“A comedy tour de farce in the hilarious tradition of “Tea Party”; Abbott and Keystello follow the Shonkey Python road to wherever the ailing Oz god beckons next”
“Audiences will be mesmerised, leaving all progressive hope at the door. You’re not in Godzone any more, Dorothy, and boy does Rupert let her know it! Not to be missed. By anyone.”
Counties wins the Ranfurly Sheld, awesome. Well if you want to see a microcosm of free market failure versus a regulated success then you donât have to look any further than our rugby National Provincial Competition(NPC). Between the time that rugby went professional in 1996 to 2005, the NPC was a free market winner take all f%$#en chaos . The big unions, Canterbury, Auckland and Wellington were completely dominating, overall crowd numbers and interest was dropping and the All Blacks couldnât win a World Cup to save themselves. Small Unions were driving themselves into insolvency trying to match the big unions. The whole competition was incredibly unfair, the bigger unions were getting bigger and the smaller unions were dying.
In 2005 the competition was regulated (A process headed by Brian Roche now NZ Post CEO). The large unions complained loudly that this would be the end of NZ rugby as we know it. The regulation of the competition was to create FAIRNESS and EQUITY within the competition so that ALL teams had a chance of winning and stay financially viable. The big unions reckoned that FAIRNESS was not good for NZ rugby because their financial strength (a consequence of their unfair dominance) meant that they could look after the All Blacks, bugger the smaller unions, the big unions needed to stay financially dominant (Sound familiar?).
Anyway fast forward to 2013, the NPC competition has been regulated for a number of years, it is clearly much more EQUAL and the overall consequences are interesting. Most Unions are now prospering, both on the field and off the field. The ABâs have never been stronger also. In 2005 Counties were nearly insolvent struggling in the second division, now they are on top of the world. The Free Market certainly failed New Zealand rugby.
And it isn’t fair at all! As a Hawkes Bay boy I think that fairness would have required that the Bay should have been allowed to hold it for at least three years.
As the old joke goes though, even after Hawkes Bay lost I slept like a baby last night. I slept for two hours, then woke up and cried for two hours, slept for another two hours etc. etc.
“Our sallow sleazemeister pulls it off again: grimace with glee as the portly prince of pomp chases the tory vote for a Labour prize! Hold you sides as the hapless scribes fawn at their creation’s crotch: “All hail the fat lazy brown wanker of our dreams!” Limited season.
Shearer still blaming others for his poor performance. David as I told you at the meeting at Auckland University you simply are/ were never ready to lead the Labour Party. The fact that you put your hand up showed what a huge ego you have, perhaps it is time for you to concentrate on being a good local MP!
I am guessing that Mr Shearer is/was not too fussed about labels such as left, right or centre but was more keen to do the stuff that mattered most for the betterment of all sections of the people and the country. It is true that he did not convey/communicate this well.
It is, in my opinion, silly and wrong to base or look at all policies and all solutions purely in terms of only one direction, left, right or centre. Different problems need different solutions that WORK and produce the desired just aspirations and results. Some issues need a ‘left’ socialist perspective, some issues need a right ‘capitalist’ perspective and some social need a ‘middle’ ground. Labour party is a very broad representative organisation encompassing a diverse membership.
What IS important is that there is justice, fairness, equality of opportunity and prosperity with everyone, that can, working and paying their fair share back to society in order to reduce the ever widening income gap and make NZ a just, independent and happy place.
P.S :
In the present time, my desire for Labour party is…..
* Leader : Cunliffe [He will need to be true to his vision]
* Co-Deputy leaders :
Shane Jones [He will need to tone his ways]
Jacinda Arden [She will need to learn on the job]
That I believe will be a wise and winning combination.
I believe in interventionist/state controlled free market/capitalism where the capitalists that enable the creation of most jobs, goods and services also pay their fair share back to society. I don’t advocate state controlled communism masquerading as socialism. Doesn’t work anywhere, not even in China, which is no longer a ‘socialist’ state.
It argues against the idea that business people are ‘job creators’. Apparently, it was ‘too controversial’ for the TED talks founder, Chris somebody or other.
Thanks for that educational video. I partly agree with what TED says.
Without customers, demand and consumers, there is no business or profits or jobs. True enough.
However, I still stand by my statement that without the business people who are the actual economic risk takers, investors and entrepreneurs, goods, income and jobs cannot be produced.
The problem lies in letting them earn and keep uncontrolled amounts of wealth disproportionately, particularly because, their wealth, not withstanding their own initiative, enterprise and risk taking, has come from society, from the consumers. People and services in society need government assistance for a civilised just society which should not allow ever widening gap between the wealthy and the rest.
That means,
(1) the government has to be interventionist through controls, laws and progressive taxation. Higher the income, higher the tax rate.
(2) Free market should not mean free license for anyone to make and keep excessive amounts of wealth in comparison to the median income. Government needs to claw back the siphoned income.
(3) I am in favour of a set wage ratio of Min to Max of 1:20 in all organisations to bridge wage gap and help wages to go up equitably. The only way the top wages can go up is if the bottom wages go up correspondingly.
(4) I also advocate lowering CST to 10% or 12.5% as it affects the poorest most. Instead bring in estate duties and CGT for everything including property and all kinds of investments.
To coin a new term, it is Socialised Ethical Capitalism!
I would tell TED that it is a symbiotic relationship between business and consumer: One can’t do without the other.
(And Goverment needs both and needs to take care of both)
Business and consumer need government as well. Without government, there is no value to money, and no rule of law for economic transactions to occur within.
Craig GlenEden +1….and Grant Robertson despite his politicking talents is not a match for John Key…nor is Shane Jones with his ‘smoko charm’.
….Time to let David Cunliffe have a clean run and the Labour Party to unite behind Cunliffe …. ready to take on Nact and win in 2014!
….then form a coalition with the Greens and really look after this country and ALL NZers
….There is a lot of talent in the Green Party which must be utilized in the next government.
I was very impressed with Mr Shearer. In this interview he came across as potentially a good PM that NZ has missed out on. His sincerity, goodness and good character came across very well to me. Wish he was as clear, as articulate and as open to the public, the caucus and the media during his ‘reign’ as he was today. During his ‘reign’, what he had lacked was some help/training to improve his communication and public speaking skills.
He will be a very loyal and exemplary Labour member and an excellent MP/Minister.
Those who missed out on the interview, see it on ‘On Demand’ to get the measure of the man.
So true gobsmacked. In Shearers interview played this morning on Q and A he was most confident when talking about the Syria situation however his lack of judgement in why he failed as Labour leader was quite shocking. I thought it particularly telling when he couldn’t own up to the fact that he was not good at communicating a message via the media and then blamed members and other people for continually raising it as an issue.
The guy is in Noddy land seriously and he believed he was making headway at the begging of the year! OMG.
I saw the interview and was also impressed. He spoke well and sincerely and honestly and from the heart. I am pleased to hear he will be staying on and hope to see him back as PM sometime in the future. I to think that we have missed out on a potentially good Leader if he does not stay on for any reason. I’m not too happy with the three running for leader at the moment but would have to go with Robertson if pushed.
Shearer was a good guy and I think he would have made a honest and great PM, but it is the general voting public that should be convinced of that and they were not because of lack of clear communication as well as the media mischief and inside lack of openly displayed loyalty or support.
Look at the National party. They show great unity in public. Labour party MPs and members need to learn that very essential lesson. I admired Mr Shearer when he said, he will give absolute 100% support to whoever becomes the leader now. Hats off to him.
True. I so wish that he had communicated with the media and the public, as well and as effortlessly and as straight up and affable way as he did today.
[P.S:
Your 9 September 2013 at 12:26 am comment does not have a ‘reply’ link. Wonder what happened!]
[lprent: On desktop versions of the site, the comments will indent to a maximum depth of 10 and then the reply will disappear (gotta stop at some point). The mobile theme doesn’t have threaded replies. Working on that. ]
Here is a brief summary from TV3 of the TV1 interview :
Outgoing Labour leader David Shearer says he will not publicly endorse any of the candidates vying to replace him, but will back whoever is chosen 100 percent.
Mr Shearer told Q+A the biggest issue the party faced was disunity.
He wouldn’t reveal who he planned to vote for or publicly endorse a candidate.
“Certainly from my point of view, whoever wins this competition, I will give them 100 percent support, and I don’t care who it is. Well, I’d say I do care who it is, but if that person wins, then we get in behind them … because if we don’t do that, then we won’t win.”
