Matthew Hooton has been interesting lately. He alleged without evidence that Labour has engaged in attempted manipulation of Ipredict but then refused to comment on a very clear example of right wing manipulation of the market.
Yesterday on Radio New Zealand he hinted that David Cunliffe had tried to sabotage Phil Goff last week by not providing him with a briefing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The draft costings have been in existence for a while and Goff knew in general terms what the figures are. The release of the figures last Friday had been planned for a while. I thought Goff just struggled to get the information out because Key kept overtalking him.
But Hooton’s comment was picked up by the Dominion’s Andrea Vance. And David’s Ipredict stock for becoming the future leader then suddenly plunged to as low as .20c before returning to its more normal level of .50c.
Hooton knows nothing about the Labour Party or its internal workings. David Cunliffe is an extremely competent performer and the only Labour MP who has continually bested his opposition. I am certain he would have the measure of Key in a debate. Yet this does not stop Hooton from claiming that the most damaging of a variety of scenarios is the truth. And then the media pick up on it.
The technique used by the right is really subtle, work in the background, plant an idea, influence the media, affect measures of popularity then voila the opinion polls back you up. Progressives need to work out how to respond to this.
I was also p**sed that Kathryn Ryan kept saying that Labour’s figures are under scrutiny yesterday – I think during the left vs right segment yesterday. i.e. part of the media following Key’s show me the money line, and continuing not to scrutinise Nat/Key’s figures as carefully.
Yes, it does seem that he knows that he can make all sorts of unfounded assertions without any evidence.
I was astounded, last night on iPredict, at the balls of the guy to make what would be otherwise unsupportable assertions.
As a National mouthpiece he knows that the quality of debate in the NZ media means that he can get his his wildly inaccurate soundbite out and the moderator/interviewer will not have noticed because they are not listening and busy reading the next pre-prepared patsy question.
Gee I just watched it and you are right, Hooton was appalling. I was particularly interested in his comment that Labour was heading down to National’s 2002 election support levels. Then this morning Ipredict’s Labour;’a party vote was sold down to .24c. It has since rallied however.
Maybe there should be securities oversight of Ipredict because there is a strong hint of some political manipulation going on.
He has repeated this same B.S. regarding Labour falling to the nats 2002 support for as long as anyone will listen to him.
Someone needs to remind him about the result in 1993.
Nikki Kaye on Back Benches last week did not look and act like an M.P. who was safe in thier seat.
Mm, this was interesting actually. Andrea Vance forgot the jounralism part of her job and it is a clear tactic from the right to insert some sort of wedge, at least at face value between Phil Goff and David Cunliffe.
Strange comments she makes appearing to have some insight into the Labour Caucus with her claim he has no numbers, I for one don’t believe this to be true if in fact that’s what’s happening, but from what I can see there is a lot of work happening between the Labour leadership and its senior MPs to deliver costed policies, that doesn’t happen if there is something else going on. Besides, I don’t believe any senior Labour MPs are stupid enough to put a possible left-win at risk given the split between left and right is only up to 5% across a range of polls.
The media has to do a better job before buying in to this kind of rubbish because it’s not about them, it’s about the voters and voters are being informed by media articles and blogs. The problem with this particular article is that Andrea did no work, rather just drew on Hooten’s comments about leadership and that’s unfortunate for her as someone working to develop her credibility as a journalist.
Goff doesn’t release policy without it being costed, it’s clear that’s his approach. Even if there were no pressure on finances, there would still be a full costing undertaken because he is not inclined to shoot from the hip. Hooten’s assertions are very unfortunate too, but tactically you would do it to destabilise Labour.
It’s hardly subtle with that interest free taxpayer loan to mediawonks, recycling rick at TVNZ and their good mate griffin at RNZ, granny needed little help as she was already out on the right.
Hooton snipes and talk over people then backs away leaving others to take up the case….nice work if you can get it, we’ve seem the hollowmen and what he’s about.
“We have struggled to develop a comprehensive measure of social well-being. We use a multitude of statistics – like mental illness, life expectancy, and prisoner numbers. But there is an increasing body of knowledge suggesting that the best indicator of social well-being may be simply the extent of inequality within a society. “
The platitudinous conclusion is prefaced by a load of old bollocks. The piece reads more like an attempt to justify the Fourth Labour Government’s contribution to New Zealand’s current political climate and economic situation coupled with a call to do it all again.
Key on Morning Report just now says that business people who think National doesn’t have a plan need to get out of their offices and go for a drive, as National’s plan is on billboards up and down the highway.
Amazing. Key thinks a few slogans counts as a “plan”.
It’s like we’re building a house and the architect turned up with a list on a piece of card saying
Walls!
A roof on top!
Windows you can see out of!
A door to every room!
Lets have a pool!
I can’t believe how inept the questions are. They are letting Key blather on and he is not answering anything. You have to admire his ability to constantly regurgitate sound bites.
Yes. And trying to listen objectively this morning, I cannot for the life of me hear Key say anything of substance. Waffle! And he still gets a free run!
Last Sunday morning the commentary said that the persona viewed on TV trumped the audio. Nixon beat Kennedy (?) on radio by virtue of his intellect but the same debate if seen on TV had Kennedy race in because he looked better.
Is this why Key refuses to debate with Goff on radio but is willing to do so on TV? In audio what Key says is pure waffle. Compare this with Phil’s TV performance late on Sunday night.
Key was quite keen to explain how he had helped the ‘underclass’ through these difficult times. We don’t know who these people are of course because we don’t have a definition of poverty, and the increase in GST affects the wealthy more because they spend more .. but National did help the poor by … not cutting benefits!. Now there is real compassion . . .
Now I know what’s on the Nat billboards the same shit as 2008, maybe some people with a little time, petrol and a video camera and go see what they can see and post the results.
. . . Having condemned his predecessor for many years for paying off debt too quickly, English said: “I want to stress that New Zealand starts from a reasonable position in dealing with the uncertainty of our economic outlook.
“In New Zealand we have room to respond. This is the rainy day that Government has been saving up for,” he told reporters at the Treasury briefing on the state of the economy and forecasts.
English pointed to a graph of the debt track since 1972 and projected five years out from today.
The recent low was 17 per cent of GDP and the ghastly projection for 2013 is 33.1 per cent and possibly worse, under what Treasury calls a “downside scenario” – 38.6 per cent.
Unemployment is forecast to rise to 6.4 per cent in 2010 and deficits forecast to be $2.4 billion to $3.5 billion larger over the 2010 to 2013 years than forecast just before the election . . .
