Yep, it’s about 3 days’ hire, probably. Hell, I could drive my own car from Wellington to Albany for less than that, if I had nothing better to do.
As an exercise a little while ago I worked out how cheaply I could get to Albany (for business reasons); the best I got was about $41 from Karori by overnight bus.
On taxis, remember it being about $100 from the airport to Albany in 1999, which shocked me at the time. This was before Albany really took off, SH1 went straight through the middle and the Western route was a rural-ish road from Glenfield through Whenuapai and Hobsonville.
When was the last time you were in our stunning city, admiring our glittering harbour, being spoilt for choice of music venues every single night and marvelling at the abundance of public transport options phillip?
I’ll also have you know we have had an unnaturally balmy warm windless time of it lately…………..
It’s OK, I was just joshing around myself. As a matter of fact I lived in your city for the biggest chunk of my life so far.
It was good however to return to the place of my birth and reconnect with those aspects of the region I loved as a child, wind, earthquakes, the sea and the hills. Don’t love earthquakes any more though.Not since Christchurch.
And speaking of wind, Sarah Palin may have been able to see Russia from her house but I can see the construction of wind turbines. The majestic glorious wind turbines of the Mill Creek Project. They look amazing set against a pink sunset. That’s your brighter future right there Noo Zuland. Green energy.
2 days running the Nats don’t front on Morning Report to discuss cash for their mates.
And both times Labour fronts and Espiner attacks them!
What about attacking the Nats for their failure to front?
What a biased Tory supporter Guyon is.
How did he get the job at RNZ? He is not an impartial observer.
I cant understand why RNZ employed gluon. He is the biggest whiner ever on the radio and the prospect of him whining on till he retires is enough to make one want to emigrate. This country seems to be getting crummier and crummier by the day!
Guyon does put interviewees through the mill. But the good thing is that credibility develops if the response is well founded. And so far Labour has developed credibility. Re Mallard, Cunliffe, Norman etc.
This morning my guess is that Mr Key will be fuming as Money for Access and Influence has gained traction. And his lot have failed to front.
Not correct. Labour and Greens have made accusations that they cannot substantiate and in doing so have exposed their hypocrisy. They have put themselves in this position through their incompetence, surely it is the job of the media to expose their lies?
Guyon seems to have a regular politics spot these days.
Anyway, it’s pretty clear that his approach is to come up with a question that’s related to the topic at hand that appies to the politician he’s asking, and then ask them it.
He did it with Colin Craig, asking about Colin breaking the law by smacking, which was a stretch from whatever the interview was actually supposed to be about. He did it with Russel Norman, asking him if he would give equal time to someone who donated $60k vs a random Joe Bloggs constituent. He’s done it with Grant Robertson and Cunliffe about Cunliffe’s so-called ‘secret trust’.
Also I don’t think it’s very fair to say “National didn’t front, so when Labour front, gang up with Labour against National”. The interviewer is supposed to be impartial, which means any party going to be interviewed should not expect kind treatment or for the media to champion their cause.
Yes the left need to front for the media.
e.g. Mallard could have commented today about the governments failure to turn up for an interview about the topic, saying they were running scared. Then said something to Espiner like” I look forward to hearing you asking them some difficult questions if they ever turn up.”
Grant Hall, Star Trust (legal highs) with the PM. ShonKey gets photographed with a lot of people I guess. Image is screen shot of a fb share. https://db.tt/DzlQl0Pe
xox
RNZ morning Report, bring back Geoff Robinson. Much better quality journalism. Guyon must be getting a fortune to spin so fast! The government has frozen the funding for RNZ so the quality is declining.
Oh dear Phillip, talk about kicking an own goal while exposing yourself as an utter fucking hypocrite over testing drugs on animals,
Why didn’t you re-publish the whole quote from Dr Tashkin MD, here let me help,
”Its been shown by a large number of investigations to (reduce) growth of brain, lung, breast, prostate, and, thyroid cancer cells in ANIMAL MODELS” unquote Donald P. Tashkin MD,
Tsk tsk Phillip how dare people test legal highs on all those lovely furry animals, BUT, when it comes to the drug of Phillips choice its a damn good thing to infect said furry animals with various cancers and then feed them Marijuana, (talk about being hypocritical),
Then laughably there is this, and, i stopped reading and started laughing at page 6 of Phillips link,
”It impairs the activity of immune cells in your lungs”
”Substantial loss of airway cells”
”Faster progression of aids”
”Clusters of tuberculosis in users”
And last but not least from only reading 6 pages out of 16, ”Pre-cancerous changes in the airways of heavy Marijuana users, (is that you Phillip), who don’t smoke tobacco,
Yeah a real ”wonder drug” and we havn’t even delved into Dr Tashkin’s information on mental health and psychological changes in users yet…
During Question Time yesterday Grant Robertson asked Mr Key a careful question about the content of the information on whether Judith Collins was a conflict of interest or not.
Did the Cabinet Committee (is that the right name for the experts who check the legalities?) get all the information that has since emerged or just the preliminaries?
Mr Key of course gave a non-committal answer and joked in response. (Aha?)
It is possible that if it can be shown that the Committee was not given all the information then Mr Key has mislead the House. Watch this space I think.
ianmac .. It was reported that Wayne Eagleson spent hours grilling Collins’ staff in the past few days … this surely suggests the possibility info had been hidden … keep the popcorn hot …
Slippery the Prime Minister actively looking for a good enough reason to sack Collins i would suggest,
i imagine that the ‘weeks leave’ the PM has given Collins is an open offer for Her to ‘reconsider Her future’ based around the current red herring being dragged across the trail, Collin’s health scare,
Collins has mounted the classic compulsive liars defense in the face of Grant Robinson’s pit bull tenacity, from the superior smirk to anger to emotion and now to ‘a health scare’ Collins has played the drama queen to the nth degree,
Clever stuff from Labour yesterday in discontinuing Her cross examination in the face of the ‘health scare’ spin dreamed up by the Beehives 9th floor in an attempt to spike Labours line of attack,
Slippery the PM is now between that rock and a hard place, it’s too close to the election to sack Collins and the only means of getting Her away from being front and center is the dreamed up ‘health scare’, something i should expect the PM would wish to become permanent,
Collins of course must know that the only way She can have any hope of leading the National Party is if they lose this election and act fast to stage a quick coup befor the Joyce camp can recover from such a loss,
In the smoke and mirrors of politics Collins may yet come out of this as the winner…
Didn’t he say that no new information had emerged, as far as he was concerned? From that can we infer that he was aware of the meeting brief that described improving the profile of Oravida Ltd, of which David Wong-Tung is a director?
“The Cabinet Office is a ‘government secretariat’ that provides impartial support to central government decision-making processes. ”
I doubt that we will ever know what information was given to the Cabinet Office by Key and his people which led to them (supposedly) advising Key that Collins’ actions were kosher. Key has consistently refused to release the CO advice despite repeated pressure in the House and by the media. IIRC there are rules etc that allow Key not to do so; and CO advice is not disclosable under the OIA. (Sorry, don’t have references to the rules on this, and don’t have time to research/refresh my memory on these today.)
Thanks Veutoviper. I am not clever enough to find out about the Cabinet Office for myself but now I do know. 🙂 Pity that the Committee is not discoverable. I wonder if submissions are only available to the Government? Could Grant submit a full dossier?
Cabinet Office is part of the parliamentary administration, but I am not familiar enough with the CO rules etc to know whether Robertson or someone else in Parliament could submit the full MFAT disclosures for a further assessment.
Would love to have the time today to research this; but achievement against this week’s To Do list is looking absymal so this must take precedence today. But it will bug me(!) ; so will try to do a search in the next few days and get back to you.
Question for the anti-fractional reserve banking crowd.
The main objection seems to be that banks can create money based on lending out a proportion of their deposits continuously.
How does that impact on the supply of actual currency in the economy i.e. is there more physical currency circulating as a result of the banks lending actions?
The physical supply of M0 currency (notes and coins) is usually controlled by a govt. authority like the Reserve Bank. For most economies M0 is usually some very small fraction (0.1 -2.0%) of the total credit (M3) available.
The absolute M0 supply does increase over time to match population growth, but it’s an insignificant aspect of the economy as a whole. I have not seen anyone explain how M0 creation is linked in any direct manner to the creation of M3 credit by the private banks.
What about economies who don’t control the amount of currency in circulation. How does fractional reserve banking creation of money impact those nations?
“The main objection seems to be that banks can create money based on lending out a proportion of their deposits continuously.” 🙄
You must have missed the plethora of statements from the central banking community these past months that clearly admit they just make up zeroes as often as they wish and that there is no longer any factually structural relationship between deposits and distributed funds.
You have been lied to for a long long time.
Here is one article Gosman that hopefully will send you out on a mission of realisation.
There are many more out there.
No, I asked if the amount of money the banks supposedly create out of thin air actually impacts the amount of money in circulation (even indirectly via the RB putting more notes and coins in to circulation as a result).
Nope, most transaction these days are electronic. Don’t need notes and coins for electronic transfers. So we end up with exponential amount more money in the system without there being an exponential increase in notes and coins.
do you know how, in these electronic days, a bank can take the money from an account electronically but it doesnt turn up in the destination account for 24 hours?
does the bank gain much from having the money in limbo for 24 hours, and which bank benefits?
Not capable of doing your own research Gosman? I seem to recall you saying you saying you had a financial background so I’m sure it shouldn’t be too tough for you.
Can’t you answer a reasonably straight forward question? Given the anti-fractional reserve bank people’s asertions that their view of the world is so blindingly obvious surely someone can explain how it impacts on the amount of physical money in circulation.
It means the money in circulation does not mean what those using the money in circulation thought it means because the money in circulation is just a means to an end and that end is to make you believe what is in circulation is money.
What strawman game? This is Open Mike and I am asking questions in relation the the whole Anti Fractional Reserve Banking theory. How is that a strawman?
Gosman, you have operated in the same manner since you first came here. Like I said, with your self-confessed background I’m sure that 15 minutes of googling and reading will provide an initial answer to your question (although to be honest, I doubt you haven’t done that already). Come back with the REAL question that you are angling towards.
Can’t you answer a reasonably straight forward question? Given the anti-fractional reserve bank people’s asertions that their view of the world is so blindingly obvious surely someone can explain how it impacts on the amount of physical money in circulation.
But Gosman, you’re not remotely interested in anyone’s answers to your inane questions.
