Ata Marie Nick. How pleasant to read that. Many of my friends are now living alone. They often comment that cheery morning greetings online or at service centres and food outlets become quite important to them. So thanks for that courtesy.
Antisemitism is the tried and true propaganda tool … used to smear Lorde and her fans … who I presume object to the worst aspects of Zionism…. like Corbyn …
two docos set about 10 years apart … about messages and public opinion
The leader of the Israeli Labor party has said he will cut ties with Jeremy Corbyn and his office over the handling of antisemitism, but would preserve the link with the party as a whole.
Avi Gabbay, the chair of the centre-left Labor party, which is the main opposition to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud, said he would sever all relations with Corbyn on the eve of Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day.
Gabbay said in a letter sent to the British Labour party leader on Tuesday that it was “my responsibility to acknowledge the hostility that you have shown to the Jewish community and the antisemitic statements and actions you have allowed”.
The Labour leader has been criticised for responding to a Facebook post by street artist, Mear One, in 2012, which asked why the image faced destruction.
Mr Corbyn had written: “Why? You are in good company” – but has now said the image was “deeply disturbing”.
Labour MP Luciana Berger – who highlighted the post on Twitter – called Mr Corbyn’s response “wholly inadequate”.
She said: “It fails to understand on any level the hurt and anguish felt about anti-Semitism. I will be raising this further.”
One of the biggest points of tension was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Corbyn, like many on the socialist left, is staunchly pro-Palestinian — which is of course in no way anti-Semitic. But his advocacy on the issue has gone in a direction that many in Labour are uncomfortable with, most infamously inviting members of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah to speak at Parliament in 2009 and referring to them as his “friends.”
The old-school Labour leadership — along with a majority of the roughly 263,000 Jews living in Britain — worried that this kind of comment didn’t just reflect Corbyn’s politics on Israel, but rather an overall lack of concern for anti-Semitism and the welfare of Jews.
If anyone should be getting roasted by the media it should be this insane warmonger…
Netanyahu’s Long History of Crying Wolf over Fake ‘WMDs’ in Iran and Iraq
+1 – time for the warmonger to go. Sounds like many in Israel and jews around the world, support that just as much as everyone else in the world. Remember how he was politely asked ‘not to go’ to the Paris Memorial March but forced his way in.
Why do people on the left focus so much on Israel anyway? There are a lot worse regimes around the World to get all uppity about. Many of them are even fascistic in nature. Yet Israel seems to hold a place dear to the heart of the rabid leftist protestor as a kind of totem evil nation to focus anger on.
I think it is because Israel leads international propaganda and many politicians in other countries are following their lead. Aka do what ever you like and say you had to do it to beat terrorism. Even if you become a terrorist yourself and your actions make no sense and you start terrorising your own people as well as the perceived enemy to keep control.
Israel does not lead international propaganda. They do spin the case for their actions but so does pretty much every country. Russia claims that it doesn’t send troops to Eastern Ukraine or Venezuela claims it is being targeted by foreign sanctions for example.
Other countries are using their techniques and it’s turning to mayhem. Personally I think Israel is one of the worst offenders but many other’s may be catching up and I don’t think it is a good thing.
It’s the boy who cried wolf, soon nobody will believe anything government say.
Governments need to act respectfully and truthfully to get respect and truth back. If they keep employing an army of people making up messages then eventually, few will believe any message. Just like MSM. Less and less people believe in them.
Is it is the politicians jobs to represent the government truthfully and to protect their citizens rights and welfare, increasingly it looks more like selling out and outsourcing it to someone else, in return to get individual power and wealth and crossing fingers that someone else will deliver and do their job for them.
ALL countries and ALL politicians are going to try and spin their message to the positive side. Does that mean they are deliberately setting out to tell lies – No. Does it mean they stretch the truth so much it breaks at times – Quite likely.
So why does the Israel propaganda department screen news about the government before allowing it to be printed or broadcasted?
And why do they allow those of Jewish denominations to receive a government allowance to stay at home and read the Torah? But they don’t provide the same for any of any other denominations.
Israel jails any whistleblowers or journalists that attempt to hold their government to account.
“And why do they allow those of Jewish denominations to receive a government allowance to stay at home and read the Torah? But they don’t provide the same for any of any other denominations.”
I suspect it is because they have read and believed this book published a little over a century ago.
Read the book yourself if one of the resident lefties will lend you their copy, suspend belief, and you too will see why the Jews are so bad. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007058
I think you summed up what you say here in the comment from you immediately before this one.
As you put it so succinctly.
“I suspect that you’re talking out your arse yet again”.
I’m pleased to see that you have been talking rubbish.
The anti-Semites you like are certainly in the indefensible category and it is good that, even at a very late stage, you finally recognise that fact.
“Why do people on the left focus so much on Israel anyway?”
Some “people on the left” tend to oppose things such as genocide of indigenous people, such as that which has been inflicted on the indigenous people of Palestine for the last few decades.
I have a feeling it is because it is the closest there is to old school colonialism where lefties can feel morally superior by standing up against ‘white’ oppression against ethnic minorities.
that is where you always go wrong, how about informing yourself by reading widely from all angles about the issue before commenting about your feelings, which really means ‘this is my biased uneducated and ignorant spin’.
Try Noam Chomsky of American Jewish descent to get the opposite view point of extremist fundamentalist Zionism, but still from jewish people, so you can’t label then anti semitic for speaking facts like you can Corbyn etc.
A very informative talk from Robert Fisk … ISIS 10 mins …Al-nusral ‘rebels 13,mins 30 secs Alleppo etc . ” Listen very carefully to that word ‘Rebel’,,, “….
In case people were beginning to wonder about the governments’ response to climate change, the Productivity Commission has released a big set of thinking recently.
For those who haven’t gone through them in detail yet, within this release about the New Zealand policy framework response to climate change are a while series of papers that are worth reading:
– Transition to a zero-carbon electricity system in New Zealand (report by Sapere Consultants)
– An examination of the UK Climate Change Act 2008
– A set of models and assumptions about energy and industry shifts to achieve specific targets (report by Motu)
– The full draft report on transitioning to a low-carbon economy
In a nice little signal that everyone is talking to each other in Wellington, the EPA who are charged with administering the carbon pricing system among other things, have come out in support of this work.
The final report will be delivered to Government in August this year, in time to influence Minister Shaw’s draft bill.
Now, I can’t yet figure out how the work of the Interim Climate Commission, the Commissioner for the Environment, the Productivity Commission, all the other quangos, and Minister Shaw’s own thinking will coalesce towards the end of this year. If people want to have a stab at that, do enlighten me.
But from the government it’s not for lack of thinking and seeking to form broad agreement towards action about climate change at a whole-of-government level.
Which hasn’t been done before. Which is a good thing.
Would Lady Liberty be arrested as a people smuggler?
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
“One man’s freedom fighter, is another man’s terrorist”
Updated, “One man’s life saver is another man’s people smuggler”
Greek authorities accuse Aldeen of people smuggling. If he is found guilty, he faces life in prison.
Rights groups say the arrest is politically motivated to discourage small boats from setting sail for Europe.
Nationalism, Refugees, Borders, Politics, Paranoia, Racism, War.
New Zealanders are being led to believe by the Australian Foreign Minister that a boatload of desperate refugees caught off the coast of Malaysia were attempting to get to New Zealand. No doubt we are supposed to be suitably outraged and feel besieged and paranoid at this unlikely news.
The unspoken message that we are supposed to take on board is that we are being invaded by a horde of foreigners with ill intent, and not desperate human beings looking for refuge.
What is the purpose of instilling these feelings in New Zealanders?
Are Peter Dutton’s claims that this boat was on its way to New Zealand also “political”?
Refugees are often used as political playing cards, to reinforce notions of nation, and war, and racism.
Could it be that Dutton’s claims are being made to keep us in the fold, tied in together with Australia even more tighter into Western military alliances like 5 Eyes and ANZUS?
We demonise and dehumanise those who flee war and oppression and make it as hard as possible for them to escape. We use this narrative to keep the war fever going.
Imagine there’s no countries,
I wonder if you can,
Nothing to fight or die for,
the Brotherhood of man,
Sang John Lennon
Lady Liberty: People smuggler
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips.
The one thing we could do as a nation to show solidarity with the Syrian people suffering under Assad fascism, is throw open our doors to the refugees fleeing the regime.
The other thing we should do to show solidarity with the Syrian people, is expel the Russian ambassador, not because of some ridiculous alleged failed murder attempt in England, but to show the world that New Zealanders don’t tolerate genocide.
On the individual level I would suggest to you Gabby that your immediate first task would be to talk to a Syrian refugee. Or invite a Syrian speak to your group or community so as to become informed about the situation there.
Myself I am currently looking at some sort of fund raising or charity project to raise funds to give to some worthy group on the ground in Syria, to try in some small way to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people.
A couple of interesting appointments were announced yesterday which did not make it to prominent positions in our daily news. As they are unrelated I will cover them in separate comments.
First, following the expiry of Richard Griffin’s last three year appointment as Chair of the Board of RNZ a week ago on on 30 April 2018, Dr Jim Mather has been appointed to the position for the next three years.
Since 2013, Dr Mather has been CE of of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, following nine years as Chief Executive of Māori Television. During his time at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, he “led a multimillion-dollar restructure, streamlined the business, realigned campuses around the country and improved educational experiences for its students.”
In early March 2018 Dr Mather advised that he would not be seeking reappointment to the CE position in Oct 2018 when his current five year contract expires for family reasons.
It is not clear from the reports I have read to date whether Dr Mather will continue as Te Wānanga o Aotearoa CE until Oct or step down earlier.
It is also not clear whether his impending appointment to Chair of the RNZ Board had already been decided/agreed prior to the 5 March announcement that he would not be seeking reappointment to the Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Chief Executive position.
Clinton…
“I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake,” said Sen. Clinton. “And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”
Why any thinking citizen would pay to hear her talk bullshit right into to their faces is a real mystery to me, different strokes for different folks I guess.
At a talk in Auckland on Monday night, the former first lady and secretary of state said she had received invitations from many Kiwis to come and live here following her loss.
She “gave them some thought”, she said, but decided to stay in the US as there was work to do.
According to Patrick Gower, Clinton was much better value than Obama and the $500k probable fee was overpriced (especially since Air NZ owned 50% by taxpayers who didn’t get to say boo). Well Gower is probably right on that one.
Scary stuff, post political career the usual gravy train of copious amounts for speeches and influence by bankers and corporates to ex politicians.. I guess it’s we were never going to see them actually doing social good and be a change maker and voice of reason, when there is more money to be made.
Yikes, scary stuff I agree with the taxpayers union. At least Obama isn’t milking millions from small countries for cash for their ‘foundations’. (or maybe he is?)
“This week the Taxpayers’ Union revealed that the new Government is set to continue taxpayer-funded payments to the controversial Clinton Foundation affiliate, the “Clinton Health Access Initiative”. $5.5m will be given in 2018/19. This is on top of the $8million already forked out.”
Most of them simply cannot give up the limelight. They have become so warped in their thinking that they simply cannot accept that their time has gone and they were never as important as they liked to believe.
John Key has done pretty well in withdrawing from the spotlight. His predecessors in Clark and Bolger simply couldn’t accept that nobody gave a damn about them.
The best of course was George Bush senior. He never even published a fictional account of his presidency, calling them memoirs, showing how wonderful everything he did was, as most Presidents come out with.
If you want truly stupendous volumes on how great they were try those by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Volume after volume after volume. Of course if you want real history they don’t provide it.
The only really great Presidential memoirs were written by Ulysses S Grant and published in 1885. If you can obtain a copy it is well worth reading.
” Didn’t he finish writing them … “.
It was actually even more poignant than you say. He had got involved in rotten investments and was basically broke when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1884. He settled down, apparently in terrible pain, to write his memoirs to try and provide some money for his family after his death. The disease was quite incurable of course at that time.
He died from cancer in, I believe, March 1985, shortly after the memoirs were published. He didn’t drop dead precisely. His death was expected and basically he spent the last months of his life doing something for his wife future support.
They are worth reading although you have to have a reasonable grasp of US history before and during the Civil War to really follow them. That or Google of course.
I agree they can’t give up the limelight. But Key reasons are different, my guess is that firstly he was never really interested in the public anyway just wanted the power rush and have PM on the CV and secondly he has skeletons in his closet and doesn’t want anyone digging through it and thirdly I think even many in the National party had had enough of him and he knows not to push his luck too far. He’s considered teflon for a reason.
“more rumour mongering”.
How could you even consider that possibility?
If “savenz” says this it clearly must be true. He is of the left and they never ever tell fibs. At least that is what they claim.
Don’t be mean and ask him to divulge the source of his fantasies. It isn’t very pretty in there. He has a very bad case of Key Derangement Syndrome.
