I totally agree with you, Phillip Ure. I’ve just laid a formal complaint with the Herald Editor, and if they don’t retract and apologise, I’m going onto the Press Council.
This is a scurrilous piece of non-journalism, and the text of the story tells you there is nothing in it except what a friend does for another friend if the occasion calls for it.
Is that about this morning’s Herald on Sunday piece, that says Cunliffe is rich and has rich buddies, and one of Cunliffe’s secret donors isn’t KDC or the Unite Union?
Yes. Karol. The actual story itself is totally different from the headline and the picture caption.
Its an incredible piece of sloppy, inaccurate journalism. The Herald should be ashamed of itself.
This is the non story of all non stories. Cunliffe helped a mate. Farrar and Hooton are playing tag team and tweeting it up for all it is worth and Slater has already run a post. Obviously they see this as a war of attrition.
Who said back in August 2012 “this National Government is selling New Zealand pound by pound, hectare by hectare, and there will be nothing left.”
That’s right, and here he is helping his rich, foreign mate buy 19 hectares of prime coastal property. And he may not have a direct financial interest but his wife did legal work on the deal. Was that at no charge?
“Cunliffe acknowledged making two visits, though he could not initially recall how many, when they were, or whether Keenan was there.”
Rather lame memory lapse isn’t it? Shades of Banks not recalling whether he had been to the Dotcom mansion.
How pathetic, Seti. 19 ha of rocky coastal land which is mostly inaccessible being sold to an individual does NOT compare with thousands of ha of good farming land which the Nats have let go to foreign corporates.
Yes the Herals should be ashamed and thanks for making the complaint.
However, what the fuck is Cunliffe doing? When he was asked 2 weeks ago about his involvement with the property why didn’t he just say he had no legal/financial interest, but he had visited it to check it out for a friend who wanted to buy it? Did he think that the Herald wasn’t going to keep digging and use anything it could against him?
It’s not playing into the rich mates meme. It’s playing smart with a bunch of venal fucks who want to skew the election.
It’s not in the public interest in the way you mean. It’s in the public interest by way of getting a left-wing govt come November.
Cunliffe didn’t do anything wrong other than let himself get set up, again. He was asked specifically if he had a legal/financial interest in the property, which he answered truthfully, but why not just say that he helped a mate out too? That’s not a rhetorical question. You’re argument seems to be that he shouldn’t have to. Political naivity.
Ok, so the article in the Herald will have absolutely no effect on people’s perceptions of Cunliffe 🙄 We don’t have to be concerned about the hatchet job being done on Labour. Everything is sweet in the rose garden because phil thinks that the only thing a politician has to do is play the game the way he thinks.
“..how about you tell us just ‘why’ cunnliffe should have told of doing that small-favour for his freiend..?”
I’ve already explaing this, but one more time…
IMO, it’s Cunliffe’s job to anticipate the hatchet jobs being done. If he was being asked about his financial/legal involvement in a high priced property sale, it’s his job to understand that this is a jonolist seeking to find some shit on him. So, there is no harm in telling the jonolist what the jonolist is going to find out easily anyway and use against him if he isn’t up front about it. There is no real reason for him to talk about helping a mate out, other than the fact that he is talking to a jonolist in an election year.
Your argument that it’s a non issue (his helping his mate out) is just denial of the political issues involved with the MSM and the NACT shills. A better argument would be that it doesn’t matter what he does, the skewing will still happen, so better to just get on with the other stuff that gives Labour a chance. I have no idea if that would be reasonable in this situation, and neither do you.
I don’t know the story of the GP refusing to debate with Craig, but I can’t see any reason why they should. FFS, the guy has some pretty abhorrent and bizarre beliefs, and he is being used by NACT to keep control of NZ. If he has enough support in NZ to get into parliament, that’s one thing. But the GP is under no obligation whatsoever to give him any attention.
Im betting if he had said he had a look through for his friend initially it would have killed any storey dead as It is a perfectly reasonable thing to do…
Instead he tells half the story and lets the media create a story from nothing and frame him as sneaky again.
Needs to box cleverer…
If I were a journalist looking to paint Cunliffe in devious colours I know how I would have treated any volunteering of such information. I’d imply that (a) Cunliffe was forced to admit acting on behalf of a rich friend to buy an expensive property, and (b) he downplayed his role but (c) while he claims he did nothing to materially help, his wife was involved in the sale process (wink, wink).
Pretty easy, really, when you put yourself into that mindset. I’m not sure why you think the story would have ‘gone away’, given that it would have played into the ‘tricky’ meme just as well as this follow-up story.
If you accept that the journalistic angle on Cunliffe is to run with the ‘tricky’ narrative, I think you’d lose your bet.
Personally, I think the one positive for Cunliffe in all of this is that the series of revelations is really starting to look a bit silly, and very much like a concerted witch-hunt. There’s quite a potential for this to backfire, especially given that it has started so early in election year. I presume the right-wing strategists have thought this through so perhaps they know the New Zealand electorate better than I do.
Once again I appreciate how you have taken the time to articulate this.
The one thing I have been trying to convey is that Cunliffe’s enemies (and I used that word deliberately) will use any piece of information or action to smear him.
There is nothing Cunliffe can do to ‘behave’ better, or ‘box smarter’ with these people. Everything will be turned against him one way or another.
Phil is quite correct. Calm down you strange bird. DC would have put them straight, however the shrill MSM media are gang banging the opposition party’s to keep the elite owners happy. I know a few good print journalists who cover stories which never get to the printer. The right-wing editors simply refuse to publish unflattering coverage of National. Or praise worthy content of the Left.
