Open Mike 09/02/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 9th, 2017 - 48 comments
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48 comments on “Open Mike 09/02/2017 ”

  1. Andre 1

    Evidence that Silicon Valley is using immigrants to lower salaries in tech workers. It suggests an interesting solution: if a company wants to bring in an immigrant because “it can’t find a suitable local”, then it should be required to pay at the 75th percentile or better.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-h-1b_us_5890d86ce4b0522c7d3d84af?1yhi0doyn2rorbe29&section=us_world

    • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1

      Businesses work within the legislative framework provided by the government. I note that the proposed solution is a change to the law that allows these practices.

      Ergo, robust protections for workers’ rights and immigration can co-exist.

    • saveNZ 1.2

      +1 Andre – also think that if the company should have to pay a ‘bond’ of a years salary to the government and guarantee the job will still be there in 10 years if they recruit from overseas, because so many companies seem to hire and fire at will and decide to relocate to cheaper pastures after they have bought in so many staff and dump them on the welfare system once they are done.

      It’s not just Silicon Valley, here in NZ we have had our own dumping when French based Gameloft dumped staff in NZ to move to Nigeria – after hiring 70% of it’s staff from overseas and after receiving $2.9m of Callahan Innovation money and then dumping 160 of those staff.

      There were also complaints from employees about excessive unpaid hours.

      https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/gameloft-auckland-closes-160-jobs-go-cg-184137

      • saveNZ 1.2.1

        Would be nice if some of the money for “creating jobs” actually went to Kiwi based tech that actually goes to create Kiwi jobs in NZ, not money for jam for foreign owned multinationals that get local money, bring in cheap non Kiwi staff and then dump those staff.

        Think how many Kiwis probably had to leave to go offshore when the grant money went to hire overseas tech to work long hours, who were dumped anyway and other NZ based game companies could have taken that money and actually grew a viable business in an industry that is growing.

        Nope, another neoliberal, globalism, fuck up strikes again.

        I think the idea of free trade was supposed to be goods and services, not actually people shafted and pushed around the globe trying to get a job. (And when they do, it does not last that long.)

  2. Andre 2

    Apologies for spamming with a repeat of a post from last night, but since there’s a few Westies that only occasionally come on here that may have missed it, and kauri really matter…

    For anyone in the Auckland area with a connection to kauri trees and wanting to do something about kauri dieback, the Kauri Rescue project is launching at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall Thursday 9th Feb (today) at 7:00 pm.

    http://www.kaurirescue.org.nz/events.html

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/89085676/five-years-on-and-diseased-kauri-injected-with-phosphite-are-growing-strong

    • Leftie 3.1

      Key is now “unwittingly” blaming Helen Clark now for dropping his government in it and running away?

  3. Andre 4

    Wow. A bunch of Republican oldies have just called for a carbon tax. They’re retired, so it won’t create immediate action. But it’s still a huge step.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/08/republican-national-carbon-tax-climate-change

  4. “”I don’t ever want to call a court biased,” Trump told hundreds of police chiefs and sheriffs from major cities at a meeting in a Washington hotel. “So I won’t call it biased. And we haven’t had a decision yet. But courts seem to be so political. And it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read the statement and do what’s right.””

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/89220384/donald-trump-calls-courts-so-political-as-travel-ban-faces-scrutiny

    Wow there must be people who are literally freaking out about this statement from The Dump. The counterweights within the system are groaning under the strain and I don’t think donny can blink.

    • Andre 5.1

      The Chump is being so over the top, clumsy and blatant about trying to trash every institution the keeps a society working that it looks like it’s helping mobilise people to stand up to him.

      It would be a bigger worry if he were subtler, more competent and put better public relations on it. Scarily, Pence would be able to do that, given the chance.

      • marty mars 5.1.1

        I see it as a sign of his arrogance and that is scary combined with his thickness – and he has even more scary people around him who aren’t as thick and have very clear agendas.

    • Bill 5.2

      This article might offer up a useful lens with which to view Trump et al through

      https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/06/lenin-white-house-steve-bannon

      Forget ‘left and right’ (they’re both “much a muchness” when they take on an authoritarian bent) and instead (perhaps) view politics and leaders in terms of power … ie, a democratic/authoritarian divide; one incidentally, that leaves all western democracies positioned somewhere up along a branched authoritarian axis. (‘Branched’ because authoritarianism forks away left and right from the bedrocks of democracy; from liberty, equality and solidarity.)