Mr Shearer said, as leader, he had not felt the party was united behind him at all times.
“At the beginning of this year, for example, I felt that we had a real head of steam up. But there’s a group that obviously had been supportive of me before and moved away.”
Mr Shearer, who worked for the United Nations for more than a decade, said he felt more comfortable in war zones than in politics.
“I mean, obviously in politics you’re getting sniped at from all directions. In a war zone, you can generally tell who the good guys are and who are the bad guys.”
David Shearer says he was relieved and disappointed to give up the leadership last month, but he also acknowledged it had been difficult and frustrating.
“The thing I found most difficult really was the pettiness of politics and being in opposition. A lot of it was petty, a lot of it was venal. Politicians from all sides come in to make difference, to actually get something done. And what you get caught up with, particularly as a leader, is point-scoring and that sort of pettiness.
David Shearer gave his best ever interview on Q&A. He looked relaxed and rested. Some interesting comments re- the infighting within caucus and the party. I had the impression he is not happy with certain caucus members who originally gave him support and then pulled it (presumably when they thought the time was right for them?). Contrary to Shane Jones’ supporters claims, he has not and will not reveal who he would like to see win the contest. He is adamantly opposed to NZ joining the US in unilateral action against Syria and for all the right reasons.
Shearer perfectly demonstrates why he could be Foreign Minister. He talks about Syria – he’s engaged, informed, reasonable.
He also perfectly demonstrates why he should never have been Labour leader. He doesn’t like opposition politics, it’s too negative, but … what? He had no choice? Trev told him to do it? He was the leader, for crying out loud. Take some responsibility for your own decisions, man.
Not liking the ‘pettiness’ of politics is exactly why he should never have aspired to be Labour’s leader. The party leader NEEDS to thrive on the cut and thrust of politics. That’s what makes the papers and captures the interest of people who are not interested in politics.
It’s an absolute requirement and Shearer is as thick as two bricks if he doesn’t understand this. It still makes me incredibly angry that he sought the leadership when he clearly had no idea what he was signing up for.
This continuing disaster has so far no foreseeable resolution: We need to begin sampling of all seafood coming to market for radiation. The sooner the better. E.G. I’ve seen fish from Alaska being sold. Also where does most of our tuna come from? Radiation testing would reassure the Public that fish, so far is still safe, hopefully. Fukushima is becoming the most epic environmental disaster of all time except may be Climate Change.
Hilary Clinton came to a ‘won’t ask, don’t tell’ arrangement with Japan just under two years ago. But since tuna are top of the food chain, I’d say there is an inevitability regards their contamination. How much? Any tasting is kinda cursory…check for gamma. So that misses ‘hot particles’ and strontium amongst a host of other things.
meanwhile… that mutton bird you have in your freezer? I wouldn’t.
For non-advert saturated updates from qualified nuclear engineers and other suitably qualified scientists etc, try this http://www.fairewinds.com/
Tokyo will be a bit stretched to attend to life changing nuclear problems, which need government intervention not letting the players make up their own game rules. They have just now got the go-ahead for some olympic or other major world event there which will probably cost lots and bring far more people over to the country that they will have to provide safe non-contiminated food for, as well as for their own people and those in particular need in their own ‘Red Zone’.
It’s such a downer having a nuclear disaster and destruction and death. Reminds me of the cartoon of middle class people chatting with friends about their recent trip to Africa. It hadn’t been a great success. “They had a famine all the time we were there” they said sadly. (Forgive me if I’ve told this one before. It keeps on being relevant.)
There will be neglible amounts of radiation in the ocean caused by the Fukushima station except in the immediate vicinity of the place where it enters the water. It will very rapidly get diluted in the ocean.
Fish from Alaska aren’t going to be affected.
As far as Tuna goes isn’t it a deep water, rather than a coastal, fish and if so it is also unlikely to be affected by the comparitvely small releases of radiation into the sea.
If you are really worried of course, are you aware that there is an estimated 4.5 Billion tonnes of Uranium in the world’s sea-water?
Hi Alwyn
Thankyou for your concern. What do you think of this?
“Death of the Pacific? Radioactive Bluefin Tuna Caught Off California Coast (Study shows Fukushima nuclear pollution becoming more concentrated as it approaches U.S. West Coast Plume crosses ocean in a nearly straight line toward N. America Appears to stay together with little dispersion)”
Monday, August 26, 2013 16:4
I have just come back to look at this so I’ll briefly comment here.
Headlines like “Death of the Pacific” and pictures of comedy movie villains don’t really strikr me as very good science.
However to some numbers.
The pictures illustrating the article you are quoting would appear to me to cover an area of about 3,000 km by 2,000 km. Assuming that any pollution has been spread through an average depth of 1 km, This would represent a volume of about 6 million cubic kilometres.
This is therefore 6 million billion cubic metres or 6 billion billion litres.
Accepting the comment below that there are about 30 million litres of polluted water you discover that it has been diluted by a factor of about 2 hundred thousand million times.
Am I worried by concentrations like that? No way.
Excerpt:
“Yet in April 2012, fish caught more than 120 miles from Fukushima showed extremely high levels of contamination with radioactive cesium traceable to the failed nuclear plant. That same month, a report from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution showed cesium-137 in ocean eddies 180 miles from Fukushima at levels hundreds to thousands of times higher than expected to occur naturally.”
“TEPCO has stored enough radioactive water in its weak, faulty tanks to fill more than 130 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The government ordered the company to transfer all the water held in those tanks to more reliable tanks with welded seams” (1 pool hold 2.5 million lt of water – that is 32,500 000 lt of contaminated water that is currently stored in leaking tanks)
I suggest that you see my comment above about the level of dilution that might be expected.
As I said. Apart from the area near to the spillage the dilution is enormous and I wouldn’t worry.
Comments about the wild life, and people, getting ill in Hawaii from the radiation are rubbish.
Will Key be selling his house in Hawaii? I think he probably will. Here is a report based on geiger counter readings that Hawaii is already contaminated by Fukushima: includes beaches.
There are accusations the military have used live depleted uranium rounds in Hawaii which they deny.
and the media, including dann, will be oblivious to their part in presenting him as someone other than the man we saw on tv today. ds did well to resist danns constant desire for ds to turn on lp, and did well not to point the finger back at dann.
Mike Williams after looking at the Oz results warns that it shows that voters will punish a party for disunity. This is true. But the risk has to be taken to change something and upset a status quo that is defunct. Or more of the same.
Free market excesses do not now result in bankruptcy and resetting of rules for financials and business. So more of the same!
Roger Douglas said that first the pain and then the gain was the slogan. Now time to return the compliment with complementary meth.
There was a talk with 88 year old communist on Radionz.
Ideas for 8 September 2013 – Communism (â46âČâ03âłâ)
10:06 In the latest of our occasional Lived Philosophies series we’re taking a look at
communism. Dr Kerry Taylor will tell us about the history of revolutionary socialism in New Zealand; and
Max Wilkinson, the son of one of the founders of the New Zealand Communist Party, looks back on a life of social activism. Produced by Jeremy Rose.
Max Wilkinson commented on the way that free market is nursed and nurtured in times of trouble by government. I notice this is not so for the poorer members of the community in hard times. And the wealthy getting state assistance tend not to pay back the government with large lumps of taxes from their profits if they ever return to profit. So if government is going to risk its resources on possible failures in the business world, why not put its resources into the poorer world and boost the economy from the demand side??
In the current contest for the Labour leadership, both David Cunliffe and Grant Robertson have positioned themselves against neoliberalism. That is to say, against the dominant form capitalism has taken in the past 30 years. A form defined by deregulation of markets, withdrawal of state intervention in the economy, low tax rates, and so on.
A potential problem with speaking about neoliberalism is that it obscures the real problem, capitalism itself. Capitalism goes through different forms in response to the particularities of the situation of the day, it takes on new forms to survive and grow.
In fact, today we can see capitalism in the process of developing a new post-neoliberal form. It’s no longer all about freeing up markets and removing state intervention. In the context of the financial crisis, and the beginnings of a rise of anger by people bearing the brunt of capitalism, we are seeing new post-neoliberal experiments taken on by governments.
One of the watch cry’s of this new form is ‘partnership’. For instance we have the ‘public private partnerships’ experimented with by both the current National government and the previous Labour government. Rather than a pure neoliberal retreat of the state from the market, we have the state working alongside capital to help capitalism maintain itself. The partial (rather than full) asset sales are another example of the tendency this new form is taking.