I think it is time now to resist the bait. It may be true that Cunliffe could have or should have said or done something different regarding trusts, houses or rich friends, but we should not allow ourselves to be sucked into a petty conversation with which the right is far too comfortable. We should be working now toward changing the conversation, so that Cunliffe’s actual ideas get some oxygen, and people are motivated to vote for him on that basis. And if that can’t happen through the media, we must get it happening on the ground. Changing the leader is not enough by itself to seriously challenge the status quo. Our involvement and commitment is also needed, and we should not allow it to be weakened by set-piece distractions.
The real estate agent who chatted to the Herald (or maybe Farrar) about a rich client might be lucky to keep working in the area. Rich pricks, whether they’re mates with Cunliffe or not, don’t like their business spread around the gossip rags. If she sold the place, there may even be a basis for a complaint.
Anyway, I’m left with the overwhelming impression that the real crime here is that the place overlooks Key’s disgusting and environmentally damaging mansion out on the sandspit. As a Northlander, watching Jafas and others build all over sandspits and clear mangroves has been making me feel sick for years. Who knows what they’ll do if those environmental warriors in National are forced to gut the RMA against their will, by the centre-right ACT party? We need to shovel these creeps into the toxic waste bin of history while we still have something left. Grrrrr.
Is David Cunliffe really that much of an enigma? I guess one of the problems for the right/ media about banging on with questions about ‘who is David Cunliffe’ and the ‘enigma’ of Cunliffe is that you might actually get an answer to your question. And when people see and understand that answer, as they will, they’ll wonder what you were up to (and how smart you were) going round and round on the question.
Having known the man fairly well for a decade, my answer would be, 160 IQ, brought up fairly poor, hugely successful business consultant before politics (with hugely successful/ busy partner/ mother of children, and hence the house where it is); But most importantly the politician with the best vision for a less neoliberal, post GFC NZ economy that can deliver the social and labour market goods he also absolutely genuinely wants to deliver.
I dont think it’s that hard: that’s essentially him. The rest is manner, being ‘moved’ by things at the same time his brain is whirring at warp speeds, unbridled enthusiasm and revving high to get on with it: nothing sinister there. The more people see of him, as long as they are not competing with him for the job, the more in my experience they will recognise this. Attempts to frame him as tricky or something else he isnt will look a bit silly at that point.
He’s unusual/ rare but not incomprehensible, unless you actually dont want an answer to your question about ‘who he is’. But let’s face it, all Labour leaders are a little rare and different, or they wouldnt find themselves in a position to get the job. Once the public get a feel for the rareness, they can be very forgiving, especially as the strengths start to deliver.
Yes, I think people keep asking the “who is David Cunliffe” question because they keep comparing him to the way they they know John Key who has a public profile built up over half a dozen years, helped along with an expensive team of PR people and suck ups.
I get annoyed with the tribal National/right wing shit heads that can’t seem to understand why wealthy people support Labour, Im guessing that these are the people who have an insatiable need for more and more wealth, they have never asked the question; why? These are the RWNJ’s that don’t seem to get through their fat heads that Labour has a GDP growth on average 1% higher per annum than National, this is what DC refers to when he says the “Labour can walk and chew gum at the same time”. Labour will put the minimum wage up but will also create an environment that is better for the top line, businesses will ultimately do better!
The irony in all of this “who is David Cunliffe” questioning is interesting, because I would bet that if people actually got to know John Key he would turn out to be a bit of a fuckwit, they type of person who wouldn’t have time for people of little wealth or status (whatever the fuck that is). I did work with DC in the 90’s, we were never friends but I remember him to be a bloody good bugger, he had no problem getting on with people across the spectrum of workers…I wouldn’t bet that you could say the same thing about John Key.
An IQ of 160 is pretty unusual, even putting aside the issues about what it measures. This may actually be a problem for Cunliffe at the moment, because he won’t he used to knocking off 50 or 60 IQ points to get to the level where NAct puppets like Farrar and Slater can understand what he’s on about. He may also feel that the rubbish they spout is so stupid and ignorant that its irrelevance should be self evident. The sort of intelligence he has can bring a little naivete with it, and he might not yet have realised just how far below him the opposition is. However, it also means that he’ll learn quickly how to deal with them.
She did the rounds of Auckland design agencies, but found them “already full of free workers”.
“Most of them said I’d have to show I was keen by working for free,” she says. “I wouldn’t, but it’s become accepted now because many people are desperate.”
I just detest employers who want people to work for nothing. Doesn’t matter how easy the government makes it for ’em (e.g. 90 day trial) it’s never enough.
While this article outlines a highly exploitative use of interns, I am aware of a charity which was approached by Intern NZ. The charity got a qualified and passionate intern for 3 months so was understandably pleased, particularly because it was an out of the blue offer.
This is different in my view because it is a charity, and because there was a limit on free labour.
The chap exploited for six years(?!) that’s just abuse.
“We were encouraged by the agency we were working at to go on the dole,” says fellow ad intern Price. “It was hard because WINZ was constantly ringing, trying to get me other work. I tried being honest with them at first, told them what I was doing, but that just meant I wasn’t going to be able to carry on with the internship.”
Sounds to me like a breach of the Social Securities Act, namely the section about making your situation worse off (by working without pay). Wonder if the SSA can be used to stamp out the practice, or at least give it a fixed time limit of say one month to make it uneconomic for companies to keep recruiting interns and retraining them.
This is why internships are anti-worker/anti-working class: it’s fine for people from well-off families who can live at home or get the rent paid from their trust fund, who then get their foot on the career ladder. The people who don’t have those resources just get shut out of the whole industry.
There is a whole post in private businesses profting form free labour, and the ever more creative ways they are finding to do it. I was gobsmacked at the audacity of a new business round my way that started up recently using one such formula:
Create a charity that does something. Get volunteers to raise all the money to do it. Be the provider of whatever it is. Charge whatever for providing that service. There are even public agencies that will find the volunteers for you, and WINZ (and other employment agencies) refer clients to them.
