins monster in that case

                • greywarshark

                  Good to talk with you Rosemary. Yes Terry P was a good and funny writer and man. Also I have started reading Ellis Peters who wrote a series around Cadfael the monk who was sort of an ideal man that I think some women writers like to bring to life and imagine stories around. He lives in the 1100s and she writes vividly about that time and I think has the historical background and the culture of that time probably well covered.

                  While we are in these dire straits in the world I am interested in what people are, under all our layers of civilisation and poncy clothes and cars and high-heeled shoes. I’m looking for nobility and soul and clever use of our machiavellian minds and love and fascination with and for each other. Things I have never bothered thinking about before but now I see clearly how humans have trouble learning from past errors and am brought to the question of what did my birth father die for in 1944 WW2, which we don’t seem to have transcended, then what are we? It seems to me that there is an insect brain in us, along with other primitive inherent cognition.

                  This is a bit heavy but when one starts looking into the void as is happening now, then it makes ya think doesn’t it.
                  (Funny just as I was closing off – Puckish Rogue’s astute comment dame up Sounds more like Frankensteins monster in that case

    • Cinny 8.2

      Crusher is promoting working with NZ First, what is the general feeling within the outgoing government towards working with Winny?

      Is she wanting to work with Winny because she has no new policy idea’s apart from more police?

    • save nz 8.3

      Bombers got some great descriptions on the Nat candidates on TDB – (he sadly holds back on Collins however, the worst candidate in my view a mash up of Trump, Hitler, Imelda Marcos and Thatcher with the Enron accountants, rolled into one body )

      BILL ENGLISH – A RELIGIOUS FANATIC
      “I wouldn’t be surprised if he whips himself to sleep nightly. English desperately needed Key because English has all the charm and personal warmth of a road accident. Key was the smiling vacant face while English spent time privatising state housing, expanding the neoliberal welfare state and pushing for mass surveillance of beneficiaries.”

      COLEMAN – DALEK
      “The Minister of Wheeze, Dr Croak has a voice honied by years of cigarettes and stepping on poor peoples dreams. Possibly the most hopeless Minister ever, he did a shit job with Broadcasting and he’s a joke in Health. He wouldn’t publicly eat the cheap slop he was forcing hospital patients to eat and had the audacity to privately eat it and tweet about how yummy it was.”

      “Judith Collins – the crypto-fascist”

      http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/12/07/a-religious-fanatic-a-crypto-fascist-and-a-dalek-these-are-our-choices-for-prime-minister-of-nz/

    • Cinny 8.4

      Okies I predict, English will get it and National will lose next election and Judith might possibly create a break away party.

      • saveNZ 8.4.1

        Nope Collins will just kick out English as PM when she sees her chance – no break away party for the Natz – they are too lazy to break away and too clueless to start a party from scratch.

  9. AsleepWhileWalking 9

    Well well well. That was taken down quick yesterday.

    Must be something in those “conspiracy theories”.

  10. Rosemary McDonald 10

    I have been wondering just how deep the divisions within the National Party are over the issue of legalising euthanasia.

    There have been numerous attempts by from both left and right over the years to facilitate assisted dying. This year has seen a high profile court case and a continuing exhaustive select committee hearing with over 20,000 submissions.

    Despite my personal well founded reservations, I honestly thought that this time the issue would get over the line and the syringes would sharpened and extra stocks of ‘blue juice’ ordered.

    But no…despite having fully supported Lecretia Seales, John Key announced a month ago that…

    “There is zero chance of Government introducing legislation to legalise euthanasia even if an inquiry strongly recommends it, ”

    The reason given…”Key said he personally supported euthanasia. He would not take the step himself, but he believed others should be able to.

    However, there was strong opposition to it within the National caucus, he said.

    Senior members of the Cabinet such as Bill English and Gerry Brownlee have previously voted against bills which would have made euthanasia legal.”

    http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/john-key-no-chance-of-govt-legalising-euthanasia/

    There is a real taste for physician assisted dying and the loud protagonists, although they dismiss the concerns of those who would be most at risk from misuse of such a facility, seemed to be winning.