. . . but, hey, why would an MSM journalist want to check facts? Too many of them have spent too much time saying National Ltd™ are going to romp home so its now up to them to ensure they’re correct. “Observer bias”, I believe its called.
Thanks for that .. lying with impunity .. it’s outrageous and those sycophantic journos don’t seem to listem to what he’s saying. No challenge, no rebuttal .. I depair!
Using the WFF calculator currently if you earn minimum wage with one primary age child and work a 45hr week you get $148 with a $15 minimum wage you get $88.
Would I be right in thinking that the $60 saved there would be the money that would go towards the extension? The minimum wage rise will make this close to cost neutral? Or will WFF push up with the minimum wage?
Using before tax figures I work out that someone earning minimum wage @45 hrs gets $607.50 in wages and $148 wff, total $755.50. @ $15 , $675 in wages and $88 wff total $763.
So unless wff rises not withstanding tax free threshold etc someone classed as ‘working poor’ will be less than $10 per week better off?
Very interesting. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought but of course it makes sense.
So really minimum wage increase will only individuals or couples without children, and families will have to rely on GST off FF&V and tax-free bracket (phased in) to get much benefit.
How long until National picks this up?
Also your figures are wrong. The current minimum wage is $13/hour not $13.50. So it’s $585 before tax not $607.50 for working 45 hours.
All my calculations show that if you work 40 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour. Similarly if you work 45 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage it will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour.
Italy can’t get rid of Berlusconi. They elected him as a celebrity figure and then let him demolish the controls on pan-media ownership that aided his personal interests, so that he was then free to have influence everywhere. Why should he go, he likes the publicity and notoriety. He doesn’t care too much about the stability of the Italian nation and people’s future And they didn’t take care themselves to seek out a serious-minded politician committed to policies and a direction good for the health and wealth of the country.
Health and wealth now that is a good slogan for a NZ politician to support. Will a celebrity such as smile and wave, once over lightly Key have policies advancing those for us all in his mind?
Even though 99.9% of my friends despise him! One of my friends on Facebook managed a truly impressive shite storm of abuse about SB’s government tonight! 😀
Maybe that just reflects the friends I have?
Hi Prism, there is a major bit of action going on in Europe that will impact this elections winner big time…in short winning this time is the kiss of death. The Euro crisis is unfolding in a way which will see the failure of the European single currency and the total insolvency of the banks (unless bailed out by the public purse in a m. This contagion will spread like dominoes falling into the US and Asian banks. Concurrently we see Brent Crude stubbornly staying too high which will stifle any “growth” initiatives anywhere. The Arab Spring has turned into an Arab Autumn with no resolution of the key issues i.e. food prices, there is only trouble ahead there and we can expect Saudi political turmoil when the banking crash wipes out their “investments”.
When National resume their role as government of the day they will be looking straight down the barrel of collapsing markets and prices, and contagious financial mayhem. Tax cuts wont be affordable and I predict the inability to borrow offshore will see them rolled back, along with massive welfare and health cuts. Welcome to the “shrinking” economy, permanent growth will be a thing of the past.
The failure of all parties at this election is their commitment to business as usual with growth as their universal panacea. Ill fares the land.
I’m with you Bored, and don’t know where that leaves me in terms of who I want to take Government.
On one hand, I’d rather the Nat’s took it on the chin and had to live with the consequences of their ideology. And I’d rather Labour & Green didn’t get labelled with it.
On the other hand, I believe the Nats ( but to be fair probably the whole Establishment ) possibly have more of an Authoritarian bent, so Depression and ensuing social disintegration could be even nastier in their hands.
You have a voice – vote and make sure it is heard.
Abstaining is not a protest, it is silence – a silence that will be filled with the voices of others or taken as consent.
I know… I’m just concerned with the consequences either way, I guess what I’m saying is, Labour / Green may be better not to inherit the implosion of Europe and then Wall St as a byproduct of it’s $4 trillion exposure to Euro Banks. Perhaps Key’s ideology imploding on his watch is preferable?
Bored – It’s all so cheering isn’t it. You could be interested in the interview I heard on Radionz on Russia and its businesses and economy and laws after the fall of Stalinism. (I don’t say Communism as I understand there was only a brief attempt at the real deal in Russia.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ldy87
Three businessmen tell Peter Day about doing business in Russia. William Browder was an investment fund manager in the country who campaigned, with some success, against corruption and left the country, having moved all his company’s assets out, in 2007. He tells Peter Day about his experiences. And two current directors of companies in Moscow discuss what they think they can do to improve corporate governance there.
Drying of northern wetlands has led to much more severe peatland wildfires and nine times as much carbon released into the atmosphere, according to new research led by a University of Guelph professor.
The study, published today in Nature Communications, is the first to investigate the effect of drainage on carbon accumulation in northern peatlands and the vulnerability of that carbon to burning.
“Russia, Indonesia and Canada all have abundant peatlands, but they also have been hotspots for intense peat fires in the past decade,” said Guelph professor Merritt Turetsky, who worked on the study with William Donahue of the Water Matters Society of Alberta and Brian Benscoter from Florida Atlantic University.
In pristine states, peatlands often resist fire because of their wet soils. “Our study shows that when disturbance lowers the water table, that resistance disappears and peat becomes very flammable and vulnerable to deep burning,” she said.
“The euro zone periphery was a sideshow. This stuff with Italy is the real deal. With yields at 6.7% and rising, it’s game over for the euro zone. The extend and pretend stuff ain’t gonna work.”
Key on Morning report- the easy problems are solved by others. the hard ones get to my desk
HA
SO THAT is why the hard problems are not solved or even have a plan.
Yesterday I read a comment that I’m sure was someone trying to parody the people they didn’t much like. It was excellently put together – a real collection of self-satisfied right-wing stereotypes. It even had an avatar!
Today there are people referencing talkback radio as a means of measuring poverty. It’s just too much. Between chuckling at the black humour, I’m having to second guess what I think are genuine contributions. My internet reality is getting distorted. Come on, admit it, who here is being the mischievous scallywag?
It’s good to see the fracking issue being debated in the mainstream media. Being that a poll recently showed the environment is people’s number one concern, it’s important that a proper debate consisting of the facts is presented…
“We have built a dangerous financial system in the United States and Europe,” said the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “We must step back and reform the system.”
Professor Johnson cited alarming parallels with October 1931, when “people thought the worst was behind them, but the smart people were wrong and instead the crisis just broadened.”