Well maybe KDS is better than KAS (Key Adoration Syndrome) that you seem to suffer from Alwyn.
Look at the state Key left the country, his obsession with the 0% tax havens, blind trusts, ponytails, mass surveillance, if his private life is anything like NZ accounts then keeping a low profile fits.
Even the state he left the National party, I mean Simon Bridges is the best they can do and MP’s leaving like rats deserting the sinking ship?
I’ll put in money for crowd funding for a Nicky Hager biography of Key…. see what falls out.
Well, you are clearly aware that you are suffering from KDS, as you admit you are affected.
That is the first step on the path to being cured. There is hope for you yet I would say although for a dose of it as strong as yours it may take some time.
She is an example of a career politician, who seems to have stopped believing in anything…. yes she is polished and probably a nice person, but lost touch (like many) with reality and how normal people live and what is right and wrong rather than what power to get and what power to take and who is important and who is not.
I know some on this site are convinced she is an evil witch, but I think Hillary Clinton’s warnings about the spreading influence of China in Australia and NZ is timely.
I mean nice, like grandma loves her grandkids, but not so nice what has been allowed to happen around the world under her and people like her that are supposed to be better and different from the republicans, and what is fair and right, gone out the window.
Similar to this heavy weight, with the same sort of affliction, seem to have a complete lack of understanding how Trump got there. Clue, if a person has lost their job as it has been outsourced offshore or to a cheaper worker, telling them how great everything is and how great America is under that system, is probably not going to work and they will stop voting for you. https://www.salon.com/2018/04/07/trump-fascism-and-democracy-heres-what-madeleine-albright-cant-or-wont-say/
Another interesting point, is Clinton reportedly warning NZ against China, but American helped make China powerful by building all their factories there to save money… contract for building UK’s nuclear power stations, infrastructure etc now American’s don’t have jobs but Chinese do and can come and buy up bits of other countries…. and other politicians and have money for influence.
The US has lost touch with reality and their super capitalist individual structures of people competing against each other and nationality being meaningless as one worker is the same as the next and their laws allow predatory behaviour against their own residents… like zombie debt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c
…really struck a chord with me. I hope my replies to Fireblade conveyed my deep anger at this….within days of WINZ being told by the PM to be kind.
I emailed Carmel Sepuloni asking her to contact this particular WINZ office and remind them of the PM’s instructions.
I got a prompt response saying the email had been passed to Brendan Boyle, the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development, for his attention.
I sent another email saying that I anticipated this situation will be rectified today, and that to morrow I will be onsite with a camera.
I understand that culture change takes time…but I also understand that rot is best excised promptly to allow the new flesh to grow.
Yep. WINZ has been developing it’s current culture for the past 20 + years and while change takes time, this kind of treatment is simply not acceptable.
I truly get about the intimidation and stress after some years of being the fulltime caring partner of someone on the Supported Living Payment.
The day he turned 65 and graduated to the respectable National Super he was directed to a separate area of the Dinsdale WINZ office reserved for ‘Seniors”.
We both decided, without discussion, to remain in the general seating area…refusing to cooperate with their divide and rule tactics.
Firebrand….rest assured that there are increasing numbers of Kiwis having to approach WINZ for assistance they are entitled to who are finding out what utter shits WINZ can be. These new WINZ clients,on an increasing number of occasions,are extending their outrage to include those who in previous times they might have viewed as ‘bludgers’.
While some feedback might indicate that there is little public sympathy for those on benefits, in my experience this is not generally the case.
It may be a deeper rooted problem Rosemary. WINZ have considerably tightened security since that dreadful shooting a few years back and this looks to be a consequence of that. I doubt there’s any intent or desire to cause grief, I’d expect it’s a security issue.
With managers now being potentially liable for any harm that befalls staff many are going to extreme lengths to protect their staff (and their own asses). Can’t really blame them either, the penalties are pretty severe.
Wins could have reacted by ensuring homeless and mentally ill were housed after the incident, instead of employing security guards and not letting their ‘customers’ into the building or to park there. Crazy reaction at odds with the root of the issue. Very American.
I think it’s more to do with law changes after Pike River. I can only go by what I’ve read but I understand that management can now be held criminally liable for any harm that comes to staff they’re responsible for.
In theory I expect they’d only be liable for acts of negligence but the whole health & safety in the workplace thing has got the point where ‘negligence’ is so subjective it can be seen in any scenario now.
If you were a senior manager and you faced the prospect of going to prison, or seriously penalised financially, for any hurt that befell employees under your watch what would you do?
Natz altered the law to make being a public servant difficult and putting power back to big business. Similar to Kinder surprise being considered harmful to children in the US but Guns for Kids are ok.
I doubt it makes their job more difficult. Bureaucrats have got deep pockets of other people’s money, they just hire consultants to develop comprehensive safety plans that guarantee their arses are covered.
You might picture how it’s unfolded. One safety plan goes a bit overboard but any bureaucrat who ignores it risks being seen as negligent so they come up with their own plan which is even more paranoid and another sees that & comes up with their own….. until you end up needing a security guard to watch you having a crap in case you get a paper cut from the bog roll.
It’s crazy takes money away from the core issues, aka teachers and teaching, now they have to waste time and money. for example many schools employing private firms to scare the wits out of kids in case some armed gun man pops up! The psychological damage is probably great. AKA WINZ, if you were border line mentally ill and forced to wait outside and not be able to access your benefit for example to buy food, maybe that might send you over the edge!
They are creating problems and ignoring the main risks!
Except that an unarmed guard will do piss-all against a gunman.
“Safety and Security” is a great reason to introduce barriers and intimidate people you don’t want to deal with. Used by more folks than social warfare, too – look at workplace drug testing (rather than impairment testing).
That’s true McFlock, it may also not be what’s actually happening. If we want to see the worst in people we’ll always find it but is that what we really want?
I’ll wager that if Rosemary does get a reply & explanation security will be one of the excuses, if not the excuse. Excessive security measures could create the same antagonistic environment as deliberate obstruction. The motives for each are a bit different and the actions you’d take to resolve them would differ too.
If they did, those offices would be closed and there’d be bland little doors in anonymous bland buildings, and everyone would have to go through the call centre and face to face meetings would be almost impossible, and security would be worse than airports.
But they don’t really think most people want to hurt staff. I suspect that the extra barrier helps their stats, though.
By all accounts it’s not far off that, realistically what they do now is probably the limit of what they think they can get away with.
They only need to think that some might hurt staff to enact universal security measures, it’s not about expecting the worst of everyone. Without the ability to profile exactly who might hurt someone they’d (likely) think they need to treat everyone the same.
Safety plans are pretty extreme these days. Managers are expected to anticipate all the possible causes of workplace injury and take steps to prevent them before they (might) happen. If they miss something, and later someone gets hurt as a result of that lapse, they can be in big trouble.
Risk aversion at the expense of reasonableness is not the aim or the content of the legislation, but it is a handy way to be a jerk or not bother with something.
Who’s at fault for it though? In the past the test was whether a person had taken reasonable care and acted in good faith. The law now is pretty unforgiving and it’s hard to judge harshly those who take extreme steps to prevent themselves from being prosecuted for ‘failures’ in the workplace.
Workplace safety has turned into a bit of a mess really. If heightened security was causing angst at WINZ it would only make things worse. People would get more pissed at WINZ staff for the holdups and ‘rude’ treatment. That would increase the risk of the staff being attacked. They’d increase security further to address that heightened risk which would piss people off even more… and so on.
Yeah. The thing about people at many levels of management now is they’re there because they’re ambitious. And ambitious people are by nature pretty self serving; they’ll look out for number one. The further they climb, the more they have to lose.
It’s a nice thought that a big cleanout of WINZ bigwigs will make things better but I do have my doubts.
I wonder how they’d justify creating a helfinsafety risk for the public outside their offices in that case. Angry beneficiaries milling about in the street what.
Yes, I get that. Yet on that day it was not only Sue Bradford wondering why WINZ never saw that coming.
If you treat people in an inhumane way is it surprising when someone finally responds in an inhuman way?
The surprising thing is that there have not been more incidents…especially with the the number of clients for whom mental stability is a real issue.
“With managers now being potentially liable for any harm that befalls staff many are going to extreme lengths to protect their staff (and their own asses). Can’t really blame them either, the penalties are pretty severe.”
In an ideal world, it should have been the Government of the day that was prosecuted for entrenching the culture that drove a desperate person to commit such a desperate act.
Having said that, the PSA is one powerful union, and I heard nothing from them to say their members working at WINZ had concerns or objections about the policies they were ordered to enforce.
Well, they rob banks and people can get hurt, but I don’t see private practise removing their customers, more fake ‘we want to protect our staff’.
Also time to clean up this pathetic laws that make people like teachers, principals and public officials responsible for accidents completely out of their control. It is an absolute curse and ruining education and stopping places like WINZ being functional for what their purpose is.
Funny enough when workers are harmed aka Pike River, no one held to account. Time workplace safety or whoever these idiots are, are overhauled. They pick on the little guy and easy targets and give the abusers a free ride.
Also with the shooting I think the guy that did the shooting went to great effort to try to get help before hand such as going into interviews, writing to MP’s etc. It was not some beneficiary who just shot them out of the blue. If he had got the help, who know the WINZ people might be alive today. They are looking at the incident all wrong.
Another interesting appointment also announced yesterday was the appointment of Andrew Campbell, currently chief strategist and communications director for the Green Party, to the position of Chief Press Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The Prime Minister’s office has hired Andrew Campbell as its new chief press secretary.
Campbell is currently the chief strategist and communications director for the Green Party.
Campbell has worked for the Green Party for a number of years on and off, including as the chief of staff and communications director. He began his latest stint in December, and was a part of the Green Party’s negotiating team going into Government.
Campbell has also worked for NZ Rugby and teachers’ union NZEI.”
Rather than rewrite what has already been written about the interchange of staff between the Greens and Labour over recent years, I am going to take the unusual step (and to some here on TS possibly the unforgiveable step – LOL) of linking to a post by Pete George on YourNZ outlining this – eg prior to Campbell, Leah Haines, and of course Clint Smith some years ago. https://yournz.org/2018/05/08/greens-staff-loss-is-labours-gain/
This post also mentions David Farrar’s reaction – a smart appointment but “Another former student president, which almost completes their takeover of Labour – Robertson, Hipkins, Kirton and now Campbell.”
[As an aside to the above, I noticed a few weeks ago that Stephanie Rodgers, former author etc here, started work in early April as Press Secretary to Jan Logie. ]
I liked James Shaw’s response to the Campbell appointment. It shows that while elements within the MSM are peddling stories of supposed discord between Labour and the Greens, they are actually working well and collaboratively together:
Green Party co-leader James Shaw said it was a great appointment and Campbell was “one of the best in the business.”
“He and the Prime Minister have my full blessing. He’s an enormously talented strategic communications person,” Shaw said.
“I think he’ll make a fantastic difference in the PM’s office.”
As you say a good response by Shaw. I debated whether to mention that but am trying to shorten my comments.
WO of course is trying to stir things by OIAing the recruitment process, claiming a conflict of interest of some sort (unspecified) in the PM’s Office using JacksonStone & Partners as the recruitment agency for the position, costs of using an agency etc etc.
“Another former student president, which almost completes their takeover of Labour – Robertson, Hipkins, Kirton and now Campbell.”
Did you notice that he had forgotten about Andrew Little? Poor Andrew. Gone and forgotten.
“Sic transit gloria mundi”
Or in the vernacular. Yesterday’s news is todays fish and chip wrapper.
“The Black Stilt or Kakī, is endangered – there are just 100 or so of them left. Most of them live in the Mackenzie basin.
But soon, they’ll have new neighbours. 15,000 cows are planned for a new dairy conversion near Lake Pūkaki.
This is madness. Putting cows in the Mackenzie is like mining in a national park.
But together, we can take it on. Please join the campaign today.” http://greenpeace.nz/black-stilt
What is the point of bank profit?
Is it to make a return to some of its investors so they can afford to sit on their chuffs instead of doing an honest day’s work?
The captains of Industry tell us that they plough their profits back into the business. Much of a bank profit appears to be creamed off by the master banks and salted away in bullion for a rainy day.
I don’t think I have ever seen “Captains of Industry” discuss ploughing back all their profits back in to the business. Indeed that would be a fundamentally foolish idea in the long run. The whole point of profits is to recompense the owners for the use of the capital.
Back in the 80s and 90s the New Right’s chant was: “Profit is not a dirty word.”
Ever since then the profiteers have been profit-gouging, which is in fact a dirty word.
$400 from each person constitutes profit-gouging by an oligarchy in a failed market.
Is that what you wanted someone to say, Gosman?
and-they don’t produce anything.
And are bloodsucking parasites that create digital credit and charge interest,anduse fractional reserve banking to multiply their capital.(create money out of thin air)
Not forgetting there is a tacit agreement that they are too big to fail.
