Open Mike 09/05/2018

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 9th, 2018 - 109 comments
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109 comments on “Open Mike 09/05/2018”

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  1. Ed 1
    9 May 2018 at 6:39 am

    If you ever wanted evidence of the power of the military industrial complex, the influence of the Israeli lobby and the involvement of the Saudis in US politics , here it is.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/356918/trump-announces-us-withdrawal-from-iran-nuclear-deal

    Cui bono?
    1. Saudi Arabia
    2. Israel.
    3. The armaments industries.

    and

    4.Israel Folau and his mates, evangelical Christians.
    Armageddon just got closer.

    • Cinny 1.1
      9 May 2018 at 6:48 am

      Morning Ed, Al Jazeera are streaming live at the moment from Tehran as Iran responds to Trump.

    • Ad 1.2
      9 May 2018 at 7:07 am

      It is the armaments industries of Iran and Russia that will benefit the most: no one else in the world will be prepared to work around the sanctions now proposed by the US.

      Israel already has Iran on its border since it controls Lebanon through Hezbollah, has military bases and strong influence over the government of Syria, and strong influence within the government of Iraq which may increase this weekend through the elections. This is a world now with Iran unconstrained.
      Israel is no winner from this.

      How Saudia Arabia would benefit when it is trying to get enough money together from oil sales to exit oil entirely – when this decision by Trump will collapse the oil price yet again – is something you will have to explain.

      There are no winners in this decision.

      There is certainly no Plan B from Trump.
      It’s a decision made in his usual spite that he couldn’t stand a deal holding that his predecessor Obama had put in place.

      Why would any other state – such as North Korea – go into a binding deal with this President after this action? President Trump kills international deals.

      World peace is certainly not a winner in this decision.

      President Trump has a faster and better chance of ending the human world than climate change.

      • Grey Area 1.2.1
        9 May 2018 at 7:31 am

        It’s a decision made in his usual spite that he couldn’t stand a deal holding that his predecessor Obama had put in place.

        That’s exactly what I thought as I listened to the dangerous buffoon pontificating just now.

        He lurched between saying in one breath that the action against Iran was because of the desire for nuclear weaponry and then it was their support of terrrorism. Which is it?

        And then he said something like that he would not stand for US cities being threatened with nuclear weapons and that the US would not be blackmailed. Isn’t that North Korea he’s talking about, not Iran?

        • Ad 1.2.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 8:27 am

          – No UN reform
          – Withdraw from Paris climate agreement
          – Withdraw from Cuban agreement
          – Withdraw from CPTPP
          – Withdraw from Iran

          It’s a pretty weird world when the United States shrinks from diplomatic leadership so fast that the last rational states of any leadership note still standing are France and Germany.

    • mauī 1.3
      9 May 2018 at 8:28 am

      Cui bono, Exactly Ed.

  2. Sanctuary 2
    9 May 2018 at 7:12 am

    Trump said there will be “maximum sanctions” on Iran, and sanctions on anyone who doesn’t comply with US sanctions.

    Trump is an utter fool. The Europeans won’t withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. They will keep trading with Iran. Will Trump really impose sanctions on the Europeans to try and force them into line? He just might, he is that stupid. If he does try to force the Europeans into line, he’ll fail. If he doesn’t, he’ll be a blowhard laughing stock. Either way, US isolationism in this matter will simply underline the faltering power of the United States to unilaterally influence world affairs.

    • Wayne 2.1
      9 May 2018 at 7:49 am

      It is likely the European companies will comply with the US secondary sanctions. They mostly have far more to lose than continue trading with Iran, unless of course Iranian trade is their main business. For instance would Airbus sell Iran any aircraft if they then risked access to the US market.

      However, Russian and Chinese companies won’t comply with US secondary sanctions if they are hit by them. China in particular may well impose their own secondary sanctions against US companies if that happens. It seems unlikely that China will by any more Boeing aircraft. Airbus will be the winner.

      So the US withdrawal could easily trigger a wider trade war, and the US won’t necessarily be the winner.

      Overall the main effect may be to strengthen the appeal of China as a fundamentally more reliable financial and trade partner. It is likely to spur the Chinese push to make the renminbi a global reserve currency.

      • Anne 2.1.1
        9 May 2018 at 9:28 am

        So the US withdrawal could easily trigger a wider trade war, and the US won’t necessarily be the winner.