Ka-ching.
An order against publishing the name tho is just that, so doing so here may be thin ice, if the person in question has been convicted of an assault on His wife in court where no suppression order was given you could publish that as a fact, but, couldn’t publish anything linking to the divorce…
From that story it sounds like the “politician” isn’t actually an MP, but is a “high profile political figure” who supports some MPs – said MPs are reported as supporting “family values”.
More complicated than meets the eye I think right down the bottom of the article…
“My finding that the wife is likely to distort the truth and what she says to media outlets is likely to be inaccurate or exaggerated and as a result she is going to be reported even though it has no relationship with the truth.
And…
The husband had “acted appropriately and endeavoured to support his wife, who was clearly unwell for a long period of time before separation”, Judge Burns said.
He added: “I do not consider he can be validly criticised, and I am concerned that sensitive material sought by the wife could be without the benefit of it being fully tested.
Taking the judges comments at face value supression is prob justified
And further up the article there are these comments:
“a disputed allegation the man grabbed or touched his wife’s neck, tried to kick in the door of their home and shouted abuse at her.”
.
How does this square with this comment:
“acted appropriately and endeavoured to support his wife, ”
Even if the allegations are disputed it does not mean that those events did not happen and are complete fiction.
The Judge is just saying something random here. Even if he doesn’t want to lift supression he looks like he is showing bias making remarks like this because he does not appear to be quoting the actual protection order hearings.
If I’m thinking of the correct one then before all these orders kicked in some of the man’s family had given evidence that was not favourable to him and the protection hearing didn’t dismiss matters on the “acted appropriately” basis.
And saying she will make things up, do we have any proof that he doesn’t make things up?
The problem here is not just for this case, (and it is problematic that the wife here cannot discuss these things without risking a jailterm), there is also the pecedent.
File for a restraining order, and even if it is not granted, and you get classified as ‘vulnerable’ and have a good shot at suppression. No fuckwits will use this, obviously, we trust them not to at least, on their honour as fuckwits..
Pretty certain who it is Sosoo. After all the dognapping charges and allegations of spying are already in the public domain.
Somehow don’t think Whaleblubber will be making a “principled” stand on this one though. Shame, it would be a perfect opportunity for him to back his claims that he is equally nasty to both the left and the right.
Every time a Green uses a method of transport other than a sandal the Right calls them hypocrites.
It’s the standard of logic that we can look forward to seeing more of between now and the general election.
It is in the Government’s interest to avoid dealing with issues of importance and distract the public as they coast to … hey, did you see those pictures of the Prime Minister derping at Orientation Week? Gosh, he’s a character.
even you must see how pathetic that is. im not quite sure what the big deal is, cunliffe has friends that buy property in nz? bfd. i cant wait to see key go grey on tv3 10:10 this am!
You just keep outing yourself as ‘something’ of lower intelligence that didn’t quite get your fair share from the gene pool, fair share of brains that is Bruv,
You do understand that MP’s, and just an MP David Cunliffe was when He helped His friend check out a property He was interested in buying,
The Why of this happening is pretty simple, the bloke David was helping, a long time friend, has a job and a business in the US and its pretty obvious that He didn’t have the time to hang around long term to view the property,
What exactly is sinister about this???, Nothing unless you are either a ‘wing-nut’ or a Liar, Cunliffe as a opposition MP has no means of interfering in any legal impediment to the sale of this property even if there were one…
Well why did he simply not say so rather than flannel and get himself in a corner.
He has done nothing wrong, except be honest when asked by the Herald.
Wilfred contributed to National MP David Carter’s election campaign in 2002 and both Carter and Christchurch National MP Nicky Wagner have written references for Wilfred and his wife.
Not just National either. In my view MP’s should never be giving written references for anyone.
From the Herald online business section, ”Our yields are up and our inputs,(of water and fertilizer), are down so its a good enviroment story”,
”Generally what is good for the enviroment is good for the bottom line”, ”We are sitting on the same bus alongside the Green Party because we have got the same philosophy”, unquote.
So says Craige Mackenzie, Chairman of the Precision Agriculture Association and advocate of precision mapping of dairy farms soils sometimes paddock by paddock so as to understand what the optimum level of water and fertilizer application is that give the highest yield while ensuring leaching into the water table or from the on farm to the off farm enviroment doesn’t occur,
Smart man, probably will find Himself with no friends down at the local pub on His next night out having happily linked Himself to Green Party philosophy,
Pouring money down the river is a good means of describing the current situation of envormenatal destruction where without any scientific basis water and fertilizer are pumped onto paddocks a lot of the time on the basis of ‘thats how the farm down the road does it,
Soil mapping allows for the exact amount of water/fertilizer to be added paddock by paddock at the precise time and in the precise amounts so as to give the optimum output from each paddock without leaching either to the water table or to the off farm enviroment,
‘Smart Green’ farming techniques are available which ends up being a cost saving to the farmer through applying less fertilizer/water to each paddock while gaining the same or an increased level of production from having used such techniques…
Yeah, nah. Nothing green or sustainable about that. Different packaging, same old shit underneath. It’s all about maximising profit via extraction of resources. There is fuck all difference between this and mining. Keeping effluent and nitrates out of waterways is the minimum we should be doing. Beyond that, there are still major issues with land management. Putting dairy cows in sheds, or micro-managing inputs is just shifting the problem sideways.