You’re simply playing silly little games and trying to set up a person with a rhetorical question, so you can make whatever “cunning” reply you have in mind.
God, you’ve done it enough times. That’s why no one can be bothered responding to you.
The main objection seems to be that banks can create money based on lending out a proportion of their deposits continuously.
That’s not actually how it works. None of the deposits the banks have are loaned out – not even a fraction of them. When a bank makes a ‘loan’ it creates the full amount. The amount that they can create is, supposedly, limited by their capital reserves but the Reserve Bank acts as lender of last resort. What this means in effect is that if the banks don’t have enough reserve they get to loan from the Reserve Bank and that loan will never be turned down. Thus the private banks can create unlimited amounts of money.
How does that impact on the supply of actual currency in the economy i.e. is there more physical currency circulating as a result of the banks lending actions?
No, we end up with lots more electronic money. I’ve read articles (many years ago now so don’t remember where) that estimated that between 50% and 80% of inflation in the is due to the banks printing money.
EDIT: My bad, missed Gosman’s reference to physical money.
+1. And of course when the bank creates the loan “money” they don’t create the interest due on said loan so it is never repayable in the macro picture.
Thanks for explaining that DTB it seems that we proceed with systems in place and think we understand them but often not. So this fractional business keeps being named, and yet using that term is incorrect.
Anyone know — is there any information available anywhere about how Stone Shi/DeyiShi made his millions in China ?
Veutoviper .. have you been able to find anything in your excellent researching ? Big thanks to you and Frank MacSkasy.
(He does appear to have many names under which his holdings are/were registered in this country. And his connection with Jenny Shipley seems to have been hidden in the morass of changing company names and directors .. but for sure she was in there with Pure and Natural before it obtained a new identity.)
Oh, there is just so much more to be found out about the levels of this gross corruption and it has to be exactly why Collins still holds her Ministerial warrant… here’s hoping we will find it all before the election.
Hi yeshe, I have not done any specific research on where Deyi (“Stone”) Shi made his millions – and the lack of information on this jumped out at me when researching Collins’ China trips and connections with him. But there are obviously big bucks there, considering the millions he spent to buy Mark Hotchins’ mansion in Auckland.
As you pointed out, Frank M has done excellent research on the company connections which are eye opening.
There are a lot of links on Google if you google “Deyi Shi”, but I don’t have time currently to check these in detail. But there seems to be little on his background prior to coming to NZ from a quick glance. Curious.
This is a somewhat trite comment, but goes to the comprehension level of those supporting the Government. I have been watching the progress of the Stuff poll on Judith Collins over the last few days. It has been clear what the public think, 63.4% think Collins should go. The ratio has been very stable between yes and no. There are two yes sectors to the vote, a “Yes, but only just”, 8.9%, the majority of yes votes are in the other sector, which says
27.7% voted for “Yes, the controversy doesn’t affect how she works”
Well and good I thought, but something had bothered me about the those voting Yes
and then it struck me
2.3 Changing policy expectations
While useful, models do not capture all the effects policymakers expect from immigration.
When New Zealand moved to increase the numbers and skills of immigrants in the 1980s
and 1990s, policymakers appear to have considered that these changes had the potential
to have major beneficial impacts on the New Zealand economy, reinforcing the gains from
22
the other liberalising and deregulating economic reforms undertaken during that period.
At that time, it was considered that skills-focused inward migration could: improve growth
by bringing in better quality human capital and addressing skills shortages; improve
international connections and boost trade; help mitigate the effects of population ageing;
and have beneficial effects on fiscal balance. As well as “replacing” departing
New Zealanders and providing particular help with staffing public services (for example,
medical professionals), it was believed that migration flows could be managed so as to
avoid possible detrimental effects (such as congestion or poorer economic prospects) for
existing New Zealanders.
Since then, New Zealand has had substantial gross and net immigration, which has been
relatively skill-focused by international standards. However, New Zealand’s economic
performance has not been transformed. Growth in GDP per capita has been relatively
lacklustre, with no progress in closing income gaps with the rest of the advanced world,
and productivity performance has been poor. It may be that initial expectations about the
potential positive net benefits of immigration were too high.
Based on a large body of new research evidence and practical experience, the consensus
among policymakers now is that other factors are more important for per capita growth
23
and productivity than migration and population growth. CGE modelling exercises for
Australia and New Zealand have been influential in reshaping expectations.
so how do they get away with it? They get away with it because of commercial interest (on the one hand) and comfortable progressive elites (on the other) who are blind to the negative effects of competition from offshore, choosing to believe that (really), there is a great store of loot guarded by a dragon which just needs to be unlocked and redistributed..
We get told that population growth is essential to maintain economic growth. So they say! To continue that growth what is the end point by which we change to “Enough! We will stop now!” -or is it a long term problem for future economists and polititians?
We get told that population growth is essential to maintain economic growth.
Actually, it is. Without population growth you don’t have more people to sell things to which means that the amount of products being sold will always be in decline (except food and other essentials which will be static) and not be in growth which would mean that the interest charged by the banks can’t be paid. End result will be an economy that will crash and default on all debt.
This is why NZ tends to chase export growth – there’s far more population overseas. Of course, those populations are quite capable of producing their own goods from their own resources and will eventually do so meaning that exports from NZ will also be in decline.
“We get told that population growth is essential to maintain economic growth.”
There is no certainty as to what population growth will do to percapita incomes:
3.4.2 Large population increase?
In theory, a high rate of immigration over an extended period could greatly increase
New Zealand’s population, allowing productivity gains from economies of scale, both from
conventional sources and the particular effects identified by economic geographers.
However, the 2025 Taskforce, set up to provide advice to the government on how to close
the income gap with Australia, did not favour greatly expanding immigration and
68
considered this approach unrealistic and potentially “enormously disruptive”.
If in New Zealand’s situation a much larger population would greatly improve viability,
69
growth and resilience, disruption may be worth the cost. A larger population is
technically feasible; New Zealand has similar land area to countries with much larger
populations (for example, the United Kingdom or Japan). The historical growth of Australia
over the 19th century, or California during the 20th century provide precedents for large
population increases.
However, just because greatly increasing population is feasible does not mean it is a wise
strategy. While there is clear evidence that within countries, large urban agglomerations
70
have higher incomes and productivity, there is no such evidence across countries
(bigger, more densely-populated countries are not richer than smaller countries with more
71
scattered populations). The observation that the very highest productivity is found in
large urban areas producing knowledge-based products does not mean all societies can
or should attempt to recreate the San Francisco Bay Area or London. When what is now
the United States rust belt was the global productivity leader, many other regions
improved their wellbeing through industrial development on a less extensive and less
productive scale. Today New Zealand or other productivity “followers” may be able to
materially improve productivity and living standards from current levels without adopting a
large scale agglomeration strategy. Silicon Valley also illustrates the limitations of such
strategies; notwithstanding the presence of Silicon Valley, the State of California has
serious economic and fiscal problems. Similarly, Israel has a thriving innovative hi-tech
sector, similar population, and comparable overall productivity to New Zealand.
To make a judgment on whether a large increase in population is necessary or wise more
information would be required on both costs (including environmental, social, and cultural
costs) and benefits. Two key questions are how large the increase would need to be to
realise the benefits, and to what extent New Zealand’s level of geographic isolation would
continue to act as a brake on performance even with a large population.
That just tells me that you failed to understand what I said. Increasing productivity requires a larger market (more people) else prices must go into deflation and unemployment increase.
And, yes, I agree with that article as well. Increasing population no longer improves economies of scale as they did in the 19th century.
xox
Exit Business Round Table, enter NZIER. They have changed the label to ‘refresh’ the tired old crock of a wealth and power. The mantra is the same old snake oil, with a twist.
Maybe I misunderstand something in the intent of your comment philj, but the Business Roundtable re-branded to The New Zealand Initiative back in 2012. Perhaps if you link to what you were referring to, it may help identify the confusion. 🙂 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Initiative
The country’s newest libertarian think tank, the New Zealand Initiative, was launched last night in Wellington, merging the New Zealand Business Roundtable and the New Zealand Institute into a new body to lobby for pro-market economic and social policies.
translation: a bunch of suits who have no intention of building a sustainable economy that benefits as many humans as possible, will repeat tired slogans and broken promises to promote business practices that create little of value for anyone but shareholders and bankers.
Interesting, a lawyer acting for the US Government has asked the Court in Auckland to make public the information that has so far been suppressed by the Courts in the DotCom extradition proceedings,
So the Courts should, our system of Justice requires there be a full disclosure of all information that a prosecution plans to put befor the Courts, and our system of Justice cannot be seen to be ‘bent’ to the will or norms of what occurs in other jurisdictions,
In view of the publicity about Money for Influence there may be something in store for the Minister of Immigration in this Question today:
“Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Immigration: Did the Government instruct Immigration New Zealand to review the Investor Plus scheme of $10 million; if so, for what reason?”
Does it suggest smoke to you?
Holly Walker had a good go at the Money for Privilege today. It must be a worry as Gerry Brownlie spent a lot of time trying to protect Michael Woodhouse.
Winston asked his questions about the Woodhouse involvement which was very embarrassing for Woodhouse. In particular the change to Immigration law towards lower entry fee ($10mil) and the dropping of the requirement to speak English. With a letter of support apparently ref Mr Key.
And Now question “12Hon TREVOR MALLARD to the Minister of Immigration: Why did he personally call on Donghua Liu to receive his representations on immigration policy following Donghua Liu making a donation to the National Party?”
Trevor has been kicked out for questioning if there was money from Mr Liu for meeting Woodhouse.
Interesting times. Mr Woodhouse is not looking his chirpy self.
more interesting was woodhouse said pm knew nothing about the meeting and, i think he said, the pm did not support a policy change along the lines peters suggested.
It was a supplementary to his original Qustion 12 on the order paper. He asked if Liu had offered Woodhouse cash for a particular law change. Woodhouse took offence. Mallard was already walking out before the Speaker told him to go.
Mallard refused to withdraw his money supplementary question. So left. Anne Tolley called out the same remark against Labour. She was asked to withdraw it and did so. Too much happened to track it all actually.
Worth watching Q4, 9, 12.
Species that get too specialized are likely to become extinct.
The history of organisms is the history of the adaptable winning over
the overly specialized. So the question are human too specialized?