        I, for one, hope like hell the US loses big time.

        Can’t speak for anyone else, but the average American voter needs to be kicked over a steep cliff into oblivion – metaphorically speaking of course. They brought this appalling state of affairs on themselves and millions of innocents around the world will accordingly suffer.

        I feel sorry for those who did not vote for Trump but where are they now? It looks like some sort of Civil War is the only solution if the US is going to regain any form of international respect. At the moment it deserves nothing but derision and disrespect and I suspect in the long run that is exactly what it is going to get.

        • Wayne 2.1.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 10:09 am

          Anne

          Civil War?

          How about just winning the 2020 election, which is only 2 and half years away. That is normally how deficient leaders are dealt to in democracies.

          • Anne 2.1.1.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 10:20 am

            Figure of speech Wayne. I said “some sort of” Civil War. It doesn’t follow it has to end up with one side fighting the other with guns although ummm… this is the US of A. (yes that is a bit naughty)

            2 and half years away. Too long. God only knows what damage he will have done by then. 👿

        • Puckish Rogue 2.1.1.2
          9 May 2018 at 12:41 pm

          It looks like civil war because those on the left can’t accept that Trump won

          • Anne 2.1.1.2.1
            9 May 2018 at 1:45 pm

            Trying to conjure up an equivalence to National not accepting they lost a MMP election? Won’t work.

            The concern re -Trump is that he is unfit to be a leader of anything let alone US President. In short, he’s a screw loose and incredibly ignorant. He also has traits in him that could be likened to Hitler or Mussolini. Of course a large portion of the American population are also a screw loose and incredibly ignorant. That is why they voted for him.

            It is time they upgraded their generally poor educational systems then maybe these nut-bars wouldn’t get anywhere near the seats of power in the first place.

            • Puckish Rogue 2.1.1.2.1.1
              9 May 2018 at 1:54 pm

              “Trying to conjure up an equivalence to National not accepting they lost a MMP election? Won’t work.”

              No, I’m pointing out it looks like civil war because the left (in the USA) don’t/can’t/won’t accept Trump won the election

              “The concern re -Trump is that he is unfit to be a leader of anything let alone US President.”

              Says who? A media that doesn’t want him or the population that didn’t vote for him?

              “In short, he’s a screw loose and incredibly ignorant.”

              I suspect most of his act is mostly bluster

              “He also has traits in him that could be likened to Hitler or Mussolini. Of course a large portion of the American population are also a screw loose and incredibly ignorant. That is why they voted for him.”

              Or maybe because he said he’d lower unemployment and unemployment is lowering:

              https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-04/black-unemployment-is-at-an-all-time-low-but-there-s-a-catch

              “It is time they upgraded their generally very poor educational standards then maybe these nut cases wouldn’t get anywhere near the seats of power in the first place.”

              Thats quite an arrogant statement, right up there with deplorables, and a major reason why Trump won

            • Pete 2.1.1.2.1.2
              9 May 2018 at 3:01 pm

              Don’t rubbish their education systems.

              We used to hear how ours was world leading and hear the sneers and ‘what the hell’s that about?’ about theirs. Naturally we decided to copy them.

              It’s American, it’s great and Hekia would find some data to prove it so it could be done here.

          • cleangreen 2.1.1.2.2
            9 May 2018 at 8:36 pm

            Agreed PR.

            Give trump his due he sticks by his word, better or worse he does this better than most of our politicians do.

            The middle east is a very disruptive area to negotiate, as they often do the opposite to what they said they would do.

            Very deceptive political region they are.

    • David 2.2
      9 May 2018 at 7:52 am

      Yes Trump shows the naked truth of US foreign policy. It has never been about peace, ask the Palestinians. He is a moron but his speech was written for him.

      The problem now as ever is Israel emboldened to act and suck the US into furthering their Zionist ambitions.

    • DB Brown 2.3
      9 May 2018 at 9:06 am

      Agreed. The consequence of secondary sanctions will be that US will wind up with no mates. That’s not really good for anyone except of course the corporate military industrial folks who, I’d wager, will be needing a change of shorts this morning.

    • dukeofurl 2.4
      9 May 2018 at 9:56 am

      This was new Secretary of State Pompeos testimoney last year during his confirmation for CIA director.

