I’ve a $20 bet since March that Trump will be out of the Whitehouse by Christmas.
I read that Muller is now briefing senior officials (unimplicated ones).
Is this a sign that my $20 is safe?
I think your bet is lost. Trump is currently the favourite candidate to win the presidency in 2020. (that said he is the incumbent and we do not know who will be running against him from the Democratic side. He is though a long shot to be out of office by the end of the year. http://www.betfair.com
It was more than nine months from the Saturday Night Massacre to Nixon’s resignation – and we haven’t yet had an equivalent to it in terms of open blatant misconduct for the express purpose of saving his own skin. Firing Comey didn’t come close. These things move slowly. Even if Mueller already has the evidence to put the Chump away for the rest of his life, Christmas is way too soon for anything to have happened.
1 Rt Hon Winston Peters
2 Ron Mark
3 Tracey Martin
4 Fletcher Tabuteau
5 Darroch Ball
6 Clayton Mitchell
7 Mark Patterson
8 Shane Jones
9 Jenny Marcroft
Half the GP caucus are based in Auckland. The NZF caucus tends to have more links with regions outside Auckland.
NZF could negotiate a coalition with either Nats or Labour, but they could also opt to sit on the cross benches, abstain from confidence and supply votes, and allow the Nats to run a minority government.
Hold it Sister: the GP did not win any electoral seats. The way you displayed the two lists is misleading. You seem to suggest that all the NZ F are list and the GP are electoral.
Please correct it.
Say what? the only differences is that the GP list numbers did not copy. They are at the link. But I would need to add each number individually. Is that really necessary?
The NZF numbers copied with the names from a straight copy and paste. Not my fault, and otherwise there is no indication I’m saying the GP MPs are electorate MPs.
My pick is that English would prefer another election to leading a minority government that could be out-voted on anything other than confidence and supply.
The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs.
National continue to show a disdain for democracy, they’ve not diversified the economy, they’ve gutted crucial areas like health, education and housing whilst selling out nz.
So personally I’d like to see them wear this one with Peters sniping away making them own the damage they’ve caused.
Bill can manage that rockstar economy they’ve been blathering on about so there’s a challenge for the DP acolytes.
It’s not in their hands, though. If Mr. English can’t accept a deal with NZ First (assuming he is even in a position to make one), then NZ First has other options before a new election is called, and English’s most likely immediate destination is opposition.
As we know National is under corporate control (English accompanied Key to the 2011/12 Bilderberg Group annual meeting) and since then has to deliver what they need to complete their mission out, in total control as you say correctly.
“The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs”
Interesting. But expecting Lab/NZF govt with Gs giving cross-bench support. Re-election would potentially strengthen nzf n G hands, as social electioneering would stand solid. Gnats must fold. Transition is safe and on-track.
No doubt co-incidental that one of the Nats backers is having a big-wig conference now as well.
:A white-shirted church member at the gate, Eddy Suckling, said it was “just a church conference”.
“There are a few from around the regions that have come in, just locals,” he said.
Suckling was unable to say how many people were inside, but cars were forced to park on the grass surrounding the 200-plus car park alongside the hall.
At least 15 white buses were lined up, as well as more than 20 white vans. Shiny white SUVs and utes filled the adjacent streets.”
Anyone want to make the argument that Bitcoin is actually a good and useful thing?
To me, it looks like the ultimate example of a thing that only has value because a bunch of people delude themselves it has value.
Bitcoin is not like fiat money, which in many ways is backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion.
Even gold and diamonds, while they are way overvalued because people are attracted by shiny things, actually have particular properties that make them useful.
But it looks to me like a bitcoin is nothing more than a certificate of gratuitously wasted computing time and electricity. See this article to illustrate how much goes into this waste.
Bitcoin is not like fiat money, which in many ways is backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion.
And the issuing state’s economy.
BitCoin is a perfect example of why bank money was actually made illegal. What happens, and we know this from history, is that multiple companies start making their own currency that a) isn’t universally accepted and b) creates far too much money for the economy.
Of course, that latter part is happening now as the private banks create huge amounts of money pushing up house prices.
Slow clap for du Plessis-Allan and her unilluminating ‘me me me’ Winston Peters nonsense in the Herald this morning. Served up in vintage, passive-aggressive du Plessis-Allan, sly-smile style.
From the top – “At Auckland airport this week, on my way down to Wellington, ‘ I ‘ bumped into a man from the capital.” Oh really ? Who cares how you get to work dear ?
Story is…….Winston will sit on the cross benches. Without even confidence and supply seemingly. Reasoning being that since first Maori PM’s not on……..then ‘Pfft’ to the flash job, the baubles, the government limos. Like no one else ever used one. I daresay du Plessis-Allan herself has greased her way into a few of those in her time.
You see Winston’s into “legacy”. But because National actually won this MMP election “fair and square” (at least in her FPP figurings), Winston should send English to the Governor-General vaunting a minority government, Wow ! Such “legacy”.
This would be Winston being “uncharacteristically responsible”. He’s going to (and should) cement in the “vacuum” of the last 14 days which [gulp] she and her cohort have snortingly bitched about for all of those 14 days. And the uncertainty will run for three lame duck years or until the sooner (inevitable) snap election.
The truth is that she and hubby Soper (“the man from the capital”?) seek to endorse the National Party’s perennial ‘entitlement’ burden. The National Party has served their vainglory for years now. Here’s hoping Mickey Savage doesn’t risk blowing his Shyte-Meter by passing through it this ‘Bazza ‘n’ Me Hate Winston’ nonsense.
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
Government is not fast food. It should be a well thought through thing. It has ONLY been 2 weeks.
This older generation better never speak again of the young folks need for instant gratification or bemoan their short concentration spans ( both of which are myths).
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
My daughter works at Domino’s, and apparently yes they do. For some people, the fact there are currently over a hundred pizza orders shouldn’t make theirs take any longer to arrive, and the fact that the votes haven’t been counted yet shouldn’t make forming a government take any longer. Like the poor, the stupid will always be with us.
Learning about our new MP’s on Q+A, feeling very proud to have these two women in Parliament.
I didn’t know that Angie, Labours new MP used to run the Womens Refugee in Tauranga, awesome, maybe some of her ideas gained from knowledge in that sector can help NZ with the insipid domestic violence that touches most of our lives.
Both well past their use by dates! Many years ago had the ‘pleasure’ of having a lot to do with Prebble as Minister of Transport. Was not a highlight of my career in the public service.
The report aligns with the American Cancer Society that the IARC report identifies hazards, whereas the regulatory authorities identify risks, and then the regulations required to keep people safe.
The IARC just assesses whether a particular thing might cause cancer in some people if they get a high enough dose of it. They don’t do any work on how high a dose might be needed. The EPA’s reviewed the evidence out there and not found any to suggest glyphosate might be a cancer risk at any dose it’s feasible for a human to encounter in everyday circumstances. Maybe if you were to sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of glyphosate on your Weetbix every morning for 50 years there’s a chance it might give you cancer, but who knows? The IARC certainly doesn’t. Maybe you’d need to eat a kilo a day to have a risk of getting cancer – that’s still “probably carcinogenic” from the IARC’s perspective.
Thing is, all these groups involve humans and agribusiness isn’t the only interest group lobbying them. The organic food industry, Green politicians and anti-glyphosate nutcases aren’t honest brokers in this any more than Monsanto is.
You could defend Round-Up on having a good GHG balance, but “safe-to-health” claims are shit-nuggets through a knowledge-filter. Tests on glyphosphate, may differ from tests on Round-up mix… and endless other hat-tricks to produce poison.
Nothing’s safe for your health if consumed in large enough quantities, up to and including pure water. The relevant question is: at what quantity does it become unsafe? Anti-glyphosate nutters might be convinced there’s no dose small enough to be allowed to enter the sacred temple of their bodies, but the EPA has to take a more objective view.
One Two is an unfortunate pseudo I think for this person. Indicates a low standard of numeracy. And spacing things out like mod poetry and enigmatically saying why to everything – what a waste of space. Tell me something about some subject with a source that might shed some light on our concerns please.