It’s important at this moment to remember that the root cause of the problems facing humanity and the planet today are based not in a particular form of capitalism (eg. neoliberalism), but in the general system of capitalism itself, a system in which decisions of any import for the future of people’s lives and the health of the planet are not made in the interests of humanity and the planet, but in the interests of a tiny minority whose real interest is the accumulation of cash.
We should watch then with dismay, as David Cunliffe and Grant Robertson, whilst they begin to push political discourse to the left, fall into the trap of this tendency toward a new form of capitalism, a form which will no doubt be stronger than neoliberalism. The recurring theme of ‘partnership’ enunciated by the Labour leadership contenders in a recent Q and A episode (http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a/2013-09-01-video-5551750) shows that there is still a long way to go in shifting political discourse beyond capitalism itself.
All I can say is that David Cunliffe and Grant Roberston could be a start in what will hopefully be the right direction. I want to see David win because he is further advanced in his political preparation and experience and he is right ready for the role. But I would see Grant Robertson as his natural successor in a future leadership role after some cabinet experience under his belt. If they are both genuine about their need to see a much more hands on approach – and I believe they are – then I see no reason why together they couldn’t succeed in changing the course of this country for the better. I see others with obvious talents – eg. David Parker – adding their weight and once again NZ could become a world leader in innovation and good democratic procedures as did the First Labour government.
Pie in the sky? Well we did it before so we can do it again.
Oh, and lets not forget the Greens who also have some very talented MPs.
A really good discussion on radio nz I think in the weekend had the interviewer talking about good nz companies innovating and then selling to someone overseas. The reply was I think that this could be okay if we had the economy bouncing. I think that was the general tone of the reply. And I think it was a discussion of the book Get off the Grass which Sir Paul Callaghan was involved in. It was interesting – worth going to radionz and looking up.
Too offen offshore investors poach our best startup companies.
Time the state either directly invested too or created some mechanism to partnership our start up innovators.
I think what the person (a scientist) was saying in the interview was that it mattered less to him that companies got bought up so long as New Zealand kept the people – as that was where the innovation came from.
Puddleglum
Ah yes that was it. For his argument that is sufficient.
But then if one adds in the current /ac problems exacerbated by foreign investment owning an increasing bulk of NZ profits, we can’t improve that no matter how well we do, following his ideas.
It becomes like a ponzi scheme except it’s new businesses being created and going into the mix to make up for the ones already sold off. Or perhaps it’s like farming, we are growing businesses to maturity and then selling them on so that other owners themselves utilise and profit from the product. Similar to the government selling off all or part of our assets into private hands.
Correct Jon. The language of capitalism is all National and Labour seem to understand. This shows how far Labour have moved from their roots and I believe its the primary reason they are not popular with voters who would traditionally gravitate towards Labour.
Oh don’t be so hard; Labour was always a capitalist political party, has been since the First Labour Government. Plenty of the labour movement split off from Labour around that time because they felt betrayed over the issue.
If you thought shifting discourse was hard, shifting policy is harder, shifting a country so hard it’s unlikely. A progressive policy as simple as making Working for Families benefit available to beneficiaries was resolutely shouted down by the electorate last time.
We are never ever going to be Bolivia. Thankfully.
“A progressive policy as simple as making Working for Families benefit available to beneficiaries was resolutely shouted down by the electorate last time.”
WFF is an in work tax credit. Making it available to those on welfare is ridiculous. Even Helen Clark got that. It will never happen. Unless the incoming government wants to be a one term government.
Also, WFF is not the same thing as the In-Work Tax Credit – that’s the name of the credit you get if you’re working and don’t have kids, making you ineligible for WFF.
Once again srylands proves that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about because he has never had anything to do with NZ.
Just fucking give it up and go back to your old username you dildo.
Why can’t non-employed people get an in-work tax credit? Apart from an arbitary distinction about where one’s income comes from (and apart from neoliberal stick is better than carrot ideology), what is the difference between someone on a wage and someone on a benefit?
So on one hand you welcome a universal income – and on the other you would deny it to around 1/4 million children, who through no fault of their own, have parents who (for what ever reason – disability, lack of jobs, at home supporting young/older family, etc etc) are unable to work?
“If you thought shifting discourse was hard, shifting policy is harder, shifting a country so hard itâs unlikely”
Shifting NZ country has been done many times. Some examples:
– universal suffrage
– the welfare state
– state housing
– anti-apartheid movement
– environmental movement (Manapouri and the Values Party)
– nuclear free New Zealand
– homosexual law reform
– neo-liberalism
It’s one of the things the struck my partner when moved to NZ – an idea streams through the country rapidly, at a guess because of the small population. It’s the will to attempt it that’s lacking.
The term “partnership” and PPPs seem to me to be just a continuation of neoliberalism, and, for Labour parties, a soft version of neoliberalism.
I don’t see either Robertson or Cunliffe making a major shift away from that without a lot of pressure from activists and others: both a change in discourse and a shift in policies.
But, in the short term, I want to see a government that works to lessen the inequality gap, strengthen worker-friendly employment laws, stop bennie bashing and improve social security provisions – and also hopefully start working towards an environment friendly steady state economy that provides necessary and life-enhancing jobs and services.
“But, in the short term, I want to see a government that works to lessen the inequality gap, strengthen worker-friendly employment laws, stop bennie bashing and improve social security provisions â and also hopefully start working towards an environment friendly steady state economy that provides necessary and life-enhancing jobs and services.”
So to translate – you want a government that increases tax, increases welfare payments, while reducing economic growth to zero? How do you think that is going to go down? You think a government that adopted those policy targets would get a second term?
Eventually some Government is going to have to bite the bullet and do it. preferably before it is forced on us by AGW and resource depletion.
As for increasing tax and welfare payments, our Governments part of GDP is half that of many more successful countries, so we have plenty of room to move.
“So to translate â you want a government that increases tax, increases welfare payments, while reducing economic growth to zero? How do you think that is going to go down? You think a government that adopted those policy targets would get a second term?”
Reducing economic growth to zero is essential.
Simply growing the economic pie does not ensure that everyone gets a bigger slice.
The ideology that states that growing the economy is essential to ensure better outcomes for all is simply the lie that is constantly fed to the unknowing voter by the politicians and their minions the media. Economists of the neo-liberal school – who regrettably have held the ear of government for far to long perpetuate this myth. And it is a myth as, any decent examination of this unfortunate experiment of, the past 3 decades would demonstrate.
Following the Depression and during the War years knowing what the Nation produced and growing that, was an essential target. However developed economies have now reached a stage where continued growth is being pursed with diminishing returns. We have reached the point where for some commodities further growth is “uneconomic”. We should not be surprised by this, Smith predicted this in his “Wealth of Nations”.
Furthermore and much more pertinent to the welfare of voters is the unfortunate fact that for the vast majority, they have experienced a decline over the past 3 decades in their relative net worth. For instance in the UK, personal debt as a % of GDP has risen from 60% to over 100% in just 15 years – and continues to increase, while savings as a % of disposable income has fallen from 11% to nothing in the same period. Meanwhile, employment conditions have deteriorated, and while the uber rich get super rich, the rest get poorer.
A sensible government that understood the need to change our economic direction would in the first instance begin a nation wide education programme and discussion forum in which every adult and young person was encouraged to participate. Nation wide hui’s up and down the country in every town and across every city, where the the desires and aspirations of everyone was considered. The results of the past presented the ideas and possibilities of new and exciting future pathways discussed and at the end of the day the move towards a more fairer and equitable economy would be possible, because then the people would be involved.
That is such a good idea.
May be the Labour Party should organise and start this during the next 10 months through locally organised meetings, through postbox leaflets, through internet/facebook, newspaper articles, blogs, YouTube videos, TV ads etc. Worth the cost, effort and time to create a new social and economic exciting revolution.
Exactly. Unfortunately the conventional wisdom – as expounded by S’lands and others holds sway. The god of our nation is GDP, if it falls the nation morns, newsreaders frown and the general populace fidget, yet GDP measures earthquake repairs and other natural disasters, spending on cancer and other terminal illness, spending on prisons, and a host of other undesirable expenditures. I does not measure the technical prowess that enables NZ to compete in a world class event such as the Americas Cup, although some of the expenditure is. But the off shore expenditure does not count. It does not include the value of our National Parks or the beauty of our shorelines, or the pricelessness our our kiwi, or the cultural heritage we as NZ possess.