I would say Yes, we are the intellectual organism, the more
we disconnect from our environment, our mother earth, the more
unfit we become, by being too specialized. e.g the uber unfit,
neo-liberals are wholely disconnected from the reality of the
economy; through their intellectual ideology that openly ignores
and belittles, the biggest player in the market (government
– however detestable you find government ignoring it is moronic),
and has a whole mythology that removes working parts of our
economy from any mention. Its marvalous listening to the ACT
party, hearing them spout economic myths that dictate we must
ignore the impact and input from everyone from unions on down
(and offer up policy that hands over profits to the few at the top).
And right at the bottom of the ACT list is the reminder, theres
the ‘always attack Green’.
If you were wanting dinosaurs of politics, what
better than a free market party, that freely dictates ignoring
all of the actors in the market place, using foresinc cutting edge
dismal science, and misappropriated measuring tools when that fails.
You see the trade, the reason for specialization, is immediate
profit, in nature or on wall street, the ubiquity of a
food-energy source see the few specialize on a single source, i.e.
the oil economy.
Why fascism fails, its reliance on cheap short term emotions,
which eventually dies up when serious facts cannot be ignored
(Hitler destroyed Germany).
Immediate profitability, conditions as selected by parliaments in
the west, is now exposing our species to extinction. China is moving
away from it holistic view as its politburo becomes billionaires,
Russia has long forgotten communism as Putin uses the history…
Unfettered capitalism corrupts capitalism completely. ACT the
party most likely to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Yesterday, John Key lied to Parliament. He made a very specific claim about a set of official documents, and those same documents show clearly that the claim was false.
First, here’s Key’s statement in Parliament, in response to a question from Labour’s Grant Robertson:
The [MFAT] paperwork shows right through this that not only did the Minister have a very busy programme, which the member wants to gloss over, all on judicial and justice issues, but, secondly, all the way through it talks about a private dinner.
I added the underlining to the critical phrases, in which Key assures Parliament that there was complete consistency throughout the planning process for Collins’ visit, and that the now infamous dinner with Oravida and the mystery Chinese border official was always intended to be private.
Well, let’s go to the tape, provided by those very same documents, as I summarized yesterday:
8 October
Collins specifically requests that MFAT invite Stone Shi and Julia Xu to whatever official event [redacted] attends1.
This document shows Collins attempting to engineer an official meeting between herself, Oravida, and [redacted Chinese Border Official].
15 October
MFAT officials learn2:
It appears Stone Shi has organised directly for the Minister to meet with a [redacted] (do they mean [redacted]) on Sunday evening. She would like you [NZ Ambassador to China] and Connie to attend.
Collins’ office directly requests briefing for the dinner, and also asks for Ambassadorial attendance3.
This document shows Collins not only arranging an official dinner for herself, Oravida, and [redacted Chinese Border Official], but requesting the New Zealand Ambassador to China attend, giving it even more official clout.
16 October
Collins’ office demands MFAT explain “why the Sunday dinner with [redacted] has not been included in the visit programme.”4
This document is utterly damning. It shows Collins wanted the dinner to have official status so badly that she question’s MFAT’s decision to leave it off the official programme.
These documents clearly contradict Key’s statement to Parliament not once, not twice, but three times. He was referring specifically to these documents in his statement. He lied.
If Key is anywhere near Wellington today, he simply has to come to the House to correct his answer. Deeply embarrassing that may be, but he cannot allow such blatant untruths to stand uncorrected.
They say its never the crime that gets you, it’s the cover up. How wretched must Judith Collins feel now that she has reduced the Prime Minister to lying in Parliament on her behalf, all in order to conceal an obvious and ugly truth.
In my considered opinion, I predict that the longer Prime Minister John Key continues to defend the indefensible Judith CORRUPT Collins, by lying about the FACTS of her now infamous ‘increasing the public profile of Oravida’ (the company owned by her CLOSE personal friend (Stone Shi) , of which another CLOSE personal friend (Julia Xu) , plus her husband David Wong Tung are Directors ) – then the more National will continue to plummet in the polls.
Then again, I guess that ex-Wall Street bankers like John Key, don’t have much idea about serving the public or the public interest, thus can’t really be expected to ‘lead from the front’ when it comes to following the ‘highest ethical standards’?
How is lying to Parliament and the public exhibiting ‘the highest ethical standards’ Prime Minister John Key?
2.52 A Minister of the Crown, while holding a ministerial warrant, acts in a number of different capacities:
(a) in a ministerial capacity, making decisions, and determining and promoting policy within particular portfolios;
(b) in a political capacity as a member of Parliament, representing a constituency or particular community of interest;
(c) in a personal capacity.
2.53 In all these roles and at all times, Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards. Ultimately, Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their behaviour.
What happens when it is the PRIME MINISTER who does not ‘uphold or is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards’?
What is HE going to do about that?
Sack himself?
An unlikely turn of events.
Seems we will have to leave that to the public on 20 September 2014……
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption /anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
Does anyone know details about Labour’s Kiwisaver policy?
As far as I know they’ve said the minimum employee+employer contribution will be raised from 6% to 9% in 0.5 annual increments.
They have also said that the Reserve Bank/Minister of Finance will be able to vary the Kiwisaver contribution. Will this be on top of the 6-9% or is 9% the maximum. If it’s not the maximum how high could it go?
If the variable savings rate is only going to be varied by small amounts (how small?) in conjunction with a continued variable Official Cash Rate and alongside a Capital Gains Tax how will it be possible to know if the VSR has had any effect?
My impression is that the idea is that the rate will go up at 0.5-1% annually, but that the RB will also be able to vary the same figure.
So for example if the RB had to stimulate the economy more, then perhaps instead of going up at 0.5% in a given year, it might only go up at 0.25% in that year.
Then once it’s “topped out”, the RB might be able to lower it and then raise it back up later, and possibly with permission from the government, raise it over the 9% cap.
‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to Prime Minister John Key :
“Why has New Zealand STILL not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)?”
Dear Prime Minister,
Please be reminded that according to the 2013 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’, New Zealand, (along with Denmark) is ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt country in the world.
In a letter to Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ), dated 7 August 2013, your Minister of Justice Judith Collins stated:
“New Zealand ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption
Thank you for your correspondence of 31 May 2013 to myself, Hon Murray McCully, and Hon Tim Groser regarding New Zealand’s ratification of the
United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
Like you, I also believe that ratifying UNCAC would be advantageous. Ratification of the Convention is important to ensure New Zealand retains its international reputation for transparency, integrity, and trustworthiness, which can have flow-on economic benefits for the country.
It is for these reasons that I have announced a package of legislative reforms that will allow New Zealand to ratify UNCAC. the reforms will be progressed as part of an Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill which I intend to introduce into Parliament later in 2013.
As you may be aware, it is the policy of the New Zealand Government that binding treaty actions such as ratification is not taken until New Zealand’s domestic law is compliant with the treaty obligations. As you state in your letter, only minor amendments are necessary to bring New Zealand into compliance with the UNCAC obligations.
The Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill will contain the required amendments. After the Bill is passed and the changes are enacted, officials will promptly take steps to deposit New Zealand’s instrument of ratification of UNCAC.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice.”
NZ Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill
Friday, 18 October 2013, 10:03 am
Press Release: New Zealand Government
Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice
18 October 2013 Media Statement
Bill supports zero-tolerance for organised crime
Justice Minister Judith Collins says the Government’s comprehensive approach to fighting all forms of organised crime will help safeguard New Zealand’s economy, international reputation and public safety.
This month a number of international bodies are evaluating New Zealand’s compliance with international standards related to financial crimes – including the OECD, which will report on New Zealand’s compliance with an international convention to combat bribery of foreign public officials.
“I welcome the release of these reports.
This Government takes all forms of organised crime and corruption very seriously,” Ms Collins says.
New laws to fight organised crime
Friday 18 Oct 2013 10:33a.m.
The Government will bring in a bill before the end of the year to strengthen laws against money laundering, identity theft, human trafficking and corruption.
Justice Minister Judith Collins says she intends to have a comprehensive set of laws in place to fight all forms of organised crime.
“It’s important to consider bribery and corruption within the big picture of organised crime, which undermines public safety, national security, economic development and good governance,” she said today.
“This bill will help ensure New Zealand maintains its reputation as a responsible international citizen and that our domestic law enforcement agencies have the tolls they need to fight all forms of organised crime.”
Unfortunately, it is now May 2014, and your Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill, has STILL not been presented to Parliament:
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OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT REQUEST:
Please provide the information which explains why Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill’, has STILL not been presented to Parliament.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
I wonder if Lockwood Smith is still doing it tough in his 4000 pound ($7500) p.w rental accomodation in London or has settled into something a little more affordable in say…Scunthorpe or even Brixton. What a thoroughly distasteful rodent he is.
God almighty Marius – you tempt me!
Still, a diplomatic residence on Hampstead Heath would probably be a stretch even for this gubbamint – but it would be kind of fitting.
Trevor Mallard has done it again. This time he asked the Minister of Immigration (Woodhouse) if Lui offered cash for a particular law change. Woodhouse chose to take offence and accused Mallard of alleging corruption on his part. Speaker demanded Mallard apologise. Mallard walked out without apologising on the grounds he had made no such allegation which was correct.
I wonder of this is a deliberate ploy. I find it difficult to believe Mallard asked the question without prior approval. If that is the case then it would suggest they know something not yet in the public arena.
I defend her. I don’t think she did anything wrong,even if she should have used the other letterhead. Your case is incredibly weak, Pukish Rogue. Why do you bother?
Me too. The Nats (and their proxies) can play the ‘pox on all your houses’ strategy all they like but Martin’s actions are not in the same league as that we’ve seen from Govt Cabinet Ministers.
Some advice to Labour, taking on John Key directly is a bad idea…no on second thoughts keep going after John Key and ignore the weaker links in National 🙂
You must have been a real joy as a kid with “….but xyz did it too” as your standard rebuttal when you were called out on anything? I truly hope you’ve learnt some accountability in your (seemingly stunted) transition into adulthood.
John Key is a proven liar. The fact that you see nothing wrong with that does in fact speak volumes about you.
The Cabinet Manual disagrees with you when ministers are involved. Is it a bit like the Geneva Conventions when the Coalition of the Willing needs to invade another country? Quaint and outdated?
I tried to watch that but I can’t understand a word the stand up comedian said. The captions say he’s Prime Minister. I find that hard to believe. What country is he from? His accent is really strange.
Really, what you should do is have a look at the Cabinet Manual for yourself and learn not to take things on faith. It only hurts the first couple of times.
Popularity helps when we look for winners of New Zealand’s Got Talent. Honesty and competency are more desirable in politicians. I see more of that among the Greens and Mana than anywhere else.