As EU falls apart, the cracks will spread across the Atlantic and quickly split our largest banks asunder dragging all of the American economy down to unbelievable depths of misfunction and colossal loss of entire generations of wealth. Commodities and agricultural land will be the only safe havens for smart money. Undoubtedly, wars will spring forth from this collapse. The next decade is going to rival the worst in the last few hundred years. The only uncertainty is when. How long will kicking the can down the road be possible as an avoidance
Why are people trying to rewrite the history of the crisis? Some are simply trying to save face. Interest groups who advocate for deregulation of the finance sector would prefer that deregulation not receive any blame for the crisis.
Some stand to profit from the status quo: Banks present a systemic risk to the economy, and reducing that risk by lowering their leverage and increasing capital requirements also lowers profitability. Others are hired guns, doing the bidding of bosses on Wall Street.
They all suffer cognitive dissonance — the intellectual crisis that occurs when a failed belief system or philosophy is confronted with proof of its implausibility.
And what about those facts? To be clear, no single issue was the cause. Our economy is a complex and intricate system. What caused the crisis? Look:
The main problem, of course, is that any global financial “correction” is inevitably going to impact most on those least to blame for the crisis and least able to insulate themselves from the ensuing mess.
It is always the poorest who bear the brunt of the blunders and excessive greed of the richest. It is unfair and will, I expect, provoke serious blowback for the suits this time around.
Has anyone from a bank or financial institution ever been indicted for the fraud that led to this crisis?
“A glass tower filled with people carefully selected for the polish and self-assurance that come with having been formed in institutions of privilege, whose primary attributes are a lack of consciousness, a penchant for deception and an incapacity for empathy or remorse. The curious onlookers behind the windows and we, arms locked in a circle on the concrete outside, did not speak the same language. Profit. Globalization. War. National security. These are the words they use to justify the snuffing out of tiny lives, acts of radical evil. Goldman Sachs’ commodities index….”
Brilliant piece from Pulitzer winning writer Chris Hedges arrested outside Goldman Sacs the other day…
RadioNZ Link
On the subject of Goff’s Top 10…key says
“The reality is that we have the global financial crisis which has been swirling around now for three years, Christchurch has had earthquakes, and he seems to be in a state of denial that either of those things have happened.”
He said National had done the best it could in guiding New Zealand through the crises.
He said National had done the best it could in guiding New Zealand through the crises.
Yeah, a crisis he helped create with his trading in vapour and making money of the backs of people who work for a living!
Time to throw the money changer out of the halls of government!
WANKER WALLOPING
Liz Bowen-Cluely thrashes David Farrar live on air
National Radio “The Panel”, Tuesday 8 November 2011
Ouch! Did anyone else hear Liz deal it out to that National Party stooge a few minutes ago, calling his attack on Robyn Malcolm “balderdash” and telling him to “move on”?
The glib one (Farrar) was reduced to silence.
The other glib one (Jim Mora) was reduced to cracking a lame joke in an unsuccessful attempt to soothe the scorched sensibilities of the fat bloke.
Why did she have to be so partisan?
How dare she express herself and try to shut down the type of pseudo-debate that has made us feel so comfortable in the past!
Public displays of passion like that is just oh so unbecoming for a woman?
Back to the kitchen I say – make me some eggs!
ps. Robyn, still waiting for that call – I’m still ready to carry your babies.
I don’t know Williams in any personal way so I don’t know if he is, by nature (i.e. by continued mode of conduct and belief), a racist.
I think the use of black was a descriptor rather than a pejorative term.
He was not saying that he was an arsehole because he was black (which is racist – i.e. black people are by nature arseholes) but because of all the the arseholes in the world he is black. The use of black was to merely be descriptive (but it was unnecessary).
The world’s MSM are saying that he called Woods a black arsehole. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I think is a nice liberal enlightened idea, and in view of his apology and what others have said about Williams, he didn’t.
He said about his jubilation at winning was to show – “It was my aim to shove it right up that black arsehole”.
Perhaps the issue is rather about accuracy. Is his arsehole black?
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, described the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, as a “liar” in a private exchange with Barack Obama at last week’s G20 summit in Cannes that was inadvertently broadcast to journalists….
“I cannot stand him. He’s a liar,” Sarkozy told Obama. The US president responded by saying: “You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day.”…
The gaffe followed a press conference after which the two presidents retired to a private room. The conversation apparently began with Obama criticising Sarkozy for not warning the US that France would vote in favour of the Palestinians’ application to join Unesco, the United Nations agency for culture and education.
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“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Highly trained, armed police are a necessary tool in emergency situations, but roving teams eager to find work could be a recipe for disaster, writes investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel for RNZ. Police announced yesterday they are to introduce a trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Auckland, Waikato ...
“Proposals to curb environmental damage help our coasts and the oceans Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. We at CEAC also ...
David Robie, concluding his three-part series about Iran, profiles an extraordinary pair of Tehran brothers who have been pioneering global research adventurers. They have been dubbed the “Persian Indiana Joneses”. Their adventures are fabled and hair-raising, as shown by a Jivaro shrunken human head and relics from curious rituals ...
Four months ago Caroline Shaw bought an e-bike. She explains why they’re the answer to our lethal car culture.Four months ago we took what felt like a huge leap of faith and bought an e-cargo bike. The combination of three things tipped us over the edge: feeling the need to ...
The online magazine that boasted a bigger Instagram following than most New Zealand media has abruptly come to an end. So what was Auckland Mag? Why did it exist? And who was it mysterious founder Dan Rolph? David Farrier investigates. The reply from Dan Rolph at Auckland Magazine came quickly. It came ...
In the wake of the shocking revelations about Three, Duncan Greive assesses the health of New Zealand’s six big media companies.Winston Peters has studied the cold, pitiless heart of a certain strand of New Zealander for four decades now, and has become our foremost expert on both expressing its feelings ...
US justice reform activists Deborah Small and asha bandele say white supremacy and colonialism are at the heart of punitive drug laws. They spoke to Teuila Fuatai about how drug reform can reverse their effects on minority communities. Deborah Small sees Donald Trump as the US Dorian Gray. “He’s the physical ...
Madeleine Chapman spent a day learning about Christchurch through its most famous dishes.What is there do with with a day in Christchurch? Thanks to the inexplicably early check-out times at hotels all over the world and a 7pm flight back to Auckland, I had a full day to wander the ...
Winston Peters says his party is a handbrake on bad ideas and a "supercharged turbo" for good ones - but will it be in the driver's seat come 2020? ...