      “With the information I’ve been provided, I’ve seen no evidence that they are not in compliance today,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

      and again
      “It was largely described in a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which said that U.S. spies “judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.”

      That was ‘before Obama’

      But the lies have already started

      But some U.S. officials fear it will, and they cite a mistake by the White House press office Monday night, which issued a news release saying that Iran “has” a “robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program.”

      The White House later corrected the statement on its website, but never sent out a corrected news release — blaming the mistake on a “clerical error.”

  3. Jenny 3
    9 May 2018 at 7:33 am

    “30,000 empty homes in Auckland: Is it time to tax the owners?”
    Newshub May 9, 2018

    There are calls for the Government to bring in an empty home tax with tens of thousands of unused properties around the country and even more struggling to find housing.

    In Auckland alone, more than 33,000 houses were registered as unoccupied in 2013 census data – some with residents away but more than two thirds listed as empty…..

    ……However Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford told Stuff the Government was not considering an empty homes tax.

    “The Labour-led government has a comprehensive plan to address the housing shortage including cracking down on offshore speculators and changing rules around negative gearing,” Mr Twyford said.

    • Incognito 3.1
      9 May 2018 at 7:47 am

      Maybe occupancy can be added to the LIM Report and be compulsory information to be provided at time of sale (and obtaining a mortgage + insurance, of course).

    • Jenny 3.2
      9 May 2018 at 7:54 am

      Related posts:

      Ghost houses and the invisible hand
      By: ANTHONY R0BINS June 16th, 2015

      The ghost house epidemic and the invisible hand
      By: ANTHONY R0BINS June 13th, 2016

      The social damage wrought by homes as commoditites
      By: ANTHONY R0BINS March 4th, 2017

      Dealing with ghost homes
      By: No Right Turn August 3rd, 2017

      • Jenny 3.2.1
        9 May 2018 at 8:02 am

        The Prime Minister has pledged that there will be no homeless living on the streets this winter.

        Bravo

        I would add to this – not when there are tens of thousands of perfectly good houses still standing empty.

        Jacinda Ardern pledges shelter for all homeless people within four weeks

        • tracey 3.2.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 8:51 am

          In motels and hotels I assume? At high costs? I am not advocating leaving them in the street

          • dukeofurl 3.2.1.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 10:09 am

            There are quite a few older motels around that have become full time renters.

            Normal Motels are rented on a day by day basis, but were always cheaper if you rented say for 2 weeks or more. If WINZ took a 6 month lease on a motel but provided the tentants it would be cheaper again.

            • tracey 3.2.1.1.1.1
              9 May 2018 at 10:10 am

              Thanks duke

              Have you seen the numbers based on how it is being done now?

          • patricia bremner 3.2.1.1.2
            9 May 2018 at 3:28 pm

            Our PM will do her best, and at least admits there is a problem, growing as NZers return, migrants still come and we are now suffering a building skill shortage caused by short sighted Nat policies regarding education and training.

            She has tried to get hidebound bureaucrats to be flexible and kind. And those Ministers concerned should pay close attention, as they will want to keep her confidence, and get the direction started.

            NZers are stepping up to the plate, offering help, and those in ministries who have not enacted the memos are finding the public going to a listening ear at their local pollies office.

            There will be big changes for those who will/can not change their attitudes.
            This Government means to change things… it will be a snowball,,,, slow but gathering strength and speed as more come on board. So some bureaucrats earning over $300 000 need to be sure they are following the new directives.

    • dukeofurl 3.3
      9 May 2018 at 10:05 am

      Its risky assuming they deliberately ’empty’

      A house next to me had the same tenants for 7 years and when they left , the house was put up for rent but was empty for about 6 weeks. Some work needed to be done as well.

      You would have to know those that are long term “empty”, ie say 3 months or more.
      Plus some homes are occupied by owners who have more than one home ( surprisingly common).
      My own house was empty for a while when I was renting in another city for work on a 18 month contract .
      I know a friend who rents from an elderly lady on the same site, she can be away staying with her family for 6 weeks at a time.

  4. Bearded Git 4
    9 May 2018 at 7:44 am

    Bridges is doing a marvelous job of making sure NZF will never go with the Nats in the future by attacking Peters on the rise in overseas aid and diplomatic services budget.