Now thats bollix or do you not remember the 2% rating she had (you’re a lefty so of course you don’t), she did become very respected but respected and liked are two different things
Yeah I remember the low rating she had when she was Leader of the Opposition before the 1996 election. Look what happened though. She got elected in 1999 on the back of the 3rd term shambles that was the Shipley Govt. Went on to become the most popular PM ever. You are scraping the bottom of the barrel here bro and failing to learn the lessons of history.
“Very well.”
You clearly don’t live in Canterbury then.
Please don’t tell what bad would be!
By the way, the present council has only beren in charge for a short time.
Brownlee has had the job since 2011.
39 months and counting.
Are you sure mate? It all looks a bit shaky right now. And let’s face it – he did such a good job in the last campaign (with Natioanal at a high of 47%) he managed to get a marvellous one seat majority (if everything goes well on the day).
Well yes because all of Labours (or Cunliffes more accurately) stuff ups of late haven’t been forgotten and will be brought out in the election campaign
Do you think Key has forgotten that tricky Cunliffe had to “refresh” his CV or won’t bring up Cunliffes leafy suburb or baby bonus debacle or the secret trusts and anything else that I can’t remember off the top of my head
That Key won’t hammer home a vote for the Greens is a vote for Dot Con (hes gone awfully quiet recently hasn’t he…) and Labour and finally, in your heart of hearts, do you really see Cunliffe defeating Key in the debates?
At best Cunliffe is mono tonal and hasn’t had to deal with anyone of note whereas Keys gone up against the best Labour can produce…Clark (You might be used to shouting people down at home, but you’re not shouting me down), Cullen, Goff, Shearer and even Campbell admitted defeat (didn’t go on much about the GCSB after the interview did he)
So yeah John Keys my pick to form the next government
What has happened to unemployment under ‘our most popular PM ever’ since 2008?
How many people have emigrated to NZ under ‘our most popular PM ever’ since 2008?
New Zealand migration rose to an 11-year high in March, the second-highest gain on record, as fewer kiwis left for Australia.
The country gained a seasonally adjusted 3,800 net new migrants in March, the most since February 2003, said Statistics New Zealand. A net 400 people left for Australia in March, down from 600 in February, according to seasonally adjusted figures.
In the year through March, New Zealand gained a net 31,900 migrants, a 10-year high, as 98,000 people arrived while 66,100 departed. That’s more than 12 times the 2,500 annual net migration gain in the year through March 2013 and compares with an average net gain of 11,700 migrants over the past 20 years.
Employment grew strongly in the first three months of the year but so did the supply of workers, leaving unemployment unchanged and wage pressures subdued.
Statistics New Zealand’s household labour force survey recorded a rise of 22,000 or 0.9 per cent in the number of people employed in the March quarter, but that was matched by a 22,000 increase in the labour force, leaving the unemployment level unchanged at 147,000 and the unemployment rate steady at 6 per cent.
Over the year ended March the working age population increased by 50,000, boosted by a strong net inflow of migrants.
But the labour force grew by 82,000 over the same period as the participation rate (the employed and those looking for work, as a share of the working age population) climbed to 69.3 per cent – a record high and up from 67.9 per cent a year ago.
So.
More jobs to go around at the same time as more people joined looking for work.
You’ve wilfully decided to ignore the further complications that the Cabinet Manual outlines in the instance of access to CABINET MINISTERS! There’s no point in even debating this with you.
I know that you’re really too stupid to understand this but there’s a difference between access to MPs and access to ministers. Ministers have power and influence that MPs, especially opposition MPs, don’t.
this is what happens when you engage with people who have stopped thinking for themselves and refuse to read documents, relying instead on slater to think for them
The Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI) research found that $1.1tn of capital expenditure is expected in the next decade in expensive oil sands, deepwater and Arctic projects but that this investment will be lost if policymakers agree to slash carbon emissions.
And that is where all the opposition to policies to prevent climate change is coming from.
I nearly puked about 10 minutes ago while eating my dinner andwatching the news. Every time I looked up there was john keys or one of his simulacras leering out of the box. This is not news! It is just bullshit and TVNZ is complicit. Is the National Party paying for all this free advertising. I wouldn’t mind if they were worth looking at but keys greasy smile is just too much for any food to not gag at.
Be good if someone in the know could do a post on Christchurch.
Watching Campbell Live and hearing about the half billion dollar debt, which the government pressuring the council to sell its assets, reminds me of Naomi Klein and Shock Doctrine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine
Just finished watching Campbell Live.What of an indictment of this government and its neo-liberal approach.
Listen to the people, Mr Brownlee.
Front on T.V.
That last item in the history of Gerry’s engagement with the media summed it up. (the 10%/50% waffle from Brownnose)
I well remember a discussion (I think involving Gerry the woodwork teacher) whereby analogies with the Brizzy floods were dismissed out of hand – missing the point completely relating to the whole insurance scam that he and others have allowed to take place.
Given that both Council and the Zillun government have bits of land in safe places which could have been ‘swapped’ for ‘badland’ – WHY did what was obviously diminished rateable land values ever figure in the equation?
Cudda shudda wudda just done a land swap and have insurance companies pay for the bricks and mortar (in a relatively safe place).
Christchurch (my birthplace) has been subjected to a real scorched earth policy.
And even NOW … the future of rail is being ignored in the grand plans – especially given that there is basic rail infrastructure going North, South, West and Lyttleton. The idiocy is astounding. It’s not somewhere I’ll ever return to but the best of luck to those that choose to stay whilst consultants and tories hold sway.
4 fuckn years later! There’s been one helluva lot of ticket clipping going on (anyone remember those ozzie assessors in the early stages? followed by RE-assessors, dithering, excuses…. etc.)
Brownlee said in parliament today that the govt has spent 15 Billion on the Chch rebuild … yet when govt debt is mentioned National say it is due to the Chch earthquake, so what was the other 35+ Billion of debt spent on?
If you just watched Campbell Live, it is hard to describe what has happened in Christchurch is a ‘rebuild.’
They haven’t even finished the demolition yet.
It looks like a desolate wasteland.
$15 billion, Gerry. On what?
Yes, I saw it in January, it is more shocking in real life than seeing pictures on TV. I can’t recall his precise wording – it may be that he said the 15 Billion was spent on Chch he may not have said
‘on the rebuild’ – which clearly hasn’t occurred yet – although it requires a lot of planning, so what that money has been spent on may not be visible but still necessary. Perhaps some of that 15 Billion was spent on pies to help Brownlee cope?
I think Government wants Christchurch City in a hole so it can take over and sell assets build what it wants done, and maybe do an ECan on Ch Ch City Council especially since Leanne is Mayor.
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Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
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I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
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An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
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Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
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A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Geez! This is meant to be a good price for a taxi from Auckland airport to the CBD or North Shore? Just about more than some airfares.
Easier to get a bus around NZ, or a ship traveling overseas, than to fly.
The shuttle from the airport to town is reasonably priced
This is what happens when there is no train from an airport to a city.
Cheaper by far to hire a car.
Yep, it’s about 3 days’ hire, probably. Hell, I could drive my own car from Wellington to Albany for less than that, if I had nothing better to do.
As an exercise a little while ago I worked out how cheaply I could get to Albany (for business reasons); the best I got was about $41 from Karori by overnight bus.
On taxis, remember it being about $100 from the airport to Albany in 1999, which shocked me at the time. This was before Albany really took off, SH1 went straight through the middle and the Western route was a rural-ish road from Glenfield through Whenuapai and Hobsonville.
In Wellington you can just walk, if you’re not too worried about your hairstyle.
and getting wet..
As of this exact minute, it’s not raining in Wellington.
are the residents thronging the streets..?
..dancing and singing ‘hallelujah!’..?
..up here in the best city in the country..
..it is sunny..balmy even..
That’s a funny way to spell “biggest car-park in the country”!
:p
as opposed to the biggest gummint-dept tearoom in the country..
..’step back from the trough..!’..
When was the last time you were in our stunning city, admiring our glittering harbour, being spoilt for choice of music venues every single night and marvelling at the abundance of public transport options phillip?
I’ll also have you know we have had an unnaturally balmy warm windless time of it lately…………..
I get all the Wellington news I need straight from the horses mouth 😀
That is incredibly funny Naturesong
i once stayed there for a whole week of ‘good days’…
..so i have experienced its’ charms..
..and fwiw..it would be my second choice nz city to live in..
..i don’t mind ‘interesting’-weather..
..i’m just riffing..really..
It’s OK, I was just joshing around myself. As a matter of fact I lived in your city for the biggest chunk of my life so far.
It was good however to return to the place of my birth and reconnect with those aspects of the region I loved as a child, wind, earthquakes, the sea and the hills. Don’t love earthquakes any more though.Not since Christchurch.
And speaking of wind, Sarah Palin may have been able to see Russia from her house but I can see the construction of wind turbines. The majestic glorious wind turbines of the Mill Creek Project. They look amazing set against a pink sunset. That’s your brighter future right there Noo Zuland. Green energy.
$17 from Brisbane airport to Brisbane city centre by train. Time Auckland airport had rail access like almost every other major airport in the world.
Michael Woodhouse, immigration minister, met Donghua Liu at Maurice Williamson’s friend at his hotel.
Dodgier and dodgier.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/243704/minister-rejects-claim-of-preferential-access
he met at a hotel, may as well have been a carpark
a seedy encounter in the ‘stay-a-while motel’..
..on the wrong side of town..
..money for services rendered..
..this money paid to the national party..
2 days running the Nats don’t front on Morning Report to discuss cash for their mates.
And both times Labour fronts and Espiner attacks them!
What about attacking the Nats for their failure to front?
What a biased Tory supporter Guyon is.
How did he get the job at RNZ? He is not an impartial observer.
RNZ under griffin is very govt friendly, check the board out. Joyce was in radio so RNZwas always going to be brought in line.
Gluon better have a good contract treating his potential future ministers as we does.
Do you have any evidence that the board is interfering in editorial decisions?
I cant understand why RNZ employed gluon. He is the biggest whiner ever on the radio and the prospect of him whining on till he retires is enough to make one want to emigrate. This country seems to be getting crummier and crummier by the day!
Guyon does put interviewees through the mill. But the good thing is that credibility develops if the response is well founded. And so far Labour has developed credibility. Re Mallard, Cunliffe, Norman etc.