Our former prime minister secured a meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping outside all normal diplomatic channels. Interest’s Jenée Tibshraeny asks what it means for New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the superpower.Former prime minister John Key secured a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without the involvement of ...
David Robiecontinues his three-part series about travelling in Iran. I stumbled on the scene by chance. Our host family in Iran’s second city Mashhad, a modern and beautiful metropolis that would comfortably fit in New Zealand’s entire population, was taking us on a drive to the outskirts to ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the media, in particular, MediaWorks, just a day after the company announced it was selling off its television arm. ...
About a hundred disgruntled licensed gun owners have descended on the New Zealand First conference to tell the party leader Winston Peters that they feel like victims. ...
New Zealand First members will vote on a policy today that would allow businesses of all sizes to enforce 90-day trials when they employ people straight out of prison. ...
"Each time she held her lighter underneath the pipe and sucked the smoke into the back of her throat, the promise was there": a New Zealand tragedy by Alice Tawhai. ...
With the future of Mediaworks’ TV business hanging in the balance, Al Jazeera news presenter Kamahl Santamaria reflects on what the imperilled channel meant, and continues to mean, to him.I always liked the logo. The fresh bright colours, the nod to a koru in its shape, and just the fact ...
There are still many barriers preventing people from voting in local elections. Laura O’Connell Rapira proposes some social solutions.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.To vote in the local elections, I cast ...
What’s really stood out for me being back in Tokyo is the unique qualities of Japan’s spectators, writes Richard Light, professor of sport coaching at the University of Canterbury.The Rugby World Cup has thrown a global spotlight on Japan over recent weeks. Not just the rugby: the distinctive culture and ...
As the New Zealand First Party gathers for its annual conference, the question swirling in the year is how it can carve out a path to avoid electoral defeat in 2020, writes Jo Moir for RNZ. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s a familiar break up excuse that’s used ...
To the early intervention therapists, to the teachers, to the speech therapists, the occupational therapists, music therapists, diabetes nurses and all: you change the world.When I was married almost a decade ago we had the following reading at our wedding:You are holding up a ceilingwith both arms. It is very ...
The faces said it all. The smiles of the European leaders crowded round Boris after the Brexit deal was struck. The deal his opponents – no, pretty much everyone – said was impossible.So what’s in it? The detail is still opaque, but subject to gremlins in the fine print, ...
Iran attracts an onslaught of negative media in New Zealand and Western media. But is it fair or deserved? David Robie has spent several weeks travelling in the country on sabbatical and finds the media negativity far from the reality of the “most friendly” country he has ever visited ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan. They talk about Alan Jones accusing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of failing the immediate needs of drought-striken farmers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow in Geometallurgy/Applied Geochemistry, The University of Queensland Last month, scientists uncovered a mineral called Edscottite. Minerals are solid, naturally occurring substances that are not living, such as quartz or haematite. This new mineral was discovered after an ...
The Auckland-based collective talk origins, ambitions and making the rave accessible to everybody.Friendly Potential is an outfit that defies easy summary. They’re among the country’s most ambitious and prolific club promoters. In their almost five-years of operation, they’ve been responsible for the local debuts of electronic music icons including Detroit ...
Analysis: Two polls show support for Labour sliding, the government is accused of breaking another promise and the Greens's refusal to back a bill forces Labour to rely on National to get it through. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Lindsey, University of Technology Sydney One spring morning in 1850, over 8,000 Sydneysiders marched through town to protest the resumption of transportation – the act of sending British criminals to Australia. It was the largest protest in Australia thus far, an ...
Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses. ...
Sam Brooks recaps the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and wonders why some of these queens don’t know how to sew.This episode asks, and sort of answers the main question that millions of people across the world: why would you come on Drag Race and not know how to sew?!There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John M Clarke, Team Leader, Regional Projections, CSIRO Last month we lost Dr Penny Whetton – one of the world’s most respected climate scientists and a brilliant mentor to the next generation of researchers. Penny will also be remembered as a passionate ...
Ten moose were upended into the Dusky Sounds in 1910. Now, their descendants are getting their day in the sun.The climate crisis is affecting wildlife all over the country: rockhopper penguin populations are in drastic decline, tuatara eggs aren’t hatching females, and the ice walls keeping predators away from kea ...
Security footage of NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell being thrown out of a Tauranga bar looks unlikely to ever be aired - despite his leader Winston Peters promising a screening. ...
Amnesty International is concerned that Justice Minister Andrew Little's Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill could have the potential to undermine human rights in New Zealand. The Bill would give the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to ...
Expect the old campaigner Winston Peters to be at his belligerent best as he gears up for another election. He’s kept his party alive for 27 years and he shows no sign of quitting. The omens may be bleak—polls this week showed his party below the 5% threshold– but Peters ...
The National Party has agreed to take down any videos breaching the current rules around the use of parliamentary TV footage, as all parties try to reach consensus. ...
Recently the Health Promotion Agency released a report into hazardous drinking in New Zealand. The report shows that Māori who drink alcohol and live in deprived circumstances are less likely to have a harmful relationship with alcohol if they ...
Turkey-US joint-statement on military ops within Syria’s territory.The Turkish Embassy in New Zealand issued Evening Report this unabridged United States of America-Republic of Turkey joint-statement detailing what both sides agreed to regarding Turkey’s military operations within the so-called security zone within Syrian territory near Turkey’s southern border. It is ...
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash didn’t mention what winners will receive, when he proudly called for entries for a new public award “to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector”. Nor did he mention the cost to taxpayers of this initiative. Point of Order’s checks with the website where more details have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona R Martin, Senior Lecturer in Convergent and Online Media, University of Sydney One of the basic tenets of the ABC Act is independence from government. Yet once again, in contravention to that principle, the federal government is trying to push through ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Lily Holloway.modernity to globalisationwhen I get there as still life and landscape and also portraitureseeking the cacti in small pots who dot the globeslices of pie offer up the vision after the sermonexpressing emotions without coherent narrative supportbecause no artist responded to this callemploying ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi to rule out any taxpayer-funded purchase or bailout for Mediaworks’s channel Three. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “For the last few months Mediaworks ...
The Police Commissioner's announcement that squadcars of officers with automatic rifles will patrol New Zealand's streets is dangerous and unnecessary, according to the criminal justice community organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The ...
News broke this morning that Mediaworks is seeking to sell off, and even contemplating closing, its TV division. What might that mean for journalism?For journalism in New Zealand, the loss of Three’s TV division is a devastating blow. It is not yet known whether any of the news properties will ...