Despite the misgivings raised by responding to the kind of person who puts quotation marks around the word science….
looking at your history commenting when this subject comes up, you’re consistent in defending glyphosate
“Defending” glyphosate? What next? Nigger-lover? There’s nothing to “defend.”
An idiot might ‘think’ that’s the relevant question.
Well this particular “idiot” certainly thinks the EPA’s job in this case is to consider the potential harm of using glyphosate as a pesticide relative to the benefits of using it. If you hold a different view of its job, you’re going to need to elaborate because I seriously have no fucking idea what you’re on about.
The Rod Oram article seems to cover the issue very well – it shows that there is spin and selective interpretation both for aand against. The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better. Poisons can have long term effects – some of the orchard poisons that caused long term problems in a Hamilton subdivision also caused reductions in fertility – but they did increase production so that’s all right – ? We should at least know details of both sides of the equation . . . and that may require another government.
The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better.
In what way? Using axes and chainsaws involves health risks orders of magnitude higher than the possibility that someone might conceivably suffer cancer at some point in the future if they disregard the safety instructions for using glyphosate over a long period, and yet the forestry industry exists. X-rays are definitely carcinogenic, not probably, and at relatively low doses, and yet we still X-ray people because “net benefit.” It’s an entirely reasonable approach.
* Parscale and his team submitted the email addresses of all known Trump supporters in Facebook’s advertising system. They then got their Facebook profiles, which were sorted by, among other things, ethnicity, gender, and home district.
* Through the Facebook Lookalike Audiences tool, they identified “lookalikes”, i.e. other Facebook users with similar interests and profiles. In addition, they built an external database of, among others, GOP’s registry of approximately 100M Americans.
** By adding large amounts of information for each person in the database, for example, interest according to the person’s site statistics, personality type after prior behaviors such as online purchases, credit card purchases, insurance history, etc. they could segment the people into different categories of voters.
** After that, they created large amounts of overly relevant non-truthful news for each segment of people that were then targeted towards the right people on the right occasions.
** Ex: when Hillary was already embarrassed by the emails, they heaped on even more negative news towards the voters who were doubtful of Hillary. https://medium.com/startup-grind/how-the-trump-campaign-built-an-identity-database-and-used-facebook-ads-to-win-the-election-4ff7d24269ac
* Parscale’s team then bombarded the various profiles with targeted ads or articles through Facebook
* Nothing was left to chance: the team sent out tens of thousands of variations of the ads, which prompted quick acquiescence of what worked (so-called A/B-testing). On the day of the third presidential election debate between Trump and Clinton for example, 175 000 different ads where used.
Despite the ethically dubious goal, Project Alamo was not a secret intelligence operation: Brad Parscale and his co-workers have on multiple occasions openly talked about how they manipulated the American election process and actively undermined democracy.
This is what happens when private companies have free access to your data and you have no control over it.
If it’s on Facebook you have plenty of control over your information.
I’m not on Facebook, Baidu, Twitter, anything like that, and I have no loyalty cards.
But with my regular Google use they still know me pretty well.
If it’s on Facebook you have plenty of control over your information.
[Citation Needed]
And they’re not actually looking at the information. They’re using algorithms to see if one person ‘looks’ like another and then targeting those people with fake news.
I almost start to understand why the US public does not want to relinquish their right to bear arms. With the enemy within, it is difficult to argue against.
Maybe we are all looking at the wrong horizon for direction how to achieve peace and a reasonable trade world. Perhaps the US, being only 241 years old and despite technological advance just behaves like a child throwing a tantrum which we mistook for strength? There are no Homers or Socrates in sight, neither short nor long term.
INTERVIEWER: I mean, what were Facebook, Google and YouTube people actually doing here? Why were they here?
THERESA HONG: They were helping us, you know I mean they were basically our hands-on partners as far as being able to you know, utilize the platform as effectively as possible.
When you’re pumping in millions and millions of dollars to these social platforms, you’re gonna get white club treatment, so they would send people, you know, representatives, to the Project Alamo to ensure that all of our needs were being met
Facebook’s response? Hire a right-wing outlet to fact check news stories.
According to a new report from Quartz, Facebook plans to sign conservative magazine Weekly Standard as a fact checking partner. Several outlets currently work as fact checkers for the platform, though all the outlets Facebook has signed thus far have been approved by the Poynter Institute.
Scarey when you think of what they are doing and why. Privacy has become a thing of the past. Those fake ads are designed to get you thinking the way they want. Bastards.
Just watched M.Moore in the 9TH Floor on ex P.M’s.Interesting opinion he has of himself .Seems he still regards himself as a real Labour man’,despite embracing Rogernomics and globalisation.Mentioned that Douglas still regards Labour as ‘our party’ too.Had some interesting quotes from Lange,Churchill and Lloyd George,but the underlying timbre of the discourse appeared to me that he regards himself as a man of destiny that was…unlucky.
Duncan Garner has written an article backing Winston on immigration after his experience shopping in Kmart.
It has provoked a lot of criticism and support on Stuff and twitter.
Bradbury also writes this article
‘Why we urgently need to investigate Chinese influence over National’
‘The shocking reality that the National Party is little more than a front for Chinese business interests demands far more attention than it gained…
New research paper lays bare China’s influence campaign in New Zealand
Concerns raised over political donations and directorships offered to former ministers and relatives
Chinese-owned New Zealand dairy farms said to possibly being used to test advanced missile technology’
Keeps the white honkey’s and the Bro’s wages to a manageable level , eh what old boy?…. keeps them in their place, – all those commie unionists and what not…
Lets the other crowd in to invest and plunder the proceeds back to their home country , eh old sausage?… bit like the bally old English did , … my these foreigners learn fast , don’t they , say what ?
‘Rather than complaining about the racial make up of the people standing in line, the real story is why Kmart has been able to hollow out their staff for self-check outs. The economic system that exploits everyone shopping there is the issue, not the ethnicity of those forced to wait in line.
So what is this column really about?
A multinational retailer gutting worker rights to the same level of the sweat shop made products they import is crowded by poor people and migrants trying to stretch their dollar while a middle class white bloke happy to exploit the low prices brought about by globalisation hisses about immigrants because he has to wait in line with them.
To be honest, that kinda does sum up NZ almost perfectly doesn’t it?’
I think you’ll find that lot ( and others – witness the amount of Indian /Chinese exploiting recent immigrants from their home country and flouting our laws ) are only one section.
What we have here , – is enabled neo liberalism that sets worker against worker and unscrupulous employers reigning supreme.
I get a little sick and tired of wankers using the overdone cliched ‘oppressive white man’ card when every other bastard from every other race takes less than 1.5 seconds to realize an opportunity in order to exploit some other poor bastard regardless of their race .
I usually find the same sort of wankers actively encourage this sort of sanctimonious inverse racism because it suits their surreptitious pecuniary advantage to do so.
And if it was up to me ?
I would cut immigration massively and encourage taking on a much larger quota of refugees instead.
And not necessarily RICH ONES either.
That’d soon sort out all these parsimonious fuckers who like to play the race issue to further their own ends,… AND , – as well as THAT , – legislate an AWARD RATE for wages.
I can hear the wankers , the racists , the opportunist’s and the disgusting treasonous globalist shitters squealing from here as they kick their troughs over in panic….
The fuck with the whole howling , squawking sanctimonious hypocritical lot of them.
AND THAT’S ,… the power of balanced nationalism and taking a fucking pride in ones own country – and not being a doormat for FUCKING WANKERS.
I agree with him about Garner’s racism.
But I doubt we agree on much else.
Steve Cowan, a true leftie, writes.
‘A dedicated cheerleader for the market economy , Garner won’t place the responsibility for New Zealand’s economic and social problems at the door of those who are really responsible- successive governments, both Labour and National, who have pursued economic and social policies that have led inevitably to more poverty and inequality and more division.
We live in a society where market forces and values have been prioritised over basic human needs and aspirations. But Garner would rather scapegoat immigrants instead – even claiming they are responsible for stealing ‘our dreams’.’