    (Incidentally, this brings NZ overseas aid to 0.28% of GDP as opposed to a world average of 0.4% and I seem to remember a UN target of 0.7%.)

    Peters was scathing in reply to Bridges calling National’s reaction “myopic”.

    • Ad 4.1
      9 May 2018 at 8:30 am

      And not explicitly supporting an electoral deal with Act means Bridges has a ballsy game thinking he can win an outright majority of seats with no coalition partners at all.

      • tracey 4.1.1
        9 May 2018 at 8:54 am

        He said as much in a recent speech. He said 44% wasnt enough they needed to get more. He then pretended Nats are becoming an environmentally friendly party… but

        Opposed end to offshore drilling
        Opposes reduction in dairy cows
        Opposes fuel tax rises under Labour
        Etc
        Etc

        • dukeofurl 4.1.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 10:15 am

          They are targeting the soft green party vote in wealthy national seats.

          It has two purposes, trys to get Greens below 5% ( and become wasted vote, a very hard task though ) and of course adds to their party vote if they switch to national.

          The winning double would be to get Greens and NZ First below 5%, say 4.5% each. Thats 9% wasted vote, plus the other groups that dont get above 5% could make the total wasted vote 12%.

          44% then looks winnable, and the only strategy that makes sense with ‘no mates’

          • Puckish Rogue 4.1.1.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 10:20 am

            Will be easier to get NZFirst under 5% than the Greens but Labour is helping by taking Green votes for themselves

          • Incognito 4.1.1.1.2
            9 May 2018 at 2:00 pm

            In other words, turn MMP into FPP through underarm and middle finger actions.

            • Puckish Rogue 4.1.1.1.2.1
              9 May 2018 at 3:04 pm

              I think, like gorse, possums rabbits and other undesirables, you’ll never get rid of the Greens but NZFirst will be gone eventually

      • bwaghorn 4.1.2
        9 May 2018 at 10:28 am

        Your forgetting NZF has the snake Jones in it . If Winston leaves next election it’s all on.

        • Puckish Rogue 4.1.2.1
          9 May 2018 at 10:51 am

          I don’t think the rural voters will forget NZFirsts betrayal and I’m pretty sure National will remind them every chance they get

          Hopefully NZFirst is gone for good

          • bwaghorn 4.1.2.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 5:49 pm

            What betrayal. Any one thick enough to think Winston could have gone with national after years of trying to destroy his party is to thick to vote

    • Puckish Rogue 4.2
      9 May 2018 at 9:22 am

      Good, Winston is a much better fit for Labour

      • tracey 4.2.1
        9 May 2018 at 10:11 am

        PR how do you feel about the Nats becoming a more environmentally friendly party?

        • Puckish Rogue 4.2.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 10:16 am

          I’m for it

          • tracey 4.2.1.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 10:25 am

            And so you fall for the ploy, again.

            He says they will be environmental. You want them to be. You want less fucking over of the environment. But they had 9 years of fucking it over, you voted for them last year? And now you feel comforted that they will be more environmental cos Bridges says they will but there is no evidence before and since his statement that they have changed, at all.

            By all means vote for them again but do not say it is cos they are being Greener

            Like Labour and NZF wanted to bop capitalism on the nose but Robeetson is following the same NL/Cap “rules”

            • Puckish Rogue 4.2.1.1.1.1
              9 May 2018 at 10:44 am

              “And so you fall for the ploy, again.”

              Nope, I don’t vote for National on their environmental policies

              “He says they will be environmental.”
              Good on them

              “You want them to be.”
              It’d be nice yeah

              “You want less fucking over of the environment.”
              Sure, as a generalisation

              “But they had 9 years of fucking it over, you voted for them last year?”
              They did some things well and some things not so well and yes i did vote for them

              “And now you feel comforted that they will be more environmental cos Bridges says they will but there is no evidence before and since his statement that they have changed, at all.”

              Thats a rather large jump from I’m for National becoming more environmental to “comforted that they will be more environmental cos Bridges says they will” don’t you think

              “By all means vote for them again but do not say it is cos they are being Greener”

              I’m not voting for them because they’re Greener

              “Like Labour and NZF wanted to bop capitalism on the nose but Robertson is following the same NL/Cap “rules”

              I recall it was Labour that bought in Rogernomics and no one from Labour has ever come out and repudiated it yet

        • dukeofurl 4.2.1.2
          9 May 2018 at 10:17 am

          remember they tried a compassionate conservative line before as well. Look at how thin that was.