    So why the sudden back off from Key…who’s fair physiognomy dominated the Seales’ campaign page?

    • greywarshark 10.1

      The politicians are too afraid of thinking deeply about anything because it just creates a precedent, and why fiddle while everything is going their way. So euthanasia, assisted dying, whatever has no chance with these peabrains.

      And physician-assisted doesn’t have to come into it. If people have signed a document that they wish to do so, gone through legal measures of ensuring they have a will, left messages with a functionary with solicitor’s background if they don’t want to explain it to their children as is the best way, then they should have the right to do so. A proper procedure should be established in compliance with what older people who have thought through the process have decided and worked through with the pollies. Then there will be a peace of mind that life can be lived to the full and not in the end interfered with by forcing it to continue because of others’ beliefs and rigid principles.

      At present there is this shameful and excessive watchfulness trying to prevent people even thinking or hearing about means of death. Police raids, disgusting. Politicians on top of the money heap and controlling, being the gatekeepers against those who wish to determine their own length of incapacity, they are a disgrace to their ‘profession’, incompetents and shallow. And the religious and hospices should stop trying to be Burkes in reverse.

      • garibaldi 10.1.1

        In a word Rosemary…. Religion. God wants everyone to suffer apparently.

        • Foreign waka 10.1.1.1

          It is people who make other people suffer. Their ego, and dependence of being constantly appreciated. Hang on…. mostly male I think. Yep, looking around the world and it adds up.

  11. Morrissey 11

    MEET THE CANDIDATES
    No. 2: Dr. Jonathan Coleman

    I don’t know if he harasses waitresses or fondles the hair of little girls, but this bloke is a real piece of work.

    The Sunday Star Times reported yesterday that Dr Coleman had been punched after he allegedly blew his cigar smoke at a woman. Dr Coleman said there were two sides to every story, but he did not intend to press charges over the incident.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413686

    • Cinny 11.1

      Coca Cole-man, calls himself a Dr, but refuses to tackle the sugar issue even though across the globe other countries are tackling it and identifying it as so harmful. We have a public health system, why would he stretch it further by not addressing sugar?

      Obesity and diabetes rates are obscene in NZ, sugar is an issue. Coleman would rather push through RMA changes and dump fluoride in our water than tackle the sugar issue. By adopting this mind set he shows himself as a Dr of Death.

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/287782/the-sugar-filled-elephant-in-the-room

      • Psycho Milt 11.1.1

        We have a public health system, why would he stretch it further by not addressing sugar?

        Probably because he’s a MD and can identify this wailing about sugar as the kind of simplistic thinking that results in bad policy and unforeseen consequences. Obesity and diabetes are problems of carbohydrates in general, not sucrose in particular, and any minister wanting to deal with them walks into a political minefield – if Coleman doesn’t fancy using his feet as mine detectors, that’s hardly surprising.

        • Cinny 11.1.1.1

          Psycho, Coca Coleman is a fortune seeker, and not a good listener…

          “A Herald poll last month suggested an overwhelming public desire to introduce a sugar tax, with more than 80% of 11,700 voters in favour of new legislation.”

          http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11615519

          “More than 84 per cent of GPs re­sponding to the latest New Zea­land Doctor/IMS fax poll believe a sugar tax should be introduced in this country.
          And nearly 70 per cent reject health minister Jonathan Cole­man’s view of the effect a tax would have on consumption of sugary drinks.”

          http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news/2016/april-2016/14/sour-on-obesity,-gps-at-odds-with-coleman-over-introducing-a-sugar-tax.aspx

          Don’t you want a PM that listens?

          • Psycho Milt 11.1.1.1.1

            To whom? If the answer is “Evidence,” yes I do want a PM who listens. If it’s “Opinion polls,” then meh, not so much. (Not that I want a Nat PM either way, mind.)

          • Bob 11.1.1.1.2

            “A Herald poll last month suggested an overwhelming public desire to introduce a sugar tax, with more than 80% of 11,700 voters in favour of new legislation.” “Don’t you want a PM that listens?”
            You just had one for the past 8 years and he was berated for being poll driven. Do you want him back already?