Yep , – its the same old blaming the ‘ little people’ instead of looking at the shit – for – brains neo liberal treasonist’s who created the situation we are in.
Meanwhile ,… as the veneer is removed , we see both the privatized media and the globalist National party for the supercilious fuckers they really are.
Relax.
The Jeremy Corbyn effect / awakening is well on its way.
I get that warm fuzzy feeling every time I perceive neo liberal / treasonist scumbags suffering ,… sort of like ,… when you crack your ankle joints in the morning after a refreshing nights sleep,… you know,… that sense of ”oooo ”… mild slight dull ‘cracking ‘ pain but instant mobility and warmth in the joints…
Well ,… expelling neo liberals is much the same … mild pain at first but then a great sense of mobility , warmth and perception of circulation ,… a great feeling of ‘can do ‘ …
And that’s whats in store for us,… transcending the diseased state into the full picture of health once the virus is expelled… a little bit more , a little bit more application ,… and we will be all sitting around wondering what all the fuss was all about and why it took us all so long …
And that’s all neo liberalism ever was : a virus. An extremist far right wing virus concocted by neo NAZI’s and their sympathizers.
‘Foreign direct investment (ownership of companies) in New Zealand increased from $15.7 billion in March 1989 to $110.8 billion at March 2016 – over seven times. As a proportion of the total output of the economy, Gross Domestic Product, it has risen from 22% to 44%. Ownership of overseas companies by New Zealand residents has not grown as fast over that period (five and a half times) so net foreign direct investment has grown over eight times from a net liability of $8.8 billion to $72.8 billion, and as a percentage of GDP multiplied over two times from 13% of GDP to 29%.
Foreign owners controlled 36% of the share market in 2016. In 1989, the figure was 19% and it was estimated to be below 5% in 1986.
At March 2015, they owned an estimated 22% of the value of all equity (shareholdings) and 26% of privately owned equity of enterprises in New Zealand, including shares not listed on the stock exchange.
Foreign investors owned 24% (or $368 billion) of net wealth in New Zealand whose commercial net value totalled $1.5 trillion at March 2015. They owned 27% of private net wealth. This comprised housing, land, other property, plant, equipment and financial assets owned directly or indirectly by households, government, non-profit organisations and foreign investors. New Zealand residents owned a further $215 billion of investments abroad. (These totals exclude shared natural wealth such as rivers, and human and social capital.)’
And I hope the Moanday morning scumbag privatized newsmedia take notice ( as I KNOW they do because the lazy bastards look at these types of blogs to gauge some sort of ‘ public sentiment’ – I worked security at a major NZ TV network and was a fly on the wall, – to their detriment – like a ‘plant’ as it were …)
And I would just like to shove THIS in their faces for all the junior politico wanks who weren’t even born in 1984…
Here’s your fucking neo liberalism for ya,… and your fucking Ruth Richardson and her bullshit NZ Initiative mentality …
…………………………………………………………
Ken Douglas, then president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, recalled in the 1996 documentary Revolution:
The Employment Contracts Act was deliberately intended to individualize the employment relationship. It was a natural outcome of the ideological propaganda of rugged individualism, of self-interest and greed and the appeal to individuals that you could find better for you by climbing over the tops of your colleagues, your mates, and so on. Ruth Richardson was very clear, very blunt, very honest about its purpose. It was to achieve a dramatic lowering of wages, very, very quickly.
……………………………………………………………
There you go ,.. and Bolger the wanker crying his crocodile tears about ‘ neo liberalism was a mistake’… what a wanker.
As if he didn’t see the massive demonstrations at the time.
As if he didn’t realize what this would do to NZ society.
As if he didnt know what this would do to the NZ worker.
As if he didn’t know all the insider trading and the massive profits shifted offshore and the massive profits gained by his colleagues in the NZ Business Roundtable ( now renamed the NZ Initiative ).
What a total hypocritical cunt.
Him playing along with Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson , – BOTH Board of Directors of the Mont Pelerin Society of England.
What a piece of shit.
What a dirty filthy reptilian piece of snake scum.
Crack those ankles and feel good , people,… the awakening is happening.
And your about to be vindicated for every hateful thought you ever had against these wanking scum.
Apparently Canadians and the English own more property. Racism is stupid. Being worried about losing what we have is valid. I wish the 2 were kept separate.
Was interesting listening to the professor on Kim Hill Saturday who’s field is ‘electoral physiology’ talking about studies that show when people vote by postal ballot or internet they vote along more egocentric lines as opposed to actually going to the polling both. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201861544
Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet
WWF report finds 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets which put huge strain on Earth’s resources
‘The ongoing global appetite for meat is having a devastating impact on the environment driven by the production of crop-based feed for animals, a new report has warned.
The vast scale of growing crops such as soy to rear chickens, pigs and other animals puts an enormous strain on natural resources leading to the wide-scale loss of land and species, according to the study from the conservation charity WWF.’
…60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets…
That’s your spin on it. The non-spin version is that 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to growing crops to feed stock animals, which certainly is a stupid thing to do but isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet. So, not actually the same thing, but nice propaganda you’ve got there.
He did lead with: “Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet”
Is New Zealand’s pasture-based system included in the figure? If so, it would be even higher. Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is! Are you meaning some meat-based diets are serviced by hunting wild game? Wouldn’t be a very big %
Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is!
So, pasture and crops both reduce biodiversity. Which means the issue isn’t that a meat-based diet reduces biodiversity, it’s that having 7 billion-plus people on the planet reduces biodiversity.
Meat-eating necessitates a loss of diversity. Plant eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly, at least over that which exists presently. A mixed, managed woodland that’s filled with edible perennials and a sprinkling of annual vegetables would do it As to population management, that’s a whole other story.
I expect meat-eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly as well. The problems are that we aren’t doing that either for plants or livestock, and we have way too many people to do it for everyone anyway. Whether people eat meat or not is of little relevance.
Pedantry!!!
Most lightly populated.
Least populated.
Most unpopulated.
Emptiest of people.
Quietest.
Most thinly populated.
Least peopled.
In any case, “least sparsely populated” means the opposite of what might have been intended (by my reckoning
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The landedAnd the wealthyAnd the piousAnd the healthyAnd the straight onesAnd the pale onesAnd we only mean the male ones!If you're all of the above, then you're ok!As we build a new tomorrow here today!Lyrics Glenn Slater and Allan Menken.Ah, Democracy - can you smell it?It's presently a sulphurous odour, ...
US President Donald Trump’s unconventional methods of conducting international relations will compel the next federal government to reassess whether the United States’ presence in the region and its security assurances provide a reliable basis for ...
Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated. Neither side is in a position to achieve its stated objectives through military force. But now there is significant diplomatic activity as well. Ukraine has agreed to ...
One of the first aims of the United States’ new Department of Government Efficiency was shutting down USAID. By 6 February, the agency was functionally dissolved, its seal missing from its Washington headquarters. Amid the ...
If our strategic position was already challenging, it just got worse. Reliability of the US as an ally is in question, amid such actions by the Trump administration as calling for annexation of Canada, threating ...
Small businesses will be exempt from complying with some of the requirements of health and safety legislation under new reforms proposed by the Government. The living wage will be increased to $28.95 per hour from September, a $1.15 increase from the current $27.80. A poll has shown large opposition to ...
Summary A group of senior doctors in Nelson have spoken up, specifically stating that hospitals have never been as bad as in the last year.Patients are waiting up to 50 hours and 1 death is directly attributable to the situation: "I've never seen that number of patients waiting to be ...
Although semiconductor chips are ubiquitous nowadays, their production is concentrated in just a few countries, and this has left the US economy and military highly vulnerable at a time of rising geopolitical tensions. While the ...
Health and Safety changes driven by ACT party ideology, not evidence said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. Changes to health and safety legislation proposed by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden today comply with ACT party ideology, ignores the evidence, and will compound New ...
In short in our political economy this morning:Fletcher Building is closing its pre-fabricated house-building factory in Auckland due to a lack of demand, particularly from the Government.Health NZ is sending a crisis management team to Nelson Hospital after a 1News investigation exposed doctors’ fears that nearly 500 patients are overdue ...