We need a new measure to assess our economic progress, one that encapsulates all that makes us who we are, and what we wish to become.
Oh Karol…we sing from the same song book one thinks.
Here goes.
Next way….PPP could provide direct state intervention or control at private sector board level in a meaningful manner.
Say govt invested cash and infrastructure in a particular sector or business um forestry but conditional on union awards, pays rates conditions and well anything…govt bring to bear its influence to bring about change in the private market.
Why not all a combination mixed model…private, state and ppp businesses.
Now ppp could also be collectives too. Worker state ppp sharing profits etc. ( my fav).
Thoughts?
Define new way then please?
Third way ppp were simply state giving away our money with little involvement or influence.
I favour direct meaningful involvement in the private sector to bring about change and betterment for workers etc in a real and timly manner.
This is beyond the failed third way and neo lib consensus.
The influential pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee will deploy hundreds of activists next week to win support in Congress for military action in Syria, amid an intense White House effort to convince wavering U.S. lawmakers to vote for limited strikes.
Crimplene suits now all we need is a Skoda car and we will be Back to the Future.
Still for all of Pat Hunts sarcastic denigration of Social Credit in a pique of losing his seat we owe a certain vote of thanks to that party. They managed to eject Brash from a nice safe National seat in East Coast Bays (with a little help from Muldoon)
If only Labour could effect a similar coup and get rid of McCully from that seat. Almost any other party would be preferable to McCully
ahhh, yes, that was it. While skedaddling through Feb’s New Scientist , as you do, I noticed the library’s subscription to Creation magazine, $7.50 Australian you’re not going to need in the ‘promised land’.
“I hear that Trevor Mallard threatened to resign if David Cunliffe won. Folks, thatâs a two for one special that no one can turn down. ” This is from Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog.
Most see that in Mallard: the bruising, fiery frontrower who deals out the rough stuff and sometimes goes too far (think of his brawl with National MP Tau Henare or select committee stoush with policeman Mike Bush). In contrast, he sees the ultimate utility player, a team man who helps wherever he can. Whoever emerges victorious from the leadership battle (he’s backing Grant Robertson), Mallard – despite the longevity of his parliamentary career – wants to continue in the engine room.
“It depends on whoever wins, whether they want to use my talents or not – that’s up to them, I’m not pushy.”
Dear Tangata Whenua, this is “spiritual” and “enlightening”, I suggest to take a listen and view, as this is YOUR way also, to go, to assert your culture, and your collective interests:
Like in Chile, or other places, whenever questions of “power” arise, the forces diallowing free speech and democracy are right there and HIT us, it is the actual breach of international laws, that is intimidating most. It is a criminal organisation, based in the US and even US dominated UN that keep us locked into dependency and servitude.
It is time for ALL NZers, and sadly most are wage and salary “slaves”, to take a bloody stand now and get rid of this corrupt, lying, self serving government.
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Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – ITâS A COMMONPLACEÂ of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: âWeâll govern for all New Zealanders.â On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
 Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-rightâs plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of Historyâs clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.ITâS A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Actâs and NZ Firstâs extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country heâs described as âfragileâ, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of MÄori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz  from the Beehive The governmentâs official website â which Point of Order monitors daily â not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winterâs night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfatherâs house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of MÄori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary â including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal â that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealandâs media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been Nationalâs media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but heâs not ...
Chris Trotter writes –Â New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Keyâs flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMPâs five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as âits largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliffâ. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the countryâs leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that âcorruptâ the nationâs ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes –Â The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that âthe first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.â When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECDâs second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commissionâs 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the governmentâs official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:Â we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition  NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamarikiâs statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. âThere are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a âfirst strikeâ (that is, a âstage-1 convictionâ under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a âsecond strikeâ. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesnât normally happen in politics. Thatâs refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to âsaveâ the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Governmentâs official website – arrived in Point of Orderâs email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive  Melissa Lee â as may be discerned from the screenshot above â has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Governmentâs focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. Â ...
Todayâs Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and itâs only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. âThis is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. âThe government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicineâ, said Ayesha Verrall âThis is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoonâs interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour childrenâs spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te PÄti MÄori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonightâs court decision to overturn the summons of the Childrenâs Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about MÄori without evidence, says Te PÄti MÄori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âThe judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last yearâs severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labourâs environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our countryâs most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te PÄti MÄori Justice Spokesperson, TÄkuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, MÄori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te PÄti MÄori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. âThis act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.â Said Te PÄti MÄori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for TÄmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mĆ TÄmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with MÄori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Governmentâs democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âCreating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northlandâs marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. âThis is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the countryâs total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. âThe beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ć-RÄkau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mĆ Ć-RÄkau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ć-RÄkau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Governmentâs plan to supercharge New Zealandâs EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four â and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Governmentâs plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âI have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People â Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Governmentâs plan to restore law and order. âSpeaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). âNew Zealandâs goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. âIâm putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure âone stop shopâ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. âThe NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
WhÄnau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. âGiving these whÄnau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Governmentâs goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave OâSullivan (OBE). âOur sympathies are with the OâSullivan family with the sad news of Dave OâSullivanâs recent passing,â Mr Peters says. âHis contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmacâs largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff.  âAccess to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwisâ lives. Weâve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,â says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. âWe know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,â Dr Reti says. âEvery day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikoheâs new $14.7 million sports complex. âThe completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,â Mr Jones says. âThis facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Petersâ engagements in TĂŒrkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.  âReturning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,â Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen â good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood â a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - Â It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Â Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Â Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. âOur Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealandâs hydrogen future, with the opening of the countryâs first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. âI want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
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The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. âOur coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
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A Koi TĆ« discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealandâs media industry. The principalâs key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Governmentâs spending cuts are again targeting support for MÄori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on MÄori wellbeing and development. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition governmentâs ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
Hospitals around the country are not allowed to make a single hiring decision without the approval of Te Whatu Ora's head office, including for cleaners and administration staff. ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
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Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawaiâiâs House of Representatives has joined the stateâs Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israelâs war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24â1 ...
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Counties wins the Ranfurly Sheld, awesome. Well if you want to see a microcosm of free market failure versus a regulated success then you donât have to look any further than our rugby National Provincial Competition(NPC). Between the time that rugby went professional in 1996 to 2005, the NPC was a free market winner take all f%$#en chaos . The big unions, Canterbury, Auckland and Wellington were completely dominating, overall crowd numbers and interest was dropping and the All Blacks couldnât win a World Cup to save themselves. Small Unions were driving themselves into insolvency trying to match the big unions. The whole competition was incredibly unfair, the bigger unions were getting bigger and the smaller unions were dying.
In 2005 the competition was regulated (A process headed by Brian Roche now NZ Post CEO). The large unions complained loudly that this would be the end of NZ rugby as we know it. The regulation of the competition was to create FAIRNESS and EQUITY within the competition so that ALL teams had a chance of winning and stay financially viable. The big unions reckoned that FAIRNESS was not good for NZ rugby because their financial strength (a consequence of their unfair dominance) meant that they could look after the All Blacks, bugger the smaller unions, the big unions needed to stay financially dominant (Sound familiar?).
Anyway fast forward to 2013, the NPC competition has been regulated for a number of years, it is clearly much more EQUAL and the overall consequences are interesting. Most Unions are now prospering, both on the field and off the field. The ABâs have never been stronger also. In 2005 Counties were nearly insolvent struggling in the second division, now they are on top of the world. The Free Market certainly failed New Zealand rugby.
And it isn’t fair at all! As a Hawkes Bay boy I think that fairness would have required that the Bay should have been allowed to hold it for at least three years.
As the old joke goes though, even after Hawkes Bay lost I slept like a baby last night. I slept for two hours, then woke up and cried for two hours, slept for another two hours etc. etc.
As an Otago boy I don’t really have a great deal of sympathy for you…
Having said that the last couple of weeks have been great for NZ rugby but nows the time for Counties to hang on to it for a little while
Look for the diamond shape of how the shield has travelled.
Will Taranaki have a challenge?
Taranaki challenge next week for the sheild.
Strength and depth comes from a broad base and tribalism in backing your union, great to see the smaller unions back on track.
great players come from all over we must ensure they still can.
And at a theatre near you….