            “More than 84 per cent of GPs re­sponding to the latest New Zea­land Doctor/IMS fax poll believe a sugar tax should be introduced in this country.
            And nearly 70 per cent reject health minister Jonathan Cole­man’s view of the effect a tax would have on consumption of sugary drinks.”
            How many of those GP’s also have an MBA? Interesting that you think they would have a better understanding on the effect taxation on consumption and the wider effects of such a tax (does it just cover sucrose? what about glucose? what if Coke just switched to a fructose based sweetener, do we have to tax fruit then? Would it include pure fruit juices? What about reconstituted fruit juices? All sugars are linked to diabetes, so do we tax everything with any trace of sugar like beer and wine? It would clearly have to cover Balsamic Vinaigrette, Almond Butter, yogurt) than a GP MP with an MBA…

            • Cinny 11.1.1.1.2.1

              Need more evidence? Scandinavian countries have such a tax, as does, Mexico, France, Hungary, Britain ..

              Recent evidence further suggests an association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and preventable mortality from diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, with the majority of deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.. says the WHO.. so why on earth would we not want to do something about this? Something sensible, something that works, just like tobacco tax. Or do you think people will start holding up their local dairy for a red bull?

              Now Coca Coleman is promising more funding for health if he gets the new job.. is that just some kind of excuse for his short comings in looking after the Health Ministry?

              Lots of questions, so let’s make it easy…. A sugary drinks tax or soda tax is a tax or surcharge designed to reduce consumption of drinks with added sugar. Drinks covered under a soda tax often include, carbonated drinks, uncarbonated drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks

              The way I see it is any against such a tax are just pro big business aka big sugar profits, and we all know they make more than enough as it is.

              Let’s be pro the NZ Health System that our taxes pay for, lets look after the people.

              • Need more evidence? Scandinavian countries have such a tax, as does, Mexico, France, Hungary, Britain ..

                Other countries implementing simplistic policies based on noise from lobbyists isn’t “evidence” – except, maybe, evidence that weak politicians are prey for noisy lobbyists.

                Recent evidence further suggests an association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and preventable mortality from diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer…

                Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and a shitload of other things that are probably more important factors. But instead of looking at the actual causes of obesity and diabetes (which come down to “foods that raise blood glucose levels rapidly”) and seeing what can be done about them, let’s tax sugary drinks because left-wingers hate the Coca Cola corporation. Why, oh why, isn’t Coleman on board with that, I wonder?

                Lots of questions, so let’s make it easy…. A sugary drinks tax or soda tax is a tax or surcharge designed to reduce consumption of drinks with added sugar.

                To serve what purpose? If the purpose is to reduce rates of obesity and diabetes in the population, a sugary-drinks tax is not fit for purpose for several reasons (the tax would have to be very high to actually suppress consumption, there’s extensive scope for unintended consequences, and singling out sugary drinks is pointless – if you look at the glycemic index, white bread and various other foods are actually worse than sucrose for making you fat and diabetic). The actual purpose of such a tax would be to make hand-wringers feel like they were doing something useful, which is not a good justification for new taxes.

                • Bob

                  PM – Out of interest, do you mind sharing who you voted for at the last election (party vote)?

                  I have just flicked through your comments on OM and I cannot get a read on you. I am guessing either Winston First or ACT…?

                  • garibaldi

                    Just a question on Coleman. Who would trust a doctor that smokes?

                    • Cinny

                      I agree with you there Garibaldi

                    • Bob

                      Would you apply the same logic to a doctor that drinks alcohol? Ethanol is a Group 1 carcinogen also, not to mention processed meat, would you not trust a doctor that drinks beer or eats pepperoni pizza?

                      To answer your question, I would trust a doctor that smokes, or drinks, or eats pepperoni pizza.