Exactly 10 years ago, the then minister for defence, Kevin Andrews, released the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence (FPR). With increasing talk about the rising possibility of major power-conflict, calls for Defence funding to ...
In events eerily similar to what happened in the USA last week, Greater Auckland was recently accidentally added to a group chat between government ministers on the topic of transport.We have no idea how it happened, but luckily we managed to transcribe most of what transpired. We share it ...
Hi,When I look back at my history with Dylan Reeve, it’s pretty unusual. We first met in the pool at Kim Dotcom’s mansion, as helicopters buzzed overhead and secret service agents flung themselves off the side of his house, abseiling to the ground with guns drawn.Kim Dotcom was a German ...
Come around for teaDance me round and round the kitchenBy the light of my T.VOn the night of the electionAncient stars will fall into the seaAnd the ocean floor sings her sympathySongwriter: Bic Runga.The Prime Minister stared into the camera, hot and flustered despite the predawn chill. He looked sadly ...
Has Winston Peters got a ferries deal for you! (Buyer caution advised.) Unfortunately, the vision that Peters has been busily peddling for the past 24 hours – of several shipyards bidding down the price of us getting smaller, narrower, rail-enabled ferries – looks more like a science fiction fantasy. One ...
Completed reads for March: The Heart of the Antarctic [1907-1909], by Ernest Shackleton South [1914-1917], by Ernest Shackleton Aurora Australis (collection), edited by Ernest Shackleton The Book of Urizen (poem), by William Blake The Book of Ahania (poem), by William Blake The Book of Los (poem), by William Blake ...
First - A ReminderBenjamin Doyle Doesn’t Deserve ThisI’ve been following posts regarding Green MP Benjamin Doyle over the last few days, but didn’t want to amplify the abject nonsense.This morning, Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, answered the alt-right’s prayers - guaranteeing amplification of the topic, by going on ...
US President Donald Trump has shown a callous disregard for the checks and balances that have long protected American democracy. As the self-described ‘king’ makes a momentous power grab, much of the world watches anxiously, ...
They can be the very same words. And yet their meaning can vary very much.You can say I'll kill him about your colleague who accidentally deleted your presentation the day before a big meeting.You can say I'll kill him to — or, for that matter, about — Tony Soprano.They’re the ...
Back in 2020, the then-Labour government signed contracted for the construction and purchase of two new rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries, to be operational from 2026. But when National took power in 2023, they cancelled them in a desperate effort to make the books look good for a year. And now ...
The fragmentation of cyber regulation in the Indo-Pacific is not just inconvenient; it is a strategic vulnerability. In recent years, governments across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, have moved to reform their regulatory frameworks for cyber ...
Welcome to the March 2025 Economic Bulletin. The feature article examines what public private partnerships (PPPs) are. PPPs have been a hot topic recently, with the coalition government signalling it wants to use them to deliver infrastructure. However, experience with PPPs, both here and overseas, indicates we should be wary. ...
Willis announces more plans of plans for supermarketsYesterday’s much touted supermarket competition announcement by Nicola Willis amounted to her telling us she was issuing a 6 week RFI1 that will solicit advice from supermarket players.In short, it was an announcement of a plan - but better than her Kiwirail Interislander ...
This was the post I was planning to write this morning to mark Orr’s final day. That said, if the underlying events – deliberate attempts to mislead Parliament – were Orr’s doing, the post is more about the apparent uselessness of Parliament (specifically the Finance and Expenditure Committee) in holding ...
Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC’s plan to build a plant in the United States looks like a move made at the behest of local officials to solidify US support for Taiwan. However, it may eventually lessen ...
This is a Guest Post by Transport Planner Bevan Woodward from the charitable trust Movement, which has lodged an application for a judicial review of the Governments Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024 Auckland is at grave risk of having its safer speed limits on approx. 1,500 local streets ...
We're just talkin' 'bout the futureForget about the pastIt'll always be with usIt's never gonna die, never gonna dieSongwriters: Brian Johnson / Angus Young / Malcolm YoungMorena, all you lovely people, it’s good to be back, and I have news from the heartland. Now brace yourself for this: depending on ...
Today is the last day in office for the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr. Of course, he hasn’t been in the office since 5 March when, on the eve of his major international conference, his resignation was announced and he stormed off with no (effective) notice and no ...
Treasury and Cabinet have finally agreed to a Crown guarantee for a non-Government lending agency for Community Housing Providers (CHPs), which could unlock billions worth of loans and investments by pension funds and banks to build thousands of more affordable social homes. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:Chris Bishop ...
Australia has plenty of room to spend more on defence. History shows that 2.9 percent of GDP is no great burden in ordinary times, so pushing spending to 3.0 percent in dangerous times is very ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Winston Peters will announce later today whether two new ferries are rail ‘compatible’, requiring time-consuming container shuffling, or the more efficient and expensive rail ‘enabled,’ where wagons can roll straight on and off.Nicola Willisthreatened yesterday to break up the supermarket duopoly with ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 23, 2025 thru Sat, March 29, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
For prospective writers out there, Inspired Quill, the publisher of my novel(s) is putting together a short story anthology (pieces up to 10,000 words). The open submission window is 29th March to 29th April. https://www.inspired-quill.com/anthology-submissions/ The theme?This anthology will bring together diverse voices exploring themes of hope, resistance, and human ...
Prime minister Kevin Rudd released the 2009 defence white paper in May of that year. It is today remembered mostly for what it said about the strategic implications of China’s rise; its plan to double ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Voters want the Government to retain the living wage for cleaners, a poll shows.The Government’s move to provide a Crown guarantee to banks and the private sector for social housing is described a watershed moment and welcomed by Community Housing Providers.Nicola Willis is ...
The recent attacks in the Congo by Rwandan backed militias has led to worldwide condemnation of the Rwandan regime of Paul Kagame. Following up on the recent Fabian Zoom with Mikela Wrong and Maria Amoudian, Dr Rudaswinga will give a complete picture of Kagame’s regime and discuss the potential ...
New Zealand’s economic development has always been a partnership between the public and private sectors.Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) have become fashionable again, partly because of the government’s ambitions to accelerate infrastructural development. There is, of course, an ideological element too, while some of the opposition to them is also ideological.PPPs come in ...
How Australia funds development and defence was front of mind before Tuesday’s federal budget. US President Donald Trump’s demands for a dramatic lift in allied military spending and brutal cuts to US foreign assistance meant ...
Questions 1. Where and what is this protest?a. Hamilton, angry crowd yelling What kind of food do you call this Seymour?b.Dunedin, angry crowd yelling Still waiting, Simeon, still waitingc. Wellington, angry crowd yelling You’re trashing everything you idiotsd. Istanbul, angry crowd yelling Give us our democracy back, give it ...
Two blueprints that could redefine the Northern Territory’s economic future were launched last week. The first was a government-led economic strategy and the other an industry-driven economic roadmap. Both highlight that supporting the Northern Territory ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Nearly 25 years after the "corngate" saga, the debate on genetic modification is back thanks to the Gene Technology Bill currently in select committee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Brodie, Research Scientist in Marine Ecology, CSIRO jittawit21, Shutterstock Picture this: you’re lounging on a beautiful beach, soaking up the sun and listening to the soothing sound of the waves. You run your hands through the warm sand, only to ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Although New Zealand and Australia seem to have escaped the worst of Donald Trump’s latest tariffs, some Pacific Islands stand to be hit hard — including a few that aren’t even “countries”. The US will impose a base tariff of 10 percent on all ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton both agree Australia should react to US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff regime by continuing to seek a special deal. They just disagree about which of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher, Digital Literacy and Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer met with Adolescence writer Jack Thorne to discuss adolescent safety at Downing Street on Monday. Jack Taylor/ GettyImages Netflix’s Adolescence has ignited global debate. ...