    • AsleepWhileWalking 4.3
      9 May 2018 at 3:21 pm

      Well good riddance to Act. Nasty bunch of tightly whities.

      Questioning the billion dollar spendfest is the first agreeable thing Bridges has done.

    • alwyn 4.4
      9 May 2018 at 3:34 pm

      Peters will never go with National. He is having far to much fun as the Supremo in the present Government. Once he gets his arse in the PM’s chair on the ninth floor when Ardern goes off they will never get him out of the office.
      Can you imagine National allowing the leader of a minor party to threaten members of the Main party like Mahuta and Jackson that they will lose the Ministerial warrants if they don’t do what Peters tells them.
      What do you think Helen Clark would have done? Can you imagine her ignoring it and instead telling her local paper what he favourite songs are?
      It doesn’t really matter of course. Both the Greens and New Zealand First will be dog tucker after the next election. They certainly won’t be missed.

      • Puckish Rogue 4.4.1
        9 May 2018 at 3:45 pm

        NZFirst gone for sure but the Greens only need to fool one in twenty voters they’re an environmental party so I reckon they’ll be around for a few more years

        • Incognito 4.4.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 3:55 pm

          Yep, they’ll be around as long as most of NZ is still above water despite rising sea levels and tourists flock to Franz Josef snowfield in winter months only.

          • cleangreen 4.4.1.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 8:50 pm

            Labour will win in 2020 !!!

            As the full knowledge of the Pike river mine disaster and the 11 billion hole are all reviled.

            The nat’s will scuttle of their sinking ship pronto by then..

        • Bearded Git 4.4.1.2
          13 May 2018 at 10:56 am

          Stop calling me a fool

      • mikes 4.4.2
        9 May 2018 at 4:30 pm

        He’s threatening them as the deputy prime minister. As such he is perfectly entitled to discipline any ministers as he has seniority over them.

        If Michael Cullen had done the same then I doubt Clark would have an issue with it. Likewise, if Bill English had done the same I doubt John Key would have had a problem with.

        We live in an MMP political environment now, do try and keep up.

  5. NZJester 5
    9 May 2018 at 7:52 am

    What is with the MSM trying to claim some of the new government policy is all the work of Crusher Collins?
    They are trying to position her as responsible for a lot of the work on having online retailers pay GST and looking into the petrol companies pricing policies.

    It seems like National’s MSM cronies are trying to rewrite the history of the last 9 years of the National government to look like they actually did some stuff instead of all the delays in implementing stuff and ignoring of recommendations till they are to little too late.

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/comment-is-judith-collins-politically-immortal/ar-AAwY5vc?li=BBqdg4K

    • tracey 5.1
      9 May 2018 at 8:54 am

      They did begin that work didnt they?

      • dukeofurl 5.1.1
        9 May 2018 at 10:19 am

        Must have got the polling numbers back showing hitting back at oil companies and offshore retailers paying tax is very popular. So they are doing a #metoo

    • alwyn 5.2
      9 May 2018 at 3:45 pm

      “MSM trying to claim some of the new government policy is all the work of Crusher Collins?”.
      The reason is very simple. The work was done by people in the departments at Collin’s behest. It has simply been picked up by the new lot in the Beehive.
      Whether Collins would have progressed the proposals if National had been returned is of course unknown, but irrelevant. The proposals are the work of the last Government however.
      Didn’t you notice, and probably complain, about how National took over things being planned by the Clark led Government when they came in?
      Actually if you look at what Parliament has been up to nearly everything has been a carryover from the English Administration. Labour simply weren’t ready for the election result they never expected.

      • Incognito 5.2.1
        9 May 2018 at 4:05 pm

        Actually if you look at what Parliament has been up to nearly everything has been a carryover from the English Administration.

        I know you RWNJs like to rake up the past and especially Roger Douglas at every opportunity but to go back to William Hobson is stretching it a bit, don’t you think, Alwyn?