It won’t take you long to find they are involved in fraud,money laundering and misfeasance of every kind,and usually just fined when they are brought to account.
On the banking note, would be nice if Kiwibank wanted to compete more on service. Not everyone wants to queue up at Postshop (especially around Christmas). Funny all these business folks love this idea of customer service but somehow have not really evolved beyond being a place for customers who have few banking needs to maybe look at growing customers with more complex banking needs or just much better customer service.
Now the OZ banks have cost cut customer service to the bone, time for Kiwi banks to actually try to compete a bit more on service.
I tried to change to Kiwibank and they were very bureaucratic. Did not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. Saying that, I’m with an OZ bank and their customer service is getting worse and worse and I don’t even trust them to do basic stuff. I even caught them charging me the wrong interest rate (higher of course) yep they paid if back but no apology or even understanding that’s quite a bad mistake to be making in banking. I’m sure if a financial auditor went through people’s banking they would get interesting results of over changing being the norm, because one small computer change can do a lot of damage. $400 profit is just the tip of the iceberg.
But hey all of NZ has headed that way. Look at the holiday pay issue, it’s normal now for big business to just stone wall paying it even though it is illegal or small business to now charge people for their own job while immigration turns a blind eye as it does not meet their Kafka criteria for investigation.
So from a family of 4 the banks make $1600 profits, or more likely they are making profits of $600-900 each from a person who is single/each person who has an account.
Banking (like many businesses) follows an 80/20 rule when it comes to profit. What this means is that the rule of thumb is that 80 percent of the profit comes from just 20 percent of the customer base. The rest of the customers are extremely low value usually.
Here’s a thought.
What if the Government was to direct all government agencies (starting with schools) to bank with Kiwibank – that any tax payer funding they receive must be through Kiwibank. Cannot see any reason why Westpac or BNZ et cetera should be making capital gains out of this money.
Lofty oaks from tiny acorns grow …
What infrastructure would that be then?
Seems a pretty simple bit of capitalistic behaviour wouldn’t go amiss.
Just poach the staff from the existing banks who handle the various schools accounts already.
And on what source/authority do you make such a statement?
I’ll bet there would be a queue of IT developers offering their systems.
That’s how free enterprise works isn’t it?
Because I work in IT and everyone knows the mess their system is in. They recently had to write off 90 million dollars from an attempt to upgrade their core banking system. They actually spent 100’s of millions on this.
Have to agree with Gosman about Kiwibank IT, but they are not the only ones in banking who can’t do IT. When who ever decided to lower wages to ridiculous levels for experienced IT people forcing a lot of them overseas and replacing them with level 5 IT staff or grads, there are implications…. one is there is a big gap in capability because NZ IT is pretty unique in the sense that we don’t have the billions to spend of IT like bigger countries but expect things to work well while paying pauper rates and thinking staff turnover and proven experience is irrelevant… then thinking of filling the gaps up with Morons from overseas at massive rates… aka the place where everyone gets a bargain got more than they bargained for with a recent overseas hire….
Your assumption is wrong. I was merely pointing out that your proposal is impractical at this stage. It is also undesirable in my opinion but that is a separate debate.
Anybody can be tempted to behave badly if completely trusted to do the right thing, and not monitored. This is like the problems that occur with Enduring Powers of Attorney.
A brother and sister and others made trustees after the Maori Trustee passed control in 2012, to manage a block of trees on behalf of other Maori left only $13.41 in the working a/c by 2014. They may have what they consider good reason, but they were given powers with obligations and have not met those. The Court case was reported in October 2017, and now in May 2018 a judgment has been made, nearly six years from the action in dispute. That is slow legal action, which exacerbates the matter.
In June 2012, Dixon, along with her brother Stephen Henare and and five others, were appointed as trustees in place of the Māori Trustee.
In August 2012, about $1.1 million, intended primarily for the management of the land and the forest for the benefit of the owners, was transferred from the Maori Trustee to the Parengarenga 3G Trust bank accounts.
A further $54,480 was also obtained by the trust from the sale of carbon credits.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Dixon intentionally failed to deal with $934,270 of the trust’s funds in accordance with the Parengarenga 3G Trust Order.
She facilitated the transfer of a “significant amount” of the trust’s money into various other bank accounts, including personal accounts and family trusts, the SFO said.
That left debts due for the care of the forest unpaid, and by January 2014 there was only $13.41 left of the funds.
Kiwi fruit industry experiencing a super bumper year.
Top Dog at Apata packing house crying shortage of labour.
“… culture of benefit dependency is a major problem in hiring staff… they’re just not prepared to take work on offer …” And you are going to have a bumper year?
That suggests the bank balance is going to look very healthy.
Here’s an idea – pay more / take a slight cut in your bottom line.
How about you offer these people permanent positions – run cadetships to get them into the industry. Yeah nah – got those off season cruises to consider
… perhaps you didn’t read my initial suggestion (13) that the kiwifruit/avacado barons could invest in these people and create 365 day employment, rather than the piece work bit on the minimum wage rate. Your 13.1.1.1.1.1 says quite a lot about you really.
I’m not sure many can plan a 3 month career around the minimum wages, might be why the industry expects the tax payers to subsidise them and why they are getting so profitable especially where there are cases of underpaying migrants or even having to pay for a job.
I mean sounds so perfect for Kiwi residents, (sarcasm) give up your accomodation, find a few thousand for travel and expenses down to the farm in the back of beyond and time to find accomodation, then work for minimum wages for a few months with no guarantees and then at the end of the season a stand down period to get back on the benefit and then costs of bond/expenses and time of finding a new tenancy and job back where you came from.
What a great work opportunity! But financially you are probably worse off than if you had not picked Kiwifruit.
Gosh and I thought it might at least be 3 months work, but no 3 weeks, really worth it going off the dole for that and then trying to get back on. Could take longer to get that interview with WINZ! No wonder Kiwis are not doing it. Can’t we expect industry to actually try to do something themselves and spend their own money fixing up their worker problems?
They have to pay for their accommodation while on site for the job, I think $120 which is not much BUT they are on the minimum wage. Meanwhile they will need to keep their own, hopefully permanent, accommodation in town. So what about giving them accommodation free, you dork of a manager. Also there may be a stand-down period after the work. There is no such thing as a free lunch says WINZ, – and getting to the stage of saying there Is No Lunch.
Also there may be a grant which could be lost $ for gross$ received before tax, which can sometimes mean that the person ends up working but receiving less than the benefit which they can only just survive on with some help from friends and food bank. Oh why don’t they line up to come and work and get better off. They are so lazy, it is generational laziness and softness etcetc etc etc …. (And indeed there is that, but it induced helplessness impressed on them by the dastardly government and its machinations of hate and spite.)
(Manager used to be a worker and has got all the way to manager. Always said, without thinking that he must be slightly different in some way and is fortunate for that. If as is so often said, why can’t everyone do this,? the person who has achieved would not because he would have been overwhelmed with competition.)
Wouldn’t a rational, effective government have organised teams of seasonal workers who could sign up to travel round the country, and be available for most of the year doing something useful and which they could earn good money at? Trouble with politicians is they come from the class that hates manual work. They pretend they are strong and outdoorsy by rushing round on mountain bikes and going on marathons but ask them to do sustained hard physical work as a way to earn their living and they won’t do it because they are too good for that, and it doesn’t pay enough..
Their attitude is classist and if they respected all work and paid reasonable wages for physical and manual labour, without swingeing stand-downs because of an accumulation of peanut amounts compared to the fat cats on contracts over $100-$800 hourly, they would get people lining up for it, enjoying the life and the status of being on one of the fit permanent teams of travelling seasonal workers.
Grey, that’s excellent news, hope it happens. I know they are looking for pickers around these parts. Good on Willie Jackson for trying to do something about the obstacles.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said in a pre-Budget announcement that government was committed to lifting the abatement rates for kiwifruit-picking workers within the next three years.
Abatement rates are the amounts cut from a person’s benefit because of income that they receive.
“We stated clearly we will be looking at lifting abatement rates. It will happen,” she said.
But so far it is just talk without urgent action being even promised.It should be we will have this fixed by lunchtime but nothing that gets to the heart and needs of people on the edge is to be hurried.
But – its not that urgent, we’ll get round to it soon. There are many problems and we can’t wave a magic wand you know. This is the attitude that I draw from the pollies and the civil servants!
Instead the industry spokesperson is making statements about what the problem is. This is carrying on with the theme that has been current since neolib came in – that government steps back and industry knows what it wants and organises the workforce to where the jobs are.
Industry and business are totally unsuitable to do this on their own, government should be watching, meeting and talking with them all, drawing up demographics, analysing workforce availability, flexibility and flow, ensuring that there is accommodation for the workers required, and that they are supported when they can’t be earning because of cessation through machinery breakdown, bad weather, injuries, illness, outbreaks of violence, drug and alcohol presence etc.
Providing accommodation – get the tourist drivers off the road doing their freedom thing, and have the vehicles for accommodation for the workers.?
(They rental firms would have to have a big clean up, but theycould pay for that out of their profits., just a necessary part of doing business. NZ would have less easy-riders on $10 a day or whatever. I hear how expensive we are compared to other countries for ordinary people but the young ones from overseas can be very canny at travelling on the smell of an oily rag.)
Our horticultural business is working with fragile, perishable produce – it has needs and time limits, and babysitting by responsible, intelligent, enterprising government is required to
get the good outcomes from good product delivered in a timely fashion.
” Labour Inspectorate operation audited 62 labour companies and interviewed nearly 700 workers over three months last year. They found 53 per cent of employers failed to meet minimum employment standards, and almost all of these employers were using migrant labour.
Truely shocking. Why nothing done about it! I’m sure adding a few zero’s on the fines and actually saying to industry no more migrant work permits, would do the trick and actually get some of our own underemployed into the work force. Picking is hard work, but it’s not rocket science, most people can do it!
I worked kiwifruit. We did 14 hour days for minimum wage in the packhouse. Not much better pruning or picking – the contract rates are long gone, they’ll give you as little as possible, those landowners with their large houses and multiple vehicles, boats, etc. And they’ll complain, oh how they love to complain.
This is standard fare. Critics of wage increases are moronic in their utterances. Poor people spend all their money, poor means you got nothing but bills in my experience. This money then, is immediately circulating in businesses. But no – it’s the Reds under the bed, calamity!
Also worked in a kiwi fruit pack house, in the school holidays. This was before schools moved to four terms so I guess a term break must have been in May back then. At the time any work I could get was snapped up. This was before student loans were introduced of course.
Back in the day, they got local teenagers to do a lot of harvesting, also taught them good work skills for later on. They also employed backpackers and students who were already in the area as well as local unemployed who did not have stand down periods at WINZ.
You have to wonder how bringing over someone for $1000’s in flights and then bringing them into NZ can work out cheaper.. unless there is something else going on there with exploitation and residency or both.
Yes, but teens wanted the pocket money and got good experience. I’m not against teens understanding hard work. Then they understand that hard work is hard later on and are not snobs, they got money to save for their tertiary fees or what not and also message to work hard at school cos being farm hand is probably not a great career move. The teens got something out of it, the farmers got something out of it and the country got something out of it. All good.
Not sure why you think cheap labour from migrants or grown ups might be better than local kids getting work experience and pocket money and also less carbon footprint due to getting locals working locally and also not needing so much accomodation for short term bursts of work.
Pay more prices also go up for joe consumer, likewise people employ less, similarly business has less to reinvest and attract future capital as low returns, likewise business will be higher risk as as if leveraged eneanigs / interest ratio falls etc etc To simply say pay more and all will be rosy is very simplistic
But underpay people who work hard with no palpable reward, and you create a hell-hole of a society where the poor see no point in taking the work available, and crime flourishes. We have been doing this ever since Rogernomics, which claimed that a high-wage economy was a good thing, but then did all it could to force low wages further down. Look at what we are creating to date, Bewildered, and think again. Nothing will be more pernicious than where we are currently heading.
Money circulating is money well spent. It is not that all is complex and I, simple minded humanitarian, do not understand.
Honest work for honest pay is a concept lost to an entire generation. For the honest pay is gone, contract rates no longer No more are workers paid for achievement, but given as little as possible.
I/we broke all manner of picking records on all manner of farms. And for being a freaking legend – pittance. They want workers now, poor landowners and all their hardships. Did the least they could possibly do for workers and many times over did even less than that minimum requirement. How bizarre people don’t want a bar of it.
It’s about squeezing all you can for yourself, grasping tightly. There’s a car to update, a party frock to purchase. More vino darlings.