VIAGARANA JONES – Quest for the Lost Libido
“Our sallow sleazemeister pulls it off again: grimace with glee as the portly prince of pomp chases the tory vote for a Labour prize! Hold you sides as the hapless scribes fawn at their creation’s crotch: “All hail the fat lazy brown wanker of our dreams!” Limited season.
interesting how the panel on q&a reported a poll showing cunnliffe far and away in the lead..
..and then spent all their time talking about/up shane jones..(and largely ignoring that clear leader)
..(mike williams..who has pimped jones from day one..even resorting to waving magazine-photos of his favourite around..)
..jones must be the rights’ last desperate hope…
..eh..?
..and seriously..as others have noted..should beltway-grant play the numbers-game well enough to rebuff that wave of popular support for cunnliffe..
..and despite running last..snare the job..
..the labour party will explode..
..and the green/mana votes will leap..
..phillip ure..
and of course..convergant with that push for jones from the right..
..comes the attempt to rip away what support robertson..(their previous favourite)..has..
..so that (hopefully) flows to their new-right-hope..
..how to do that..?
..easy..!..run that vid of robertson lying about alf being in the pub..
..and all curl lips in unison..
..done..and dusted..
..that was the right..throwing robertson to the wolves..
..and chief of their wolf-pack..?..
..one shane jones..
..phillip ure..
David Shearer speaks exclusively to Q+A
Today, September 8 at 11am.
Could be interesting to see body language and to read between the lines.
Shearer still blaming others for his poor performance. David as I told you at the meeting at Auckland University you simply are/ were never ready to lead the Labour Party. The fact that you put your hand up showed what a huge ego you have, perhaps it is time for you to concentrate on being a good local MP!
favourite/most telling quote from shearer:..his barely concealed contempt/curled-lip wrapping around this beauty:
“..those in the party who want to take labour to the left – whatever that means’..
..(’nuff said..?..)
..phillip ure..
I am guessing that Mr Shearer is/was not too fussed about labels such as left, right or centre but was more keen to do the stuff that mattered most for the betterment of all sections of the people and the country. It is true that he did not convey/communicate this well.
It is, in my opinion, silly and wrong to base or look at all policies and all solutions purely in terms of only one direction, left, right or centre. Different problems need different solutions that WORK and produce the desired just aspirations and results. Some issues need a ‘left’ socialist perspective, some issues need a right ‘capitalist’ perspective and some social need a ‘middle’ ground. Labour party is a very broad representative organisation encompassing a diverse membership.
What IS important is that there is justice, fairness, equality of opportunity and prosperity with everyone, that can, working and paying their fair share back to society in order to reduce the ever widening income gap and make NZ a just, independent and happy place.
P.S :
In the present time, my desire for Labour party is…..
* Leader : Cunliffe [He will need to be true to his vision]
* Co-Deputy leaders :
Shane Jones [He will need to tone his ways]
Jacinda Arden [She will need to learn on the job]
That I believe will be a wise and winning combination.
If capitalism is the answer then you’re asking the wrong question.
I believe in interventionist/state controlled free market/capitalism where the capitalists that enable the creation of most jobs, goods and services also pay their fair share back to society. I don’t advocate state controlled communism masquerading as socialism. Doesn’t work anywhere, not even in China, which is no longer a ‘socialist’ state.
Hi Clement Pinto,
re “the capitalists that enable the creation of most jobs”
Have you seen this clip of a banned TED talk?
It argues against the idea that business people are ‘job creators’. Apparently, it was ‘too controversial’ for the TED talks founder, Chris somebody or other.
Thanks for that educational video. I partly agree with what TED says.
Without customers, demand and consumers, there is no business or profits or jobs. True enough.
However, I still stand by my statement that without the business people who are the actual economic risk takers, investors and entrepreneurs, goods, income and jobs cannot be produced.
The problem lies in letting them earn and keep uncontrolled amounts of wealth disproportionately, particularly because, their wealth, not withstanding their own initiative, enterprise and risk taking, has come from society, from the consumers. People and services in society need government assistance for a civilised just society which should not allow ever widening gap between the wealthy and the rest.
That means,
(1) the government has to be interventionist through controls, laws and progressive taxation. Higher the income, higher the tax rate.
(2) Free market should not mean free license for anyone to make and keep excessive amounts of wealth in comparison to the median income. Government needs to claw back the siphoned income.
(3) I am in favour of a set wage ratio of Min to Max of 1:20 in all organisations to bridge wage gap and help wages to go up equitably. The only way the top wages can go up is if the bottom wages go up correspondingly.
(4) I also advocate lowering CST to 10% or 12.5% as it affects the poorest most. Instead bring in estate duties and CGT for everything including property and all kinds of investments.
To coin a new term, it is Socialised Ethical Capitalism!
I would tell TED that it is a symbiotic relationship between business and consumer: One can’t do without the other.
(And Goverment needs both and needs to take care of both)
Business and consumer need government as well. Without government, there is no value to money, and no rule of law for economic transactions to occur within.
That’s just it though – they don’t no matter how much they want you to believe otherwise.
Craig GlenEden +1….and Grant Robertson despite his politicking talents is not a match for John Key…nor is Shane Jones with his ‘smoko charm’.
….Time to let David Cunliffe have a clean run and the Labour Party to unite behind Cunliffe …. ready to take on Nact and win in 2014!
….then form a coalition with the Greens and really look after this country and ALL NZers
….There is a lot of talent in the Green Party which must be utilized in the next government.
I was very impressed with Mr Shearer. In this interview he came across as potentially a good PM that NZ has missed out on. His sincerity, goodness and good character came across very well to me. Wish he was as clear, as articulate and as open to the public, the caucus and the media during his ‘reign’ as he was today. During his ‘reign’, what he had lacked was some help/training to improve his communication and public speaking skills.
He will be a very loyal and exemplary Labour member and an excellent MP/Minister.
Those who missed out on the interview, see it on ‘On Demand’ to get the measure of the man.
He didn’t lack media training, he had plenty.
He lacked judgment. In taking the job, and in doing the job. You can’t train that.
So true gobsmacked. In Shearers interview played this morning on Q and A he was most confident when talking about the Syria situation however his lack of judgement in why he failed as Labour leader was quite shocking. I thought it particularly telling when he couldn’t own up to the fact that he was not good at communicating a message via the media and then blamed members and other people for continually raising it as an issue.
The guy is in Noddy land seriously and he believed he was making headway at the begging of the year! OMG.
I saw the interview and was also impressed. He spoke well and sincerely and honestly and from the heart. I am pleased to hear he will be staying on and hope to see him back as PM sometime in the future. I to think that we have missed out on a potentially good Leader if he does not stay on for any reason. I’m not too happy with the three running for leader at the moment but would have to go with Robertson if pushed.
Shearer was a good guy and I think he would have made a honest and great PM, but it is the general voting public that should be convinced of that and they were not because of lack of clear communication as well as the media mischief and inside lack of openly displayed loyalty or support.
Look at the National party. They show great unity in public. Labour party MPs and members need to learn that very essential lesson. I admired Mr Shearer when he said, he will give absolute 100% support to whoever becomes the leader now. Hats off to him.
You have to be able to make it to your first election as leader to get a shot at being PM.
True. I so wish that he had communicated with the media and the public, as well and as effortlessly and as straight up and affable way as he did today.
[P.S:
Your 9 September 2013 at 12:26 am comment does not have a ‘reply’ link. Wonder what happened!]
[lprent: On desktop versions of the site, the comments will indent to a maximum depth of 10 and then the reply will disappear (gotta stop at some point). The mobile theme doesn’t have threaded replies. Working on that. ]
“I so wish that he had communicated with the media and the public, as well and as effortlessly and as straight up and affable way as he did today.”
Probably he needed to have a greater belief in what he was saying to do that.
Here is a brief summary from TV3 of the TV1 interview :
Outgoing Labour leader David Shearer says he will not publicly endorse any of the candidates vying to replace him, but will back whoever is chosen 100 percent.
Mr Shearer told Q+A the biggest issue the party faced was disunity.
He wouldn’t reveal who he planned to vote for or publicly endorse a candidate.
“Certainly from my point of view, whoever wins this competition, I will give them 100 percent support, and I don’t care who it is. Well, I’d say I do care who it is, but if that person wins, then we get in behind them … because if we don’t do that, then we won’t win.”
Mr Shearer said, as leader, he had not felt the party was united behind him at all times.