        • alwyn 5.2.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 4:22 pm

          That is actually rather a funny comment. Quite unlike you I must say.
          It is a pity there are a few minor errors but a good first attempt.
          If you knew your history you would have realised that Hobson died in 1842 and the first NZ Parliament was not until 1854.
          But then you LWNJs never were very careful about the accuracy of your statements.

        • Puckish Rogue 5.2.1.2
          9 May 2018 at 4:23 pm

          Not bad

  6. Ad 6
    9 May 2018 at 8:47 am

    Holy mackerel I feel old.
    Of Prime Minister Ardern’s top 10 favourite songs, I only knew 6 of them.

    http://spy.nzherald.co.nz/spy-news/these-are-jacinda-s-fave-nz-songs/

    I think this qualifies her as cool. To me at least.

  7. Rosemary McDonald 7
    9 May 2018 at 10:34 am

    Following up on the issue at WINZ Central Hamilton.

    I have just left their office having spoken with the manager after being challenged by the on site security guards for taking pictures of coned mobility parking.

    I am positive (as much as I can be) that they understand there are serious issues and are making appropriate changes.

    Full report in a couple of hours.

    Fireblade was not the only complainant.

    • DH 7.1
      9 May 2018 at 1:14 pm

      Good stuff Rosemary, I hope you get somewhere with it.

      Read a timely article from John Tamihere today, he touched a bit on what’s been discussed and leans more towards your POV…

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12047397

    • patricia bremner 7.2
      9 May 2018 at 1:56 pm

      Well done Rosemary. We have to help the Government defeat the hard core well paid bureaucrats. Yes John Tamihere had it right!!

    • AsleepWhileWalking 7.3
      9 May 2018 at 3:35 pm

      Hey I just read this.

      Spoke to someone a couple of weeks ago who had just wrote a complaint to Porirua Community Link (winz FYI) about not being able to park in the mobility parks.

      • Rosemary McDonald 7.3.1
        9 May 2018 at 8:29 pm

        Heh! I did ask today if there was someone in the Hamilton Central WINZ office with mobility issues….hence the coned mobility park…and was told no…

        I know its really difficult sometimes to make the appropriate amount of fuss for fear of retribution, but there seems to be a high tolerance for access activism for the simple reason that so often those who fail to provide access or those who abuse access provisions made for those who need them largely do so out of sheer ignorance.

        They simply have never, ever been forced to see things from the point of view of the person with the disability.

        Sometimes kicking up a bit of shit is like doing them a favour….

    • Rosemary McDonald 7.4
      9 May 2018 at 3:51 pm

      On Monday evening Fireblade wrote

      “Today I helped a family member who had to take a Medical Certificate to the Hamilton central WINZ office.

      In the past we’ve waited in the queue inside the building. Today we had to wait in a queue of 12 people standing outside on the footpath. One of the three security guards said he had been told to only let one person through the door when someone else left. The footpath cue included a very frail elderly lady and a person with one leg using crutches. It took around 40 minutes waiting on the footpath just to get into the building.

      The five parking spaces directly outside were blocked with orange cones. I asked why and was told that only WINZ staff could park there.

      The fact that any government department can treat people like this is truly shocking and humiliating.”

      Many of us agreed, and for me it seemed ironic that on Friday our PM is exhorting WINZ to be kind to people seeking help, and on the following Monday we hear of shit like this happening.

      Not. Good. Enough.

      And not going to go unchallenged, not within the reach of my arm.
      An email was sent to Sepuloni’s office which was sent on to Brendan Boyle, CEO of MSD. A follow up email from me,

      “Thank you .
      I am anticipating that this will be rectified today.
      Tomorrow I will be onsite taking photographs and speaking with clients
      waiting outside…if this is still happening.
      I will also be ensuring that the parking spaces in front of the
      building are available for client use, especially for those with
      mobility issues.
      Sincerely,
      Rosemary McDonald”

      So about 10 am this morning after a successful (yay!! 🙂 ) COF check on my Bus we were parked just up the road from WINZ, Central Hamilton.

      There is nothing quite so off putting as a random person taking photographs.

      Not of people, as the only person in sight was the security guard, but of five bright orange cones blocking the five ‘visitor only’ parking spaces…including the mobility park.
      The security guard politely asked what I was doing and I said ‘photographing the coned carparks.’

      This security guard was very quickly joined by another who proceeded to demand who I was and where was I from.