      And then maybe ask yourself if your happy enough to support degrees of authoritarianism at the direct expense of democracy. And if you are, then where exactly is it that you draw the line? And if you’ve found a place to draw that line, what (if anything) stops (say a Trump) redrawing that line?

      If ‘nothing’ or ‘not a lot’, then why draw it?

      On the other hand, if it’s unmovable, then why draw it? Wouldn’t that entail some degree of enforcement to maintain – some shade of authoritarianism?

      • adam 5.2.1

        Here another example of totalitarianism in action.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXvb30YPVrg

      • Ad 5.2.2

        Any one of those rhetorical questions you want to unpack at all?

        • Morrissey 5.2.2.1

          Those rhetorical questions were to make people like you actually think a bit. But feel free to use that bogus litcrit jargon—“unpack”, for pity’s sake—and avoid the issue, as you regularly do.

        • Bill 5.2.2.2

          What’s to ‘up-pack’ Ad? The questions are essentially rhetorical. The left and right divide has always been a bogus one (look at the history of labour movement thought on that one if you have any doubts…the resistance or misgivings aired around the Red Feds for a NZ context, or the antipathy harboured for Lenin and the whole USSR debacle for another).

          Many people who have tended to view politics in terms of power have been sidelined and largely written out of history by both the left and the right. And now the left/right distinction is falling over. That a Bannon can be reasonably compared to Lenin should tell you all you need to know really.

          Our so-called modern democracies have existed in the space between two fascisms. And the soft authoritarianism of our governance structures always harbours and enables the harder authoritarianisms associated with any notional left or right to enjoy ascendancy (such as we’re arguably seeing in the US today).

          Anotherday (maybe on a dedicated post) I’d be all for having a searching exchange with you on it all. But today isn’t that other day and buses and messages needing picked up…

          • weka 5.2.2.2.1

            Except that in NZ most people middle aged or older will be thinking left/right not in terms of Lenin or the history of communism or even the labour movement, but in terms of Kirk/Muldoon, or even Muldoon/Lange.

            You can declare that the left/right thing has always been bogus and is now dying, but the negative framing doesn’t help people change (and IMO is also part of why the power analyses get sidelined).

            Please write a post on Social Democracy, show what can be done as much as putting down what’s not working.

            • Bill 5.2.2.2.1.1

              Making me sign in again when there be buses to catch dammit! 😉

              Okay. There is no negative framing around a discrediting of the left/right divide. It’s emancipatory …that bullshit’s the chains that have increasingly bound our political possibilities for roughly the past century.

              And maybe worth noting, social democracy doesn’t move beyond those constraints – just saying. I’ve mentioned it positively in relation to liberal democracy. But in doing that, I’m fully aware that its potential is limited…it’s no less caught between those two fascisms than is liberal democracy.

              And now bus, bus, bus…

              • weka

                It’s emancipatory for people that are doing poorly under the current system. For those that are doing ok, it’s negative framing and IMO will not support them to change. In times of political instability people will become more conservative unless they re given a viable option.

                I see a post on Social Democracy as being a proactive opening in the conversation that gives centre-lefties (and probably swing voters) something they can get their heads around. I wasn’t suggesting a call to the revolution 🙂

                Don’t miss your bus!

                • Bill

                  In times of political instability people will become more conservative unless they re given a viable option.

                  Trump. Nuff said?

                  • weka

                    That was sneaky. I was thinking more about the middle class left. So as political instability increases, they will vote more conservatively unless they are given someone they can understand and get behind.

          • Carolyn_nth 5.2.2.2.2

            I do agree that an understanding of power is crucial. It’s what links class structures with social hierarchies that include dimensions of race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc.

            • Bill 5.2.2.2.2.1

              Indeed.

              • weka

                Indeed again. Maybe we should get a bunch of us together and talk power then? We have enough diversity over what that will mean to make it a conversation that is interesting and probably helps us learn. (am sick of the current stalemate on TS tbh).

  5. North 6

    Can’t find the clip of Trump’s comment at the meeting with the sheriffs where some public official was discussed……along the lines of – ‘you got a name?…….we destroy his career?’ My God, even if in jest that’s chilling, Then POTUS taking to Twitter lambasting a retail chain for dropping daughter ‘Princess’ Ivanka’s apparel line. It’s like he doesn’t have a clue that mid-terms are less than 2 years away – 400 odd House seats up for grabs and a third of the Senate. Government by Twitter and menace. Ugly! I’ll bet the unhinged fascist doesn’t last the full term.