In our defence of our coalition Government policy on climate change, we fully support Government plan to use rail funding for rail infrastructure upgrades to promote use rail infrastructure for freight around NZ. ...
The billions of tonnes of plastic in our oceans isn’t going away any time soon, but innovative companies here and abroad are working together to find silver linings to this daunting problem.Fishing boats head out to sea and set their nets. They go back to shore. They head back out, ...
An EveningReport.nz investigation by Kevin ListKiwibank services. Image by Kevin List.Evening Report looks into the separation of Kiwibank from New Zealand Post, and considers the impact on the public’s access to banking services in their communities.Kiwibank. What’s going on? Kiwibank and New Zealand Post are in the ...
Local Government New Zealand today confirmed what many local election commentators have observed; that more of the voting public cast their ballots in favour of women candidates than ever before. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington (this week we totted up the data a day early, on Wednesday, to let our books ed. ...
New Zealand's mineral manufacturing sector is expected to face some testing times, with softer prices, tighter margins and sluggish export markets. ...
Portugal has been painted by pro-cannabis legalisation groups as a model to follow. Yet just last month, the mayor of Porto contradicted his previous pro-harm reduction position and endorsed reintroducing criminal penalties for drug use in public spaces. ...
Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short announced today the inclusion of six Cook Island First World War soldiers in the New Zealand and Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s official rolls of honour. ...
The latest statistics released by the Health Promotion Agency showing a dramatic fall in the numbers of cigarettes being sold in supermarkets, service stations, and liquor stores are being welcomed by the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ). ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.NZ First Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Where to from here? How NZ First will win in ...
Aotearoa Climate Emergency (ACE), a climate change network, will host a conference in Wellington on 11 November (Armistice Day) to promote holding a Citizens Assembly in 2020, as a way of breaking the current political deadlock on treating climate ...
MediaWorks’ owners have called time after years of losses from its TV division. Sources say the company will announce it is for sale – if no buyers emerge, it will close within months.Three is facing the biggest crisis in its three decade history today, as its ownership will soon announce ...
Sam Brooks reviews Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, an anthology series based on the New York Times column dedicated to ‘love in all its forms’. A first date that ends up in the emergency room. A flagging marriage that finds new energy through tennis. The founder of a dating app who doesn’t ...
If we want to grow support for New Zealand’s aid, we need to get better at partnering with the ‘unlike-minded’ as well as the ‘like-minded’, and much better at telling people what we do with the money they give, says Josie Pagani, Executive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Orsola De Marco, Astrophysicist , Macquarie University If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How are stars made? –Zali, age 8, Karkoo, South Australia. How are stars made? Well, stars are not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gita Mishra, Professor of Life Course Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland All women know to expect the time in life when their periods finish and they reach menopause. Many might even look forward to it. What many women don’t ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney Since ancient times, horse behaviour, and the bond between horses and humans, has been a source of intrigue and fascination. The horse-lore that has accumulated over the centuries is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Wallis, Lecturer and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland A move to the country is often presented in popular culture as an idyllic life, a place where you can escape the pressures of the city. It’s in television shows such ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The just-announced inquiry into Australia’s retirement income system ought to be anything but run-of-the-mill. Taking place 25 years after the introduction of compulsory superannuation, it provides an opportunity to either fix a broken system, or discard ...
Open mike 08/11/2011 
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...2 days ago
Dr Helen Waite, sports sociologist and former elite athlete, on the invasion of women’s sport by men and the anti-scientific and misogynist ideology used to rationalise it. ...2 days ago
As Brexit comes to a grisly conclusion (perhaps) people on all sides are saying intemperate and uwise things. Some, like the Daly Mail, have been doing it for years.People as normally level headed as Jon Lansman are calling for automatic deselection of MPs who vote against a (likely) Labour three ...2 days ago
On Wednesday, the government was loudly telling us that it needed to legislate to allow it to impose "control orders" - effectively a parole regime, but imposed without charge, prosecution, conviction or real evidence - on suspected terrorists because they couldn't be prosecuted for their supposed crimes. Today, it turns ...3 days ago
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...3 days ago
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...4 days ago
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...4 days ago
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...4 days ago
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Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...5 days ago
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We're rebuilding our hospitals, protecting our oceans, and taking mental health seriously. ...2 days ago
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...4 days ago
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...3 days ago
Highly trained, armed police are a necessary tool in emergency situations, but roving teams eager to find work could be a recipe for disaster, writes investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel for RNZ. Police announced yesterday they are to introduce a trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Auckland, Waikato ...9 hours ago
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David Robie, concluding his three-part series about Iran, profiles an extraordinary pair of Tehran brothers who have been pioneering global research adventurers. They have been dubbed the “Persian Indiana Joneses”. Their adventures are fabled and hair-raising, as shown by a Jivaro shrunken human head and relics from curious rituals ...14 hours ago
Patience was a key virtue as the All Blacks dismantled Ireland ...16 hours ago
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A new law targeting potential returning terrorists like Mark Taylor raises questions about human rights and whether the bill is being rushed. ...2 days ago
Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses. ...2 days ago
Expect the old campaigner Winston Peters to be at his belligerent best as he gears up for another election. He’s kept his party alive for 27 years and he shows no sign of quitting. The omens may be bleak—polls this week showed his party below the 5% threshold– but Peters ...3 days ago
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash didn’t mention what winners will receive, when he proudly called for entries for a new public award “to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector”. Nor did he mention the cost to taxpayers of this initiative. Point of Order’s checks with the website where more details have ...3 days ago
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New Zealand's mineral manufacturing sector is expected to face some testing times, with softer prices, tighter margins and sluggish export markets. ...3 days ago
Environmental groups are urging the government to crack down on commercial industries whose activities are harming the marine environment. ...3 days ago
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Matthew Hooton has been interesting lately. He alleged without evidence that Labour has engaged in attempted manipulation of Ipredict but then refused to comment on a very clear example of right wing manipulation of the market.
Yesterday on Radio New Zealand he hinted that David Cunliffe had tried to sabotage Phil Goff last week by not providing him with a briefing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The draft costings have been in existence for a while and Goff knew in general terms what the figures are. The release of the figures last Friday had been planned for a while. I thought Goff just struggled to get the information out because Key kept overtalking him.
But Hooton’s comment was picked up by the Dominion’s Andrea Vance. And David’s Ipredict stock for becoming the future leader then suddenly plunged to as low as .20c before returning to its more normal level of .50c.