This morning my guess is that Mr Key will be fuming as Money for Access and Influence has gained traction. And his lot have failed to front.
i just wish he would leave asking the same question over and over again to mary wilson
Not correct. Labour and Greens have made accusations that they cannot substantiate and in doing so have exposed their hypocrisy. They have put themselves in this position through their incompetence, surely it is the job of the media to expose their lies?
paula bennett lied on camera about her knowledge of the cabinet club. evidence is her answer to a question about it in the house in april.
Grumpy
Examples?
Guyon seems to have a regular politics spot these days.
Anyway, it’s pretty clear that his approach is to come up with a question that’s related to the topic at hand that appies to the politician he’s asking, and then ask them it.
He did it with Colin Craig, asking about Colin breaking the law by smacking, which was a stretch from whatever the interview was actually supposed to be about. He did it with Russel Norman, asking him if he would give equal time to someone who donated $60k vs a random Joe Bloggs constituent. He’s done it with Grant Robertson and Cunliffe about Cunliffe’s so-called ‘secret trust’.
Also I don’t think it’s very fair to say “National didn’t front, so when Labour front, gang up with Labour against National”. The interviewer is supposed to be impartial, which means any party going to be interviewed should not expect kind treatment or for the media to champion their cause.
agree. some here complained the left didnt get enough coverage…now too much?
Mallard kept him in his place all the left have been bagging Mallard for along time.
Mallards experience is priceless he is Labours best attack dog.
Its time for left to stop whining about bad treatment in the Media Mallard and Winston Peters no how to deal with Espiner.
The left should take note
+100 trickledown….Mallard and Peters are good for the Left win of 2014
Yes the left need to front for the media.
e.g. Mallard could have commented today about the governments failure to turn up for an interview about the topic, saying they were running scared. Then said something to Espiner like” I look forward to hearing you asking them some difficult questions if they ever turn up.”
+1
Grant Hall, Star Trust (legal highs) with the PM. ShonKey gets photographed with a lot of people I guess. Image is screen shot of a fb share.
https://db.tt/DzlQl0Pe
just a photo at a fundraiser?
xox
RNZ morning Report, bring back Geoff Robinson. Much better quality journalism. Guyon must be getting a fortune to spin so fast! The government has frozen the funding for RNZ so the quality is declining.
“..End The War On Drugs – Say Nobel Prize-Winning Economists..”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/end-drug-war_n_5275078.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
“..Pot’s a Cancer Killer..
It’s been shown by a large number of investigators to [reduce] growth of brain – lung – breast – prostate –
and thyroid cancer cells..”
(cont..)
http://www.weather.com/health/shocking-things-you-dont-know-about-weed-20140407
Oh dear Phillip, talk about kicking an own goal while exposing yourself as an utter fucking hypocrite over testing drugs on animals,
Why didn’t you re-publish the whole quote from Dr Tashkin MD, here let me help,
”Its been shown by a large number of investigations to (reduce) growth of brain, lung, breast, prostate, and, thyroid cancer cells in ANIMAL MODELS” unquote Donald P. Tashkin MD,
Tsk tsk Phillip how dare people test legal highs on all those lovely furry animals, BUT, when it comes to the drug of Phillips choice its a damn good thing to infect said furry animals with various cancers and then feed them Marijuana, (talk about being hypocritical),
Then laughably there is this, and, i stopped reading and started laughing at page 6 of Phillips link,
”It impairs the activity of immune cells in your lungs”
”Substantial loss of airway cells”
”Faster progression of aids”
”Clusters of tuberculosis in users”
And last but not least from only reading 6 pages out of 16, ”Pre-cancerous changes in the airways of heavy Marijuana users, (is that you Phillip), who don’t smoke tobacco,
Yeah a real ”wonder drug” and we havn’t even delved into Dr Tashkin’s information on mental health and psychological changes in users yet…
During Question Time yesterday Grant Robertson asked Mr Key a careful question about the content of the information on whether Judith Collins was a conflict of interest or not.
Did the Cabinet Committee (is that the right name for the experts who check the legalities?) get all the information that has since emerged or just the preliminaries?
Mr Key of course gave a non-committal answer and joked in response. (Aha?)
It is possible that if it can be shown that the Committee was not given all the information then Mr Key has mislead the House. Watch this space I think.
ianmac .. It was reported that Wayne Eagleson spent hours grilling Collins’ staff in the past few days … this surely suggests the possibility info had been hidden … keep the popcorn hot …
Slippery the Prime Minister actively looking for a good enough reason to sack Collins i would suggest,
i imagine that the ‘weeks leave’ the PM has given Collins is an open offer for Her to ‘reconsider Her future’ based around the current red herring being dragged across the trail, Collin’s health scare,
Collins has mounted the classic compulsive liars defense in the face of Grant Robinson’s pit bull tenacity, from the superior smirk to anger to emotion and now to ‘a health scare’ Collins has played the drama queen to the nth degree,
Clever stuff from Labour yesterday in discontinuing Her cross examination in the face of the ‘health scare’ spin dreamed up by the Beehives 9th floor in an attempt to spike Labours line of attack,
Slippery the PM is now between that rock and a hard place, it’s too close to the election to sack Collins and the only means of getting Her away from being front and center is the dreamed up ‘health scare’, something i should expect the PM would wish to become permanent,
Collins of course must know that the only way She can have any hope of leading the National Party is if they lose this election and act fast to stage a quick coup befor the Joyce camp can recover from such a loss,
In the smoke and mirrors of politics Collins may yet come out of this as the winner…
i think he was looking for a leaker… or finding the person who created a paper trail.
Didn’t he say that no new information had emerged, as far as he was concerned? From that can we infer that he was aware of the meeting brief that described improving the profile of Oravida Ltd, of which David Wong-Tung is a director?
http://polity.co.nz/blog-front
Is this the smoking gun?
“Cabinet Office” ie not a committee, Ianmac.
“The Cabinet Office is a ‘government secretariat’ that provides impartial support to central government decision-making processes. ”
I doubt that we will ever know what information was given to the Cabinet Office by Key and his people which led to them (supposedly) advising Key that Collins’ actions were kosher. Key has consistently refused to release the CO advice despite repeated pressure in the House and by the media. IIRC there are rules etc that allow Key not to do so; and CO advice is not disclosable under the OIA. (Sorry, don’t have references to the rules on this, and don’t have time to research/refresh my memory on these today.)
Thanks Veutoviper. I am not clever enough to find out about the Cabinet Office for myself but now I do know. 🙂 Pity that the Committee is not discoverable. I wonder if submissions are only available to the Government? Could Grant submit a full dossier?
Cabinet Office is part of the parliamentary administration, but I am not familiar enough with the CO rules etc to know whether Robertson or someone else in Parliament could submit the full MFAT disclosures for a further assessment.
Would love to have the time today to research this; but achievement against this week’s To Do list is looking absymal so this must take precedence today. But it will bug me(!) ; so will try to do a search in the next few days and get back to you.
I/S has the Ombudsman looking into it.
Thanks Veuto- again. The plot thickens. Good old NRT. Wonder if Grant has anything brewing.
Morning to you Veuto .. pse would you hv a look at my question at #10 ? Thx 🙂
Question for the anti-fractional reserve banking crowd.
The main objection seems to be that banks can create money based on lending out a proportion of their deposits continuously.
How does that impact on the supply of actual currency in the economy i.e. is there more physical currency circulating as a result of the banks lending actions?
The physical supply of M0 currency (notes and coins) is usually controlled by a govt. authority like the Reserve Bank. For most economies M0 is usually some very small fraction (0.1 -2.0%) of the total credit (M3) available.
The absolute M0 supply does increase over time to match population growth, but it’s an insignificant aspect of the economy as a whole. I have not seen anyone explain how M0 creation is linked in any direct manner to the creation of M3 credit by the private banks.
What about economies who don’t control the amount of currency in circulation. How does fractional reserve banking creation of money impact those nations?
Which economies are you talking about? Not New Zealand’s at any rate.
🙄 🙄 🙄
It’s actually a good question.
still best treated as a loaded question coming from gos though
“The main objection seems to be that banks can create money based on lending out a proportion of their deposits continuously.” 🙄
You must have missed the plethora of statements from the central banking community these past months that clearly admit they just make up zeroes as often as they wish and that there is no longer any factually structural relationship between deposits and distributed funds.
You have been lied to for a long long time.
Here is one article Gosman that hopefully will send you out on a mission of realisation.
There are many more out there.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/18/truth-money-iou-bank-of-england-austerity
No, I asked if the amount of money the banks supposedly create out of thin air actually impacts the amount of money in circulation (even indirectly via the RB putting more notes and coins in to circulation as a result).
Yes
So it does in you mind then. This should be easily idenitifed then in the amount of notes and coins in circulation increasing over time then.
No
Nope, most transaction these days are electronic. Don’t need notes and coins for electronic transfers. So we end up with exponential amount more money in the system without there being an exponential increase in notes and coins.
do you know how, in these electronic days, a bank can take the money from an account electronically but it doesnt turn up in the destination account for 24 hours?
does the bank gain much from having the money in limbo for 24 hours, and which bank benefits?
Not capable of doing your own research Gosman? I seem to recall you saying you saying you had a financial background so I’m sure it shouldn’t be too tough for you.
Can’t you answer a reasonably straight forward question? Given the anti-fractional reserve bank people’s asertions that their view of the world is so blindingly obvious surely someone can explain how it impacts on the amount of physical money in circulation.
It means the money in circulation does not mean what those using the money in circulation thought it means because the money in circulation is just a means to an end and that end is to make you believe what is in circulation is money.
A circular argument freedom?
it’s the only way they’ll learn ianmac 😉
Yes I can however I’m not going to play your strawman game. Do your own research and if you then have a point to make, make it.
What strawman game? This is Open Mike and I am asking questions in relation the the whole Anti Fractional Reserve Banking theory. How is that a strawman?
Because it is Open Mike and not Ask.com
Gosman, you have operated in the same manner since you first came here. Like I said, with your self-confessed background I’m sure that 15 minutes of googling and reading will provide an initial answer to your question (although to be honest, I doubt you haven’t done that already). Come back with the REAL question that you are angling towards.
“What strawman game?”
you
remember how you outed your own MO a while back?
But Gosman, you’re not remotely interested in anyone’s answers to your inane questions.
You’re simply playing silly little games and trying to set up a person with a rhetorical question, so you can make whatever “cunning” reply you have in mind.
God, you’ve done it enough times. That’s why no one can be bothered responding to you.