“At the beginning of this year, for example, I felt that we had a real head of steam up. But there’s a group that obviously had been supportive of me before and moved away.”
Mr Shearer, who worked for the United Nations for more than a decade, said he felt more comfortable in war zones than in politics.
“I mean, obviously in politics you’re getting sniped at from all directions. In a war zone, you can generally tell who the good guys are and who are the bad guys.”
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Shearer-mute-on-choice-for-replacement/tabid/1607/articleID/312356/Default.aspx#ixzz2eGc68Ze2
Other points he made:
David Shearer says he was relieved and disappointed to give up the leadership last month, but he also acknowledged it had been difficult and frustrating.
“The thing I found most difficult really was the pettiness of politics and being in opposition. A lot of it was petty, a lot of it was venal. Politicians from all sides come in to make difference, to actually get something done. And what you get caught up with, particularly as a leader, is point-scoring and that sort of pettiness.
And what you get caught up with, particularly as a leader, is point-scoring and that sort of pettiness.
Yeah, Mumblefuck, you and your mates demonstrated a lot of it.
The take on this from Imperator Fish is short, and to the point.
Edit: http://imperatorfish.com/2013/09/08/so-whos-to-blame-for-shearers-failure-an-imperator-fish-exclusive-2/
Sorry.
That link didn’t work for me.
does anyone know when polls began the march toward replacing thinkng and fact as the founation of our democratic system…
interesting that shearer says the previous labour voter who walked away was white male and middleclass.
He listened oh so well to Pagani and Trotter.
Brian Edwards on The Nation, having a go at TV3 for a “piece of Shameless Publicity for Shane Jones.” re the 3rd Degree piece last week.
It would have been fair if they did a piece each for all three.
According to Brian, Grant and David both declined the offer.
mind you he is for cunliffe and didnt think there should be a leadership contest
David Shearer gave his best ever interview on Q&A. He looked relaxed and rested. Some interesting comments re- the infighting within caucus and the party. I had the impression he is not happy with certain caucus members who originally gave him support and then pulled it (presumably when they thought the time was right for them?). Contrary to Shane Jones’ supporters claims, he has not and will not reveal who he would like to see win the contest. He is adamantly opposed to NZ joining the US in unilateral action against Syria and for all the right reasons.
One wonders if shearer has cut a deal for the foreign ministry.
Shearer perfectly demonstrates why he could be Foreign Minister. He talks about Syria – he’s engaged, informed, reasonable.
He also perfectly demonstrates why he should never have been Labour leader. He doesn’t like opposition politics, it’s too negative, but … what? He had no choice? Trev told him to do it? He was the leader, for crying out loud. Take some responsibility for your own decisions, man.
Plus another sideswipe at the “blogs”. Sad.
Not liking the ‘pettiness’ of politics is exactly why he should never have aspired to be Labour’s leader. The party leader NEEDS to thrive on the cut and thrust of politics. That’s what makes the papers and captures the interest of people who are not interested in politics.
It’s an absolute requirement and Shearer is as thick as two bricks if he doesn’t understand this. It still makes me incredibly angry that he sought the leadership when he clearly had no idea what he was signing up for.
Fukushima
This continuing disaster has so far no foreseeable resolution: We need to begin sampling of all seafood coming to market for radiation. The sooner the better. E.G. I’ve seen fish from Alaska being sold. Also where does most of our tuna come from? Radiation testing would reassure the Public that fish, so far is still safe, hopefully. Fukushima is becoming the most epic environmental disaster of all time except may be Climate Change.
For continuous updates on Fukushima go to: http://www.rense.com/
Continuous updates on adverts…
Hilary Clinton came to a ‘won’t ask, don’t tell’ arrangement with Japan just under two years ago. But since tuna are top of the food chain, I’d say there is an inevitability regards their contamination. How much? Any tasting is kinda cursory…check for gamma. So that misses ‘hot particles’ and strontium amongst a host of other things.
meanwhile… that mutton bird you have in your freezer? I wouldn’t.
For non-advert saturated updates from qualified nuclear engineers and other suitably qualified scientists etc, try this http://www.fairewinds.com/
Tokyo will be a bit stretched to attend to life changing nuclear problems, which need government intervention not letting the players make up their own game rules. They have just now got the go-ahead for some olympic or other major world event there which will probably cost lots and bring far more people over to the country that they will have to provide safe non-contiminated food for, as well as for their own people and those in particular need in their own ‘Red Zone’.
It’s such a downer having a nuclear disaster and destruction and death. Reminds me of the cartoon of middle class people chatting with friends about their recent trip to Africa. It hadn’t been a great success. “They had a famine all the time we were there” they said sadly. (Forgive me if I’ve told this one before. It keeps on being relevant.)
The olympic games will be held in Tokyo in 2020. Money over the environment.
There will be neglible amounts of radiation in the ocean caused by the Fukushima station except in the immediate vicinity of the place where it enters the water. It will very rapidly get diluted in the ocean.
Fish from Alaska aren’t going to be affected.
As far as Tuna goes isn’t it a deep water, rather than a coastal, fish and if so it is also unlikely to be affected by the comparitvely small releases of radiation into the sea.
If you are really worried of course, are you aware that there is an estimated 4.5 Billion tonnes of Uranium in the world’s sea-water?
Hi Alwyn
Thankyou for your concern. What do you think of this?
“Death of the Pacific? Radioactive Bluefin Tuna Caught Off California Coast (Study shows Fukushima nuclear pollution becoming more concentrated as it approaches U.S. West Coast Plume crosses ocean in a nearly straight line toward N. America Appears to stay together with little dispersion)”
Monday, August 26, 2013 16:4
http://beforeitsnews.com/environment/2013/08/death-of-the-pacific-radioactive-bluefin-tuna-caught-off-california-coast-study-shows-fukushima-nuclear-pollution-becoming-more-concentrated-as-it-approaches-u-s-west-coast-plume-crosses-2478392.html
I have just come back to look at this so I’ll briefly comment here.
Headlines like “Death of the Pacific” and pictures of comedy movie villains don’t really strikr me as very good science.
However to some numbers.
The pictures illustrating the article you are quoting would appear to me to cover an area of about 3,000 km by 2,000 km. Assuming that any pollution has been spread through an average depth of 1 km, This would represent a volume of about 6 million cubic kilometres.
This is therefore 6 million billion cubic metres or 6 billion billion litres.
Accepting the comment below that there are about 30 million litres of polluted water you discover that it has been diluted by a factor of about 2 hundred thousand million times.
Am I worried by concentrations like that? No way.
Your comments show a great deal of ignorance, that is equally shocking as the silencing for a long time of a disaster worse then Chernobyl.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/3/japan-to-fund-icewalltostopreactorleaks.html
Excerpt:
“Yet in April 2012, fish caught more than 120 miles from Fukushima showed extremely high levels of contamination with radioactive cesium traceable to the failed nuclear plant. That same month, a report from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution showed cesium-137 in ocean eddies 180 miles from Fukushima at levels hundreds to thousands of times higher than expected to occur naturally.”
“TEPCO has stored enough radioactive water in its weak, faulty tanks to fill more than 130 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The government ordered the company to transfer all the water held in those tanks to more reliable tanks with welded seams” (1 pool hold 2.5 million lt of water – that is 32,500 000 lt of contaminated water that is currently stored in leaking tanks)
Just to give you something to read up on, see below. Cesium 137 is one of the compound found in fish off the coast of Alaska after the leak.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/fisfrag.html
Great to see your contributions here.
alwyn
Oh okay, no worries then. Business as usual. Don’t know why people are getting concerned.
I suggest that you see my comment above about the level of dilution that might be expected.
As I said. Apart from the area near to the spillage the dilution is enormous and I wouldn’t worry.
Comments about the wild life, and people, getting ill in Hawaii from the radiation are rubbish.
Will Key be selling his house in Hawaii? I think he probably will. Here is a report based on geiger counter readings that Hawaii is already contaminated by Fukushima: includes beaches.
There are accusations the military have used live depleted uranium rounds in Hawaii which they deny.
” Hawaii; Paradise, or Nuclear Radiation Contamination Zone?”
http://agreenroad.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/hawaii-paradise-or-nuclear-radiation.html
Quote: At the 9th minute paraphrase: Anyone going to Hawaii now is committing suicide. The narrator says Hawaiians already sick increasingly.
anne
and the media, including dann, will be oblivious to their part in presenting him as someone other than the man we saw on tv today. ds did well to resist danns constant desire for ds to turn on lp, and did well not to point the finger back at dann.