Hooton knows nothing about the Labour Party or its internal workings. David Cunliffe is an extremely competent performer and the only Labour MP who has continually bested his opposition. I am certain he would have the measure of Key in a debate. Yet this does not stop Hooton from claiming that the most damaging of a variety of scenarios is the truth. And then the media pick up on it.
The technique used by the right is really subtle, work in the background, plant an idea, influence the media, affect measures of popularity then voila the opinion polls back you up. Progressives need to work out how to respond to this.
I was also p**sed that Kathryn Ryan kept saying that Labour’s figures are under scrutiny yesterday – I think during the left vs right segment yesterday. i.e. part of the media following Key’s show me the money line, and continuing not to scrutinise Nat/Key’s figures as carefully.
And this morning Stuff continues that line here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5923639/Labours-2-6b-plan-to-tackle-child-poverty
with the main page headline Labour’s $2.6b gamble
Yes, it does seem that he knows that he can make all sorts of unfounded assertions without any evidence.
I was astounded, last night on iPredict, at the balls of the guy to make what would be otherwise unsupportable assertions.
As a National mouthpiece he knows that the quality of debate in the NZ media means that he can get his his wildly inaccurate soundbite out and the moderator/interviewer will not have noticed because they are not listening and busy reading the next pre-prepared patsy question.
Gee I just watched it and you are right, Hooton was appalling. I was particularly interested in his comment that Labour was heading down to National’s 2002 election support levels. Then this morning Ipredict’s Labour;’a party vote was sold down to .24c. It has since rallied however.
Maybe there should be securities oversight of Ipredict because there is a strong hint of some political manipulation going on.
He has repeated this same B.S. regarding Labour falling to the nats 2002 support for as long as anyone will listen to him.
Someone needs to remind him about the result in 1993.
Nikki Kaye on Back Benches last week did not look and act like an M.P. who was safe in thier seat.
Yeah, have their own MSM channels, and implement strong public broadcasting with high journalistic standards.
We can’t expect anything different than today under a regime of corporate and money driven editorial standards.
Mm, this was interesting actually. Andrea Vance forgot the jounralism part of her job and it is a clear tactic from the right to insert some sort of wedge, at least at face value between Phil Goff and David Cunliffe.
Strange comments she makes appearing to have some insight into the Labour Caucus with her claim he has no numbers, I for one don’t believe this to be true if in fact that’s what’s happening, but from what I can see there is a lot of work happening between the Labour leadership and its senior MPs to deliver costed policies, that doesn’t happen if there is something else going on. Besides, I don’t believe any senior Labour MPs are stupid enough to put a possible left-win at risk given the split between left and right is only up to 5% across a range of polls.
The media has to do a better job before buying in to this kind of rubbish because it’s not about them, it’s about the voters and voters are being informed by media articles and blogs. The problem with this particular article is that Andrea did no work, rather just drew on Hooten’s comments about leadership and that’s unfortunate for her as someone working to develop her credibility as a journalist.
Goff doesn’t release policy without it being costed, it’s clear that’s his approach. Even if there were no pressure on finances, there would still be a full costing undertaken because he is not inclined to shoot from the hip. Hooten’s assertions are very unfortunate too, but tactically you would do it to destabilise Labour.
It’s hardly subtle with that interest free taxpayer loan to mediawonks, recycling rick at TVNZ and their good mate griffin at RNZ, granny needed little help as she was already out on the right.
Hooton snipes and talk over people then backs away leaving others to take up the case….nice work if you can get it, we’ve seem the hollowmen and what he’s about.
Excellent article by John Robertson in the Herald today
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10764414
“We have struggled to develop a comprehensive measure of social well-being. We use a multitude of statistics – like mental illness, life expectancy, and prisoner numbers. But there is an increasing body of knowledge suggesting that the best indicator of social well-being may be simply the extent of inequality within a society. “
The platitudinous conclusion is prefaced by a load of old bollocks. The piece reads more like an attempt to justify the Fourth Labour Government’s contribution to New Zealand’s current political climate and economic situation coupled with a call to do it all again.
Key on Morning Report just now says that business people who think National doesn’t have a plan need to get out of their offices and go for a drive, as National’s plan is on billboards up and down the highway.
Amazing. Key thinks a few slogans counts as a “plan”.
It’s like we’re building a house and the architect turned up with a list on a piece of card saying
Walls!
A roof on top!
Windows you can see out of!
A door to every room!
Lets have a pool!
I wouldn’t call that a plan either.
I can’t believe how inept the questions are. They are letting Key blather on and he is not answering anything. You have to admire his ability to constantly regurgitate sound bites.
Yes… a load of waffle from Key, using his down-to-earth reasonable and calm tone of voice – Mr Slippery PM of the long con.
Yes. And trying to listen objectively this morning, I cannot for the life of me hear Key say anything of substance. Waffle! And he still gets a free run!
Last Sunday morning the commentary said that the persona viewed on TV trumped the audio. Nixon beat Kennedy (?) on radio by virtue of his intellect but the same debate if seen on TV had Kennedy race in because he looked better.
Is this why Key refuses to debate with Goff on radio but is willing to do so on TV? In audio what Key says is pure waffle. Compare this with Phil’s TV performance late on Sunday night.
Key was quite keen to explain how he had helped the ‘underclass’ through these difficult times. We don’t know who these people are of course because we don’t have a definition of poverty, and the increase in GST affects the wealthy more because they spend more .. but National did help the poor by … not cutting benefits!. Now there is real compassion . . .
I though the interview was going to be gutsy from the first question AND THEY let him away with the plan being the billboards.
I honestly could not bear to listen! I spent most of the time in the bathroom… fortunately, not throwing up…
Now I know what’s on the Nat billboards the same shit as 2008, maybe some people with a little time, petrol and a video camera and go see what they can see and post the results.
Photo’s of bubbles bursting on Queen St banks – #occupyauckland Nov 5th…
Awesome – thanks AAMC
Thank you Campbell!
Key on morning report:
‘We inherited a sick set of books … deficit was 60% of GDP …’
And .. ‘1/2 of the $18b deficit is due to Christchurch’
True? or is lying again.
Lies, of course. Even Blinglish had to admit Labour left the books looking pretty good:
. . . but, hey, why would an MSM journalist want to check facts? Too many of them have spent too much time saying National Ltd™ are going to romp home so its now up to them to ensure they’re correct. “Observer bias”, I believe its called.