                  • Labour – I guess I’m from the little-known “surly curmudgeon” faction. That was the first time since 1987, though – was an Alliance voter, then Green, then fuck-who-can-a-left-libertarian-vote-for-now, then back to Labour again on the basis that these days they’re the underdog and need some support. Proud to say I’ve never voted Winston First, although to my shame I did vote ACT once – at the time, they and the Greens were the only ones backing liberty when it came to drugs, anti-terrorism over-reach laws etc and the Greens were anti-science, so I swallowed a big dead rat. Never again…

                    • Bob

                      Thanks PM, that all makes perfect sense and I learnt something new, I wasn’t previously aware of Labour’s “surly curmudgeon” faction!

                      Unfortunately I held my nose and voted Winston First in 2005, so I know what that dead rat tastes like.

                • Cinny

                  You don’t think a tax on sugary drinks would achieve anything? I disagree, it would do something to help, it would not solve the whole problem, but it would be a factor in that solution.

                  The tax does not appear to have dented sales in Mexico, the government is collecting tax from it that can be used in the health sector, for other factors of obesity, maybe it could be used to encourage more people into physical activity or something, maybe the tax could be enough to cover dental care for the whole population? I don’t see any loses with this kind of tax from either side.

                  https://www.ft.com/content/e4f36a0e-6485-11e6-8310-ecf0bddad227

  12. Morrissey 12

    “Nicky Hager is trying to scaremonger and make himself relevant again.”
    What someone collapsing under pressure looks like

    She’s already losing her temper and calling people names….

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/319800/collins-hager-is-trying-to-scaremonger

    • Puckish Rogue 12.1

      Sour grapes on Hagers part, his sordid little book failed and now he’s trying to flog a dead horse

      • Robert Guyton 12.1.1

        You choice of words reflects the state of your soul right now, Pucky. You’re lashing out. You are bitter, thanks to John Key, and you are right to be.

        • Puckish Rogue 12.1.1.1

          I’m an atheist so the soul doesn’t exist 🙂

          • Robert Guyton 12.1.1.1.1

            It’s long been clear that you lack one, Pucky, as your hero-to-zero, John Key lacks anything resembling one, but I didn’t want to make an issue of it. I can see now, why you favour Collins for your next empty-vessel leader.

      • Morrissey 12.1.2

        Unless you are more ignorant than I think you are, my friend, you will realize that Hager’s book was very successful. As he pointed out in this morning’s interview, the book led to Judith Collins losing her cabinet seat.

        And the sordid parts of his book are the revelations of what Collins, Slater, Jordan Williams, Jason Eade and co. were doing. You’re muddle-headed to confuse the journalist with the things he reveals.

        • Puckish Rogue 12.1.2.1

          Ok its true that in my opinion the purpose of the book was to swing the election the lefts way which means it was a failure, National was re-elected, John Key was still popular and the left was still stagnating

          • Anne 12.1.2.1.1

            According to Hager – and despite the right’s claims to the contrary he is a thoroughly honest person – the timing of the publication of the book just before the election was coincidental. He had hoped it would be ready for publication early in 2014 but it didn’t work out that way. Having said that, I’m sure he did want to see it published before the 2014 election.

            Hager does not make claims about anybody without solid evidence to back them up. And that is precisely what happened with “Dirty Politics”. That it did not have an effect on the election is an indictment on the voters – the vast majority of whom were too glassy eyed and lazy to bother to read the book and/or digest the information that was widely reported and it’s inherent ramifications.

            • Puckish Rogue 12.1.2.1.1.1

              “the timing of the publication of the book just before the election was coincidental”

              and if you believe that do I have a deal for you: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=i%20have%20a%20bridge%20to%20sell%20you

              • Anne

                C,mon PR. Read what I said.

                I recall Hager being quite open about the fact he wanted to publish the book before the election because he believed it was important that voters were aware of the dirty political machinations (Ede, Slater, Odgers, Lusk and Carrick Graham in particular) that were occurring. It was also deplorable that it was being coordinated from within “the PM’s office” and it defies logic Key didn’t know what was going on as he subsequently claimed.

                Hager intended to publish much sooner but there were various delays and it ended up coming only a month before the election. Too late to have much affect on the election.