That’s not actually how it works. None of the deposits the banks have are loaned out – not even a fraction of them. When a bank makes a ‘loan’ it creates the full amount. The amount that they can create is, supposedly, limited by their capital reserves but the Reserve Bank acts as lender of last resort. What this means in effect is that if the banks don’t have enough reserve they get to loan from the Reserve Bank and that loan will never be turned down. Thus the private banks can create unlimited amounts of money.
No, we end up with lots more electronic money. I’ve read articles (many years ago now so don’t remember where) that estimated that between 50% and 80% of inflation in the is due to the banks printing money.
EDIT: My bad, missed Gosman’s reference to physical money.
+1. And of course when the bank creates the loan “money” they don’t create the interest due on said loan so it is never repayable in the macro picture.
Thanks for explaining that DTB it seems that we proceed with systems in place and think we understand them but often not. So this fractional business keeps being named, and yet using that term is incorrect.
Anyone know — is there any information available anywhere about how Stone Shi/DeyiShi made his millions in China ?
Veutoviper .. have you been able to find anything in your excellent researching ? Big thanks to you and Frank MacSkasy.
(He does appear to have many names under which his holdings are/were registered in this country. And his connection with Jenny Shipley seems to have been hidden in the morass of changing company names and directors .. but for sure she was in there with Pure and Natural before it obtained a new identity.)
Oh, there is just so much more to be found out about the levels of this gross corruption and it has to be exactly why Collins still holds her Ministerial warrant… here’s hoping we will find it all before the election.
Hi yeshe, I have not done any specific research on where Deyi (“Stone”) Shi made his millions – and the lack of information on this jumped out at me when researching Collins’ China trips and connections with him. But there are obviously big bucks there, considering the millions he spent to buy Mark Hotchins’ mansion in Auckland.
As you pointed out, Frank M has done excellent research on the company connections which are eye opening.
There are a lot of links on Google if you google “Deyi Shi”, but I don’t have time currently to check these in detail. But there seems to be little on his background prior to coming to NZ from a quick glance. Curious.
But must go right now. Sorry.
thx veuto .. we can keep exploring … who knows what is really out there ? see you here soon …
This is a somewhat trite comment, but goes to the comprehension level of those supporting the Government. I have been watching the progress of the Stuff poll on Judith Collins over the last few days. It has been clear what the public think, 63.4% think Collins should go. The ratio has been very stable between yes and no. There are two yes sectors to the vote, a “Yes, but only just”, 8.9%, the majority of yes votes are in the other sector, which says
27.7% voted for “Yes, the controversy doesn’t affect how she works”
Well and good I thought, but something had bothered me about the those voting Yes
and then it struck me
The issue is how she works!
NZIER:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/auckland-needs-grow-become-global-city-5958405
NZIER claim to be independant.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/auckland-needs-grow-become-global-city-5958405
so how do they get away with it? They get away with it because of commercial interest (on the one hand) and comfortable progressive elites (on the other) who are blind to the negative effects of competition from offshore, choosing to believe that (really), there is a great store of loot guarded by a dragon which just needs to be unlocked and redistributed..
We get told that population growth is essential to maintain economic growth. So they say! To continue that growth what is the end point by which we change to “Enough! We will stop now!” -or is it a long term problem for future economists and polititians?
Actually, it is. Without population growth you don’t have more people to sell things to which means that the amount of products being sold will always be in decline (except food and other essentials which will be static) and not be in growth which would mean that the interest charged by the banks can’t be paid. End result will be an economy that will crash and default on all debt.
This is why NZ tends to chase export growth – there’s far more population overseas. Of course, those populations are quite capable of producing their own goods from their own resources and will eventually do so meaning that exports from NZ will also be in decline.
“We get told that population growth is essential to maintain economic growth.”
There is no certainty as to what population growth will do to percapita incomes:
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/research-policy/wp/2014/14-10
That just tells me that you failed to understand what I said. Increasing productivity requires a larger market (more people) else prices must go into deflation and unemployment increase.
And, yes, I agree with that article as well. Increasing population no longer improves economies of scale as they did in the 19th century.
xox
Exit Business Round Table, enter NZIER. They have changed the label to ‘refresh’ the tired old crock of a wealth and power. The mantra is the same old snake oil, with a twist.
Maybe I misunderstand something in the intent of your comment philj, but the Business Roundtable re-branded to The New Zealand Initiative back in 2012. Perhaps if you link to what you were referring to, it may help identify the confusion. 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Initiative
The NZIER have been around for 50+ years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Institute_of_Economic_Research
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/roundtable-and-nz-institute-morph-nz-initiative-ck-115751
translation: a bunch of suits who have no intention of building a sustainable economy that benefits as many humans as possible, will repeat tired slogans and broken promises to promote business practices that create little of value for anyone but shareholders and bankers.
given the possible/pending(?) mana/internet-party deal..
..this piece from robert reich is kinda interesting..
“..The Six Principles of the New Populism (and the Establishment’s Nightmare)..
More Americans than ever believe the economy is rigged in favor of Wall Street and big business and their enablers in Washington.
We’re five years into a so-called recovery – that’s been a bonanza for the rich –
but a bust for the middle class.
“The game is rigged and the American people know that.
They get it right down to their toes” says Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Which is fueling a new populism on both the left and the right.
While still far apart – neo-populists on both sides are bending toward one another – and against the establishment.
And it’s not only the rhetoric that’s converging.
Populists on the right and left are also coming together around core principles..”
(cont..)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-six-principles-of-the_b_5277568.html
Commentary worth considering:
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/05/pressure-labour-mounting-observation-owl/
hahahahahahahahahahaha.
Considered it.
Dull
what exactly is it with your constant linking to one of nationals dirty tricks warriors?
To free thinking folk it’s definitely “Nationals dirty tricks warrior” site, to fools like Puckish it’s the bible. 🙂
i wont give him the clicks
Not the bible, I’m not religious but Origin of the species… 😉
Yeah, the homo habilis section.
Puckish, I’m sure you mean: origin of the faeces… 🙂
Darwin …..Slater
Not in the same universe
PR Still trying to get us to look at wail? C’mon we have lives.
Should governments run surpluses? (video)
Answer: No, as it crashes the economy.
Interesting, a lawyer acting for the US Government has asked the Court in Auckland to make public the information that has so far been suppressed by the Courts in the DotCom extradition proceedings,
So the Courts should, our system of Justice requires there be a full disclosure of all information that a prosecution plans to put befor the Courts, and our system of Justice cannot be seen to be ‘bent’ to the will or norms of what occurs in other jurisdictions,
Source: RadioNZ National news at 11.00…
But what about the US giving back the dot com data they have been told to by our courts?
In view of the publicity about Money for Influence there may be something in store for the Minister of Immigration in this Question today:
“Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Immigration: Did the Government instruct Immigration New Zealand to review the Investor Plus scheme of $10 million; if so, for what reason?”
Does it suggest smoke to you?
popcorn ready !!
Holly Walker had a good go at the Money for Privilege today. It must be a worry as Gerry Brownlie spent a lot of time trying to protect Michael Woodhouse.
Winston asked his questions about the Woodhouse involvement which was very embarrassing for Woodhouse. In particular the change to Immigration law towards lower entry fee ($10mil) and the dropping of the requirement to speak English. With a letter of support apparently ref Mr Key.
And Now question “12Hon TREVOR MALLARD to the Minister of Immigration: Why did he personally call on Donghua Liu to receive his representations on immigration policy following Donghua Liu making a donation to the National Party?”
Trevor has been kicked out for questioning if there was money from Mr Liu for meeting Woodhouse.
Interesting times. Mr Woodhouse is not looking his chirpy self.
more interesting was woodhouse said pm knew nothing about the meeting and, i think he said, the pm did not support a policy change along the lines peters suggested.
I think that Peter’s letters contradicted Woodhouse ignorance. Not sure who wrote them.
Was there ever a more biased Speaker than David Carter ?
Please, did anyone hear and is able to write the interjection from Trevor Mallard that caused his exit just before close of QT this afternoon ??
ianmac said it was for asking if woodhouse got paid to meet with liu.
woodhouse said his meeting with liu was for about an hour.
No that’s not correct Tracey.
See comment just below…
Posted on it at 26.1.1 yeshe.
It was a supplementary to his original Qustion 12 on the order paper. He asked if Liu had offered Woodhouse cash for a particular law change. Woodhouse took offence. Mallard was already walking out before the Speaker told him to go.
thanks anne. i didnt see it.
i did see woodhouse say the meeting was for an hour, that key knew nothing of the meeting and key did not support lius desired law changes.
look forward to reading the docs peters tabled.
Mallard refused to withdraw his money supplementary question. So left. Anne Tolley called out the same remark against Labour. She was asked to withdraw it and did so. Too much happened to track it all actually.
Worth watching Q4, 9, 12.
Thanks all .. bright fireworks! will watch on replay ..
hipkins ejjected too
Species that get too specialized are likely to become extinct.
The history of organisms is the history of the adaptable winning over
the overly specialized. So the question are human too specialized?
I would say Yes, we are the intellectual organism, the more
we disconnect from our environment, our mother earth, the more
unfit we become, by being too specialized. e.g the uber unfit,
neo-liberals are wholely disconnected from the reality of the
economy; through their intellectual ideology that openly ignores
and belittles, the biggest player in the market (government
– however detestable you find government ignoring it is moronic),
and has a whole mythology that removes working parts of our
economy from any mention. Its marvalous listening to the ACT
party, hearing them spout economic myths that dictate we must
ignore the impact and input from everyone from unions on down
(and offer up policy that hands over profits to the few at the top).
And right at the bottom of the ACT list is the reminder, theres
the ‘always attack Green’.
If you were wanting dinosaurs of politics, what
better than a free market party, that freely dictates ignoring
all of the actors in the market place, using foresinc cutting edge
dismal science, and misappropriated measuring tools when that fails.
You see the trade, the reason for specialization, is immediate
profit, in nature or on wall street, the ubiquity of a
food-energy source see the few specialize on a single source, i.e.
the oil economy.
Why fascism fails, its reliance on cheap short term emotions,
which eventually dies up when serious facts cannot be ignored
(Hitler destroyed Germany).