By Anneke Smith,RNZ News political reporter A stoush between the Chief Human Rights Commissioner and a Jewish community leader has flared up following a showdown at Parliament. Appearing before a parliamentary select committee today, Dr Stephen Rainbow was asked about his recent apology for incorrect comments he made about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rakesh Gupta, Associate Professor of Accounting & Finance, Charles Darwin University US President Donald Trump’s new trade war will not only send shockwaves through the global economy – it also upsets efforts to tackle the urgent issue of climate change. Trump has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Toohey, Professor of Law, UNSW Sydney It had the hallmarks of a reality TV cliffhanger. Until recently, many people had never even heard of tariffs. Now, there’s been rolling live international coverage of so-called “Liberation Day”, as US President Donald Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Fuller, Clinical Trials Director, Department of Endocrinology, RPA Hospital, University of Sydney mavo/Shutterstock In the ever-changing wellness industry, one diet obsession has captured and held TikTok’s attention: protein. Whether it’s sharing snaps of protein-packed meals or giving tutorials to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Maslow, Associate Professor, International Relations, University of Tokyo Two months into US President Donald Trump’s second term, the liberal international order is on life support. Alliances and multilateral institutions are now seen by the United States as burdens. Europe and ...
Starving public services of resources, gutting the workforce and then proposing private market solutions has been a key strategy of this government, says Vanessa Cole, spokesperson for Public Housing Futures. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
The government’s own Regulatory Impact Statement acknowledges that organic producers will bear the financial burden of adapting to the risks posed by GMO expansion. ...
The committee has "rammed it through with outrageous haste", with a report now expected tomorrow, but excluding thousands of submissions, Duncan Webb says. ...
The US president’s sweeping programme of global tariffs will hit every country abroad, including New Zealand, and dramatically raise prices at home. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here.In a dramatic, flag-draped address from the White ...
Alex Casey talks to Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi, the couple who launched a project to change 51 lives in honour of those lost in the Christchurch mosque attacks. When Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi walked into Naeem’s house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, they knew immediately that he needed their help. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Professor of Trade Law, Taxation and Climate Change, Queensland University of Technology US President Donald Trump has imposed a range of tariffs on all products entering the US market, with Australian exports set to face a 10% tariff, effective April ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Shutterstock Recent media coverage in the Nine newspapers highlights a surge in non-medical ultrasound providers offering “reassurance ultrasounds” to expectant parents. The service has resulted in serious harms, such as misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies and ...
The three MPs whose rule-breaking haka caught the world’s attention didn’t attend their scheduled hearing yesterday. Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis has the rundown of what happened, why, and what’s likely to come next. I see Te Pāti Māori and the privileges committee are in some sort of stand-off – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Turner, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University The Eurasian and North American tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland.Nido Huebl/Shutterstock Earth is the only known planet which has plate tectonics today. The constant movement of these giant slabs of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Meta has stolen millions of books to train its AI, including books by kaituhi Māori. What does that mean for mātauranga and its status as taonga? New Zealand authors are among the millions whose books have been pirated and scraped by Meta to train its AI. The New Zealand Society of ...
Some hoped the open of the New Zealand markets would open with a bounce as certain tariffs fell short of the worst-case scenario, but investors were met with a deflated thud.The New Zealand market fell immediately as stock market darling Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s shares were punished, with no update ...
Healthcare dominated the debate in an unusually sober and serious question time. “Hey David!” a group of high school students in the public gallery called out as Act leader David Seymour entered the debating chamber. Standing in the middle of the floor, before any other MPs had arrived, he happily ...
I’ve a $20 bet since March that Trump will be out of the Whitehouse by Christmas.
I read that Muller is now briefing senior officials (unimplicated ones).
Is this a sign that my $20 is safe?
Is there Book on it?
I think your bet is lost. Trump is currently the favourite candidate to win the presidency in 2020. (that said he is the incumbent and we do not know who will be running against him from the Democratic side. He is though a long shot to be out of office by the end of the year. http://www.betfair.com
It was more than nine months from the Saturday Night Massacre to Nixon’s resignation – and we haven’t yet had an equivalent to it in terms of open blatant misconduct for the express purpose of saving his own skin. Firing Comey didn’t come close. These things move slowly. Even if Mueller already has the evidence to put the Chump away for the rest of his life, Christmas is way too soon for anything to have happened.
The NZ First and Green Party caucuses are divided markedly by gender. NZF’s 9 MPs includes 2 women and the GP 8 MPs include 2 men;
NZF MPs:
1 Rt Hon Winston Peters
2 Ron Mark
3 Tracey Martin
4 Fletcher Tabuteau
5 Darroch Ball
6 Clayton Mitchell
7 Mark Patterson
8 Shane Jones
9 Jenny Marcroft
GP MPs:
James Shaw (Wellington Central)
Marama Davidson (Tamaki Makaurau)
Julie Anne Genter (Mt Albert)
Eugenie Sage (Port Hills)
Gareth Hughes (East Coast)
Jan Logie (Mana)
Chlöe Swarbrick (Maungakiekie)
Golriz Ghahraman (Te Atatu)
Half the GP caucus are based in Auckland. The NZF caucus tends to have more links with regions outside Auckland.
NZF could negotiate a coalition with either Nats or Labour, but they could also opt to sit on the cross benches, abstain from confidence and supply votes, and allow the Nats to run a minority government.
Interesting, there is balance to be found there
Hold it Sister: the GP did not win any electoral seats. The way you displayed the two lists is misleading. You seem to suggest that all the NZ F are list and the GP are electoral.
Please correct it.
Say what? the only differences is that the GP list numbers did not copy. They are at the link. But I would need to add each number individually. Is that really necessary?
The NZF numbers copied with the names from a straight copy and paste. Not my fault, and otherwise there is no indication I’m saying the GP MPs are electorate MPs.
I would have thought the point of showing the GP locations/electorates was because of the comment about the number of Ak MPs.
Would the governor General accept a government that could not show that it had 51% support in the house?
My pick is that English would prefer another election to leading a minority government that could be out-voted on anything other than confidence and supply.
The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs.
National continue to show a disdain for democracy, they’ve not diversified the economy, they’ve gutted crucial areas like health, education and housing whilst selling out nz.
So personally I’d like to see them wear this one with Peters sniping away making them own the damage they’ve caused.
Bill can manage that rockstar economy they’ve been blathering on about so there’s a challenge for the DP acolytes.
Oh yeah, the Rock Star Economy:
“Sell your soul to the company. They’re all waiting there to sell plastic wares…”
It’s not in their hands, though. If Mr. English can’t accept a deal with NZ First (assuming he is even in a position to make one), then NZ First has other options before a new election is called, and English’s most likely immediate destination is opposition.
Ab 100%
I see it this way to.
As we know National is under corporate control (English accompanied Key to the 2011/12 Bilderberg Group annual meeting) and since then has to deliver what they need to complete their mission out, in total control as you say correctly.
“The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs”
Interesting. But expecting Lab/NZF govt with Gs giving cross-bench support. Re-election would potentially strengthen nzf n G hands, as social electioneering would stand solid. Gnats must fold. Transition is safe and on-track.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/97629437/exclusive-brethren-supreme-leader-bruce-hales-in-nz-to-curb-wicked-behaviour
No doubt co-incidental that one of the Nats backers is having a big-wig conference now as well.
:A white-shirted church member at the gate, Eddy Suckling, said it was “just a church conference”.
“There are a few from around the regions that have come in, just locals,” he said.
Suckling was unable to say how many people were inside, but cars were forced to park on the grass surrounding the 200-plus car park alongside the hall.
At least 15 white buses were lined up, as well as more than 20 white vans. Shiny white SUVs and utes filled the adjacent streets.”
I wonder what Don Brash is up to this weekend
Brash was on Radio live an hour ago with some other right wing nutters.
surely not… lmao
I’m learning all the time, and found this article about difference between a Coalition government and Confidence & Supply one, very informative. However, are there rules within a NZ context which defines what legislation other than budget expenditure that gets passed with C&S?
Anyone want to make the argument that Bitcoin is actually a good and useful thing?
To me, it looks like the ultimate example of a thing that only has value because a bunch of people delude themselves it has value.
Bitcoin is not like fiat money, which in many ways is backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion.
Even gold and diamonds, while they are way overvalued because people are attracted by shiny things, actually have particular properties that make them useful.