That whole article is about how to make excess money. They can wax lyrical all they like about how being green is good for the finances/farm, but there is nothing in that article that speaks to sustainable land management. Nothing.
weka, that sounds like the usual, ”i hate cow-cockies rave”, if you want to live down on the farm with 10 chickens, 4 goats, 2 geese, and, a house cow feel free,
Everything in that article speaks to sustainable land management, unless your a Luddite of course, IF the application of water/fertilizer is managed in such a way so as to prevent any leaching into the water table,
And,
If the application of water/fertilizer is managed in such a way so as to prevent any of this from leaching from the on farm enviroment into the off farm enviroment then what is unsustainable about that…
It’s tinkering with a system that is fundamentally unsustainable. I think you have bought into the idea that sustainability is about polluting less. It’s not. It’s about creating systems that will sustain themselves over time. Extractive farming, but its very definition, is not sustainable (do you think that mining can be sustainable?). Likewise, farming that requires increasing amounts of external inputs (esp ones based on fossil fuels), are not sustainable.
Reducing run off is obviously good for waterways, but that doesn’t make the thing sustainable. The use of artificial fertilisers degrades soil fertility (which means you need more artificial fertilisers ie the land management requires increasing external inputs, thus failing any measure of sustainability). Sustainable land management builds soil fertility without the need for excessive external inputs (or that’s one of the things it does) ie it sustains itself. Part of that is not creating excess pollution, but it’s not the whole of it (btw in a sustainable system, the ‘pollutants’ become inputs that build fertility and/or create stability in the system).
There are many other examples of how industrial farming fails environmentally, even when they try and reduce pollution.
I’m getting a bit sick of your pejorative ad hominems. There are plenty of examples of farms that use sustainable land management practices, so fuck off with your lifestyle block put downs. If you are genuinely interested in what sustainable land management is, let me know and I will put up some links. Or, you know, just ask questions if you don’t understand what I mean instead of trying to marginalise my argument with personal put downs. Am pretty sure I know a hell of a lot more about sustainability than you, so why not use the opportunity to learn something?
Your waffling weka, now for how many years, decades, centuries even, have farmers been applying masses of fertilizer to the very same soils that you claim are being unsustainably farmed,
If an iota of what you say were to be correct weka, none of them, the farms that is, would be able to produce anything, where’s the evidence of ‘dust-bowl NZ’,
Craige Mackenzie of the Precision Agriculture Association says that using soil mapping of indivdual farm soils right down to doing so on a paddock by paddock basis allows for the same or better production,(He is talking grass growth), and without the provision of evidence you dismiss this as Lies???,
If He is correct, that such intensive investigation and management allows for current and greater production without any leaching of water/fertilizer into the water table and stops any leachate of the same into waterways via using less water/fertilizer i would suggest you need provide proof of why anyone would believe your ‘i thunk it therefor it is’ denigration of what He says…
You really are out of your depth here dude. Read up on the differences between artificial fertilisers (in use for less than a century) and organic fertilisers (in use for all of the time we’ve had organic matter on the planet). One uses imported chemicals to force plants to grow, but at the expense of the microbial life in the soil. The other uses organic matter (plants and shit) to build the soil microbes and structure, so that the soil provides all the needs for the growing plants. These are not new concepts, they exist within biological sciences and sustainable land management practices.
Chemical fertiliser farming depletes soil in a number of ways, and because of this is unsustainable ie, the only way you can keep farming that way is to bring in external inputs. In this case that is fossil fuel based ones, which create futher problems on multiple levels.
The reason that this is becoming more of a problem than in recent decades, is because of the intensification (both in terms of ‘stock units’, and how many such farms there are). But the old style of farming (post WW2 – now) wasn’t particularly sustainable either, it was just going to last longer than industrial dairying before fucking the land.
As for ‘dust bowls’ NZ has more than its fair share of land that was once fertile and is now marginal. You need to get out into the country more.
“Craige Mackenzie of the Precision Agriculture Association says that using soil mapping of indivdual farm soils right down to doing so on a paddock by paddock basis allows for the same or better production,(He is talking grass growth), and without the provision of evidence you dismiss this as Lies???,”
No, I didn’t say he is lying (try reading what I actually say). He is probably quite correct that he can get better production from the model he is using. I’m just objecting to that being called sustainable in an environmental context. What on earth makes you think that increased grass growth on its own is a measure of sustainability?
“If He is correct, that such intensive investigation and management allows for current and greater production without any leaching of water/fertilizer into the water table and stops any leachate of the same into waterways via using less water/fertilizer i would suggest you need provide proof of why anyone would believe your ‘i thunk it therefor it is’ denigration of what He says…”
You are talking about pollution mitigation. That’s not sustainability. Try comparing that to AGW mitigation vs prevention. Which would you prefer?
“i would suggest you need provide proof of why anyone would believe your ‘i thunk it therefor it is’ denigration of what He says…””
I’m putting up the arguments, which you seem to be missing. I’ve offered to link, but am not going to do that work until you grasp some of the basics, or at least hint you are open to understanding the basics.
Yawn weka, diatribe is proof of nothing, come back when all the dairy industry collapses through lack of grass growth brought about by the use of fertilizer,
What century do you propose that this will occur in again???…
Fortunately, I’ve got stuff to go and do. But if I am getting this right, you are asking for several things.
One is evidence that intensive, artificial fertiliser based farming significantly damages land. That this is happening in NZ. And that industrial dairying is part of that (ie that dairying does more damage than just polluting water). I’m happy to chase up some links for you when I get back, but I do have to wonder how genuine your query is.
In the meantime I suggest you google ‘peak soil’ if you want to understand the underlying concepts. This is not some wacky theory I am talking about, it’s fairly mainstream understanding globally. Why NZ thinks its immune is another question.