Immediate profitability, conditions as selected by parliaments in
the west, is now exposing our species to extinction. China is moving
away from it holistic view as its politburo becomes billionaires,
Russia has long forgotten communism as Putin uses the history…
Unfettered capitalism corrupts capitalism completely. ACT the
party most likely to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Endogenous Money in the Media
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/john-armstrong-on-politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502865&objectid=11251436
John Armstrong: Red hot PM hits back in withering style
BY TELLING ‘RED HOT’ LIES TO PARLIAMENT?
http://polity.co.nz/content/key-lies-parliament-proof#.U2qlNplmZ4B.twitter
Key lies to Parliament: The proof
ROB SALMOND | 8TH MAY 2014 | 0 COMMENTS
Yesterday, John Key lied to Parliament. He made a very specific claim about a set of official documents, and those same documents show clearly that the claim was false.
First, here’s Key’s statement in Parliament, in response to a question from Labour’s Grant Robertson:
The [MFAT] paperwork shows right through this that not only did the Minister have a very busy programme, which the member wants to gloss over, all on judicial and justice issues, but, secondly, all the way through it talks about a private dinner.
I added the underlining to the critical phrases, in which Key assures Parliament that there was complete consistency throughout the planning process for Collins’ visit, and that the now infamous dinner with Oravida and the mystery Chinese border official was always intended to be private.
Well, let’s go to the tape, provided by those very same documents, as I summarized yesterday:
8 October
Collins specifically requests that MFAT invite Stone Shi and Julia Xu to whatever official event [redacted] attends1.
This document shows Collins attempting to engineer an official meeting between herself, Oravida, and [redacted Chinese Border Official].
15 October
MFAT officials learn2:
It appears Stone Shi has organised directly for the Minister to meet with a [redacted] (do they mean [redacted]) on Sunday evening. She would like you [NZ Ambassador to China] and Connie to attend.
Collins’ office directly requests briefing for the dinner, and also asks for Ambassadorial attendance3.
This document shows Collins not only arranging an official dinner for herself, Oravida, and [redacted Chinese Border Official], but requesting the New Zealand Ambassador to China attend, giving it even more official clout.
16 October
Collins’ office demands MFAT explain “why the Sunday dinner with [redacted] has not been included in the visit programme.”4
This document is utterly damning. It shows Collins wanted the dinner to have official status so badly that she question’s MFAT’s decision to leave it off the official programme.
These documents clearly contradict Key’s statement to Parliament not once, not twice, but three times. He was referring specifically to these documents in his statement. He lied.
If Key is anywhere near Wellington today, he simply has to come to the House to correct his answer. Deeply embarrassing that may be, but he cannot allow such blatant untruths to stand uncorrected.
They say its never the crime that gets you, it’s the cover up. How wretched must Judith Collins feel now that she has reduced the Prime Minister to lying in Parliament on her behalf, all in order to conceal an obvious and ugly truth.
In my considered opinion, I predict that the longer Prime Minister John Key continues to defend the indefensible Judith CORRUPT Collins, by lying about the FACTS of her now infamous ‘increasing the public profile of Oravida’ (the company owned by her CLOSE personal friend (Stone Shi) , of which another CLOSE personal friend (Julia Xu) , plus her husband David Wong Tung are Directors ) – then the more National will continue to plummet in the polls.
Then again, I guess that ex-Wall Street bankers like John Key, don’t have much idea about serving the public or the public interest, thus can’t really be expected to ‘lead from the front’ when it comes to following the ‘highest ethical standards’?
How is lying to Parliament and the public exhibiting ‘the highest ethical standards’ Prime Minister John Key?
http://cabinetmanual.cabinetoffice.govt.nz/files/manual.pdf
Conduct of Ministers
2.52 A Minister of the Crown, while holding a ministerial warrant, acts in a number of different capacities:
(a) in a ministerial capacity, making decisions, and determining and promoting policy within particular portfolios;
(b) in a political capacity as a member of Parliament, representing a constituency or particular community of interest;
(c) in a personal capacity.
2.53 In all these roles and at all times, Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards. Ultimately, Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their behaviour.
What happens when it is the PRIME MINISTER who does not ‘uphold or is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards’?
What is HE going to do about that?
Sack himself?
An unlikely turn of events.
Seems we will have to leave that to the public on 20 September 2014……
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption /anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
Does anyone know details about Labour’s Kiwisaver policy?
As far as I know they’ve said the minimum employee+employer contribution will be raised from 6% to 9% in 0.5 annual increments.
They have also said that the Reserve Bank/Minister of Finance will be able to vary the Kiwisaver contribution. Will this be on top of the 6-9% or is 9% the maximum. If it’s not the maximum how high could it go?
If the variable savings rate is only going to be varied by small amounts (how small?) in conjunction with a continued variable Official Cash Rate and alongside a Capital Gains Tax how will it be possible to know if the VSR has had any effect?
Google?
or he could ASK LABOUR 🙂
He could, if he were honestly interested in the answer.
it would be like asking about uf policy. you would have to specify which day you were talking about.
In PG’s case – probably 1st of April
Yes.
My impression is that the idea is that the rate will go up at 0.5-1% annually, but that the RB will also be able to vary the same figure.
So for example if the RB had to stimulate the economy more, then perhaps instead of going up at 0.5% in a given year, it might only go up at 0.25% in that year.
Then once it’s “topped out”, the RB might be able to lower it and then raise it back up later, and possibly with permission from the government, raise it over the 9% cap.
FYI –
7 May 2014
‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to Prime Minister John Key :
“Why has New Zealand STILL not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)?”
Dear Prime Minister,
Please be reminded that according to the 2013 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’, New Zealand, (along with Denmark) is ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt country in the world.
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/
However, New Zealand is still one of a handful of countries which has STILL not ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
(UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)
http://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08-50026_E.pdf
(Signatories to the UN Convention Against Corruption
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/signatories.html
In a letter to Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ), dated 7 August 2013, your Minister of Justice Judith Collins stated:
“New Zealand ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption
Thank you for your correspondence of 31 May 2013 to myself, Hon Murray McCully, and Hon Tim Groser regarding New Zealand’s ratification of the
United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
Like you, I also believe that ratifying UNCAC would be advantageous. Ratification of the Convention is important to ensure New Zealand retains its international reputation for transparency, integrity, and trustworthiness, which can have flow-on economic benefits for the country.
It is for these reasons that I have announced a package of legislative reforms that will allow New Zealand to ratify UNCAC. the reforms will be progressed as part of an Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill which I intend to introduce into Parliament later in 2013.
As you may be aware, it is the policy of the New Zealand Government that binding treaty actions such as ratification is not taken until New Zealand’s domestic law is compliant with the treaty obligations. As you state in your letter, only minor amendments are necessary to bring New Zealand into compliance with the UNCAC obligations.
The Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill will contain the required amendments. After the Bill is passed and the changes are enacted, officials will promptly take steps to deposit New Zealand’s instrument of ratification of UNCAC.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice.”
NZ Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill
http://www.transparency.org.nz/docs/2013/Hon-Judith-Collins-Minister-of-Justice-Letter-to-TINZ.pdf
Your Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ press release of 18 October 2013:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1310/S00301/bill-supports-zero-tolerance-for-organised-crime.htm
Bill supports zero-tolerance for organised crime
Friday, 18 October 2013, 10:03 am
Press Release: New Zealand Government
Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice
18 October 2013 Media Statement
Bill supports zero-tolerance for organised crime
Justice Minister Judith Collins says the Government’s comprehensive approach to fighting all forms of organised crime will help safeguard New Zealand’s economy, international reputation and public safety.
This month a number of international bodies are evaluating New Zealand’s compliance with international standards related to financial crimes – including the OECD, which will report on New Zealand’s compliance with an international convention to combat bribery of foreign public officials.
“I welcome the release of these reports.
This Government takes all forms of organised crime and corruption very seriously,” Ms Collins says.
http://www.3news.co.nz/New-laws-to-fight-organised-crime/tabid/1607/articleID/317781/Default.aspx
New laws to fight organised crime
Friday 18 Oct 2013 10:33a.m.
The Government will bring in a bill before the end of the year to strengthen laws against money laundering, identity theft, human trafficking and corruption.
Justice Minister Judith Collins says she intends to have a comprehensive set of laws in place to fight all forms of organised crime.
“It’s important to consider bribery and corruption within the big picture of organised crime, which undermines public safety, national security, economic development and good governance,” she said today.
“This bill will help ensure New Zealand maintains its reputation as a responsible international citizen and that our domestic law enforcement agencies have the tolls they need to fight all forms of organised crime.”
Unfortunately, it is now May 2014, and your Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill, has STILL not been presented to Parliament:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/legislation/bills/?Criteria.Keyword=Organised+Crime+and+Anti-Corruption+Legislation+Bill%2C&Criteria.Timeframe=&Criteria.Parliament=-1&Criteria.DocumentType=&Criteria.Status=&Search=Go
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OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT REQUEST:
Please provide the information which explains why Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill’, has STILL not been presented to Parliament.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
what’s with all the neat-lawns..?..people..?
..let it grow..!
..if we all stopped mowing our lawns..
..and stopped growing animals to eat..
..we could all drive around in suv’s..
..climate-warming..?..meh..!..
“..The revenge of the lawn..”
..’.ecocidal obsession with nice grass’..”
http://boingboing.net/2014/05/07/the-revenge-of-the-lawn.html
“obsession with nice grass”
Yeah, we gathered
heh..!
I wonder if Lockwood Smith is still doing it tough in his 4000 pound ($7500) p.w rental accomodation in London or has settled into something a little more affordable in say…Scunthorpe or even Brixton. What a thoroughly distasteful rodent he is.
God almighty Marius – you tempt me!
Still, a diplomatic residence on Hampstead Heath would probably be a stretch even for this gubbamint – but it would be kind of fitting.
So what do the lefties on here that defended Martin say now?
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/12773294-martin-sorry-over-letterhead-saga
Don’t want to upset WinstonFirst eh…
pop over to wo, then come back and tell us what you think about it and what you think should happen to martin now and why.
Trevor Mallard has done it again. This time he asked the Minister of Immigration (Woodhouse) if Lui offered cash for a particular law change. Woodhouse chose to take offence and accused Mallard of alleging corruption on his part. Speaker demanded Mallard apologise. Mallard walked out without apologising on the grounds he had made no such allegation which was correct.
I wonder of this is a deliberate ploy. I find it difficult to believe Mallard asked the question without prior approval. If that is the case then it would suggest they know something not yet in the public arena.
if they dont have something my gut tells me mallard is risking a backlash but t.i agree it must be part of a strategy.
i dont like this style of politics, its not my cup of tea.