Pay more prices also go up for joe consumer, likewise people employ less, similarly business has less to reinvest and attract future capital as low returns, likewise business will be higher risk as as if leveraged eneanigs / interest ratio falls etc etc To simply say pay more and all will be rosy is very simplistic I do agree though, supply and demand here, you want workers pay more and make it attractive, can’t be a capitalist in the good times and socialist in the poor
Too late. They got the powers from misleading and deceptive conduct. Expected from spies. Not from AG and PMs.
“If the SIS could live without these powers for six months, it suggests at the least that there was no case for urgency, and possibly no case for the powers at all (DPMC certainly didn’t bother to make one in their shoddy and unprofessional Regulatory Impact Analysis). There’s a lesson here both for future attempts to expand spy powers, and for abuse of urgency, and it is one we should heed. Our spies are power grabbing liars, who use fear to boost both their powers and their budgets. And this is not behaviour we should tolerate.”
It just annoys me that Finlayson is available to comment on this but NO heat has been put on him over the OIA debacle. Where is the pressure from Brudges to remove him as Shadow AG and the media pressuring Brudges to remove that portfolio. You know, like they all did with Turei
And this is partly what you get with a contract system that rewards companies for cut-throat tendering- poor wages, quality services threatened and upheaval.
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Local government elections are upon us again. It is a fair bet that, when they are over, we will have all the usual complaints that, despite their undoubted importance, the turnout was depressingly low. So, why do local elections attract so little attention and involvement from the general public? I ...
Yesterday the High Court released its decision in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Limited, on the (alleged) decision by the Auckland Council and Mayor Phil Goff to deny use of a public venue to a pair of visiting nazi grifters. Based on the information available back then, I said that ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says Air New Zealand has "an obligation to look after Kiwis", and urged the national carrier not to hike up their prices after Jetstar airline announced their withdrawal from regional flights this week. The Provincial Champion also expressed his disappointment at Jetstar’s decision on ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help fund a new dredge for the Port of Greymouth to ensure the regional fishing fleet have a reliable and productive harbour, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “Last year the movements of ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
An additional $2.7 million has been announced for the Government Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation on the first anniversary of the strategy’s launch. Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson gave the opening address to the first Sport NZ Women + Girls Summit in Wellington today, ...
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. The move will: support skilled migrants who help fill New Zealand’s skills gaps by providing a pathway for ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has today announced Major General Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force has been selected as the commander of a significant, longstanding peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. In December, Major General Williams takes over as Force Commander for the Multinational Force and Observers ...
A record number of nurses are now working to deliver health services to New Zealanders as the Government’s increased funding and new initiatives rebuild key workforces start to show results, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. • 1458 more DHB nurses since the Government took office • 106 more midwives ...
Farmer and former Nuffield scholar Mel Poulton has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, announced today. The position supports key Government objectives, including raising the value of New Zealand agricultural goods and services. Mel is ...
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne. “Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 ...
“Fijian Language Week starts on Sunday and the theme reminds us how important it is that we each have something to anchor ourselves to, something that can help us pause and feel in control in a rapidly changing world,” says Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. “Family, culture, faith, ...
The Government is establishing an Airspace Integration Trials Programme to support the safe testing and development of advanced unmanned aircraft and accelerate their integration into the aviation system, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced today. The Government will work with leading, innovative aviation industry partners to test and ...
Researchers from Lincoln University are investigating how to use nanotechnology in agriculture to increase productivity and reduce environmental impact. ...
The increased presence of anti-trans and white supremacist stickers around the University of Auckland campus is proof that inaction is enabling hate groups, write Anisha Sankar and Max Whitehurst.Anisha Sankar is a Chennai-born, Te Awakairangi-raised, South Indian Tamil studying at the University of Auckland. Max Whitehurst is a transgender Pākehā ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Following the Christchurch mosque shootings, the New Zealand government’s first response was to ban the firearms the alleged gunman had used to murder 51 people. Seven months later, the second tranche of this process ...
The nine members for the next three year term of the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) for Auckland have been appointed by the statutory Selection Body. Their appointments begin on 1 November 2019 and continue to 31 October 2022. Mana Whenua ...
“If we are truly to solve the challenge of poverty within the Te Ao Maori world we must lift our people from the low wage and low skills growth side of the economy. At the same time we must continue to ensure our people, no matter where they are, ...
Alex Casey asks Rose Stewart from Family Planning every single question she can think of about New Zealand’s new free IUDs. Listen up, womb-owners who love free shit and long-term contraceptive options: Pharmac announced that they will be fully funding two new long-lasting, reversible contraceptives in New Zealand from November 1, ...
Patients are increasingly being turned away for treatment and there can be no more excuses from the Government over properly funding district health boards to boost specialist numbers in public hospitals, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the ...
Today’s Council of Trade Unions’ report, Fair Pay Agreements: A Framework for Fairness , provides a much-needed pathway to fair wages and conditions across several major industries, and the Government must deliver on its promise to introduce FPAs ...
The Speaker has limited the number of questions Simon Bridges can ask in the House as a punishment for the National Party defying Trevor Mallard by not pulling down their attack ads. ...
Sunshine capital? Check. Rich artisan tradition? Check. Incredible sausages? That’s a big check. We’ve put together a list of all you need to know before you explore the truly gorgeous Nelson region this summer. If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should be sorting out their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University In the four years since the Paris climate agreement was adopted, countries have debated the fine print of how emissions reduction should be tracked and ...
The flight drink company 1Above, partly-owned by the high profile, venture capital fund Movac and businessman Gareth Morgan, is in liquidation owing almost $10 million. ...
In recent weeks Responsible Campers Association Incorporated (RCAi) has become involved in some high level discussions about our right to camp. This began out of discussion about the disabled who which to participate in Sport and Recreation activities. ...
In their quest for a cashless society the Japanese have beaten New Zealand to its own next-gen shopping experience.New Zealanders are missing out to the Japanese on a Kiwi technology that is set to eliminate supermarket queues.The first store to implement the SmartCart cashierless shopping system will be in Osaka, ...
If you don’t like Shortland Street, or you’re unconvinced that Michael Galvin actually is a doctor, does that mean all New Zealand television is rubbish? Some say yes. Tara Ward says an emphatic no. The world is our TV oyster, but lately it seems not everyone in Godzone is feeling the ...
The National Party is accusing the Immigration Minister of a "Sroubek 2.0" after revelations he granted residence to a man with multiple drink-driving convictions. ...
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu urges the Crown to ensure that the Establishment Board of the newly formed Institute of Skills and Technology meets its Treaty obligations and addresses the statutory role of iwi as Treaty partners in redesigning the education ...
The top-selling food magazine in New Zealand is closing its print operation. Niki Bezzant, Healthy Food Guide‘s former editor, reflects on the challenges the title faced.The news that after 14 years and 176 issues Healthy Food Guide magazine is closing its print operation came as a shock to some. It ...
A unique deal saw Sky buy the rugby rights and sell some of itself to NZ Rugby. Trevor McKewen breaks down what it all means.The news came thick and fast over a remarkable five-day corporate slugfest, starting last Thursday. First, Spark Sport struck, gobbling up New Zealand Cricket’s domestic broadcasting ...
In what’s thought to be the last piece of writing Peter Wells completed before he died, he wonders about his great-grandfather, and the locket he wore all his life. ‘The Story of a Locket’ is published in part here, and features in the extraordinary collection of essays Queer Objects, released this ...
Relationship expert Holly Dixon explains why the entire Married at First Sight franchise is based on bunk science.As the third MAFS NZ season has come to an end, I thought it relevant to answer the question upon which the entire MAFS enterprise is built: Is it possible to predict attraction and ...
SkyCity Casino workers will be on strike and picketing today as Rob Campbell, the Chair of SkyCity Casino talks to other employers about making pay fair at a “Wellbeing at Work” conference today. ...
He was the prototypical high school nerd, hanging on Don Brash’s every word. Then the financial world turned upside down. This is the story of how Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr became a most unconventional economist.In 2008, Jarrod Kerr was working at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia when the global financial crisis ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriela D’Souza, Affiliate, Monash department of business statistics and econometrics, Monash University For most people the second week in October probably doesn’t hold much promise. Longer days for some, perhaps. But for those is us in the economics profession, come the second ...
One of the important parameters of the agreement’s aims was to ensure there was no threat to food production from the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. ...
A monument to Winston Peters and Think Big projects would both boost the economy, but Argentina learned the hard way they can also impoverish a nation, writes Tony Burton.Everyone who loves New Zealand should visit Argentina. There are more similarities than you might think – large areas of wild natural ...
The Salvation Army foodbank in Waitakere ran out of food last week; an indication of the strain many New Zealand whanau are under as they struggle to afford the cost of living. Wednesday, October 16 is World Food Day, and as demand for services offered ...
Phil Goff was re-elected by a huge margin on Saturday. How will he put that mandate to use this term? Hayden Donnell asks the questions.Phil Goff is once again Auckland’s mayor. Preliminary local election results show him with a lead of nearly 100,000 votes over his nearest challenger, John Tamihere. ...
Catherine Bindon from Ban the Boom has created these colourful and positive posters for you to use to show you don't support the use of fireworks in your neighbourhood over the next few weeks distressing our animals and birds. ...
On Tuesday morning the Operation Burnham inquiry hearing resumed after it was suspended three weeks ago. The hearing is being held at Royal Society of New Zealand, 11 Turnbull St, Thorndon, Wellington on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland It’s not uncommon for science and religion to be framed as two opposing forces. The Catholic church has famously struggled to accommodate scientific research in its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cat Pausé, Senior Lecturer in Human Development, Massey University The British Psychological Society is calling for changes for how we talk about fatness, suggesting we should no longer use the phrase “obese people”, but instead, “people with obesity” or “people living with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The federal government’s much-vaunted Snowy Hydro expansion is supposed to smooth out the bumps in electricity supply as Australia transitions to renewables. But not only is the project a bad deal for taxpayers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By María Yanotti, Lecturer of Economics and Finance Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania The housing market is moving again. In the past month, national prices have climbed 0.9%. What matters most to buyers (and especially to investors), along with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne It seems appropriate that a painting titled Feng Shui dominates the new exhibition of Guan Wei’s work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Matthews, Lecturer in Digital Media and Popular Culture Researcher, Auckland University of Technology According to a recent study, the sixth leading cause of death for young men in the United States is the warranted and unwarranted use of police force. With ...
The Council of Trade Unions has today released its report - Fair Pay Agreements: A Framework for Fairness . The report details the six key principles needed for Fair Pay Agreements to deliver real change for working people, and democratic agreements ...
Too many New Zealanders endure poor working conditions in jobs that don’t pay enough and offer few opportunities for career progression, and the union movement is calling for change. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the latest polls which show a drop in support for Labour are not a concern when it comes to forming a government. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A pair of polls put pressure on the Labour Party, a wild night of weather in the North Island, and Shane Jones snapped brandishing a semi-automatic.Parliament resumes today after a fortnight recess, and MPs were given a welcome-back present in ...
Mandy Hager, the newly elected head of the New Zealand Society of Authors, is lobbying the government to improve the lot of writers - to no avail, despite the Prime Minister's championing of the arts. ...
Competition for the rights to broadcast sports matches involving NZ’s top teams has produced a bonanza for the sporting bodies, forcing media companies to be a lot more innovative. ...
Given the vast impacts that poor diet have had on global health, a deficit in nutrition education in medicine represents a big problem, writes Dr Jennifer Crowley. ...
Any time Olympian Luuka Jones needs advice or encouragement in her pursuit of more canoe slalom success, she doesn’t have to look far. Jones’ coach, Campbell Walsh, is also her partner. ...
The Wellington suburb’s successful opposition to a proposed Bottle-O shows how the system is biased towards communities with the organisation, capacity and resources to protest effectively, says Jenesa Jeram.For those unfamiliar with Wellington geography, Khandallah is a Very Nice place to live (Aucklanders: think Remuera). So when it was reported ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission conducted an inquiry into mortgage pricing as recently as last year. Now Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has asked it to do another, broader one, in order to ensure the banks’ ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsThe results of the local government elections appear to show that New Zealanders are generally supportive of a more diverse range of representatives, having voted in greater numbers for candidates from traditionally under-represented groups. The elections have therefore modernised our councils in a small but very significant ...
The Inquiry has today published Minute No 21. This Minute sets out how the Inquiry intends to proceed given that the Attorney-General the Hon David Parker has agreed to extend the Inquiry’s reporting date by three months to 31 March 2020. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Skrzypiec, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University Many Australian students don’t know the difference between banter and bullying, with some saying they joke about wishing their friend would “drown” or “die in a car crash”. More than 800 Australian students aged 11-16 took ...
But he did play a crucial role in helping journeyman Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern.Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and ...
In the fifth episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect Artificial Intelligence has on our lives, Russell Brown speaks to Ben Reid, executive director of the AI Forum, about the role of government in embracing and regulating AI.Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below.To ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Henry Cooke (Stuff): How to lose an election: Over-promise or under-deliver Simon Collins ...