“diatribe is proof of nothing”
Well you would know, given that you seem unable to respond to the points* that I raise and instead resort to ad hominems and abuse. I suspect you aren’t even reading my comments properly 🙁
*ie what sustainable land management actually is, why industrial dairying doesn’t fit that, how the article you linked to is instead greenwash etc.
bad12 ” for how many years, decades, centuries even, have farmers been applying masses of fertilizer to the very same soils that you claim are being unsustainably farmed,”
You showing a bit of ignorance here aren’t you? The scale of intensification and fertilisation and irrigation going on right now is vastly different to anything done in previous “years, decades, centuries even”. Do you not know that?
That is why, for example, waterways and drinking supplies in Canterbury have only started failing in the last 5 years. The scale ramped up starting mid-1990s.
bad12, you also said this “If an iota of what you say were to be correct weka, none of them, the farms that is, would be able to produce anything, where’s the evidence of ‘dust-bowl NZ’,”
Again, take a look at history, silly. Lets take a couple of examples of NZ’s primary industries practices and results. Kauri milling, dust bowls in Canterbury a few decades ago, fishing stocks, or maybe take a look at the land in East Cape all slipped into the rivers and fucked, and same with South Island high country.
Sure bad12 you can wait for the dust bowl to arrive and suffer the same results as above, or you can think and recognise the same practises that caused the earlier “dust-bowl’ disasters listed, and do something about it.
“So the current use of fertilizer on today’s farms doesn’t create dust bowls is the sum total of your comment,”
That is a specious question. YOU are the one who raised the issue of dust bowls (as if that’s the only way to fuck the land). What’s being discussed here is whether modern farming practice in NZ is sustainable. It’s not. It’s pretty easy to prove it’s not – any basic understanding of sustainability makes this obvious. You attempting to reframe this ‘we don’t have dust bowls therefore everything is ok’ is pretty ridiculous, and just you squirming because you can’t address the actual points being made.
weka the actual points being made are in total ”you thunk it therefor it is” rubbish, why then would i legitimize such rubbish by answering it,
When a clown, (you), enters a subject with the claim that ”i know more than you” it is in my opinion that they should be treated like any other blowhard, laughed at,
You claim that the use of fertilizer leaves farms unable to produce grass unless higher and higher amounts of fertilizer is added, such bullshit is just that,unless it is linked to scientific fact,
My point of posting the original Herald story lies in the fact that intensive soil mapping allows for less fertilizer and water to be used to produce the same or more production, i would suggest that the farmer quoted knows what He is saying is true from actually having hands on experience from having used such soil mapping science to produce the results He talks of,
Now your vast knowledge that gives you self declared ‘expert’ status to dispute this man’s work without the provision of a shred of evidence is what???,
As far as i can see everything you have so far written on the issue discussed is a simple blow of your own trumpet without a fact in sight…
that is the gold quote from the article and it shows exactly where their heads are at. As the topsoil continues to be blown out to sea and the naked hillsides continue to slip and the rivers clog to a standstill – nah all good here in headinthesandparadise. But at least some farmers can buy the latest car this year.
They don’t do dairy on hillsides such as which you speak of, and, hillsides do not slip because of the application of fertilizer,
Same question as asked of weka and in what century will the supposed continuous slipping of these hillsides bring these imaginary rivers you speak of to a standstill…
New Zealand has a history of land management that has resulted in soil erosion;
silted-up streams rivers and estuaries; algal blooms and dense growth of aquatic weeds
from nutrient-rich runoff.
Is David Cunliffe really that much of an enigma? I guess one of the problems for the right/ media about banging on with questions about ‘who is David Cunliffe’ and the ‘enigma’ of Cunliffe is that you might actually get an answer to your question. And when people see and understand that answer, as they will, they’ll wonder what you were up to (and how smart you were) going round and round on the question.
Having known the man fairly well for a decade, my answer would be, 160 IQ, brought up fairly poor (but in a caring, values- intense family), hugely successful business consultant before politics (with hugely successful/ busy partner/ mother of children, and hence the house where it is); But most importantly the politician with the best vision for a less neoliberal, post GFC NZ economy that can deliver the social and labour market goods he also absolutely genuinely wants to deliver.
In terms of character, he listens. He learns and has leant to attend, even when he thinks he knows the answer, or what you are going to say. He weighs the larger justice, the bigger picture of the thing. He doesnt hold grudges and doesnt and wont throw people under buses. He believes he can lead, and that that leading will make a positive difference.
I dont think it’s that hard: that’s essentially him. The rest is manner, being ‘moved’ by things at the same time his brain is whirring at warp speeds, semi-bridled enthusiasm and revving high to get on with it: nothing sinister there. The more people see of him, as long as they are not competing with him for the job, the more in my experience they will recognise this. Attempts to frame him as tricky or something else he isnt will look a bit silly at that point.
He’s unusual/ rare but not incomprehensible, unless you actually dont want a clear and plausible and popular answer to your question about ‘who he is’. But let’s face it, all Labour leaders are a little rare and different, or they wouldnt find themselves in a position to get the job. Once the public get a feel for the rareness, they can be very forgiving, especially as the strengths start to deliver.
Never mind Phillip, not your best work is pretty much the opinion of everything you have so far contributed in writing anywhere on the planet,(par for the course in other words)…
hes def doing something right, going by the enemies hes made & the fear hes instilled in the right. & the bs stories the herald/tv3 keep bringing up, i mean, is that it? really?
I’ve never personally met DC but everything I’ve seen and read from him for a very long time resonates with me at a very personal level. You’ve very eloquently expressed my own reaction for me.
I think that the reason why his opponents are trying to stick the ‘tricky’ label on him is because DC is capable of hold two or more disparate thoughts in his head at the same time – and this is a capability they indeed find very tricky to do.