Thanks for that .. lying with impunity .. it’s outrageous and those sycophantic journos don’t seem to listem to what he’s saying. No challenge, no rebuttal .. I depair!
What this country needs is someone in charge who understands economics and the workings of the international financial markets . . . oh, hang on!
Half of the $18B deficit for the last one year can be attributed to Christchurch, yes.
But given that Key’s govt has run up a total of $37B in deficits since it took over, that’s a measley $9B contribution to a much larger $37B hole.
His 60% of GDP number is bullshit.
Solar…
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/11/07/362705/krugman-solar-power/
And NAct want to:-
1.) Build more farms rather than R&D and produce more valuable products
2.) Build more fossil fuelled power stations
Who are NAct working for again? Because it sure as hell doesn’t appear to be us.
Questions,
Using the WFF calculator currently if you earn minimum wage with one primary age child and work a 45hr week you get $148 with a $15 minimum wage you get $88.
Would I be right in thinking that the $60 saved there would be the money that would go towards the extension? The minimum wage rise will make this close to cost neutral? Or will WFF push up with the minimum wage?
Using before tax figures I work out that someone earning minimum wage @45 hrs gets $607.50 in wages and $148 wff, total $755.50. @ $15 , $675 in wages and $88 wff total $763.
So unless wff rises not withstanding tax free threshold etc someone classed as ‘working poor’ will be less than $10 per week better off?
Or am I missing something?
Very interesting. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought but of course it makes sense.
So really minimum wage increase will only individuals or couples without children, and families will have to rely on GST off FF&V and tax-free bracket (phased in) to get much benefit.
How long until National picks this up?
Also your figures are wrong. The current minimum wage is $13/hour not $13.50. So it’s $585 before tax not $607.50 for working 45 hours.
Ok, I used the IRD tax calculator and either you got your numbers completely wrong, or you’re deliberately lying.
http://www.ird.govt.nz/calculators/keyword/wff-tax-credits/calculator-wfftc-estimate-2012.html
All my calculations show that if you work 40 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour. Similarly if you work 45 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage it will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour.
40 hours @ $13: $16.70 inc WFF
40 hours @ $15: $18.70 inc WFF
45 hours @ $13: $16.29 inc WFF
45 hours @ $15: $18.29 inc WFF
The WFF benefit of $148/week stays fixed under all these scenarios.
Italy can’t get rid of Berlusconi. They elected him as a celebrity figure and then let him demolish the controls on pan-media ownership that aided his personal interests, so that he was then free to have influence everywhere. Why should he go, he likes the publicity and notoriety. He doesn’t care too much about the stability of the Italian nation and people’s future And they didn’t take care themselves to seek out a serious-minded politician committed to policies and a direction good for the health and wealth of the country.
Health and wealth now that is a good slogan for a NZ politician to support. Will a celebrity such as smile and wave, once over lightly Key have policies advancing those for us all in his mind?
Another example where unbridled corporate MSM as frakked the political system.
Even though 99.9% of my friends despise him! One of my friends on Facebook managed a truly impressive shite storm of abuse about SB’s government tonight! 😀
Maybe that just reflects the friends I have?
Hi Prism, there is a major bit of action going on in Europe that will impact this elections winner big time…in short winning this time is the kiss of death. The Euro crisis is unfolding in a way which will see the failure of the European single currency and the total insolvency of the banks (unless bailed out by the public purse in a m. This contagion will spread like dominoes falling into the US and Asian banks. Concurrently we see Brent Crude stubbornly staying too high which will stifle any “growth” initiatives anywhere. The Arab Spring has turned into an Arab Autumn with no resolution of the key issues i.e. food prices, there is only trouble ahead there and we can expect Saudi political turmoil when the banking crash wipes out their “investments”.
When National resume their role as government of the day they will be looking straight down the barrel of collapsing markets and prices, and contagious financial mayhem. Tax cuts wont be affordable and I predict the inability to borrow offshore will see them rolled back, along with massive welfare and health cuts. Welcome to the “shrinking” economy, permanent growth will be a thing of the past.
The failure of all parties at this election is their commitment to business as usual with growth as their universal panacea. Ill fares the land.
I’m with you Bored, and don’t know where that leaves me in terms of who I want to take Government.
On one hand, I’d rather the Nat’s took it on the chin and had to live with the consequences of their ideology. And I’d rather Labour & Green didn’t get labelled with it.
On the other hand, I believe the Nats ( but to be fair probably the whole Establishment ) possibly have more of an Authoritarian bent, so Depression and ensuing social disintegration could be even nastier in their hands.
Contemplating not voting…
You have a voice – vote and make sure it is heard.
Abstaining is not a protest, it is silence – a silence that will be filled with the voices of others or taken as consent.
I know… I’m just concerned with the consequences either way, I guess what I’m saying is, Labour / Green may be better not to inherit the implosion of Europe and then Wall St as a byproduct of it’s $4 trillion exposure to Euro Banks. Perhaps Key’s ideology imploding on his watch is preferable?
Bored – It’s all so cheering isn’t it. You could be interested in the interview I heard on Radionz on Russia and its businesses and economy and laws after the fall of Stalinism. (I don’t say Communism as I understand there was only a brief attempt at the real deal in Russia.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ldy87
Three businessmen tell Peter Day about doing business in Russia. William Browder was an investment fund manager in the country who campaigned, with some success, against corruption and left the country, having moved all his company’s assets out, in 2007. He tells Peter Day about his experiences. And two current directors of companies in Moscow discuss what they think they can do to improve corporate governance there.
Drying intensifying wildfires, carbon release ninefold.
Drying of northern wetlands has led to much more severe peatland wildfires and nine times as much carbon released into the atmosphere, according to new research led by a University of Guelph professor.
The study, published today in Nature Communications, is the first to investigate the effect of drainage on carbon accumulation in northern peatlands and the vulnerability of that carbon to burning.
“Russia, Indonesia and Canada all have abundant peatlands, but they also have been hotspots for intense peat fires in the past decade,” said Guelph professor Merritt Turetsky, who worked on the study with William Donahue of the Water Matters Society of Alberta and Brian Benscoter from Florida Atlantic University.
In pristine states, peatlands often resist fire because of their wet soils. “Our study shows that when disturbance lowers the water table, that resistance disappears and peat becomes very flammable and vulnerable to deep burning,” she said.
Related: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-07-largest-tundra-yields-scientific.html
Italy! Italy! Italy!