    • Bill 6.1

      Hmm. know how a lot of those who voted for Trump thought they were voting for someone who’d “drain the swamp” and for someone who’d be just like them in terms of “giving it to the man”?

      And you know how “the man” is variously seen as being mainstream media, law enforcement and…well just about anything they think is being unfair really – which all results in a fairly nebulous “man” that can appear and disappear as circumstance dictates.

      Picking on individuals within an institution is “bringing the man” into line as it were…just as a slew of voters want.

      And you know how Trump using the term “us” when he feels unfairly treated? “They’re out to get us“…not the admin…not his team…not him. Us.

      He’ll get his term.

    • joe90 6.2

      ‘you got a name?…….we destroy his career?’

      A remark made during a meeting with law enforcement about a politician who introduced legislation requiring suspects first be convicted before assets could be seized.

      Trump voiced disagreement with lawmakers who want to change asset forfeiture laws, and some of the sheriffs laughed when Trump suggested he might want to “destroy” the career of one Texas legislator.

      He said members of the U.S. Congress would “get beat up really badly by the voters” if they interfered with law enforcement’s activities.

      Later, Sheriff Harold Eavenson of Rockwall County, Texas, told Trump of his response to a state lawmaker who had introduced legislation requiring suspects first be convicted before assets could be seized.

      “I told him that the cartel would build a monument to him in Mexico if he could get that legislation passed,” Eavenson said.

      “Who was the state senator?” Trump asked.

      “You want to give his name? We’ll destroy his career,” the president deadpanned, to laughter.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-police-idUSKBN15M2BU?

      (Rule #1: Believe the autocrat)

      edit: heh

      .

      Hey @realDonaldTrump I oppose civil asset forfeiture too! Why don't you try to destroy my career you fascist, loofa-faced, shit-gibbon!— Daylin Leach (@daylinleach) February 7, 2017

      .
      http://www.phillyvoice.com/pennsylvania-senator-trump-come-after-me-you-s-gibbon/

  6. Carolyn_nth 7

    Last night I saw tweets with the recurring quote…

    “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,”

    … with tweets using images of a range of women who had done some successful things. I didn’t know what that was about til this morning.

    A CNN article explains how this quote was used against Elizabeth Warren when she was forbidden from speaking further on the debates about a candidate for the position of federal judge.

    The rebuke of Warren came after the Massachusetts Democrat read a letter written 30 years ago by Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship.

    The letter accused Sessions of trying to block black people from voting.

    Republicans cried foul — charging that Warren violated Senate rules against impugning another senator.

    The quote about persisting, has been taken up by Democrat, feminist and Warren supporters, against Team trump. The article claims this has come at a good time, galvanizing support for Warren as she is up for re-election next year.

    #LetLizSpeak was trending last night/yesterday on twitter

    I’m not sure how much these little skirmish will impact on the middle to longer term direction of politics. Though, I’d have thought keeping a significant section of the public speaking out for social justice would be a good thing.

    • Leftie 8.1

      The Maori party wanted Willie Jackson, do you think Caretaker Bill is pleased that Jackson walked away from the party?

      That Open letter appears not to exist anymore. What happened to it?

    • saveNZ 8.2

      I think what middle NZ want is ordinary MP’s to represent them that are about representing the party and their electorate and not just representing themselves and their profile. Michael Woods is a good example.

      jackson is a CEO, getting $14 million of Government money for Whanau Ora, National Urban Māori Authority (no wonder Jackson likes Charter Schools), he’s represented 3 different political parties and seem to have radio shows, TV shows and so forth and it’s all about himself and not about the party and the electorate.

      Where are the National Urban Authority with the increasing homelessness and poverty to Maori? They have got the money from the Natz – but it doesn’t seem to be improving urban Maori lives that I know of.

      Personally don’t think the government to CEO approach is working in any area from councils to Maori to corporations to charities.

      Little is making a mistake to promote someone with more of a corporate welfare Natz background, that needs a lot of exemptions, against many of his MP’s that have reservations.

      That’s without even looking at the Charter schools and the disgraceful roast busters views.

      • bwaghorn 8.2.1

        Poto Williams made the point loud and clear , the gutless leaker wants to destroy labour . tops starting to look like my only option

  7. Carolyn_nth 9

    I strongly dislike the term “identity politics”. It is used as a stick to beat anyone who supports social justice. In reality, social justice is very often intertwined with economic justice, sometimes in pretty complex ways.

    Catriona McClennan has an op ed piece in today’s NZ Herald, in which she presents a strong argument against the ways the term “identity politics” is used.