By RNZ Pacific A Solomon Islands province has agreed to lease a large island to a Chinese developer to develop into a special economic zone, weeks after the country opened diplomatic ties with China. But already cracks abound; there has been no official announcement and the provincial premier says the ...
The New Zealand First MP and Minister Shane Jones is still backing the firearms ban, despite being pictured with what appears to be an AR-15 semi-automatic while holidaying in Asia. ...
Everyone needs to be concerned about the draft National Policy Statement on Urban Development that the Ministry for the Environment has released. It is incompatible with the spirit of transparency and inclusiveness. ...
Prodigal Son is a new crime procedural coming hot and fresh to TVNZ 1 on Mondays at 8.30pm.Jean Sergent has a few reasons why you should be watching it. If you like serial killer shows, Michael Sheen, dark drama, Michael Sheen, twisted family dynamics, or Michael Sheen – strap yourself ...
Voters in the 2019 local elections have elected the largest number of new mayors in 30 years, with 26 candidates set to don mayoral chains for the first time later this month. ...
A team of investigators dedicated to stamping out violent extremism online is being set up with the government announcing $17 million in funding over four years. ...
Open Mike 08/05/2018 
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Ata Marie, good morning I hope you all have a great day.
Ata Marie Nick. How pleasant to read that. Many of my friends are now living alone. They often comment that cheery morning greetings online or at service centres and food outlets become quite important to them. So thanks for that courtesy.
A few people have started waving around racist and anti-semite smears against english labour leader Corbyn …. and others ,,,,,
Its a manner of attack which reminds me of John Key shouting “you support the rapists !”
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/john-key-using-sexual-violence-as-a-political-tool-says-greens-co-leader
Antisemitism is the tried and true propaganda tool … used to smear Lorde and her fans … who I presume object to the worst aspects of Zionism…. like Corbyn …
two docos set about 10 years apart … about messages and public opinion
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/10/israeli-labor-leader-cuts-ties-jeremy-corbyn-antisemitism
The leader of the Israeli Labor party has said he will cut ties with Jeremy Corbyn and his office over the handling of antisemitism, but would preserve the link with the party as a whole.
Avi Gabbay, the chair of the centre-left Labor party, which is the main opposition to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud, said he would sever all relations with Corbyn on the eve of Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day.
Gabbay said in a letter sent to the British Labour party leader on Tuesday that it was “my responsibility to acknowledge the hostility that you have shown to the Jewish community and the antisemitic statements and actions you have allowed”.
The more they make stupid unjustified attacks on Corbyn, like this one, the more people vote for him.
To many anti-Zionism = anti-Semitism .
Righto Puckish …. so a political party in the Zionist state of Israel calls out anti-Semite
You do know its a neo con zionist strategy to shut down narratives …
38 – 45 mins
Anyway Spread the video and support Corbyn, Lorde … and Roger Waters
Being anti extreme Zionism is not the same as anti Semitic
Yeah what would a centre-left party in Israel know about anti-semitism
Perhaps they are happy to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. – is that too hard an idea for you Pucky?
Well thats one way of looking at it
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-43523445
The Labour leader has been criticised for responding to a Facebook post by street artist, Mear One, in 2012, which asked why the image faced destruction.
Mr Corbyn had written: “Why? You are in good company” – but has now said the image was “deeply disturbing”.
Labour MP Luciana Berger – who highlighted the post on Twitter – called Mr Corbyn’s response “wholly inadequate”.
She said: “It fails to understand on any level the hurt and anguish felt about anti-Semitism. I will be raising this further.”
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/29/17168320/labour-corbyn-anti-semitism-mural
One of the biggest points of tension was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Corbyn, like many on the socialist left, is staunchly pro-Palestinian — which is of course in no way anti-Semitic. But his advocacy on the issue has gone in a direction that many in Labour are uncomfortable with, most infamously inviting members of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah to speak at Parliament in 2009 and referring to them as his “friends.”
The old-school Labour leadership — along with a majority of the roughly 263,000 Jews living in Britain — worried that this kind of comment didn’t just reflect Corbyn’s politics on Israel, but rather an overall lack of concern for anti-Semitism and the welfare of Jews.
If anyone should be getting roasted by the media it should be this insane warmonger…
Netanyahu’s Long History of Crying Wolf over Fake ‘WMDs’ in Iran and Iraq
+1 – time for the warmonger to go. Sounds like many in Israel and jews around the world, support that just as much as everyone else in the world. Remember how he was politely asked ‘not to go’ to the Paris Memorial March but forced his way in.
Hollande Asked Netanyahu Not to Attend Paris Memorial March
https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-hollande-asked-netanyahu-not-to-attend-paris-march-1.5359102
Why do people on the left focus so much on Israel anyway? There are a lot worse regimes around the World to get all uppity about. Many of them are even fascistic in nature. Yet Israel seems to hold a place dear to the heart of the rabid leftist protestor as a kind of totem evil nation to focus anger on.
I think it is because Israel leads international propaganda and many politicians in other countries are following their lead. Aka do what ever you like and say you had to do it to beat terrorism. Even if you become a terrorist yourself and your actions make no sense and you start terrorising your own people as well as the perceived enemy to keep control.
Israel does not lead international propaganda. They do spin the case for their actions but so does pretty much every country. Russia claims that it doesn’t send troops to Eastern Ukraine or Venezuela claims it is being targeted by foreign sanctions for example.
Other countries are using their techniques and it’s turning to mayhem. Personally I think Israel is one of the worst offenders but many other’s may be catching up and I don’t think it is a good thing.
It’s the boy who cried wolf, soon nobody will believe anything government say.
Governments need to act respectfully and truthfully to get respect and truth back. If they keep employing an army of people making up messages then eventually, few will believe any message. Just like MSM. Less and less people believe in them.
Is it is the politicians jobs to represent the government truthfully and to protect their citizens rights and welfare, increasingly it looks more like selling out and outsourcing it to someone else, in return to get individual power and wealth and crossing fingers that someone else will deliver and do their job for them.
ALL countries and ALL politicians are going to try and spin their message to the positive side. Does that mean they are deliberately setting out to tell lies – No. Does it mean they stretch the truth so much it breaks at times – Quite likely.
So why does the Israel propaganda department screen news about the government before allowing it to be printed or broadcasted?
And why do they allow those of Jewish denominations to receive a government allowance to stay at home and read the Torah? But they don’t provide the same for any of any other denominations.
Israel jails any whistleblowers or journalists that attempt to hold their government to account.
“And why do they allow those of Jewish denominations to receive a government allowance to stay at home and read the Torah? But they don’t provide the same for any of any other denominations.”
Ummm… because it is a Jewish State
@ Gosman
Not many regimes support a concentration camp with more than a million people suffering within it. (There is a certain irony here.)
Not many regimes erect illegal settlements for decades in defiance of the UN.
Gaza is not a Concentration camp.
Lot’s of countries have settled conquered land in defiance of the UN.
It kind of is gossy.
I suspect it is because they have read and believed this book published a little over a century ago.
Read the book yourself if one of the resident lefties will lend you their copy, suspend belief, and you too will see why the Jews are so bad.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007058
I suspect that you’re talking out your arse yet again.
Because they keep killing people and committing war crimes in their ongoing invasion of Palestine. And those crimes are supported by the West.
As opposed to say Russian military intervention in the Caucasus?
They did it to is not an excuse for war crimes.
I think you summed up what you say here in the comment from you immediately before this one.
As you put it so succinctly.
“I suspect that you’re talking out your arse yet again”.
Ah, right, nothing to say that won’t come across as defence of the indefensible.
I’m pleased to see that you have been talking rubbish.
The anti-Semites you like are certainly in the indefensible category and it is good that, even at a very late stage, you finally recognise that fact.
“Why do people on the left focus so much on Israel anyway?”
Some “people on the left” tend to oppose things such as genocide of indigenous people, such as that which has been inflicted on the indigenous people of Palestine for the last few decades.
The Palestinians are not indigenous. Neither are the Jews.
Oh, you’re one of those, a believer in the false “land without a people” rhetoric.
Do you also believe that Australia was “terra nullius” before the English colonised it?
What are these worse regimes that nobody’s getting uppity about gossy?
I have a feeling it is because it is the closest there is to old school colonialism where lefties can feel morally superior by standing up against ‘white’ oppression against ethnic minorities.
‘I have a feeling ‘
that is where you always go wrong, how about informing yourself by reading widely from all angles about the issue before commenting about your feelings, which really means ‘this is my biased uneducated and ignorant spin’.
Try Noam Chomsky of American Jewish descent to get the opposite view point of extremist fundamentalist Zionism, but still from jewish people, so you can’t label then anti semitic for speaking facts like you can Corbyn etc.
A very informative talk from Robert Fisk … ISIS 10 mins …Al-nusral ‘rebels 13,mins 30 secs Alleppo etc . ” Listen very carefully to that word ‘Rebel’,,, “….
A talk about messages and narratives
In case people were beginning to wonder about the governments’ response to climate change, the Productivity Commission has released a big set of thinking recently.
For those who haven’t gone through them in detail yet, within this release about the New Zealand policy framework response to climate change are a while series of papers that are worth reading:
https://www.productivity.govt.nz/inquiry-content/3254?stage=3
There are papers on:
– Transition to a zero-carbon electricity system in New Zealand (report by Sapere Consultants)
– An examination of the UK Climate Change Act 2008
– A set of models and assumptions about energy and industry shifts to achieve specific targets (report by Motu)
– The full draft report on transitioning to a low-carbon economy
In a nice little signal that everyone is talking to each other in Wellington, the EPA who are charged with administering the carbon pricing system among other things, have come out in support of this work.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1805/S00073/epa-welcomes-productivity-commissions-report.htm
I have a sneaky suspicion that the UK Climate Change Act is going to be an important model for us here.
You can make submissions on the Productivity Commissions’ thinking here:
https://www.productivity.govt.nz/make-a-submission
The final report will be delivered to Government in August this year, in time to influence Minister Shaw’s draft bill.
Now, I can’t yet figure out how the work of the Interim Climate Commission, the Commissioner for the Environment, the Productivity Commission, all the other quangos, and Minister Shaw’s own thinking will coalesce towards the end of this year. If people want to have a stab at that, do enlighten me.
But from the government it’s not for lack of thinking and seeking to form broad agreement towards action about climate change at a whole-of-government level.
Which hasn’t been done before. Which is a good thing.
Charged for saving the lives of refugees, fleeing fascism and war.
Would Lady Liberty be arrested as a people smuggler?
“One man’s freedom fighter, is another man’s terrorist”
Updated, “One man’s life saver is another man’s people smuggler”
Charges: “politically motivated” 2:40 minutes
Nationalism, Refugees, Borders, Politics, Paranoia, Racism, War.
New Zealanders are being led to believe by the Australian Foreign Minister that a boatload of desperate refugees caught off the coast of Malaysia were attempting to get to New Zealand. No doubt we are supposed to be suitably outraged and feel besieged and paranoid at this unlikely news.
The unspoken message that we are supposed to take on board is that we are being invaded by a horde of foreigners with ill intent, and not desperate human beings looking for refuge.
What is the purpose of instilling these feelings in New Zealanders?
Are Peter Dutton’s claims that this boat was on its way to New Zealand also “political”?
Refugees are often used as political playing cards, to reinforce notions of nation, and war, and racism.
Could it be that Dutton’s claims are being made to keep us in the fold, tied in together with Australia even more tighter into Western military alliances like 5 Eyes and ANZUS?
“Was people smuggling boat, intercepted with 130 Sri Lankan refugees, really heading to NZ?”
We demonise and dehumanise those who flee war and oppression and make it as hard as possible for them to escape. We use this narrative to keep the war fever going.
Imagine there’s no countries,
I wonder if you can,
Nothing to fight or die for,
the Brotherhood of man,
Sang John Lennon
Lady Liberty: People smuggler
What can we do to make their homelands more pleasant jens, so they don’t feel compelled to flee?
The one thing we could do as a nation to show solidarity with the Syrian people suffering under Assad fascism, is throw open our doors to the refugees fleeing the regime.
The other thing we should do to show solidarity with the Syrian people, is expel the Russian ambassador, not because of some ridiculous alleged failed murder attempt in England, but to show the world that New Zealanders don’t tolerate genocide.
On the individual level I would suggest to you Gabby that your immediate first task would be to talk to a Syrian refugee. Or invite a Syrian speak to your group or community so as to become informed about the situation there.
Myself I am currently looking at some sort of fund raising or charity project to raise funds to give to some worthy group on the ground in Syria, to try in some small way to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people.
A couple of interesting appointments were announced yesterday which did not make it to prominent positions in our daily news. As they are unrelated I will cover them in separate comments.