“The euro zone periphery was a sideshow. This stuff with Italy is the real deal. With yields at 6.7% and rising, it’s game over for the euro zone. The extend and pretend stuff ain’t gonna work.”
http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2011/11/italy-italy-italy.html
Key on Morning report- the easy problems are solved by others. the hard ones get to my desk
HA
SO THAT is why the hard problems are not solved or even have a plan.
Well, now we know how we ended up with a cycleway producing ~200 back office jobs.
So he’s saying his Ministers aren’t up to solving problems? Way to get behind your people there, John.
Are some of the commenters here real people?
Yesterday I read a comment that I’m sure was someone trying to parody the people they didn’t much like. It was excellently put together – a real collection of self-satisfied right-wing stereotypes. It even had an avatar!
Today there are people referencing talkback radio as a means of measuring poverty. It’s just too much. Between chuckling at the black humour, I’m having to second guess what I think are genuine contributions. My internet reality is getting distorted. Come on, admit it, who here is being the mischievous scallywag?
Fracking Earthquakes
It’s good to see the fracking issue being debated in the mainstream media. Being that a poll recently showed the environment is people’s number one concern, it’s important that a proper debate consisting of the facts is presented…
hey mickysavage. ipredict that kweewee will lose the election and ipredict that hooton will not get the vacant brt job.
Former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson says: ‘We Are Looking Straight Into The Face Of A Great Depression’
“We have built a dangerous financial system in the United States and Europe,” said the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “We must step back and reform the system.”
Professor Johnson cited alarming parallels with October 1931, when “people thought the worst was behind them, but the smart people were wrong and instead the crisis just broadened.”
Previously: The Standard 8 April 2009
And as one of the comments states:
Europe’s leaders explain: “We don’t want elections. We want to govern.”
What caused the financial crisis? The Big Lie goes viral.
Why are people trying to rewrite the history of the crisis? Some are simply trying to save face. Interest groups who advocate for deregulation of the finance sector would prefer that deregulation not receive any blame for the crisis.
Some stand to profit from the status quo: Banks present a systemic risk to the economy, and reducing that risk by lowering their leverage and increasing capital requirements also lowers profitability. Others are hired guns, doing the bidding of bosses on Wall Street.
They all suffer cognitive dissonance — the intellectual crisis that occurs when a failed belief system or philosophy is confronted with proof of its implausibility.
And what about those facts? To be clear, no single issue was the cause. Our economy is a complex and intricate system. What caused the crisis? Look:
The main problem, of course, is that any global financial “correction” is inevitably going to impact most on those least to blame for the crisis and least able to insulate themselves from the ensuing mess.
It is always the poorest who bear the brunt of the blunders and excessive greed of the richest. It is unfair and will, I expect, provoke serious blowback for the suits this time around.
Has anyone from a bank or financial institution ever been indicted for the fraud that led to this crisis?
“A glass tower filled with people carefully selected for the polish and self-assurance that come with having been formed in institutions of privilege, whose primary attributes are a lack of consciousness, a penchant for deception and an incapacity for empathy or remorse. The curious onlookers behind the windows and we, arms locked in a circle on the concrete outside, did not speak the same language. Profit. Globalization. War. National security. These are the words they use to justify the snuffing out of tiny lives, acts of radical evil. Goldman Sachs’ commodities index….”
Brilliant piece from Pulitzer winning writer Chris Hedges arrested outside Goldman Sacs the other day…
http://www.truth-out.org/finding-freedom-handcuffs/1320678254
Some more thoughts for today
I’ve got a goodie that would compliment your offering, but no flicker account… any way to disseminate you can suggest…
I don’t know if you can submit it to the Standard boffins and they can forward it on?
Oh dear, I’m sure it’s an innocent mistake.
Goff’s top ten list of government failings, which the Herald lists two of links to a video of John Key and Nick Smith talking about employment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10764588
RadioNZ Link
On the subject of Goff’s Top 10…key says
He said National had done the best it could in guiding New Zealand through the crises.
Yeah, a crisis he helped create with his trading in vapour and making money of the backs of people who work for a living!
Time to throw the money changer out of the halls of government!
WANKER WALLOPING
Liz Bowen-Cluely thrashes David Farrar live on air
National Radio “The Panel”, Tuesday 8 November 2011
Ouch! Did anyone else hear Liz deal it out to that National Party stooge a few minutes ago, calling his attack on Robyn Malcolm “balderdash” and telling him to “move on”?
The glib one (Farrar) was reduced to silence.
The other glib one (Jim Mora) was reduced to cracking a lame joke in an unsuccessful attempt to soothe the scorched sensibilities of the fat bloke.
I guess she’ll be banned!
I guess she’ll be banned!
Sadly, you could be correct. It’s a pity, as principled and eloquent confrontation is what that programme sorely needs much more of.
Why did she have to be so partisan?
How dare she express herself and try to shut down the type of pseudo-debate that has made us feel so comfortable in the past!
Public displays of passion like that is just oh so unbecoming for a woman?
Back to the kitchen I say – make me some eggs!
ps. Robyn, still waiting for that call – I’m still ready to carry your babies.
Anyone got the file??? I need a good laugh.
Bring back Bomber! but nice to hear the simpering gargoyle got a serve.
CV & Prism
‘Recreating Full Employment’ by Paul Dalziel – the most recent Bruce Jesson
Foundation lecture is now online:
http://www.brucejesson.com/lectures
Thanks Campbell L. Now I just have to get my adobe reader going and I’ll be away.
Yeah chur dude, most appreciated.
This is good:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/07/one-per-cent-wealth-destroyers
What is it about the Kiwi psyche that whenever one of us is under scrutiny for our actions that we immediately go in to defend for that person.
The latest is this Williams-the-professional-golfer’s-caddy.
Seems we cannot bear to think that his actions might have been wrong. As always. it’s the other party’s fault.
I don’t know Williams in any personal way so I don’t know if he is, by nature (i.e. by continued mode of conduct and belief), a racist.
I think the use of black was a descriptor rather than a pejorative term.
He was not saying that he was an arsehole because he was black (which is racist – i.e. black people are by nature arseholes) but because of all the the arseholes in the world he is black. The use of black was to merely be descriptive (but it was unnecessary).
The world’s MSM are saying that he called Woods a black arsehole. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I think is a nice liberal enlightened idea, and in view of his apology and what others have said about Williams, he didn’t.
He said about his jubilation at winning was to show – “It was my aim to shove it right up that black arsehole”.
Perhaps the issue is rather about accuracy. Is his arsehole black?
Microphones on – priceless.