Mallard probably leading a challenge to Speaker’s bias and running cover for Nat Ministers.
Mallards fishing around
I defend her. I don’t think she did anything wrong,even if she should have used the other letterhead. Your case is incredibly weak, Pukish Rogue. Why do you bother?
Me too. The Nats (and their proxies) can play the ‘pox on all your houses’ strategy all they like but Martin’s actions are not in the same league as that we’ve seen from Govt Cabinet Ministers.
By the way Winston’s hands had the shakes. Hope he is well. May have been excited?
aye..i saw that too…
I noticed the speaker(carter)was shakey,when Brownley was trying his monkey wrench tactics.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11251436
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/23283863/key-turns-the-tables-on-the-greens/
Some advice to Labour, taking on John Key directly is a bad idea…no on second thoughts keep going after John Key and ignore the weaker links in National 🙂
You must have been a real joy as a kid with “….but xyz did it too” as your standard rebuttal when you were called out on anything? I truly hope you’ve learnt some accountability in your (seemingly stunted) transition into adulthood.
John Key is a proven liar. The fact that you see nothing wrong with that does in fact speak volumes about you.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/05/cunliffe-drawcard-labour-fundraiser/
So whats that about access to MPs?
Hint: what does it say about opposition fundraising in the Cabinet Manual?
Theres nothing wrong with it, just like theres nothing wrong with National doing it except that the left is trying to make something out of it
Basically National does it = Bad, the left do it = Good
The Cabinet Manual disagrees with you when ministers are involved. Is it a bit like the Geneva Conventions when the Coalition of the Willing needs to invade another country? Quaint and outdated?
John Key disagrees with you and I’ll take what he says over you:
For a bit of a laugh try watching from about 11:40 onwards
I tried to watch that but I can’t understand a word the stand up comedian said. The captions say he’s Prime Minister. I find that hard to believe. What country is he from? His accent is really strange.
Really, what you should do is have a look at the Cabinet Manual for yourself and learn not to take things on faith. It only hurts the first couple of times.
You might find it hard to believe however hes the most popular PM of the MMP era and has a popularity rating Cunliffe can only dream about
Popularity helps when we look for winners of New Zealand’s Got Talent. Honesty and competency are more desirable in politicians. I see more of that among the Greens and Mana than anywhere else.
I note you didn’t mention Labour
Christ 10 /7
What utter Bull Helen Clark was more liked for longer her popularity was just as high for longer .
Actually Clark’s personal preferred PM rating was higher right through to the 08 election than Key’s is now.
Now thats bollix or do you not remember the 2% rating she had (you’re a lefty so of course you don’t), she did become very respected but respected and liked are two different things
Yeah I remember the low rating she had when she was Leader of the Opposition before the 1996 election. Look what happened though. She got elected in 1999 on the back of the 3rd term shambles that was the Shipley Govt. Went on to become the most popular PM ever. You are scraping the bottom of the barrel here bro and failing to learn the lessons of history.
Now compare the ratings when Key was leader of the opposition and did you just say the most popular PM ever?
How do you think the government is managing Christchurch, chris 73?
Very well. there’ll always be issues after a couple of big earthquakes but all things considered its going very well
Shame the councils not doing as well though
“Very well.”
You clearly don’t live in Canterbury then.
Please don’t tell what bad would be!
By the way, the present council has only beren in charge for a short time.
Brownlee has had the job since 2011.
39 months and counting.
That’s right chris, the way this govt is fucking around in chch it looks like there will “always” be issues.
All of which is irrelevant given there’s a very real prospect he’ll be the first National Party PM not to win 3 terms in the post WW2 era.
I wouldn’t worry about that, he’ll get his third term
Are you sure mate? It all looks a bit shaky right now. And let’s face it – he did such a good job in the last campaign (with Natioanal at a high of 47%) he managed to get a marvellous one seat majority (if everything goes well on the day).
Well yes because all of Labours (or Cunliffes more accurately) stuff ups of late haven’t been forgotten and will be brought out in the election campaign
Do you think Key has forgotten that tricky Cunliffe had to “refresh” his CV or won’t bring up Cunliffes leafy suburb or baby bonus debacle or the secret trusts and anything else that I can’t remember off the top of my head
That Key won’t hammer home a vote for the Greens is a vote for Dot Con (hes gone awfully quiet recently hasn’t he…) and Labour and finally, in your heart of hearts, do you really see Cunliffe defeating Key in the debates?
At best Cunliffe is mono tonal and hasn’t had to deal with anyone of note whereas Keys gone up against the best Labour can produce…Clark (You might be used to shouting people down at home, but you’re not shouting me down), Cullen, Goff, Shearer and even Campbell admitted defeat (didn’t go on much about the GCSB after the interview did he)
So yeah John Keys my pick to form the next government
What was NZ’s debt when Key came to government in 2008?
What is it now?
you missed the memo from blinglish – don’t be too overconfident about a national victory.
I always vote, just hope the rest of the supporters do as well…
What has happened to unemployment under ‘our most popular PM ever’ since 2008?
How many people have emigrated to NZ under ‘our most popular PM ever’ since 2008?
New Zealand migration rose to an 11-year high in March, the second-highest gain on record, as fewer kiwis left for Australia.
The country gained a seasonally adjusted 3,800 net new migrants in March, the most since February 2003, said Statistics New Zealand. A net 400 people left for Australia in March, down from 600 in February, according to seasonally adjusted figures.
In the year through March, New Zealand gained a net 31,900 migrants, a 10-year high, as 98,000 people arrived while 66,100 departed. That’s more than 12 times the 2,500 annual net migration gain in the year through March 2013 and compares with an average net gain of 11,700 migrants over the past 20 years.
Employment grew strongly in the first three months of the year but so did the supply of workers, leaving unemployment unchanged and wage pressures subdued.
Statistics New Zealand’s household labour force survey recorded a rise of 22,000 or 0.9 per cent in the number of people employed in the March quarter, but that was matched by a 22,000 increase in the labour force, leaving the unemployment level unchanged at 147,000 and the unemployment rate steady at 6 per cent.
Over the year ended March the working age population increased by 50,000, boosted by a strong net inflow of migrants.
But the labour force grew by 82,000 over the same period as the participation rate (the employed and those looking for work, as a share of the working age population) climbed to 69.3 per cent – a record high and up from 67.9 per cent a year ago.
So.
More jobs to go around at the same time as more people joined looking for work.
Answer the question
Net migration 2008 to 2014 ?
your last sentence is half right.
You’ve wilfully decided to ignore the further complications that the Cabinet Manual outlines in the instance of access to CABINET MINISTERS! There’s no point in even debating this with you.
Just because you don’t like the answer doesn’t mean its wrong
I know that you’re really too stupid to understand this but there’s a difference between access to MPs and access to ministers. Ministers have power and influence that MPs, especially opposition MPs, don’t.
this is what happens when you engage with people who have stopped thinking for themselves and refuse to read documents, relying instead on slater to think for them
Try watching this then:
NZ Fact Checking. Just read “Do National ministers attend Cabinet Club meetings ‘in their ministerial capacity’?”
Not very impressed with the logic/methodology of this report. Is inconclusive wishywashy. Hope that to gain credibility it becomes more rigorous.
http://nzfactcheck.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/do-national-ministers-attend-cabinet-club-meetings-in-their-ministerial-capacity/
More than $1 trillion is being gambled on high-cost oil projects
And that is where all the opposition to policies to prevent climate change is coming from.
I nearly puked about 10 minutes ago while eating my dinner andwatching the news. Every time I looked up there was john keys or one of his simulacras leering out of the box. This is not news! It is just bullshit and TVNZ is complicit. Is the National Party paying for all this free advertising. I wouldn’t mind if they were worth looking at but keys greasy smile is just too much for any food to not gag at.
What was the story about??
lol…this is why i dont watch tv except on Election Night and for debates the week before…much better for your health!
Be good if someone in the know could do a post on Christchurch.
Watching Campbell Live and hearing about the half billion dollar debt, which the government pressuring the council to sell its assets, reminds me of Naomi Klein and Shock Doctrine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine
Frank Mackasay wrote a great blog on a tale of two cities, comparing the rebuild of Christchurch with the rebuild of Napier after 1931.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/08/a-tale-of-two-tragedies/
Terrible.
Just finished watching Campbell Live.What of an indictment of this government and its neo-liberal approach.
Listen to the people, Mr Brownlee.
Front on T.V.
That last item in the history of Gerry’s engagement with the media summed it up. (the 10%/50% waffle from Brownnose)
I well remember a discussion (I think involving Gerry the woodwork teacher) whereby analogies with the Brizzy floods were dismissed out of hand – missing the point completely relating to the whole insurance scam that he and others have allowed to take place.
Given that both Council and the Zillun government have bits of land in safe places which could have been ‘swapped’ for ‘badland’ – WHY did what was obviously diminished rateable land values ever figure in the equation?
Cudda shudda wudda just done a land swap and have insurance companies pay for the bricks and mortar (in a relatively safe place).
Christchurch (my birthplace) has been subjected to a real scorched earth policy.
And even NOW … the future of rail is being ignored in the grand plans – especially given that there is basic rail infrastructure going North, South, West and Lyttleton. The idiocy is astounding. It’s not somewhere I’ll ever return to but the best of luck to those that choose to stay whilst consultants and tories hold sway.
4 fuckn years later! There’s been one helluva lot of ticket clipping going on (anyone remember those ozzie assessors in the early stages? followed by RE-assessors, dithering, excuses…. etc.)
Brownlee said in parliament today that the govt has spent 15 Billion on the Chch rebuild … yet when govt debt is mentioned National say it is due to the Chch earthquake, so what was the other 35+ Billion of debt spent on?
If you just watched Campbell Live, it is hard to describe what has happened in Christchurch is a ‘rebuild.’
They haven’t even finished the demolition yet.
It looks like a desolate wasteland.
$15 billion, Gerry. On what?
Yes, I saw it in January, it is more shocking in real life than seeing pictures on TV. I can’t recall his precise wording – it may be that he said the 15 Billion was spent on Chch he may not have said
‘on the rebuild’ – which clearly hasn’t occurred yet – although it requires a lot of planning, so what that money has been spent on may not be visible but still necessary. Perhaps some of that 15 Billion was spent on pies to help Brownlee cope?
I think Government wants Christchurch City in a hole so it can take over and sell assets build what it wants done, and maybe do an ECan on Ch Ch City Council especially since Leanne is Mayor.
this, exactly this, ianmac.