First, following the expiry of Richard Griffin’s last three year appointment as Chair of the Board of RNZ a week ago on on 30 April 2018, Dr Jim Mather has been appointed to the position for the next three years.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356822/jim-mather-named-as-incoming-rnz-chair
Since 2013, Dr Mather has been CE of of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, following nine years as Chief Executive of Māori Television. During his time at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, he “led a multimillion-dollar restructure, streamlined the business, realigned campuses around the country and improved educational experiences for its students.”
In early March 2018 Dr Mather advised that he would not be seeking reappointment to the CE position in Oct 2018 when his current five year contract expires for family reasons.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/101998077/family-reasons-given-for-not-seeking-reappointment
It is not clear from the reports I have read to date whether Dr Mather will continue as Te Wānanga o Aotearoa CE until Oct or step down earlier.
It is also not clear whether his impending appointment to Chair of the RNZ Board had already been decided/agreed prior to the 5 March announcement that he would not be seeking reappointment to the Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Chief Executive position.
Thanks veutoviper.
Hillary Clinton ends her NZ tour of shameless lies and double standards..
‘2006 Audio Emerges of Hillary Clinton Proposing Rigging Palestine Election’
http://observer.com/2016/10/2006-audio-emerges-of-hillary-clinton-proposing-rigging-palestine-election/
Clinton…
“I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake,” said Sen. Clinton. “And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”
Why any thinking citizen would pay to hear her talk bullshit right into to their faces is a real mystery to me, different strokes for different folks I guess.
At a talk in Auckland on Monday night, the former first lady and secretary of state said she had received invitations from many Kiwis to come and live here following her loss.
She “gave them some thought”, she said, but decided to stay in the US as there was work to do.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103707777/hillary-clinton-considered-moving-to-nz-after-loss-to-trump
Does anyone really think or believe that HRC would seriously consider moving to NZ, its such a cheap pop even Mick Foley would have balked at doing it
I suppose its more a complaint about the media reporting it I guess
According to Patrick Gower, Clinton was much better value than Obama and the $500k probable fee was overpriced (especially since Air NZ owned 50% by taxpayers who didn’t get to say boo). Well Gower is probably right on that one.
Scary stuff, post political career the usual gravy train of copious amounts for speeches and influence by bankers and corporates to ex politicians.. I guess it’s we were never going to see them actually doing social good and be a change maker and voice of reason, when there is more money to be made.
Was there ever a time when leaders just sort of went away and were barely heard from again except for a quote or two every now and then?
Yikes, scary stuff I agree with the taxpayers union. At least Obama isn’t milking millions from small countries for cash for their ‘foundations’. (or maybe he is?)
“This week the Taxpayers’ Union revealed that the new Government is set to continue taxpayer-funded payments to the controversial Clinton Foundation affiliate, the “Clinton Health Access Initiative”. $5.5m will be given in 2018/19. This is on top of the $8million already forked out.”
https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/clinton_petition
I always suspected that National would be considered to be to the left of the Democratic party
Most of them simply cannot give up the limelight. They have become so warped in their thinking that they simply cannot accept that their time has gone and they were never as important as they liked to believe.
John Key has done pretty well in withdrawing from the spotlight. His predecessors in Clark and Bolger simply couldn’t accept that nobody gave a damn about them.
The best of course was George Bush senior. He never even published a fictional account of his presidency, calling them memoirs, showing how wonderful everything he did was, as most Presidents come out with.
If you want truly stupendous volumes on how great they were try those by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Volume after volume after volume. Of course if you want real history they don’t provide it.
The only really great Presidential memoirs were written by Ulysses S Grant and published in 1885. If you can obtain a copy it is well worth reading.
Half a million for a couple of hours work. Few million for the post election/term books.
I wouldn’t really count the ones published while campaigning – it’s an easy way to get media time “outside of” campaigning.
Been meaning to look for the Grant memoir. Didn’t he finish writing them as cash for his family while dying, then drop dead immediately after?
” Didn’t he finish writing them … “.
It was actually even more poignant than you say. He had got involved in rotten investments and was basically broke when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1884. He settled down, apparently in terrible pain, to write his memoirs to try and provide some money for his family after his death. The disease was quite incurable of course at that time.
He died from cancer in, I believe, March 1985, shortly after the memoirs were published. He didn’t drop dead precisely. His death was expected and basically he spent the last months of his life doing something for his wife future support.
They are worth reading although you have to have a reasonable grasp of US history before and during the Civil War to really follow them. That or Google of course.
I agree they can’t give up the limelight. But Key reasons are different, my guess is that firstly he was never really interested in the public anyway just wanted the power rush and have PM on the CV and secondly he has skeletons in his closet and doesn’t want anyone digging through it and thirdly I think even many in the National party had had enough of him and he knows not to push his luck too far. He’s considered teflon for a reason.
“secondly he has skeletons in his closet and doesn’t want anyone digging through it”
What skeletons pray tell or is this just more rumour mongering?
“more rumour mongering”.
How could you even consider that possibility?
If “savenz” says this it clearly must be true. He is of the left and they never ever tell fibs. At least that is what they claim.
Don’t be mean and ask him to divulge the source of his fantasies. It isn’t very pretty in there. He has a very bad case of Key Derangement Syndrome.
Well maybe KDS is better than KAS (Key Adoration Syndrome) that you seem to suffer from Alwyn.
Look at the state Key left the country, his obsession with the 0% tax havens, blind trusts, ponytails, mass surveillance, if his private life is anything like NZ accounts then keeping a low profile fits.
Even the state he left the National party, I mean Simon Bridges is the best they can do and MP’s leaving like rats deserting the sinking ship?
I’ll put in money for crowd funding for a Nicky Hager biography of Key…. see what falls out.
Well, you are clearly aware that you are suffering from KDS, as you admit you are affected.
That is the first step on the path to being cured. There is hope for you yet I would say although for a dose of it as strong as yours it may take some time.
She is an example of a career politician, who seems to have stopped believing in anything…. yes she is polished and probably a nice person, but lost touch (like many) with reality and how normal people live and what is right and wrong rather than what power to get and what power to take and who is important and who is not.
I know some on this site are convinced she is an evil witch, but I think Hillary Clinton’s warnings about the spreading influence of China in Australia and NZ is timely.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356850/nz-should-heed-warning-on-china-influence-clinton
Now I will await the accusation that I am a racist. Hello Phil Twyford….
It’s been two years and some folks still think she’s more corrupt than what even Trump’s lawyers say about him 🙂
I wonder if she’s buying any real estate while she’s here.
Yikes, its like you were describing Jacinda…I had to read the thread twice over!
You really are a glutton for punishment aren’t you? “twice over”.
“…probably a nice person…”
yeh nah.
I mean nice, like grandma loves her grandkids, but not so nice what has been allowed to happen around the world under her and people like her that are supposed to be better and different from the republicans, and what is fair and right, gone out the window.
Similar to this heavy weight, with the same sort of affliction, seem to have a complete lack of understanding how Trump got there. Clue, if a person has lost their job as it has been outsourced offshore or to a cheaper worker, telling them how great everything is and how great America is under that system, is probably not going to work and they will stop voting for you.
https://www.salon.com/2018/04/07/trump-fascism-and-democracy-heres-what-madeleine-albright-cant-or-wont-say/
Another interesting point, is Clinton reportedly warning NZ against China, but American helped make China powerful by building all their factories there to save money… contract for building UK’s nuclear power stations, infrastructure etc now American’s don’t have jobs but Chinese do and can come and buy up bits of other countries…. and other politicians and have money for influence.
The US has lost touch with reality and their super capitalist individual structures of people competing against each other and nationality being meaningless as one worker is the same as the next and their laws allow predatory behaviour against their own residents… like zombie debt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c
Yesterday on Open Mike there was this post…./open-mike-07-05-2018/#comment-1481992
…really struck a chord with me. I hope my replies to Fireblade conveyed my deep anger at this….within days of WINZ being told by the PM to be kind.
I emailed Carmel Sepuloni asking her to contact this particular WINZ office and remind them of the PM’s instructions.
I got a prompt response saying the email had been passed to Brendan Boyle, the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development, for his attention.
I sent another email saying that I anticipated this situation will be rectified today, and that to morrow I will be onsite with a camera.
I understand that culture change takes time…but I also understand that rot is best excised promptly to allow the new flesh to grow.
If others are concerned about this Sepuloni’s email address is c.sepuloni@ministers.govt.nz
Hi Rosemary. We haven’t made a complaint, as we find dealing with Winz quite intimidating and stressful enough.
I appreciate your concern and admire your resolve. Thank you.
Shocking way to treat people.
Yep. WINZ has been developing it’s current culture for the past 20 + years and while change takes time, this kind of treatment is simply not acceptable.
I truly get about the intimidation and stress after some years of being the fulltime caring partner of someone on the Supported Living Payment.
The day he turned 65 and graduated to the respectable National Super he was directed to a separate area of the Dinsdale WINZ office reserved for ‘Seniors”.
We both decided, without discussion, to remain in the general seating area…refusing to cooperate with their divide and rule tactics.
Firebrand….rest assured that there are increasing numbers of Kiwis having to approach WINZ for assistance they are entitled to who are finding out what utter shits WINZ can be. These new WINZ clients,on an increasing number of occasions,are extending their outrage to include those who in previous times they might have viewed as ‘bludgers’.
While some feedback might indicate that there is little public sympathy for those on benefits, in my experience this is not generally the case.
The tide has turned.
It may be a deeper rooted problem Rosemary. WINZ have considerably tightened security since that dreadful shooting a few years back and this looks to be a consequence of that. I doubt there’s any intent or desire to cause grief, I’d expect it’s a security issue.
With managers now being potentially liable for any harm that befalls staff many are going to extreme lengths to protect their staff (and their own asses). Can’t really blame them either, the penalties are pretty severe.
Wins could have reacted by ensuring homeless and mentally ill were housed after the incident, instead of employing security guards and not letting their ‘customers’ into the building or to park there. Crazy reaction at odds with the root of the issue. Very American.
I think it’s more to do with law changes after Pike River. I can only go by what I’ve read but I understand that management can now be held criminally liable for any harm that comes to staff they’re responsible for.
In theory I expect they’d only be liable for acts of negligence but the whole health & safety in the workplace thing has got the point where ‘negligence’ is so subjective it can be seen in any scenario now.
If you were a senior manager and you faced the prospect of going to prison, or seriously penalised financially, for any hurt that befell employees under your watch what would you do?
Natz altered the law to make being a public servant difficult and putting power back to big business. Similar to Kinder surprise being considered harmful to children in the US but Guns for Kids are ok.
I doubt it makes their job more difficult. Bureaucrats have got deep pockets of other people’s money, they just hire consultants to develop comprehensive safety plans that guarantee their arses are covered.
You might picture how it’s unfolded. One safety plan goes a bit overboard but any bureaucrat who ignores it risks being seen as negligent so they come up with their own plan which is even more paranoid and another sees that & comes up with their own….. until you end up needing a security guard to watch you having a crap in case you get a paper cut from the bog roll.
It’s crazy takes money away from the core issues, aka teachers and teaching, now they have to waste time and money. for example many schools employing private firms to scare the wits out of kids in case some armed gun man pops up! The psychological damage is probably great. AKA WINZ, if you were border line mentally ill and forced to wait outside and not be able to access your benefit for example to buy food, maybe that might send you over the edge!
They are creating problems and ignoring the main risks!
Except that an unarmed guard will do piss-all against a gunman.
“Safety and Security” is a great reason to introduce barriers and intimidate people you don’t want to deal with. Used by more folks than social warfare, too – look at workplace drug testing (rather than impairment testing).
If you wanted to go wild with a gun, you could just wait outside WINZ at 5pm! Crazy logic.
That’s true McFlock, it may also not be what’s actually happening. If we want to see the worst in people we’ll always find it but is that what we really want?
I’ll wager that if Rosemary does get a reply & explanation security will be one of the excuses, if not the excuse. Excessive security measures could create the same antagonistic environment as deliberate obstruction. The motives for each are a bit different and the actions you’d take to resolve them would differ too.
I’ve generally found that suspecting the worst in people was the safest way of dealing with them.
Hard to argue that but I could opine the senior managers of WINZ might view their ‘customers’ that way too…. and thus the onerous security measures.
If they did, those offices would be closed and there’d be bland little doors in anonymous bland buildings, and everyone would have to go through the call centre and face to face meetings would be almost impossible, and security would be worse than airports.
But they don’t really think most people want to hurt staff. I suspect that the extra barrier helps their stats, though.
By all accounts it’s not far off that, realistically what they do now is probably the limit of what they think they can get away with.
They only need to think that some might hurt staff to enact universal security measures, it’s not about expecting the worst of everyone. Without the ability to profile exactly who might hurt someone they’d (likely) think they need to treat everyone the same.