      “I am a NZ Citizen doing a follow up to a report from Monday of blocked parking spaces and long waits for WINZ clients outside in the cold.”

      “These carparks are for visitors.” said 2nd security guard. “Is that for visiting clients….” “No! Visitors to the office!”.

      Fortunately, he could see how circular the discussion could have got so he disappeared inside to get the Manager.

      TBH, I was not expecting to speak to management. I had to quickly gather my wits and prepare to do battle.

      The battle, such as it was, appeared to have mostly been fought as the manager was polite, attentive, communicative and most importantly apologetic.

      She was well aware of the complaints…and the following discussion indicated that there was at least one other complainant. Someone acting as a support person to a client had not been allowed inside with the client when they were finally allowed inside.

      The manager was emphatically in agreement that this was a major departure from expected treatment of clients. The security guard was perhaps a little over zealous.

      Thanks to Fireblade’s detailed description I was able to mention the amputee and the elderly lady (“Both of whom could have benefited greatly from the blocked mobility park.”) and the security guards only allowing some inside after someone had left. Cones were being moved as I left.

      It transpires that about four weeks ago WINZ Hamilton Central had to leave their usual premises on Victoria St because of a leak in the roof. This building on Anglesea St was clearly not fit for purpose. Largely because of floor space.
      I was taken inside to see for myself and I could see the problem. Better premises are being sought but in the meantime they are going to try to make the available space work better for clients.

      Allowing too many people inside would cause privacy issues for the client speaking with the reception staff. Point taken, but the available space could be better utilised. A couple of the computer terminals for client use could go, and the reception desk moved back to allow more room inside for waiting clients.

      A crew is coming to the office after 5pm tonight to do this.

      I said I didn’t understand why, if clients attend the office by appointment only, would there have been so many people waiting? She agreed, and said that Monday was a particularly busy day. ” A lot if foot traffic.” was how she described it, so maybe some did not have appointments or had made appointments at short notice.

      I asked about availability of toilets for clients and was told there is one available. I suggested that it would perhaps be more dignified if the toilets were sign posted and clients did not have to ask to use them. I also suggested (while I had a receptive ear ;-)) that there was a water cooler available and perhaps an area for children to play.

      Without climbing high on my soap box with my megaphone,I hope I conveyed to the manager just how terribly disappointed I was hearing about this unacceptable treatment of WINZ clients within days of the PM heralding a culture change.
      I mentioned Ashburton, and how I understood the Workplace Health and Safety issues, risk assessment and the like….but I also (drawing on the comments of others here the other day…take this as recognition :-)) pointed out that ‘security guards not much use against an armed person’, and it’d ‘be easier to wait outside at 5 pm if one wanted to harm WINZ staff’, and seriously…considering the ‘toxic culture that has built up around WINZ over the past decade its a miracle there has been only the one tragic incident’. There was more, but hopefully you’ll get the drift.

      I think I have a fairly good BS detector, especially konohi ki kanohi, and I believe this manager was genuinely sorry that this happened. I got the decided impression that there is going to be change…please, gods…and if the attitude of this particular manager is indicative of anything then serious thought is going to be put into improving not only the physical environment but also the culture.

      or, I was beguiled, hood winked, a victim of a charm offensive….

      But I’m hoping not. 🙂

  8. greywarshark 8
    9 May 2018 at 12:55 pm

    Did TS go down for anyone else from about 11.30 to 12 this morning?
    I lost a comment with information gathered and links. Damn.

    • Rosemary McDonald 8.1
      9 May 2018 at 1:03 pm

      “Did TS go down for anyone else from about 11.30 to 12 this morning?” Yes.

      Happens often for me…feel your pain at losing your work. Funny thing happened the other day as i was compiling an OIA request on this laptop. As I hit ‘send’ poof! gone! I found myself with an error message and when relogged into gmail all was lost as I had not saved the draft. Repeatedly kicked myself as this is not the first time this has happened. Half an hour later I happened to be checking something on my cheapy android phone when I noticed an extra item in the gmail…there it was…my draft OIA request! I will never, ever get the tech…

    • patricia bremner 8.2
      9 May 2018 at 1:58 pm

      Yes briefly. Couldn’t bring up the site, but did lunch and it was up again later.