Agreed Tracey.
Mike Williams after looking at the Oz results warns that it shows that voters will punish a party for disunity. This is true. But the risk has to be taken to change something and upset a status quo that is defunct. Or more of the same.
Free market excesses do not now result in bankruptcy and resetting of rules for financials and business. So more of the same!
Roger Douglas said that first the pain and then the gain was the slogan. Now time to return the compliment with complementary meth.
There was a talk with 88 year old communist on Radionz.
Ideas for 8 September 2013 – Communism (â46âČâ03âłâ)
10:06 In the latest of our occasional Lived Philosophies series we’re taking a look at
communism. Dr Kerry Taylor will tell us about the history of revolutionary socialism in New Zealand; and
Max Wilkinson, the son of one of the founders of the New Zealand Communist Party, looks back on a life of social activism. Produced by Jeremy Rose.
Max Wilkinson commented on the way that free market is nursed and nurtured in times of trouble by government. I notice this is not so for the poorer members of the community in hard times. And the wealthy getting state assistance tend not to pay back the government with large lumps of taxes from their profits if they ever return to profit. So if government is going to risk its resources on possible failures in the business world, why not put its resources into the poorer world and boost the economy from the demand side??
Don’t miss this very great Oz satire on elections.
Aussie election a game of polls
Thank you x1000
In the current contest for the Labour leadership, both David Cunliffe and Grant Robertson have positioned themselves against neoliberalism. That is to say, against the dominant form capitalism has taken in the past 30 years. A form defined by deregulation of markets, withdrawal of state intervention in the economy, low tax rates, and so on.
A potential problem with speaking about neoliberalism is that it obscures the real problem, capitalism itself. Capitalism goes through different forms in response to the particularities of the situation of the day, it takes on new forms to survive and grow.
In fact, today we can see capitalism in the process of developing a new post-neoliberal form. It’s no longer all about freeing up markets and removing state intervention. In the context of the financial crisis, and the beginnings of a rise of anger by people bearing the brunt of capitalism, we are seeing new post-neoliberal experiments taken on by governments.
One of the watch cry’s of this new form is ‘partnership’. For instance we have the ‘public private partnerships’ experimented with by both the current National government and the previous Labour government. Rather than a pure neoliberal retreat of the state from the market, we have the state working alongside capital to help capitalism maintain itself. The partial (rather than full) asset sales are another example of the tendency this new form is taking.
It’s important at this moment to remember that the root cause of the problems facing humanity and the planet today are based not in a particular form of capitalism (eg. neoliberalism), but in the general system of capitalism itself, a system in which decisions of any import for the future of people’s lives and the health of the planet are not made in the interests of humanity and the planet, but in the interests of a tiny minority whose real interest is the accumulation of cash.
We should watch then with dismay, as David Cunliffe and Grant Robertson, whilst they begin to push political discourse to the left, fall into the trap of this tendency toward a new form of capitalism, a form which will no doubt be stronger than neoliberalism. The recurring theme of ‘partnership’ enunciated by the Labour leadership contenders in a recent Q and A episode (http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a/2013-09-01-video-5551750) shows that there is still a long way to go in shifting political discourse beyond capitalism itself.
Thanks for that summary Jon. Excellent.
All I can say is that David Cunliffe and Grant Roberston could be a start in what will hopefully be the right direction. I want to see David win because he is further advanced in his political preparation and experience and he is right ready for the role. But I would see Grant Robertson as his natural successor in a future leadership role after some cabinet experience under his belt. If they are both genuine about their need to see a much more hands on approach – and I believe they are – then I see no reason why together they couldn’t succeed in changing the course of this country for the better. I see others with obvious talents – eg. David Parker – adding their weight and once again NZ could become a world leader in innovation and good democratic procedures as did the First Labour government.
Pie in the sky? Well we did it before so we can do it again.
Oh, and lets not forget the Greens who also have some very talented MPs.
A really good discussion on radio nz I think in the weekend had the interviewer talking about good nz companies innovating and then selling to someone overseas. The reply was I think that this could be okay if we had the economy bouncing. I think that was the general tone of the reply. And I think it was a discussion of the book Get off the Grass which Sir Paul Callaghan was involved in. It was interesting – worth going to radionz and looking up.
Too offen offshore investors poach our best startup companies.
Time the state either directly invested too or created some mechanism to partnership our start up innovators.
I think what the person (a scientist) was saying in the interview was that it mattered less to him that companies got bought up so long as New Zealand kept the people – as that was where the innovation came from.
Puddleglum
Ah yes that was it. For his argument that is sufficient.
But then if one adds in the current /ac problems exacerbated by foreign investment owning an increasing bulk of NZ profits, we can’t improve that no matter how well we do, following his ideas.
It becomes like a ponzi scheme except it’s new businesses being created and going into the mix to make up for the ones already sold off. Or perhaps it’s like farming, we are growing businesses to maturity and then selling them on so that other owners themselves utilise and profit from the product. Similar to the government selling off all or part of our assets into private hands.
Correct Jon. The language of capitalism is all National and Labour seem to understand. This shows how far Labour have moved from their roots and I believe its the primary reason they are not popular with voters who would traditionally gravitate towards Labour.
Oh don’t be so hard; Labour was always a capitalist political party, has been since the First Labour Government. Plenty of the labour movement split off from Labour around that time because they felt betrayed over the issue.
If you thought shifting discourse was hard, shifting policy is harder, shifting a country so hard it’s unlikely. A progressive policy as simple as making Working for Families benefit available to beneficiaries was resolutely shouted down by the electorate last time.
We are never ever going to be Bolivia. Thankfully.
Achtung Baby ; Until the end of the world.
“A progressive policy as simple as making Working for Families benefit available to beneficiaries was resolutely shouted down by the electorate last time.”
WFF is an in work tax credit. Making it available to those on welfare is ridiculous. Even Helen Clark got that. It will never happen. Unless the incoming government wants to be a one term government.
“Elections are one MAN one vote. It would be ridiculous to extend them to women.
It’ll never happen.
etc etc ad tedium”
Said every conservative about everything ever.
wrylands
Don’t you know we can think of six ridiculous things even before breakfast? /sarc
Also, WFF is not the same thing as the In-Work Tax Credit – that’s the name of the credit you get if you’re working and don’t have kids, making you ineligible for WFF.
Once again srylands proves that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about because he has never had anything to do with NZ.
Just fucking give it up and go back to your old username you dildo.
Why can’t non-employed people get an in-work tax credit? Apart from an arbitary distinction about where one’s income comes from (and apart from neoliberal stick is better than carrot ideology), what is the difference between someone on a wage and someone on a benefit?
So on one hand you welcome a universal income – and on the other you would deny it to around 1/4 million children, who through no fault of their own, have parents who (for what ever reason – disability, lack of jobs, at home supporting young/older family, etc etc) are unable to work?
“If you thought shifting discourse was hard, shifting policy is harder, shifting a country so hard itâs unlikely”
Shifting NZ country has been done many times. Some examples:
– universal suffrage
– the welfare state
– state housing
– anti-apartheid movement
– environmental movement (Manapouri and the Values Party)
– nuclear free New Zealand
– homosexual law reform
– neo-liberalism
It’s one of the things the struck my partner when moved to NZ – an idea streams through the country rapidly, at a guess because of the small population. It’s the will to attempt it that’s lacking.
The term “partnership” and PPPs seem to me to be just a continuation of neoliberalism, and, for Labour parties, a soft version of neoliberalism.
I don’t see either Robertson or Cunliffe making a major shift away from that without a lot of pressure from activists and others: both a change in discourse and a shift in policies.
But, in the short term, I want to see a government that works to lessen the inequality gap, strengthen worker-friendly employment laws, stop bennie bashing and improve social security provisions – and also hopefully start working towards an environment friendly steady state economy that provides necessary and life-enhancing jobs and services.
“But, in the short term, I want to see a government that works to lessen the inequality gap, strengthen worker-friendly employment laws, stop bennie bashing and improve social security provisions â and also hopefully start working towards an environment friendly steady state economy that provides necessary and life-enhancing jobs and services.”
So to translate – you want a government that increases tax, increases welfare payments, while reducing economic growth to zero? How do you think that is going to go down? You think a government that adopted those policy targets would get a second term?