But it looks to me like a bitcoin is nothing more than a certificate of gratuitously wasted computing time and electricity. See this article to illustrate how much goes into this waste.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/why-the-biggest-bitcoin-mines-are-in-china
Works if you are a criminal seeking to evade tax, or evade all state scrutiny.
The Chinese government is on to them.
“To me, it looks like the ultimate example of a thing that only has value because a bunch of people delude themselves it has value”
Sounds like it has that in common with the share market to me.
And the issuing state’s economy.
BitCoin is a perfect example of why bank money was actually made illegal. What happens, and we know this from history, is that multiple companies start making their own currency that a) isn’t universally accepted and b) creates far too much money for the economy.
Of course, that latter part is happening now as the private banks create huge amounts of money pushing up house prices.
Worth a read
https://e-tangata.co.nz/news/veronica-tawhai-building-hope-that-there-can-be-change
Awesome wahine toa
I once knew her parents; awesome people and I’m chuffed to read of their daughter. Thanks marty.
Thank’s Marty. That’s a web site I’ll now visit regularly.
Thanks so much for that link. Excellent read and site, now bookmarked etc for the future.
Slow clap for du Plessis-Allan and her unilluminating ‘me me me’ Winston Peters nonsense in the Herald this morning. Served up in vintage, passive-aggressive du Plessis-Allan, sly-smile style.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11930019
From the top – “At Auckland airport this week, on my way down to Wellington, ‘ I ‘ bumped into a man from the capital.” Oh really ? Who cares how you get to work dear ?
Story is…….Winston will sit on the cross benches. Without even confidence and supply seemingly. Reasoning being that since first Maori PM’s not on……..then ‘Pfft’ to the flash job, the baubles, the government limos. Like no one else ever used one. I daresay du Plessis-Allan herself has greased her way into a few of those in her time.
You see Winston’s into “legacy”. But because National actually won this MMP election “fair and square” (at least in her FPP figurings), Winston should send English to the Governor-General vaunting a minority government, Wow ! Such “legacy”.
This would be Winston being “uncharacteristically responsible”. He’s going to (and should) cement in the “vacuum” of the last 14 days which [gulp] she and her cohort have snortingly bitched about for all of those 14 days. And the uncertainty will run for three lame duck years or until the sooner (inevitable) snap election.
The truth is that she and hubby Soper (“the man from the capital”?) seek to endorse the National Party’s perennial ‘entitlement’ burden. The National Party has served their vainglory for years now. Here’s hoping Mickey Savage doesn’t risk blowing his Shyte-Meter by passing through it this ‘Bazza ‘n’ Me Hate Winston’ nonsense.
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
Government is not fast food. It should be a well thought through thing. It has ONLY been 2 weeks.
This older generation better never speak again of the young folks need for instant gratification or bemoan their short concentration spans ( both of which are myths).
Pfffffff
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
My daughter works at Domino’s, and apparently yes they do. For some people, the fact there are currently over a hundred pizza orders shouldn’t make theirs take any longer to arrive, and the fact that the votes haven’t been counted yet shouldn’t make forming a government take any longer. Like the poor, the stupid will always be with us.
Learning about our new MP’s on Q+A, feeling very proud to have these two women in Parliament.
I didn’t know that Angie, Labours new MP used to run the Womens Refugee in Tauranga, awesome, maybe some of her ideas gained from knowledge in that sector can help NZ with the insipid domestic violence that touches most of our lives.
Well done NZ for voting in these two MP’s.
Prebbles last column bemoaning the power of one man. Irony alert anyone?
Prebbles? Or do you mean Rodney Hide’s last column in the Herald today? Hurrah!
Oops. I meant Hide. Of course they are interchangeable.
Both well past their use by dates! Many years ago had the ‘pleasure’ of having a lot to do with Prebble as Minister of Transport. Was not a highlight of my career in the public service.
Good piece by Rod Oram at Newsroom exposing the reprehensible Jacqueline Rowarth and her pro-agribusiness lies and disinformation about Monsanto’s Roundup poison. Thirty pieces of silver, Jacquie? https:// http://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/10/07/52025/concerns-at-okay-for-roundup-poison.
Rowarth is correct, as per her response in the comments thread of this Sciblogs post linked from Oram’s article:
The report aligns with the American Cancer Society that the IARC report identifies hazards, whereas the regulatory authorities identify risks, and then the regulations required to keep people safe.
The IARC just assesses whether a particular thing might cause cancer in some people if they get a high enough dose of it. They don’t do any work on how high a dose might be needed. The EPA’s reviewed the evidence out there and not found any to suggest glyphosate might be a cancer risk at any dose it’s feasible for a human to encounter in everyday circumstances. Maybe if you were to sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of glyphosate on your Weetbix every morning for 50 years there’s a chance it might give you cancer, but who knows? The IARC certainly doesn’t. Maybe you’d need to eat a kilo a day to have a risk of getting cancer – that’s still “probably carcinogenic” from the IARC’s perspective.
Thing is, all these groups involve humans and agribusiness isn’t the only interest group lobbying them. The organic food industry, Green politicians and anti-glyphosate nutcases aren’t honest brokers in this any more than Monsanto is.
I suspect if you sprinkled a couple of spoonfuls of roundup on your weetbix every morning you would risk ending up in organ failure.
Don’t try this at home, kids!
You could defend Round-Up on having a good GHG balance, but “safe-to-health” claims are shit-nuggets through a knowledge-filter. Tests on glyphosphate, may differ from tests on Round-up mix… and endless other hat-tricks to produce poison.
“You could defend Round-Up on having a good GHG balance”
How so?
Nothing’s safe for your health if consumed in large enough quantities, up to and including pure water. The relevant question is: at what quantity does it become unsafe? Anti-glyphosate nutters might be convinced there’s no dose small enough to be allowed to enter the sacred temple of their bodies, but the EPA has to take a more objective view.
An idiot might ‘think’ that’s the relevant question..
But it isn’t!
Can you figure out what is?
PS, looking at your history commenting when this subject comes up, you’re consistent in defending glyphosate
I would suggest you spend some more time looking into the revolving door, before citing the EPA
Widen the focus and stop pretending you understand the relevant ‘science’…you do not
Citing?
You don’t need to cite the EPA to understand the relationship between dosage and toxicity.
Please don’t bother answering this, you wretched fool.
No amygdala reference…
Dosage and toxity is not the question either
It’s incorrect framing of a relevant question
You’re a fan of censorship…well done..
I’m not!
Five sentences. Nothing substantive imparted.
One Two is an unfortunate pseudo I think for this person. Indicates a low standard of numeracy. And spacing things out like mod poetry and enigmatically saying why to everything – what a waste of space. Tell me something about some subject with a source that might shed some light on our concerns please.
Despite the misgivings raised by responding to the kind of person who puts quotation marks around the word science….
looking at your history commenting when this subject comes up, you’re consistent in defending glyphosate
“Defending” glyphosate? What next? Nigger-lover? There’s nothing to “defend.”
An idiot might ‘think’ that’s the relevant question.
Well this particular “idiot” certainly thinks the EPA’s job in this case is to consider the potential harm of using glyphosate as a pesticide relative to the benefits of using it. If you hold a different view of its job, you’re going to need to elaborate because I seriously have no fucking idea what you’re on about.
The Rod Oram article seems to cover the issue very well – it shows that there is spin and selective interpretation both for aand against. The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better. Poisons can have long term effects – some of the orchard poisons that caused long term problems in a Hamilton subdivision also caused reductions in fertility – but they did increase production so that’s all right – ? We should at least know details of both sides of the equation . . . and that may require another government.
Rod Oram writing a lot of good stuff at Newroom.
The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better.
In what way? Using axes and chainsaws involves health risks orders of magnitude higher than the possibility that someone might conceivably suffer cancer at some point in the future if they disregard the safety instructions for using glyphosate over a long period, and yet the forestry industry exists. X-rays are definitely carcinogenic, not probably, and at relatively low doses, and yet we still X-ray people because “net benefit.” It’s an entirely reasonable approach.