            • Brigid 12.1.2.1.1.2

              “the vast majority of whom were too glassy eyed and lazy to bother to read the book and/or digest the information that was widely reported and it’s inherent ramifications.” One of whom is you eh Pluckliss Rogue.

        • Cinny 12.1.2.2

          But it’s a great go-to for another insight and possible leads, that index.. fantastico.

          GOsh it’s super exciting really… a race when you can’t stand any of the candidates, it’s like the USA presidential election all over again post Bernie of course.

          Bridges I love oil is about to throw his hat in the ring too…. let the circus begin.. lmfaooooo best reality show in some time this is.

      • Psycho Milt 12.1.3

        The contents certainly were sordid, but that was down to the participants being quoted (including Collins), not Hager.

      • Muttonbird 12.1.4

        Really? One of the better selling NZ books, I would have thought.

        Positive feedback for Nicky Hager’s book, Dirty Politics, keeps on coming.

        “I can’t go anywhere, like the supermarket, without people coming up and thanking me for writing it – it’s like no experience I’ve had before,” he says.

        The Wellington-based journalist says he intended the book to be a small sequel to The Hollow Men. “But this one really struck a chord; it’s been amazing.”

        Dirty Politics has sold 18,000 copies, which is huge for New Zealand. Normally, best sellers clock up about 2000 in sales.

        My bold, heh.

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/lifestyle/70871949/Endless-praise-for-Nicky-Hagers-book-Dirty-Politics

    • Karen 12.2

      I thought it was telling that in that interview Collins claimed she doesn’t hold grudges but spent the entire time attacking Nicky Hager, and deliberately mispronouncing his name. She came across as vindictive and bullying – so quite accurate really.

      • Morrissey 12.2.1

        Exactly what struck me, too, Karen. Watching her self-destruct over the next few weeks will be a diverting if ugly spectacle.

      • Psycho Milt 12.2.2

        She came across as vindictive and bullying – so quite accurate really.

        The problem for National in a Collins leadership, summed up nicely.

  13. greywarshark 14

    Hi Mod I have two stuck – one meant for Open Mike and one for Barbecue Season. When and if you have time could you release. Ta

  14. ianmac 15

    First Policy out from The Opportunities Party. Gareth Morgan.

    “The current tax regime favours owners of capital and unjustly burdens wage earners. This is not only inequitable, it results in poor utilisation of capital and lower than necessary income and employment. ”
    “It addresses issues of rising inequality, housing affordability, foreign debt and poor levels of business investment. The end result will be more jobs, more businesses growth and tax cuts that leave 80% of the population better off.”
    (I am watching with cautious interest.)
    http://www.top.org.nz/top1?utm_campaign=top1_members&utm_medium=email&utm_source=garethmorgan

    • millsy 15.1

      He should really exempt the family home. Taxing cash-poor homeowners is not the way to go to fix our problems.

      • adam 15.1.1

        millsy, This from the full policy.

        “In case you missed it, I repeat
        – under this policy NOT ONE
        ADDITIONAL DOLLAR OF TAX
        WILL BE COLLECTED. What
        will happen is that some of
        us will pay more (in mine and
        John Key’s case, a lot more) and
        for the great majority of people
        they will either be unaffected
        or pay significantly less. ”

        It is closing a tax loop hole, not a new tax, nor an attack on the poorest on society. Quite smart really.

      • ropata 15.1.2

        Being a “cash-poor homeowner” is a piss poor reason to expect tax exemptions. There are a lot of hard working people getting heavily taxed and will never own a home. What happened to a fair go?

        • Siobhan 15.1.2.1

          Exactly. The idea that owning a home is somehow a special burden needs to be put to rest.
          I get tired of home owners who endlessly bang on about ‘how hard it is to pay the mortgage’, as if somehow paying rent with absolutely no benefit or gain or security, till the day you die, is the easy ‘option’.

          Some work to pay the rent, some work to pay the mortgage. The renter is the one left well behind in that equation.
          We need some fairness in our financial and taxation systems.