Vote in OAS vote favours Venezuela by 29 to 3;
These rogue states just won’t do as they’re told
8 March 2014
The Friday meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAS), typically dominated by the US throughout its history, has not come out with a resolution against the Venezuelan government. The meeting was ostensibly convened by Panama, which along with the US and Canada, made up the 3 votes against the final OAS statement. Venezuela had already broken off diplomatic relations with Panama on Wednesday, with Maduro calling the Panamanian government a lackey of the US. The meeting didn’t condemn the Venezuelan government and called for continuing dialogue between the parties.
Next Wednesday, there will be a meeting of UNASUR (Union of South American States) in Chile, which will make a strong statement of support for the Venezuelan government. When the US was trying to delegitimate the election of Maduro as president in April last year, the statement by UNASUR supporting the election result was key in putting a stop to that.
Drippy ignorant Hollywood “liberals”
No. 2: KEVIN SPACEY
I don’t know what’s more upsetting: the sheer purblind ignorance of Kevin Spacey and his Hollywood buddies or the cynical lies being peddled by this scurrilous Murdoch rag….
When Jared Leto expressed his support for the “dreamers” who are resisting Venezuela’s government during the Academy Award ceremony this week, he became the latest actor to dive into the country’s bitter political divide. Mr. Leto’s declaration to millions of viewers set off a skirmish, with Venezuela’s communications minister retweeting, “Whoever had doubts that the U.S. had its nose inside Venezuela, there is no doubt now.”
From pop culture to high culture, Venezuela’s conflict is leading actors, artists, athletes and fashion designers to voice their support for the antigovernment protesters, with a minority backing President Nicolás Maduro. This battle over Venezuelans’ hearts and minds is playing out as hundreds of thousands across the country air their grievances over issues including crime, food shortages, a crumbling economy and the arrest of an opposition leader.
At least 18 people have died so far in the demonstrations, many of them shot by security forces or paramilitary groups tied to the government, rights groups say. Hundreds have been wounded.
“For the first time, there is an international climate of opinion that there is only one guilty party in the Venezuelan turmoil—the government,” said Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College.
The Venezuelan government has some Hollywood celebrity supporters, but most of them—including Sean Penn, Danny Glover and Michael Moore —have been publicly quiet since the protests began about a month ago.
Oliver Stone, a bête noire of Venezuela’s opposition, has complained on his Twitter TWTR -2.37% account that Mr. Maduro’s opponents have attacked him on social media. “To those who tweet me vile and ugly comments about Venezuela—I’ve never experienced such verbal violence on social media,” Mr. Stone posted.
Mr. Stone plans to screen a documentary on the late President Hugo Chávez, Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, on Wednesday, the anniversary of Mr. Chávez’ death, on the Venezuelan government-funded Telesur, a channel seen throughout Latin America. The movie is entitled “My Friend Hugo.”
Such support seems to be in the minority. On Oscar night, actors Kevin Spacey and Forest Whitaker also tweeted their criticism over government repression of protesters. Mr. Spacey wrote, “Venezuela don’t give up, everybody has the right to express themselves.”
At a post-Oscar party in Hollywood, Venezuelan fashion designer Carolina Herrera told a television reporter, “The world should know that Venezuela is in the hands of a communist dictatorship, and there is no democracy.”
But when Mr. Leto, clutching his golden statue in hand, told audiences on Sunday—”To all of the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say, ‘we are here'”—most Venezuelans weren’t watching. ….
Thankfully the people of Venezuela do not rely on Hollywood liberals to fight off the restoration of empire attempted by those in the gated suburbs of Caracas.
It appears there have been quite a few fund raising dinners with the PM. Given recent and not so recent comments from the PM, I have what I think is a reasonable question.
Have any of the fund raising dinners been the reason the PM was absent from Parliament?
Manufacturing Contempt for Venezuela
by CYRIL MYCHALEJKO, March 7, 2014
….Then there is Francisco Toro, a Venezuelan blogger whose “musings” at Caracas Chronicles (a website he founded) are “a must-read for foreign journalists,” according to the Associated Press. In an article that went viral on both Twitter and Facebook entitled “The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media are Asleep at the Switch”, Toro wrote about a “tropical pogrom” that allegedly took place one night in Venezuela – except it didn’t. There was no massacre by “paramilitaries.” One person did die from injuries sustained that night, however that was four days later. This death is a tragedy, but it is a far cry from a “pogrom” or massacre.
After this misinformation and gross exaggeration was exposed and criticized Toro took to Twitter and admitted to “overstatement in the heat of the moment.” He also addressed it in a blog post which garnered a whopping 14 likes on Facebook and 12 Tweets – in contrast with the hundreds of thousands of Facebook likes and over 10,000 Tweets his original, factually challenged blog post amassed. This supports Silverman’s aforementioned thesis about how error corrections are not retweeted and viewed as much as the initial errors.
…Another egregious example highlighted by CNN’s report was a photo tweeted by Venezuelan actress Amanda Gutierrez which was allegedly lifted from a US-based porn site. The photo was used by her to “prove” sexual abuse by police against anti-government protesters….
Are those that continue to perpetrate a Lie to be seen as Liars, that question must be asked directly of Fran O’Sullivan after Her abysmal performance on today’s Q+A,
The claim is that David Cunliffe says one thing to us normal lot out here in the real world and once behind closed doors tells a completely different story to the business community,
True or false???,
Blatantly false, a construct of the ‘wing-nuts’, O’Sullivan even had the gall to link this claim of deviousness to the Labour/Green stated intention to establish a single desk seller of generated electricity to the retailers of such,
This despite David Cunliffe five minutes earlier on the same Q+A bluntly saying that everyone including these same electricity generators have been told that they will have input to the actual establishment of the proposed single desk seller,
Tell different things to different audiences, well sure, it would be pointless for instance for Cunliffe to make a business speech to a group of kindergarten mums just as it would be as pointless to make a kindergarten/Best Start speech to a business audience,
Making mountains out of molehills might be a polite means of describing Lies, you tell us Fran exactly which speeches on what dates has David Cunliffe said one thing about a specific subject to one audience and another about that specific subject to another which are obviously diametrically opposed in content and intent,
If Fran you aint got the goods you really should shut the fucking thing, your mouth that is, or do we just assume you to be a Liar…
“Tell different things to different audiences, well sure, it would be pointless for instance for Cunliffe to make a business speech to a group of kindergarten mums just as it would be as pointless to make a kindergarten/Best Start speech to a business audience,”
thing is bad12, maybe, if this did occur, there would be less need for the different speeches in the first place ? 😉
I can only imagine what a JK speech at a 5k a head dinner must be full of and how that same speech would be received by those to whom 5K is a serious chunk of annual income.