Trump’s fake news factory
This is what happens when private companies have free access to your data and you have no control over it.
If it’s on Facebook you have plenty of control over your information.
I’m not on Facebook, Baidu, Twitter, anything like that, and I have no loyalty cards.
But with my regular Google use they still know me pretty well.
[Citation Needed]
And they’re not actually looking at the information. They’re using algorithms to see if one person ‘looks’ like another and then targeting those people with fake news.
Dont forget push polling of which Joyce was quite the fan…
Push polling type question… would you still support Bill English if he was homosexual… type of thing
I almost start to understand why the US public does not want to relinquish their right to bear arms. With the enemy within, it is difficult to argue against.
Yeah, the next govt wants budget to counter lobby, eg. Front- n cross-benches with body-doubles n social PR unit.
Maybe we are all looking at the wrong horizon for direction how to achieve peace and a reasonable trade world. Perhaps the US, being only 241 years old and despite technological advance just behaves like a child throwing a tantrum which we mistook for strength? There are no Homers or Socrates in sight, neither short nor long term.
Draco didn’t National worms follow the same plan over this election? I don’t follow Facebook but I hear that it was happening.
Probably but I haven’t seen anything on it.
Trumps digital leader –
(around 2:35 into the video clip)
INTERVIEWER: I mean, what were Facebook, Google and YouTube people actually doing here? Why were they here?
THERESA HONG: They were helping us, you know I mean they were basically our hands-on partners as far as being able to you know, utilize the platform as effectively as possible.
When you’re pumping in millions and millions of dollars to these social platforms, you’re gonna get white club treatment, so they would send people, you know, representatives, to the Project Alamo to ensure that all of our needs were being met
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/905569823777796096
Another reason to ditch Facebook.
Facebook helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency with fake Russian accounts and ads from the country that were pro-Trump, undermined the Clinton campaign, stoked arguments about social issues, and shared fake news stories.
The platform also embedded Republican employees with the Trump campaign to assist with ad technology, according to a new 60 Minutes interview with the campaign’s digital media director.
Facebook’s response? Hire a right-wing outlet to fact check news stories.
According to a new report from Quartz, Facebook plans to sign conservative magazine Weekly Standard as a fact checking partner. Several outlets currently work as fact checkers for the platform, though all the outlets Facebook has signed thus far have been approved by the Poynter Institute.
https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-weekly-standard-fact-check-8dfc1cba987c/
Scarey when you think of what they are doing and why. Privacy has become a thing of the past. Those fake ads are designed to get you thinking the way they want. Bastards.
Just watched M.Moore in the 9TH Floor on ex P.M’s.Interesting opinion he has of himself .Seems he still regards himself as a real Labour man’,despite embracing Rogernomics and globalisation.Mentioned that Douglas still regards Labour as ‘our party’ too.Had some interesting quotes from Lange,Churchill and Lloyd George,but the underlying timbre of the discourse appeared to me that he regards himself as a man of destiny that was…unlucky.
Douglas Moore Goff Prebble Lange…
Where are they now… and after finishing politics
Who are serving society and who went on to serve themselves…
Apparently Pebble was on the telly this morning being asked for his reckons
Good god. Why dont they just quit pretending and call Alan Gibbs
lol. I’d have less of a problem if they were balancing it with left wing voices.
Josie Pagani almost sounded left wing on telly the other day
NOoooooo. Was that by comparison to who else was on?
Probably… was she on with Mr Mapp? I cannot recall cos I didnt watch for long.
Maybe Nandor needs to some writing/appearances?
He would be a very interesting political commentator!
I believe Lange is deceased as for the others …
Just dead inside?
Moore et al = delusional.
Probably because they can feel the chill winds of time blowing and can see the Grim Reaper at Monty Python’s dinner party : “It was neoliberalism!”
Is Kelvin Davis still getting political advice from Josi Pagani? I hope not.
Duncan Garner has written an article backing Winston on immigration after his experience shopping in Kmart.
It has provoked a lot of criticism and support on Stuff and twitter.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/97625919/duncan-garner-dear-nz-how-do-we-want-to-look-in-20-years
https://twitter.com/DuncanGarnerNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Bomber Bradbury’s analysis is excellent.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/10/08/why-duncan-garners-k-mart-checkout-metaphor-is-actually-delightfully-perfect/
Bradbury also writes this article
‘Why we urgently need to investigate Chinese influence over National’
‘The shocking reality that the National Party is little more than a front for Chinese business interests demands far more attention than it gained…
New research paper lays bare China’s influence campaign in New Zealand
Concerns raised over political donations and directorships offered to former ministers and relatives
Chinese-owned New Zealand dairy farms said to possibly being used to test advanced missile technology’
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/10/06/why-we-urgently-need-to-investigate-chinese-influence-over-national/
Garners a racist fuck wit.
Does Garner ever look around and think look at all those fucking Germans/Swedes/Russians?Polish etc.
No, he doesn’t because they’re White, Garners sees Black and Brown faces and automatically thinks Foreigner, not New Zealanders
He’s a thick as pig shit rat-eyed racist arsehole.
I agree with you.
And I think New Zealand needs a mature discussion about immigration, identity and infrastructure.
Gotta love those cheap waged imports , eh ?
Keeps the white honkey’s and the Bro’s wages to a manageable level , eh what old boy?…. keeps them in their place, – all those commie unionists and what not…
Lets the other crowd in to invest and plunder the proceeds back to their home country , eh old sausage?… bit like the bally old English did , … my these foreigners learn fast , don’t they , say what ?
Martin Bradbury’s analysis of Garner’s piece.
‘Rather than complaining about the racial make up of the people standing in line, the real story is why Kmart has been able to hollow out their staff for self-check outs. The economic system that exploits everyone shopping there is the issue, not the ethnicity of those forced to wait in line.
So what is this column really about?
A multinational retailer gutting worker rights to the same level of the sweat shop made products they import is crowded by poor people and migrants trying to stretch their dollar while a middle class white bloke happy to exploit the low prices brought about by globalisation hisses about immigrants because he has to wait in line with them.
To be honest, that kinda does sum up NZ almost perfectly doesn’t it?’
… ” middle class white bloke ” …
I think you’ll find that lot ( and others – witness the amount of Indian /Chinese exploiting recent immigrants from their home country and flouting our laws ) are only one section.
What we have here , – is enabled neo liberalism that sets worker against worker and unscrupulous employers reigning supreme.
I get a little sick and tired of wankers using the overdone cliched ‘oppressive white man’ card when every other bastard from every other race takes less than 1.5 seconds to realize an opportunity in order to exploit some other poor bastard regardless of their race .
I usually find the same sort of wankers actively encourage this sort of sanctimonious inverse racism because it suits their surreptitious pecuniary advantage to do so.
And if it was up to me ?
I would cut immigration massively and encourage taking on a much larger quota of refugees instead.
And not necessarily RICH ONES either.
That’d soon sort out all these parsimonious fuckers who like to play the race issue to further their own ends,… AND , – as well as THAT , – legislate an AWARD RATE for wages.
I can hear the wankers , the racists , the opportunist’s and the disgusting treasonous globalist shitters squealing from here as they kick their troughs over in panic….
The fuck with the whole howling , squawking sanctimonious hypocritical lot of them.
AND THAT’S ,… the power of balanced nationalism and taking a fucking pride in ones own country – and not being a doormat for FUCKING WANKERS.
Totally agree.
I would be very wary about agreeing with BM if I were you….
I agree with him about Garner’s racism.
But I doubt we agree on much else.
Steve Cowan, a true leftie, writes.
‘A dedicated cheerleader for the market economy , Garner won’t place the responsibility for New Zealand’s economic and social problems at the door of those who are really responsible- successive governments, both Labour and National, who have pursued economic and social policies that have led inevitably to more poverty and inequality and more division.
We live in a society where market forces and values have been prioritised over basic human needs and aspirations. But Garner would rather scapegoat immigrants instead – even claiming they are responsible for stealing ‘our dreams’.’
Yep , – its the same old blaming the ‘ little people’ instead of looking at the shit – for – brains neo liberal treasonist’s who created the situation we are in.