          • ropata 15.1.2.1.1

            A lot of kiwi homeowners think they are entitled to some kind of special privileges and tax breaks that renters never get. They are very sensitive to anything that threatens their inflated asset value

        • Foreign waka 15.1.2.2

          What about the older folks? They ones who have saved all their lives, survived wars and worked hard raising their families in a home as apartments obviously were not in vogue. But you could also look to the older folks that have to fork out 16 Mil for repair bills of apartments not so long ago build.
          The core of it is that instead of getting off on envy and bashing people who have worked hard, work on a fairer system. This would certainly not include any tax cuts but rather have progressive tax applied.

          • ropata 15.1.2.2.1

            You didn’t read Gareth Morgan’s piece didja? His proposal seems eminently fair. Taxing the top few % who are asset rich and using accounting tricks to hide their income from capital gains. Why should people who work for a living have to pay all the tax and people in million dollar houses pay none, while gaining (at least) 70K per year tax free.

            • Foreign waka 15.1.2.2.1.1

              You refereed to “a lot of Kiwi homeowners” – a lot? Many, many older folks are asset rich (if one could say that) because they have paid off the mortgage for the roof over their heads. With the 350 bucks a week to survive I doubt that you can add another tax.
              As to your assertion of “entitlement” – there is no such thing. There is however, fairness in distribution which has never played out as for every mentioning of a group getting a share someone will put a veto in. This is what greed is all about, measuring entitlements.

  15. Puckish Rogue 16

    Interesting, once again Labour gives it to a meek and compliant Greens, please sir may I have another

    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/12/labour_backs_down_on_nelson_greens_furious.html

    When will the Greens learn that being a doormat means you won’t get any respect from Labour…

  16. Puckish Rogue 17

    Bless ’em 🙂

    http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/english-and-colemans-inspiring-stories-how-they-came-from-money-and-stayed-there/

    Corrections Minister Judith Collins has also announced she’ll seek the leadership of the party – and the nation – but is potentially less able to relate to the financial struggles of ordinary kiwis.

    Collins has no money, but purchases all her goods by silently staring people down until they cave.

  17. Draco T Bastard 18

    And now Key’s been tipped to head the IMF:

    Outgoing Prime Minister John Key has been tipped as a potential candidate to head the International Monetary Fund – an appointment signed off by US President Barack Obama.

    Someone must be getting upset with all the research that the IMF has done recently that proves the present socio-economic system that’s been rammed down our throats, often via the IMF, doesn’t work.

    • Dv 18.1

      Well that won’t please wify

    • NZJester 18.2

      With the mess he has made of promoting high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reducing poverty in New Zealand he has no hope of accomplishing the stated goals of the IMF. The IMF seeks to facilitate trade as well, but that trade is meant to be fair and balanced trade. The type of trade he has sort to facilitate but luckily has failed so far has been to give the big internationals all the power to bully the little guys and small countries with anonymous international courts paid for, staffed by and beholden to those same big internationals.

      • garibaldi 18.2.1

        Well that wouldn’t really be a surprise seeing Key is part of the oneworld group. in fact it’s just an extension of his burning desire for the TPP.

  18. Rosemary McDonald 19

    And Michael “Beware of the Worms!” Woodhouse is tipped to be Minister of Health.

    Please Goddess, end the misery now.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11762144

    This is of course going to happen if Jonathon “We’ll have to agree to disagree” Coleman gets one of the two Top Spots.

    and to confirm my earlier assertion that he could be The Man…

    “‘I think [Dr Coleman] glosses over the serious plight the public health system is in, and I don’t think he sufficiently gets it.

    ”At our last conference he annoyed the delegates a lot, because when somebody would express a different view to his, he had a stock answer of simply saying: ‘We’ll have to agree to disagree’.””

    Sounds like Someone Else doesn’t it? Not getting it and glossing over the problems….but I guess that to achieve such a constant state of ‘relaxedness’ you’d have to be that way inclined.