And what about the ridiculous, ‘Nobody knows who David Cunliffe is’ line. Grr it is very irritating to see how much the journos are parroting lines that have been fed to them by National.
This ‘business’ of ‘business’ that gets young people to work for free. Needs to go onto a separate post. It needs sunlight exposure.
And looking at the hours they are expected to work whether they are free or getting subsistence wages. Law offices and ….I have heard of law offices doing this, wealthy ones so that they can say they are looking for the brightest and the best, and then there is a good salary held out as a carrot. What other types of businesses are doing this? Let’s have a look?
Heaps, even the local swimming pool, I know of one that required 4 weeks voluntary work while they trained you… to work for minimum wage on the front desk… I went into bat for a the successful candidate who was gobsmacked on receiving the offer response being that its legal and we’ve done it this way for 10+years. Why should we pay while someone’s learning the job?
Advised the candidate to tell them to shove it… Who want to works for a bunch of pricks like that…
Problem been many are desperate so they always get someone…
Let’s not forget that choosing to turn down such an offer may well see those on a benefit facing very real penalties, such as loss of all government assistance for up to twenty six weeks. The employer who offers such a position to a beneficiary gets a government paid lackey for a month and can do it all over again in only 62* days with neither rhyme nor reason being asked of them.
That’s nearly three months of employment costs taken off your own books. Or to put it more bluntly, hire three get the fourth worker free.
*I included the four week trial period as being part of the employment contract because we know damn well any employer running this type of operation will certainly be including it!
Well contact the regions Union co-ordinator e.g Unions Auckland, Unions Waikato, Unions Northland…etc. I am sure if the facts stack up and it’s clearly exploitation by a scumbag employer (hmm wondering if it’s Tiger) then a exposure picket, protesting outside the premise can be arranged.
Personally I find a protest outside the owners house will get a result for them to cough up compensation to the vulnerable workers.
NZ is great! NZ Geographic is produced by a small NZ concern, hard working, along with small staff and many equally dedicated photographers and turning out fine stuff. Good to give a subscription for a prezzie for anyone, or to oneself. Support fine NZ creation.
Lolz, Slippery the Prime Minister in the re-run of the Nation interview on TV3 was giving Alfred E. Nuemann,(Paddy Gower), a look that says ”if i had an axe right now you would be wearing it”,
Credit where credit is due, that was probably the most incisive interview of Slippery the PM that i have had the pleasure of laughing at,
Gower, probably because the PM wasn’t expecting to to get such a slicing and dicing, elicited from the PM the perfect ”these are my principles but i have another set if you don’t like these ones” set of answers,
Gower has raised himself in my opinion from wallowing in the gutter to sitting on the kerb with this interview,
While Gower will never escape from the likening of Himself to Alfred E. Nuemann of mad comics infamy,(unless he indulges in a bout of extended cosmetic surgery), IF He continues to apply such a precise form of interviewing of His political subjects He might just become one of the few ‘greats’ among the few of political interviewers/commentators…
Q&A turned to custard when Susan Wood took over. The panel was woeful, Bryce Edwards couldn’t even hold his own against toxic Botox Borg, going as far as agreeing with her.
McCarten use to discredit her and openly front foot her by attacking her. I once lined her up on Willie & JT’s political show. She was condemning Auckland port workers high wages for long hours & dangerous work. I called in under my alter ego ‘George’ and said “What would you know about dangerous work, the only danger in your workplace would be while having a long boozie lunch in a swanky Ponsonby road cafe/bar, you might choke eating tapas.” Then boys all roared with laughter and Borg mumbled “thanks that’s very kind of you.” my reply “your welcome.” For the remainder of the show she was somewhat more reserved.
Anyway, my point is any commentator purporting to represent the Left, must when on these political shows, quickly counter the spin being peddled by Hooton, Borg, Wilde or any other other NACT sponsored mouthpiece. If not stand down and I’m sorry Josie & Bryce are poor subs for McCarten. Bradbury maybe the next best?
Yeah i ‘d like to see Bomber on the show…… today was first time I have bothered with the nation or Q & a for over a year and tbh it has got worse.. its all key this n that and we love key- fucking asslickers
Nah, Bomber’s a one line pony. Unless the question is about the evil of baby boomers, his answers won’t be relevant. Marama Davison could be worth a try. Unlike Josie and Edwards the Lesser, she is from the broad left.
The coverage of The Nation’s interview with Key on TV3 last night was a lot better than I imagined it would be – this was good to see Gower giving Key a hard time – it would be great if this type of approach continued from him.
That is: to direct factually based challenges toward all political parties -( not solely challenges toward leftwing parties on made up shit)
New Zealanders have a right to know what is going on in their government .
The NZ mainstream media are failing us on this one.
One could assert we have a duty to be informed prior to voting.
The mainstream media are failing us.
Great to see a shift from Gower – hope his new found approach is here to stay.
I would like to see The Herald & co follow suit – it is a very poor show if they continue with the opinionated biased misinformation that they have been pursuing – it is bad form.