Safety plans are pretty extreme these days. Managers are expected to anticipate all the possible causes of workplace injury and take steps to prevent them before they (might) happen. If they miss something, and later someone gets hurt as a result of that lapse, they can be in big trouble.
Yeah, I’m in a position to write and review them.
Risk aversion at the expense of reasonableness is not the aim or the content of the legislation, but it is a handy way to be a jerk or not bother with something.
Who’s at fault for it though? In the past the test was whether a person had taken reasonable care and acted in good faith. The law now is pretty unforgiving and it’s hard to judge harshly those who take extreme steps to prevent themselves from being prosecuted for ‘failures’ in the workplace.
Workplace safety has turned into a bit of a mess really. If heightened security was causing angst at WINZ it would only make things worse. People would get more pissed at WINZ staff for the holdups and ‘rude’ treatment. That would increase the risk of the staff being attacked. They’d increase security further to address that heightened risk which would piss people off even more… and so on.
You still have to take reasonable steps, not unreasonable ones.
The difference is that higher-echelon managers are also liable, not just individuals and the companies they work for.
Amazing what a little “personal responsibility” does, lol.
Yeah. The thing about people at many levels of management now is they’re there because they’re ambitious. And ambitious people are by nature pretty self serving; they’ll look out for number one. The further they climb, the more they have to lose.
It’s a nice thought that a big cleanout of WINZ bigwigs will make things better but I do have my doubts.
I suspect they think their customers are the Ministry and Minister, from the way they act
I wonder how they’d justify creating a helfinsafety risk for the public outside their offices in that case. Angry beneficiaries milling about in the street what.
Yes, I get that. Yet on that day it was not only Sue Bradford wondering why WINZ never saw that coming.
If you treat people in an inhumane way is it surprising when someone finally responds in an inhuman way?
The surprising thing is that there have not been more incidents…especially with the the number of clients for whom mental stability is a real issue.
“With managers now being potentially liable for any harm that befalls staff many are going to extreme lengths to protect their staff (and their own asses). Can’t really blame them either, the penalties are pretty severe.”
In an ideal world, it should have been the Government of the day that was prosecuted for entrenching the culture that drove a desperate person to commit such a desperate act.
Having said that, the PSA is one powerful union, and I heard nothing from them to say their members working at WINZ had concerns or objections about the policies they were ordered to enforce.
Well, they rob banks and people can get hurt, but I don’t see private practise removing their customers, more fake ‘we want to protect our staff’.
Also time to clean up this pathetic laws that make people like teachers, principals and public officials responsible for accidents completely out of their control. It is an absolute curse and ruining education and stopping places like WINZ being functional for what their purpose is.
Funny enough when workers are harmed aka Pike River, no one held to account. Time workplace safety or whoever these idiots are, are overhauled. They pick on the little guy and easy targets and give the abusers a free ride.
Also with the shooting I think the guy that did the shooting went to great effort to try to get help before hand such as going into interviews, writing to MP’s etc. It was not some beneficiary who just shot them out of the blue. If he had got the help, who know the WINZ people might be alive today. They are looking at the incident all wrong.
Another interesting appointment also announced yesterday was the appointment of Andrew Campbell, currently chief strategist and communications director for the Green Party, to the position of Chief Press Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103692680/prime-minister-appoints-new-chief-press-secretary-andrew-campbell-from-the-green-party
“The Prime Minister’s office has hired Andrew Campbell as its new chief press secretary.
Campbell is currently the chief strategist and communications director for the Green Party.
Campbell has worked for the Green Party for a number of years on and off, including as the chief of staff and communications director. He began his latest stint in December, and was a part of the Green Party’s negotiating team going into Government.
Campbell has also worked for NZ Rugby and teachers’ union NZEI.”
Rather than rewrite what has already been written about the interchange of staff between the Greens and Labour over recent years, I am going to take the unusual step (and to some here on TS possibly the unforgiveable step – LOL) of linking to a post by Pete George on YourNZ outlining this – eg prior to Campbell, Leah Haines, and of course Clint Smith some years ago.
https://yournz.org/2018/05/08/greens-staff-loss-is-labours-gain/
This post also mentions David Farrar’s reaction – a smart appointment but “Another former student president, which almost completes their takeover of Labour – Robertson, Hipkins, Kirton and now Campbell.”
[As an aside to the above, I noticed a few weeks ago that Stephanie Rodgers, former author etc here, started work in early April as Press Secretary to Jan Logie. ]
I liked James Shaw’s response to the Campbell appointment. It shows that while elements within the MSM are peddling stories of supposed discord between Labour and the Greens, they are actually working well and collaboratively together:
As you say a good response by Shaw. I debated whether to mention that but am trying to shorten my comments.
WO of course is trying to stir things by OIAing the recruitment process, claiming a conflict of interest of some sort (unspecified) in the PM’s Office using JacksonStone & Partners as the recruitment agency for the position, costs of using an agency etc etc.
Agreed +1000 Anne
“Another former student president, which almost completes their takeover of Labour – Robertson, Hipkins, Kirton and now Campbell.”
Did you notice that he had forgotten about Andrew Little? Poor Andrew. Gone and forgotten.
“Sic transit gloria mundi”
Or in the vernacular. Yesterday’s news is todays fish and chip wrapper.
Thanks for the heads up re Rogers now working for Logie.
From Greenpeace..
“The Black Stilt or Kakī, is endangered – there are just 100 or so of them left. Most of them live in the Mackenzie basin.
But soon, they’ll have new neighbours. 15,000 cows are planned for a new dairy conversion near Lake Pūkaki.
This is madness. Putting cows in the Mackenzie is like mining in a national park.
But together, we can take it on. Please join the campaign today.” http://greenpeace.nz/black-stilt
See the banks made $400 PROFIT from EACH person in NZ.
And?
Did you want to say something?
You seem to think making profit is a bad thing. I am unsure why you think that. You haven’t explained it.
Nope, just an interesting factoid.
So you decide to post on a forum dedicated to political debates just a fact about Banking in NZ and expect no further discussion?
Yep
How sad.
Never mind, you will get over it.
What is the point of bank profit?
Is it to make a return to some of its investors so they can afford to sit on their chuffs instead of doing an honest day’s work?
What is the point of ANY profit logie97?
Your arguments against it would apply equally to others.
The captains of Industry tell us that they plough their profits back into the business. Much of a bank profit appears to be creamed off by the master banks and salted away in bullion for a rainy day.
I don’t think I have ever seen “Captains of Industry” discuss ploughing back all their profits back in to the business. Indeed that would be a fundamentally foolish idea in the long run. The whole point of profits is to recompense the owners for the use of the capital.
Do the directors fees and salaries and overseas junkets come out of the bottom line, or have they already been written off further up the accounts?
Back in the 80s and 90s the New Right’s chant was: “Profit is not a dirty word.”
Ever since then the profiteers have been profit-gouging, which is in fact a dirty word.
$400 from each person constitutes profit-gouging by an oligarchy in a failed market.
Is that what you wanted someone to say, Gosman?
Yes.
It is as it’s simply bludging.
and-they don’t produce anything.
And are bloodsucking parasites that create digital credit and charge interest,anduse fractional reserve banking to multiply their capital.(create money out of thin air)
Not forgetting there is a tacit agreement that they are too big to fail.
It won’t take you long to find they are involved in fraud,money laundering and misfeasance of every kind,and usually just fined when they are brought to account.
Don’t lend so much from them then and you might be able to make a profit from the bank.
Apparently DV doesn’t mind they make so much profit.
Did I actually say that
(But I see why i didn’t want to debate with you.)
On the banking note, would be nice if Kiwibank wanted to compete more on service. Not everyone wants to queue up at Postshop (especially around Christmas). Funny all these business folks love this idea of customer service but somehow have not really evolved beyond being a place for customers who have few banking needs to maybe look at growing customers with more complex banking needs or just much better customer service.
Now the OZ banks have cost cut customer service to the bone, time for Kiwi banks to actually try to compete a bit more on service.
Ummm… what sort of services does Kiwibank not offer?
I tried to change to Kiwibank and they were very bureaucratic. Did not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. Saying that, I’m with an OZ bank and their customer service is getting worse and worse and I don’t even trust them to do basic stuff. I even caught them charging me the wrong interest rate (higher of course) yep they paid if back but no apology or even understanding that’s quite a bad mistake to be making in banking. I’m sure if a financial auditor went through people’s banking they would get interesting results of over changing being the norm, because one small computer change can do a lot of damage. $400 profit is just the tip of the iceberg.
But hey all of NZ has headed that way. Look at the holiday pay issue, it’s normal now for big business to just stone wall paying it even though it is illegal or small business to now charge people for their own job while immigration turns a blind eye as it does not meet their Kafka criteria for investigation.
Very Bureaucratic in what way?
‘Gosman’…
Who is controlling the handle these days?
Back to its facile state…
So from a family of 4 the banks make $1600 profits, or more likely they are making profits of $600-900 each from a person who is single/each person who has an account.
Yes.
Banking (like many businesses) follows an 80/20 rule when it comes to profit. What this means is that the rule of thumb is that 80 percent of the profit comes from just 20 percent of the customer base. The rest of the customers are extremely low value usually.
What a neat little pseudo factoid
Here’s a thought.
What if the Government was to direct all government agencies (starting with schools) to bank with Kiwibank – that any tax payer funding they receive must be through Kiwibank. Cannot see any reason why Westpac or BNZ et cetera should be making capital gains out of this money.
Kiwibank couldn’t cope. The infrastructure just isn’t in place.
Lofty oaks from tiny acorns grow …
What infrastructure would that be then?
Seems a pretty simple bit of capitalistic behaviour wouldn’t go amiss.
Just poach the staff from the existing banks who handle the various schools accounts already.
More behind the scenes infrastructure. Their IT system is a dog.
And on what source/authority do you make such a statement?
I’ll bet there would be a queue of IT developers offering their systems.
That’s how free enterprise works isn’t it?
Because I work in IT and everyone knows the mess their system is in. They recently had to write off 90 million dollars from an attempt to upgrade their core banking system. They actually spent 100’s of millions on this.
https://billbennett.co.nz/kiwibank-wastes-90-million-software/
Have to agree with Gosman about Kiwibank IT, but they are not the only ones in banking who can’t do IT. When who ever decided to lower wages to ridiculous levels for experienced IT people forcing a lot of them overseas and replacing them with level 5 IT staff or grads, there are implications…. one is there is a big gap in capability because NZ IT is pretty unique in the sense that we don’t have the billions to spend of IT like bigger countries but expect things to work well while paying pauper rates and thinking staff turnover and proven experience is irrelevant… then thinking of filling the gaps up with Morons from overseas at massive rates… aka the place where everyone gets a bargain got more than they bargained for with a recent overseas hire….
cannot dispute your superior knowledge there as someone who works in IT. Begs the question how you can spend so much time on this website.
However, more to the point, Gosman, you don’t disagree with the premise that government money should be handled by Kiwibank.
Nice one … thanks for that.
Where did I agree with that premise?
11.4.1 – by default. Your only concern appeared to be infrastructure.
Your assumption is wrong. I was merely pointing out that your proposal is impractical at this stage. It is also undesirable in my opinion but that is a separate debate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz
I would suggest the eds and Wii should take planting a piece of farmland to hide the track on Te Mata peak as a win.
Anybody can be tempted to behave badly if completely trusted to do the right thing, and not monitored. This is like the problems that occur with Enduring Powers of Attorney.
A brother and sister and others made trustees after the Maori Trustee passed control in 2012, to manage a block of trees on behalf of other Maori left only $13.41 in the working a/c by 2014. They may have what they consider good reason, but they were given powers with obligations and have not met those. The Court case was reported in October 2017, and now in May 2018 a judgment has been made, nearly six years from the action in dispute. That is slow legal action, which exacerbates the matter.
Woman pleads guilty to defrauding Far North Māori trust of nearly $1 million
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103705306/woman-pleads-guilty-to-defrauding-far-north-mori-trust-of-nearly-1-million
In June 2012, Dixon, along with her brother Stephen Henare and and five others, were appointed as trustees in place of the Māori Trustee.
In August 2012, about $1.1 million, intended primarily for the management of the land and the forest for the benefit of the owners, was transferred from the Maori Trustee to the Parengarenga 3G Trust bank accounts.
A further $54,480 was also obtained by the trust from the sale of carbon credits.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Dixon intentionally failed to deal with $934,270 of the trust’s funds in accordance with the Parengarenga 3G Trust Order.
She facilitated the transfer of a “significant amount” of the trust’s money into various other bank accounts, including personal accounts and family trusts, the SFO said.
That left debts due for the care of the forest unpaid, and by January 2014 there was only $13.41 left of the funds.
Kiwi fruit industry experiencing a super bumper year.
Top Dog at Apata packing house crying shortage of labour.
“… culture of benefit dependency is a major problem in hiring staff… they’re just not prepared to take work on offer …” And you are going to have a bumper year?