  19. NZJester 20

    Has the NZ Herald published the real reason Key has resigned?
    Did he get a tap on the shoulder from President Obama in his last days in office and wants an even bigger stage for his ego?
    John Key named as ideal candidate to head IMF
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11762219
    We will have to wait and see.

    A lot of the things that job is meant to accomplish are things he has totally failed at in New Zealand.
    QUOTE: The IMF seeks to facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

    He has only ever focused on one of those things in his time as NZ PM and the last 3 have got worse every year for us here under his government. He shrugged off as to hard reducing poverty here, imagine the mess with him in that role.

    • McFlock 20.1

      Yeah.
      Fucker finally got a bigger gig and bailed on his mates lol.

    • Whateva next? 20.2

      Now that makes sense at last! Hearing Key say he doesn’t know what he will do next…..casually throwing in “maybe the speaking circuit..” He has had a game plan since being a ten year old, deciding he would learn golf, because rich people play golf, so who is he trying yo kid?

  20. adam 21

    Oh look, corruption and cronyism working hand in hand with old small hands. Nothing changes, poor C.V. must be feeling quite sick at this point.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A2arZllmqw&t=73s

  21. Sacha 22

    Lyndon Hood from Scoop NZ points out the ‘IMF wants Key’ story our local media are recycling now is actually a year old: http://www.mscnewswire.co.nz/reporters-desk/item/1019-nz-premier-john-key-imf-managing-director-prospect.html

    • Cinny 22.1

      LMFAO !!!!!! That headline caught my eye and i was like, nah who cares, as long as he fucks off from here, i won’t read that.

      And it’s a year old, and Herald is running it today… bahahahaha. Thanks for letting us all know.

      Sad, real sad, looking for click bait are we? Well it aint john the pm who quit key, any headline with his name in it is now yesterdays news or in this case yester-years news

  22. UncookedSelachimorpha 23

    Excellent opinion piece on Key in the Grauniad today. Includes thought-provoking discussion of the need for the political opposition to produce a viable counter-narrative.

    “In this regard, Key was like a Tony Blair of the South Seas: a certain level of personal charisma and a socially inclusive façade allowed both Key and Blair to sell the nasty side of neoliberalism.”

    “Like Blair, Key had the Teflon gene. Despite ignoring public preferences not to privatise state-owned enterprises (2-1 against in a referendum), increasing the GST during the global financial crisis, and more or less ignoring New Zealand’s chronic child poverty because he blames the victims, none of it stuck.”

    • ropata 23.1

      What a brilliant summary of the PR image (not the actual human being) that was our Prime Minister.

      When Labour-voting women were asked what kind of husband they imagined Key would be, they saw him as having so much social and economic capital that they would be prepared to tolerate multiple breaches of trust in the relationship before considering severing it. Such was the appeal of Key’s persona.

      But the money story central to neoliberalism and so crucial to Key’s success is built on a false analogy that can be killed off with the correct mix of branding and narrative.

      For a start, it is necessary to assert that we live in a society, not an economy. The national budget is not like a household budget and anyone who tells you it is, is hiding something from you. Households don’t indulge quantitative easing (ie printing money); make decisions about what levels of social inequality are tolerable; set tax levels; or decide what scale of deficits will be run in order to redistribute income, feed the poor, educate our children or, heaven forbid, help them get well (for free!) when they are sick.

      These are all social decisions that determine our approach to fiscal management, rather than economic imperatives that determine our values as society. We don’t decide to starve our children until the mortgage has been paid off.

      If you want to unseat the neoliberal elites, be they the Trump-style authoritarians, or the Key and Blair style charlatans of social inclusion, you have to unpick their story of fiscal morality. And you need charismatic and popular champions to tell your story about creating a society that is caring and just.

  23. LeanneRose 24

    Why doesnt the entire opposition call for a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE in the government led by English
    That will trigger an early GENERAL ELECTION so we can all be part of who runs our country instead of having yet another money lusting chauvenistic bully forced on us!!!

    That way we dont need an expensive by election for Shearers seat if he goes.

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  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    58 mins ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 hour ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
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