Eventually some Government is going to have to bite the bullet and do it. preferably before it is forced on us by AGW and resource depletion.
As for increasing tax and welfare payments, our Governments part of GDP is half that of many more successful countries, so we have plenty of room to move.
“So to translate â you want a government that increases tax, increases welfare payments, while reducing economic growth to zero? How do you think that is going to go down? You think a government that adopted those policy targets would get a second term?”
Reducing economic growth to zero is essential.
Simply growing the economic pie does not ensure that everyone gets a bigger slice.
The ideology that states that growing the economy is essential to ensure better outcomes for all is simply the lie that is constantly fed to the unknowing voter by the politicians and their minions the media. Economists of the neo-liberal school – who regrettably have held the ear of government for far to long perpetuate this myth. And it is a myth as, any decent examination of this unfortunate experiment of, the past 3 decades would demonstrate.
Following the Depression and during the War years knowing what the Nation produced and growing that, was an essential target. However developed economies have now reached a stage where continued growth is being pursed with diminishing returns. We have reached the point where for some commodities further growth is “uneconomic”. We should not be surprised by this, Smith predicted this in his “Wealth of Nations”.
Furthermore and much more pertinent to the welfare of voters is the unfortunate fact that for the vast majority, they have experienced a decline over the past 3 decades in their relative net worth. For instance in the UK, personal debt as a % of GDP has risen from 60% to over 100% in just 15 years – and continues to increase, while savings as a % of disposable income has fallen from 11% to nothing in the same period. Meanwhile, employment conditions have deteriorated, and while the uber rich get super rich, the rest get poorer.
A sensible government that understood the need to change our economic direction would in the first instance begin a nation wide education programme and discussion forum in which every adult and young person was encouraged to participate. Nation wide hui’s up and down the country in every town and across every city, where the the desires and aspirations of everyone was considered. The results of the past presented the ideas and possibilities of new and exciting future pathways discussed and at the end of the day the move towards a more fairer and equitable economy would be possible, because then the people would be involved.
That is such a good idea.
May be the Labour Party should organise and start this during the next 10 months through locally organised meetings, through postbox leaflets, through internet/facebook, newspaper articles, blogs, YouTube videos, TV ads etc. Worth the cost, effort and time to create a new social and economic exciting revolution.
Exactly. Unfortunately the conventional wisdom – as expounded by S’lands and others holds sway. The god of our nation is GDP, if it falls the nation morns, newsreaders frown and the general populace fidget, yet GDP measures earthquake repairs and other natural disasters, spending on cancer and other terminal illness, spending on prisons, and a host of other undesirable expenditures. I does not measure the technical prowess that enables NZ to compete in a world class event such as the Americas Cup, although some of the expenditure is. But the off shore expenditure does not count. It does not include the value of our National Parks or the beauty of our shorelines, or the pricelessness our our kiwi, or the cultural heritage we as NZ possess.
We need a new measure to assess our economic progress, one that encapsulates all that makes us who we are, and what we wish to become.
now that’s a Macro effort!
If one is in a partnership arrangement then that partner has a fair amount of control or influence, don’t you think carol.
that partner
It takes more than one to make a partnership. Which partner are you thinking has that “fair amount of control and influence”?
Oh Karol…we sing from the same song book one thinks.
Here goes.
Next way….PPP could provide direct state intervention or control at private sector board level in a meaningful manner.
Say govt invested cash and infrastructure in a particular sector or business um forestry but conditional on union awards, pays rates conditions and well anything…govt bring to bear its influence to bring about change in the private market.
Why not all a combination mixed model…private, state and ppp businesses.
Now ppp could also be collectives too. Worker state ppp sharing profits etc. ( my fav).
Thoughts?
Oh KarolâŠwe sing from the same song book one thinks.
I don’t think so. PPPs are to me a third way thing, not a “new way”.
Define new way then please?
Third way ppp were simply state giving away our money with little involvement or influence.
I favour direct meaningful involvement in the private sector to bring about change and betterment for workers etc in a real and timly manner.
This is beyond the failed third way and neo lib consensus.
You’re the one talking “new way”, so why would I have a definition of it?
The state does have involvement in PPPs.
If the state is directly involved in private sector enterprises, to the point of having dominant control, it would no longer be a private enterprise.
Obvious ahhh.
AIPAC pushes for action in Syria.
The influential pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee will deploy hundreds of activists next week to win support in Congress for military action in Syria, amid an intense White House effort to convince wavering U.S. lawmakers to vote for limited strikes.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Sep-07/230402-pro-israel-us-lobbying-group-sets-major-push-for-syria-action.ashx#ixzz2eGxWETd7
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9138635/Spoiling-for-a-fight
– Is this Mallard calling in favors because he knows he’ll have some explaining to do when Cunliffe wins the leadership?
th’ feck is he wearing?
Blending in with the greystone. Impersonating a permanent fixture.
A crimplene suit. Have they come back again after 40 years?
But with a black T-shirt?
Who does he think he is? Bono?
male menopause.
He needs male menofastforward.
clever clogs
Crimplene suits now all we need is a Skoda car and we will be Back to the Future.
Still for all of Pat Hunts sarcastic denigration of Social Credit in a pique of losing his seat we owe a certain vote of thanks to that party. They managed to eject Brash from a nice safe National seat in East Coast Bays (with a little help from Muldoon)
If only Labour could effect a similar coup and get rid of McCully from that seat. Almost any other party would be preferable to McCully
Excellent to see Two more of the unions behind David Cunliffe.
[lprent: I adjusted your excess bold. ]
was a typo đ
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=380482265412513&set=a.376167095844030.1073741828.375464442580962&type=1
http://www.priceoftravel.com/555/world-taxi-prices-what-a-3-kilometer-ride-costs-in-72-big-cities/
and?
edit: let me help. Which stupid case would you like to make?
stupid 1. taxi drivers in Melbourne are richer than chimney sweeps in Albania so why are they complaining, or
stupid 2. a barman poured me a beer in 30 seconds and charged me 10 bucks, therefore bartenders are on $1200 per hour.
is srylands back in melbourne?
A letter from the Syrian American community.
http://www.unitedfreesyria.org/letter2antiwarmovement/
The Muslim Public Affairs Council position on intervention in Syria.
http://www.mpac.org/assets/docs/publications/MPAC-Intervention-in-Syria-Position-Paper.pdf
http://www.mpac.org
Solved.
ahhh, yes, that was it. While skedaddling through Feb’s New Scientist , as you do, I noticed the library’s subscription to Creation magazine, $7.50 Australian you’re not going to need in the ‘promised land’.
“Solved.”
What, you think the New World Order can’t comandeer a few eagles?
“I hear that Trevor Mallard threatened to resign if David Cunliffe won. Folks, thatâs a two for one special that no one can turn down. ” This is from Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog.
I wish !
Lolz.
Most see that in Mallard: the bruising, fiery frontrower who deals out the rough stuff and sometimes goes too far (think of his brawl with National MP Tau Henare or select committee stoush with policeman Mike Bush). In contrast, he sees the ultimate utility player, a team man who helps wherever he can. Whoever emerges victorious from the leadership battle (he’s backing Grant Robertson), Mallard – despite the longevity of his parliamentary career – wants to continue in the engine room.
“It depends on whoever wins, whether they want to use my talents or not – that’s up to them, I’m not pushy.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9138635/Spoiling-for-a-fight
đ
Did he define those talents? I haven’t noticed much except stupid sideshows and closing schools, plus foundation membership of ABC.
Exploratory and interesting music from a Chilean group in concert in Chicago, really worth looking at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZlKUhN368c
El pueblo unido jamas cera vencido!
Dear Tangata Whenua, this is “spiritual” and “enlightening”, I suggest to take a listen and view, as this is YOUR way also, to go, to assert your culture, and your collective interests:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4naoHdZxw8
Excuse me, I am just an observer, but see this as important.
Like in Chile, or other places, whenever questions of “power” arise, the forces diallowing free speech and democracy are right there and HIT us, it is the actual breach of international laws, that is intimidating most. It is a criminal organisation, based in the US and even US dominated UN that keep us locked into dependency and servitude.
It is time for ALL NZers, and sadly most are wage and salary “slaves”, to take a bloody stand now and get rid of this corrupt, lying, self serving government.
Good morning Xtasy, “rise up the slaves”!
el derecho de vivir en paz – documental completo – VICTOR JARA ( Carmen Luz Parot ) 1999