That suggests the bank balance is going to look very healthy.
Here’s an idea – pay more / take a slight cut in your bottom line.
How about you offer these people permanent positions – run cadetships to get them into the industry. Yeah nah – got those off season cruises to consider
They are paying more
What are the rates of pay? What are the guaranteed hours of work? How long is the season? What accommodation is provided?
Why don’t YOU find out?
“The reason I ask the question is to highlight the fact that the person making the claim has NOT provided any supporting evidence.
You understand the concept of burden of proof I presume. Apply the concept here.”
Now, which wise man wrote that?
I thought you would have heard about the increase in the minimum wage by now.
… perhaps you didn’t read my initial suggestion (13) that the kiwifruit/avacado barons could invest in these people and create 365 day employment, rather than the piece work bit on the minimum wage rate. Your 13.1.1.1.1.1 says quite a lot about you really.
Read below Gosman. It seems having laws doesnt stop half of growers ignoring them
So that’s why pay has increased?
Not supply and demand? Not equity? Not decency?
But because it’s the least they have to ……………
And even then the law is disobeyed.
I’m not sure many can plan a 3 month career around the minimum wages, might be why the industry expects the tax payers to subsidise them and why they are getting so profitable especially where there are cases of underpaying migrants or even having to pay for a job.
I mean sounds so perfect for Kiwi residents, (sarcasm) give up your accomodation, find a few thousand for travel and expenses down to the farm in the back of beyond and time to find accomodation, then work for minimum wages for a few months with no guarantees and then at the end of the season a stand down period to get back on the benefit and then costs of bond/expenses and time of finding a new tenancy and job back where you came from.
What a great work opportunity! But financially you are probably worse off than if you had not picked Kiwifruit.
3 weeks work, at around $20 an hour so I hear.
Gosh and I thought it might at least be 3 months work, but no 3 weeks, really worth it going off the dole for that and then trying to get back on. Could take longer to get that interview with WINZ! No wonder Kiwis are not doing it. Can’t we expect industry to actually try to do something themselves and spend their own money fixing up their worker problems?
Exactly.
Also when accommodation is provided it’s often not that great, but the accommodation deduction from someone’s wages is.
Orchards are mostly rural, so if one doesn’t have any transport, no bus route etc it makes it even more problematic.
They have to pay for their accommodation while on site for the job, I think $120 which is not much BUT they are on the minimum wage. Meanwhile they will need to keep their own, hopefully permanent, accommodation in town. So what about giving them accommodation free, you dork of a manager. Also there may be a stand-down period after the work. There is no such thing as a free lunch says WINZ, – and getting to the stage of saying there Is No Lunch.
Also there may be a grant which could be lost $ for gross$ received before tax, which can sometimes mean that the person ends up working but receiving less than the benefit which they can only just survive on with some help from friends and food bank. Oh why don’t they line up to come and work and get better off. They are so lazy, it is generational laziness and softness etcetc etc etc …. (And indeed there is that, but it induced helplessness impressed on them by the dastardly government and its machinations of hate and spite.)
(Manager used to be a worker and has got all the way to manager. Always said, without thinking that he must be slightly different in some way and is fortunate for that. If as is so often said, why can’t everyone do this,? the person who has achieved would not because he would have been overwhelmed with competition.)
This is what has been trialled since 2014 – just needs more government money for training, some support instead of smarmy put-downs.
2014 – do more of this with thousands!
https://www.eit.ac.nz/2014/02/eit-and-hort-industry-combat-labour-shortage/
2015
http://www.bostock.nz/new-horticulture-industry-initiative-helps-combat-labour-shortage/
2018
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12011672
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12011680
People give up and have a sniff, drink, prick?
https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/social-issues/meth-on-demand-getting-hold-of-p-in-20-minutes-or-less/
Wouldn’t a rational, effective government have organised teams of seasonal workers who could sign up to travel round the country, and be available for most of the year doing something useful and which they could earn good money at? Trouble with politicians is they come from the class that hates manual work. They pretend they are strong and outdoorsy by rushing round on mountain bikes and going on marathons but ask them to do sustained hard physical work as a way to earn their living and they won’t do it because they are too good for that, and it doesn’t pay enough..
Their attitude is classist and if they respected all work and paid reasonable wages for physical and manual labour, without swingeing stand-downs because of an accumulation of peanut amounts compared to the fat cats on contracts over $100-$800 hourly, they would get people lining up for it, enjoying the life and the status of being on one of the fit permanent teams of travelling seasonal workers.
Great points greywarshark
+++
Thanks savenz Cinny
I heard something good on the news about plans to do something good for bennies getting jobs.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018644011/govt-may-remove-benefit-stand-down-for-seasonal-workers
Good comments, greywarshark. The work has to be done, and good sense and good management, with leadership in the right places might get them there.
I’ve always believed that people will ethically pay a little more for a product if they know the workers who produce it are paid fairly.
I read a quote from Norman Kirk today, which might as easily apply to business and agriculture as it does to politics.
“What is morally right is likely to be politically right.”
Grey, that’s excellent news, hope it happens. I know they are looking for pickers around these parts. Good on Willie Jackson for trying to do something about the obstacles.
This is the link to what Carmel Sepuloni said this morning. (Wed)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356954/labour-shortage-prompts-govt-to-rethink-abatement-rates
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said in a pre-Budget announcement that government was committed to lifting the abatement rates for kiwifruit-picking workers within the next three years.
Abatement rates are the amounts cut from a person’s benefit because of income that they receive.
“We stated clearly we will be looking at lifting abatement rates. It will happen,” she said.
But so far it is just talk without urgent action being even promised.It should be we will have this fixed by lunchtime but nothing that gets to the heart and needs of people on the edge is to be hurried.
But – its not that urgent, we’ll get round to it soon. There are many problems and we can’t wave a magic wand you know. This is the attitude that I draw from the pollies and the civil servants!
Instead the industry spokesperson is making statements about what the problem is. This is carrying on with the theme that has been current since neolib came in – that government steps back and industry knows what it wants and organises the workforce to where the jobs are.
Industry and business are totally unsuitable to do this on their own, government should be watching, meeting and talking with them all, drawing up demographics, analysing workforce availability, flexibility and flow, ensuring that there is accommodation for the workers required, and that they are supported when they can’t be earning because of cessation through machinery breakdown, bad weather, injuries, illness, outbreaks of violence, drug and alcohol presence etc.
Providing accommodation – get the tourist drivers off the road doing their freedom thing, and have the vehicles for accommodation for the workers.?
(They rental firms would have to have a big clean up, but theycould pay for that out of their profits., just a necessary part of doing business. NZ would have less easy-riders on $10 a day or whatever. I hear how expensive we are compared to other countries for ordinary people but the young ones from overseas can be very canny at travelling on the smell of an oily rag.)
Our horticultural business is working with fragile, perishable produce – it has needs and time limits, and babysitting by responsible, intelligent, enterprising government is required to
get the good outcomes from good product delivered in a timely fashion.
All of them Gosman?
” Labour Inspectorate operation audited 62 labour companies and interviewed nearly 700 workers over three months last year. They found 53 per cent of employers failed to meet minimum employment standards, and almost all of these employers were using migrant labour.
Inspectors uncovered 94 breaches of the standards, and issued 20 improvement notices and six ‘enforceable undertakings’. Two of the employers given improvement notices were also fined $1000 each. ”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/335331/half-of-audited-kiwifruit-companies-underpaid-workers
Truely shocking. Why nothing done about it! I’m sure adding a few zero’s on the fines and actually saying to industry no more migrant work permits, would do the trick and actually get some of our own underemployed into the work force. Picking is hard work, but it’s not rocket science, most people can do it!
Those who work the kiwifruit orchards should own them.
Otherwise the luxury of the few is predicated on the poverty of the many.
Ownership of the means of production
I worked kiwifruit. We did 14 hour days for minimum wage in the packhouse. Not much better pruning or picking – the contract rates are long gone, they’ll give you as little as possible, those landowners with their large houses and multiple vehicles, boats, etc. And they’ll complain, oh how they love to complain.
This is standard fare. Critics of wage increases are moronic in their utterances. Poor people spend all their money, poor means you got nothing but bills in my experience. This money then, is immediately circulating in businesses. But no – it’s the Reds under the bed, calamity!
Common sense is not a right wing characteristic.
I hear you!
Also worked in a kiwi fruit pack house, in the school holidays. This was before schools moved to four terms so I guess a term break must have been in May back then. At the time any work I could get was snapped up. This was before student loans were introduced of course.
Back in the day, they got local teenagers to do a lot of harvesting, also taught them good work skills for later on. They also employed backpackers and students who were already in the area as well as local unemployed who did not have stand down periods at WINZ.
You have to wonder how bringing over someone for $1000’s in flights and then bringing them into NZ can work out cheaper.. unless there is something else going on there with exploitation and residency or both.
And they used the local teenagers as cheap labour
Yes, but teens wanted the pocket money and got good experience. I’m not against teens understanding hard work. Then they understand that hard work is hard later on and are not snobs, they got money to save for their tertiary fees or what not and also message to work hard at school cos being farm hand is probably not a great career move. The teens got something out of it, the farmers got something out of it and the country got something out of it. All good.
Not sure why you think cheap labour from migrants or grown ups might be better than local kids getting work experience and pocket money and also less carbon footprint due to getting locals working locally and also not needing so much accomodation for short term bursts of work.
Pay more prices also go up for joe consumer, likewise people employ less, similarly business has less to reinvest and attract future capital as low returns, likewise business will be higher risk as as if leveraged eneanigs / interest ratio falls etc etc To simply say pay more and all will be rosy is very simplistic
But underpay people who work hard with no palpable reward, and you create a hell-hole of a society where the poor see no point in taking the work available, and crime flourishes. We have been doing this ever since Rogernomics, which claimed that a high-wage economy was a good thing, but then did all it could to force low wages further down. Look at what we are creating to date, Bewildered, and think again. Nothing will be more pernicious than where we are currently heading.
Money circulating is money well spent. It is not that all is complex and I, simple minded humanitarian, do not understand.
Honest work for honest pay is a concept lost to an entire generation. For the honest pay is gone, contract rates no longer No more are workers paid for achievement, but given as little as possible.
I/we broke all manner of picking records on all manner of farms. And for being a freaking legend – pittance. They want workers now, poor landowners and all their hardships. Did the least they could possibly do for workers and many times over did even less than that minimum requirement. How bizarre people don’t want a bar of it.
It’s about squeezing all you can for yourself, grasping tightly. There’s a car to update, a party frock to purchase. More vino darlings.
A real mans reach exceeds his grasping.
Pay more prices also go up for joe consumer, likewise people employ less, similarly business has less to reinvest and attract future capital as low returns, likewise business will be higher risk as as if leveraged eneanigs / interest ratio falls etc etc To simply say pay more and all will be rosy is very simplistic I do agree though, supply and demand here, you want workers pay more and make it attractive, can’t be a capitalist in the good times and socialist in the poor
Former AG in the news.
Why didnt they ask Finlayson while he was chatty about his deliberate breach of the OIA to deprive someone of evidence in their court case?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103716999/botched-legislation-left-spies-without-some-powers-for-six-months
From the sidebar, I/S is unimpressed: http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/05/theres-lesson-here.html
Too late. They got the powers from misleading and deceptive conduct. Expected from spies. Not from AG and PMs.
“If the SIS could live without these powers for six months, it suggests at the least that there was no case for urgency, and possibly no case for the powers at all (DPMC certainly didn’t bother to make one in their shoddy and unprofessional Regulatory Impact Analysis). There’s a lesson here both for future attempts to expand spy powers, and for abuse of urgency, and it is one we should heed. Our spies are power grabbing liars, who use fear to boost both their powers and their budgets. And this is not behaviour we should tolerate.”
I think the original article by David Fisher paints a more accurate and factual picture as to what happened and how the various parties responded:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12046732
Thanks for this link Anne
It just annoys me that Finlayson is available to comment on this but NO heat has been put on him over the OIA debacle. Where is the pressure from Brudges to remove him as Shadow AG and the media pressuring Brudges to remove that portfolio. You know, like they all did with Turei
Now this is scary stuff for the poor Chinese citizen wanting an education.
Also totally recommend the black mirror episode they talk about in this article on Netflicks. Do we want to go there! Nope hopefully not!
Thought getting into an NZ school was hard? China’s taking it to the next level
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/05/thought-getting-into-an-nz-school-was-hard-china-s-taking-it-to-the-next-level.html
Stupidest First Lady ever?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/07/melania-trump-plagiarism-row-be-best-campaign
And this is partly what you get with a contract system that rewards companies for cut-throat tendering- poor wages, quality services threatened and upheaval.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/05/go-bus-criticises-striking-bus-drivers.html
It happens in so many public service fields.