    • AsleepWhileWalking 8.3
      9 May 2018 at 3:38 pm

      Hate it when that happens. You need this

      Lazarus: Form Recovery – Add-ons for Firefox

  9. Tuppence Shrewsbury 9
    9 May 2018 at 1:21 pm

    With all the amazing things this government was promising to accomplish by now I would have thought there would be more posts celebrating the wins of this government?

    Why no post about light rail from south west to north west?

  10. Puckish Rogue 10
    9 May 2018 at 3:13 pm

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12048134

    He said “too much tweeting maketh a twat”.

    Hes learnt from KFC that if you mess up, own it in a self deprecating way and you can move on

    • McFlock 10.1
      9 May 2018 at 3:51 pm

      Dunno about that, but we just learned that the guy who wants the nats to avoid dirty politics follows the slug on twitter.

      • Puckish Rogue 10.1.1
        9 May 2018 at 4:00 pm

        I’d be surprised if most politicians didn’t as like him or loathe him (I stooped supporting him a whiles back) he does get some dirt every now and then but yeah admitting to it isn’t good

        • McFlock 10.1.1.1
          9 May 2018 at 4:23 pm

          The dude is supposedly leader of the opposition. Monitoring the deranged fringes of social media is what his staff are there for.

      • ianmac 10.1.2
        9 May 2018 at 4:01 pm

        Fancy Bridges exposing his true self by choosing “Like” for an anti Gayford rumour online at Whaleoil. Claims it was mistake but really???

        • Puckish Rogue 10.1.2.1
          9 May 2018 at 4:10 pm

          His denial is plausible but it’d also be a good idea if he didn’t anything similar for a while

          • ianmac 10.1.2.1.1
            9 May 2018 at 4:15 pm

            Yes Puck. Plausible but for such a clever chap who points a preciser finger at others, somewhat less plausible.

            • Puckish Rogue 10.1.2.1.1.1
              9 May 2018 at 4:18 pm

              Well we’ve all fallen victim to fat thumb syndrome I’m guessing, I mean i don’t tweet or follow anyone on twitter

  11. Jenny 11
    9 May 2018 at 3:17 pm

    The Red-Brown “zombie plague”: how fascist ideas are becoming popular on the Left – PART ONE
    By DAPHNE LAWLESS, May 9, 2018

    This is the politics where imperialism is seen only as coming from one country, or one alliance of countries, and is contrasted to the “national sovereignty” of various regimes – no matter how autocratic, rather than in favour of the self-determination and autonomy of peoples. Lebanese journalist Joey Hussein Ayoub has given the name “essentialist anti-imperialism” to the same phenomenon: “defined solely in relation to [one’s] own governments rather than on the basis of a universal opposition to all forms of imperialism.”

    Amar Diwarkar argues that this is not so much a conscious embrace of Fascist politics, but:

    a tactical tolerance of the far-right’s nativist anti-establishment logic to accelerate the dissolution of the ruling order and bring about a transitional phase preceding social transformation. However, by eliminating the dimension of the international from its purview, what remains is a strikingly non-radical relativism. Its underlying logic is one that is infused with a colonial unconscious; a conviction that Western agency is the eternal subject and locus of motion – the prime mover of History.

  12. DB Brown 12
    9 May 2018 at 3:30 pm

    The right wing contributions here are largely monosyllabic and occasionally a little more precocious e.g. ‘and so”, “so what”, “your point” etc.

    It is that they all lack critical thinking and general IQ; or has Bridges made AI in the image of himself.

    Seems to be one could waste a lot of time answering monosyllabic irritants who have no interest in conversation, only opposition. So they just carry on…

    “meaning”

    “and then?”

    “says who”

    I’m just going to ignore RW contributors unless they’re actually contributing to the debate, not obfuscating progress.

    • Puckish Rogue 12.1
      9 May 2018 at 3:38 pm

      What?

    • patricia bremner 12.2
      9 May 2018 at 3:41 pm

      DB Brown, Yes I will as well….. They just want attention.

    • cleangreen 12.3
      9 May 2018 at 9:00 pm

      DB brown

      The RW contributors are just ‘diverting us from real conversation here’ as PR did when we were having a deep human conversation with Rosemary, and she was showing great humanity.

      But PR just butted in, with some mindless jaba-jaba nonsense, that was a waste of consideration.

      So it was just gribble to stop a deep from the heart conversation going on.

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