Meanwhile ,… as the veneer is removed , we see both the privatized media and the globalist National party for the supercilious fuckers they really are.
Relax.
The Jeremy Corbyn effect / awakening is well on its way.
That what I hope…
Me too…. but as I’ve said time and again….
Time is on our/ your / my side.
And that’s just what the far right neo liberal hates to hear.
They know its true.
I like your positive thoughts.

I get that warm fuzzy feeling every time I perceive neo liberal / treasonist scumbags suffering ,… sort of like ,… when you crack your ankle joints in the morning after a refreshing nights sleep,… you know,… that sense of ”oooo ”… mild slight dull ‘cracking ‘ pain but instant mobility and warmth in the joints…
Well ,… expelling neo liberals is much the same … mild pain at first but then a great sense of mobility , warmth and perception of circulation ,… a great feeling of ‘can do ‘ …
And that’s whats in store for us,… transcending the diseased state into the full picture of health once the virus is expelled… a little bit more , a little bit more application ,… and we will be all sitting around wondering what all the fuss was all about and why it took us all so long …
And that’s all neo liberalism ever was : a virus. An extremist far right wing virus concocted by neo NAZI’s and their sympathizers.
New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html
From CAFCA’s website.
‘Foreign direct investment (ownership of companies) in New Zealand increased from $15.7 billion in March 1989 to $110.8 billion at March 2016 – over seven times. As a proportion of the total output of the economy, Gross Domestic Product, it has risen from 22% to 44%. Ownership of overseas companies by New Zealand residents has not grown as fast over that period (five and a half times) so net foreign direct investment has grown over eight times from a net liability of $8.8 billion to $72.8 billion, and as a percentage of GDP multiplied over two times from 13% of GDP to 29%.
Foreign owners controlled 36% of the share market in 2016. In 1989, the figure was 19% and it was estimated to be below 5% in 1986.
At March 2015, they owned an estimated 22% of the value of all equity (shareholdings) and 26% of privately owned equity of enterprises in New Zealand, including shares not listed on the stock exchange.
Foreign investors owned 24% (or $368 billion) of net wealth in New Zealand whose commercial net value totalled $1.5 trillion at March 2015. They owned 27% of private net wealth. This comprised housing, land, other property, plant, equipment and financial assets owned directly or indirectly by households, government, non-profit organisations and foreign investors. New Zealand residents owned a further $215 billion of investments abroad. (These totals exclude shared natural wealth such as rivers, and human and social capital.)’
Brilliant !
And I hope the Moanday morning scumbag privatized newsmedia take notice ( as I KNOW they do because the lazy bastards look at these types of blogs to gauge some sort of ‘ public sentiment’ – I worked security at a major NZ TV network and was a fly on the wall, – to their detriment – like a ‘plant’ as it were …)
And I would just like to shove THIS in their faces for all the junior politico wanks who weren’t even born in 1984…
Here’s your fucking neo liberalism for ya,… and your fucking Ruth Richardson and her bullshit NZ Initiative mentality …
…………………………………………………………
Ken Douglas, then president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, recalled in the 1996 documentary Revolution:
The Employment Contracts Act was deliberately intended to individualize the employment relationship. It was a natural outcome of the ideological propaganda of rugged individualism, of self-interest and greed and the appeal to individuals that you could find better for you by climbing over the tops of your colleagues, your mates, and so on. Ruth Richardson was very clear, very blunt, very honest about its purpose. It was to achieve a dramatic lowering of wages, very, very quickly.
……………………………………………………………
There you go ,.. and Bolger the wanker crying his crocodile tears about ‘ neo liberalism was a mistake’… what a wanker.
As if he didn’t see the massive demonstrations at the time.
As if he didn’t realize what this would do to NZ society.
As if he didnt know what this would do to the NZ worker.
As if he didn’t know all the insider trading and the massive profits shifted offshore and the massive profits gained by his colleagues in the NZ Business Roundtable ( now renamed the NZ Initiative ).
What a total hypocritical cunt.
Him playing along with Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson , – BOTH Board of Directors of the Mont Pelerin Society of England.
What a piece of shit.
What a dirty filthy reptilian piece of snake scum.
Crack those ankles and feel good , people,… the awakening is happening.
And your about to be vindicated for every hateful thought you ever had against these wanking scum.
Apparently Canadians and the English own more property. Racism is stupid. Being worried about losing what we have is valid. I wish the 2 were kept separate.
I agree.
We urgently need a mature discussion about immigration, identity and infrastructure.
However, it just may be too late.
Hi weka,
I’ve sent you a message.
School holidays.
I’m bored ! ,… is the cry … send em along for a little bit of this…. or then again, perhaps not.
Alice Cooper – School’s Out (from Alice Cooper: Trashes The World …
TransCanada Corp’s Energy East tarsands pipeline has been canned and both the Keystone XL and Trans Mountain projects are on shakey ground.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/10/05/news/disappointment-and-delight-mark-death-energy-east-pipeline
http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/energy-east-death-pins-oil-sands-hopes-on-two-troubled-pipelines
http://www1.aer.ca/ST98/figures/transporation_facilities/figure_9_2.jpg
Was interesting listening to the professor on Kim Hill Saturday who’s field is ‘electoral physiology’ talking about studies that show when people vote by postal ballot or internet they vote along more egocentric lines as opposed to actually going to the polling both.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201861544
Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet
WWF report finds 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets which put huge strain on Earth’s resources
‘The ongoing global appetite for meat is having a devastating impact on the environment driven by the production of crop-based feed for animals, a new report has warned.
The vast scale of growing crops such as soy to rear chickens, pigs and other animals puts an enormous strain on natural resources leading to the wide-scale loss of land and species, according to the study from the conservation charity WWF.’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet
…60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets…
That’s your spin on it. The non-spin version is that 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to growing crops to feed stock animals, which certainly is a stupid thing to do but isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet. So, not actually the same thing, but nice propaganda you’ve got there.
He did lead with: “Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet”
Is New Zealand’s pasture-based system included in the figure? If so, it would be even higher. Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is! Are you meaning some meat-based diets are serviced by hunting wild game? Wouldn’t be a very big %
Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is!
So, pasture and crops both reduce biodiversity. Which means the issue isn’t that a meat-based diet reduces biodiversity, it’s that having 7 billion-plus people on the planet reduces biodiversity.
Meat-eating necessitates a loss of diversity. Plant eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly, at least over that which exists presently. A mixed, managed woodland that’s filled with edible perennials and a sprinkling of annual vegetables would do it
As to population management, that’s a whole other story.
I expect meat-eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly as well. The problems are that we aren’t doing that either for plants or livestock, and we have way too many people to do it for everyone anyway. Whether people eat meat or not is of little relevance.
Did you read the intro – the report said it and ed repeated it – that is the opposite of spin unlike your spin which actually is spin
the report said it and ed repeated it
Well, yes. That’s “your” spin as in “you vegetarian/vegan activists,” of which the Guardian is one as well as Ed.
Ok got it ,didn’t realise it was inclusive. The author of the article may be in, not sure about the media outlet as a whole though.
Edit yesterday’s news sorry now back to today…
24/7, it’s like Huxley, Time Must Have a Stop.
Map pron.
http://brilliantmaps.com/population-circle/
Interesting.
Inside the circle you will also find:
“The least sparsely populated country on earth (Mongolia)”
?
Why the “?” ? A quick google of “country population density ranking” comes up with this.
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=21000
That the worst effects of climate change are expected in a broad belt right across the most densely populated part of that circle is fukn scary.
Perhaps I’m denser than usual this morning, but shouldn’t it be “The most sparsely populated…?
I wouldn’t say denser. Suffering from an excess of pedantry, perhaps.
Pedantry!!!


Most lightly populated.
Least populated.
Most unpopulated.
Emptiest of people.
Quietest.
Most thinly populated.
Least peopled.
In any case, “least sparsely populated” means the opposite of what might have been intended (by my reckoning
I love pedantry and Robert’s quite correct. Most sparsely.
Asian are good in the lower back – but every thing sounds like fear-porn to me 9-)