    I think sometimes she uses the term “white men” as though it includes all white men. I think “predominately white men” seems more accurate to me, in the context of her argument. Elsewhere in the article she does use the term “overwhelmingly white men”. Some women and men of colour also use the term “identity politics” in a negative way.

    Basically, she is arguing that it is mainly white men that benefit from the current economic and social structure, and have for a long time. The term “identity politics” is used to maintain this power structure.

    The article begins:

    There is no such thing as identity politics. The term is used by white men seeking to hold on to their power and deny the human rights of Maori, Pasifika, women and LGBTQ people.

    Eight men own as much wealth as half the world’s population, or 3.6 billion people. Those men are overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon.

    The article needs to be read in full. It’s about the way our society and economic system is structured to favour the few over many diverse groups of people.

  8. joe90 11

    I guess Ivanka’s gotten over her aversion to blood diamonds.

    .

    The Trump administration has prepared a new executive order that would extinguish regulatory controls designed to prevent US companies profiting from and encouraging the spread of “conflict minerals” that are inflaming violence in Congo.

    A draft executive order, composed last week and obtained by the Guardian, proposes a two-year suspension of a portion of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms that requires US firms to carry out due diligence to ensure that the products they sell include no minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or neighbouring countries. The regulation was widely applauded as a mainstay of attempts to cut the umbilical chord between big business and violent warlords who have spread unrest throughout the Congo and caused the deaths of more than five million people since the 1990s.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/08/trump-administration-order-conflict-mineral-regulations?CMP=edit_2221

  9. Sabine 12

    there is a lot of talk about ‘identity issues/voters/stuff’ that i am having a hard time understanding.

    i.e. this http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/oklahoma-abortion-law-women-get-father-written-permission-pro-choice-life-planned-parenthood-a7569646.html?utm_content=buffer8eb7e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

    a new bill among many introduced since Jan 21st to restrict abortion. This one how ever demands that the women bring forth the ‘permission’ of the father of the ‘unborn child’. If the father denies the paternity he can demand a paternity test (at which time the pregnancy will be carried to terms and the needs/demands of the mother be damned?).

    now how should we classify the debate to bodily autonomy, right to a sexual life, right to be free of shaming, and right to abortion as ‘identity issues/stuff’ or ‘human issues’ or just ‘general stuff’.
    The reason i ask is simply there are no such restrictions and burdens laid on fathers who simply want to desert their children once they are born, the burden in all of this lays on the women, she has to provide the statement from the father, she has to go through with he pregnancy, she has to give birth, she then can a. keep the child, b. give it up for adoption. – will she need the permission from the father for adoption, she will have to make the money to raise the child, feed it, house it, educate it, etc etc etc.

    And in all of this i would like to remind everyone that childcare comes at an increasing cost. And yes women desert their children too, but so far i have yet to see a law be brought forward that will regulate the sexual activity of men by forcing them to become fathers against their will and be responsible about and above all pay for the child upkeep in full cost.

    Women, especially single women[ and even worse women of colour – are among the poorest population in ever country on this planet, and we all know why.

    Seriously what shall we file this type of assholery under?

    edit. i write all of this while being very aware of my white privilege. But i would still like to know what to file that under.

    • Carolyn_nth 12.1

      Agreed, Sabine.

      I was involved with one of Auckland Action Against Poverty’s action impact events a while back in a pro bono capacity. I talked with some of the advocates who were working with beneficiaries to get some of their entitlements. I also talked with a few of the beneficiaries seeking support.

      It was very clear from those events, that poverty is very brown. It was also very clear, that one of the biggest issues was solo mothers, who were not getting financial support from the fathers.

      There were some guys there as well. I talked to one Māori guy who was having difficulty getting a job after being in prison.

      From my position of white, middle-class privilege, it seemed like a very strong indictment on our social and economic systems – and our justice system.

      It is not acceptable. And it shows how interwoven are the systems that prevent economic and social justice.

    • weka 12.2

      “Seriously what shall we file this type of assholery under?”

      In the US, file it under the move to remove the human rights of women. In NZ, file it under the same, or more kindly under some leftie men willing to risk the human rights of women because they simply don’t think them that important compared to their own political agendas.

      It’s pretty simple, either we share power or we have to restrict the rights of people with whom we don’t wish to share power.

  10. repateet 13

    Jonathan Coleman did an impression of an arrogant smart-arse in Parliament today.
    He deserves credit for doing it so well.

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    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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  • Minister’s Ramadan message
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
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  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
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