Un-believable
What is wrong with these munters?
Most of them wouldn’t even be advantaged by having King of the Munters get back into government.
I guess they like having someone really particularly hollow to model themselves – on aspirationless twerps.
An excellent interview by the same Paddy we railed against last week. Beautifully done. Though I’m not sure that Mr Key was given a “hard time” blue. It was more that the questions being asked were good questions and were of the standard that all political interviewers should be using. Just seemed good because the previous were so bad. How often has Mr Key been really held to account? (Like a starving man saying that the crust he found tasted so good.)
And wouldn’t it be so much more helpful to our entire country if we had a decent standard of political journalists doing decent interviews.
It is a complete farce not to have this present in a democracy – we really are being severely ripped off – Big money interests are really taking the Mickey and are destroying our system.
“Show us the information” mainstream media sources – we are not interested in your small-minded, petty, biased opinionated fantasies – leave them out from hereon in.
Like it or not, each one of these articles continue to erode David Cunliffe’s reputation.
He needs to regain the offensive or resign himself to become dog tucker at the next election.
If you are referring to the mainstream media’s opinionated made up misinformation – the only reputation such is eroding is the media source from which it emanates.
Perhaps they don’t need the money that comes with a high readership/amount of viewers, and they are happy to keep printing and screening their crap with no one receiving it – doubt their advertisers view it that way.
You are apparently unaware what a waste of time and how boring it is to read the fictional workings of rightwing spin doctors – I have therefore looked at your comment for enough time to work out that is what it consists of and to note that these utterances aren’t relevant to any point I raised and therefore didn’t bother reading any further.
I suggest you respond to my points and in a credible way if you want to converse – otherwise you are just being a waste of time.
A year ago you were all banging on about David Shearer and couldn’t wait to see the back of him as leader. Apart from a few examples here, none of you seem able to see the awful decision you’ve made in electing Cunliffe and his multiple faces which speak only one thing…inconsistency. Since Nov 2008 the Opposition leader who secured the highest poll result for the Party was David Shearer. And he was forced out. There was some hope of getting rid of Key then but not now with the multi bungler in charge. And he leads his swaggering coterie of egomaniacs into a battle they won’t win until the ego gets pulled into line. Hardly likely to happen with this bunch. You all lack the courage to demand he changes his ways or resigns as leader. But he wouldn’t listen anyway. So, when Labour is not elected this year will you all be baying for Cunliffe’s blood?
I would imagine there will be rioting in the main cities, an angry revolt against the neo-liberal establishment. However I don’t think this will occur because ‘there will be a change of Government 🙂
– About two dozen Iraqi women demonstrated on Saturday in Baghdad against a draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet that would permit the marriage of nine-year-old girls and automatically give child custody to fathers.
The group’s protest was on International Women’s Day and a week after the cabinet voted for the legislation, based on Shi’ite Islamic jurisprudence, allowing clergy to preside over marriages, divorces and inheritances. The draft now goes to parliament.
Good explanation of the Crimean situation by Wayne Brittenden and an expert in a thoutht-provoking interview about 11.45 a.m.
11:40 Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint
Coverage of the crisis in Ukraine has generally lacked historic context, yet some little-known facts are essential for a proper understanding.
Wayne fills some of those gaps and Finlay follows up with New York-based geopolitical analyst Eric Draitser.
Audio –
Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint ( 18′ 11″ )
11:40 Coverage of the crisis in Ukraine has generally lacked historic context, and yet
some little-known facts are essential for a proper understanding of the complex and rapidly changing situation there.
Also for IT information see Pete Seel University of Colarado 9.40 – what happens to your info online when you’re dead? Can your family access it for things they need to know / don’t want to know?
What is more embarrassing than the Editor’s decision to run the story is RWNJs like you getting all excited by it. Are you that much of a pavlov’s dog that granny only has to hold up a can of sawdust and you think its filet mignon?
Lesse first Cunliffe said he had nothing to do with it, then it turns out he did and his wife did some work for the guy and it now turns out the guy donated to Cunliffes secret trust
Would really help if you read all the way to the end of the article, and with granny of late, it is the only place the relevant facts ever seem to be situated. If a question is not asked it cannot be answered. Have you heard the interview in question? I ask because The Herald have not supplied any links to it!
The Herald has written a piece so openly suggestive that it is meaningless and your creative math with the facts surely fails even your meagre standards of reporting reality.
Cunliffe did not disclose his visits when the Herald on Sunday inquired about it on February 22. This weekend, he said he had checked his recording of the interview and he had truthfully answered questions about any beneficial ownership of the property. “If you had asked me whether I had visited the property, then my answer would have been yes,” Cunliffe said.
Interesting thought. Please do pass on each one you get today for our wonder and amazement chris (Does the number go up with every new thought you have – so now 74?)
Nicky somebody on libraries and swimming pools – they are nice to haves and developers are doing such a self-denying job of providing housing that they should not be burdened with levies that support such ‘nice to haves’. In good old Britain miners in some areas where the tunnels went under houses, would return home and find the doors of their cottages had jammed because of ground movement during the day. They had to break their doors open. Don’t know what it was like for the family inside. So we have got a lovely long slide to go yet as we lose the amenities that we hoped would be permanent in a modern, enlightened, progressive society.
Vote for National and ACT, and get more and better lifestyles. We at National do not encourage the poor to vote for us, or join us, and we seek to assist our supporters (or lead them to believe we will, which we usually do). We spit on you other losers. You are lucky we give you the opportunity to live on some small piece of land, and perhaps we will assist you with a small plot for vegetables in some common area.
The future as NACTs see it.
Meanwhile some Mayors are having a private chinwag and are discussing the trend to amalgamation to supercities. And this is a pre Local Bodies Association meeting for them to get some overview so they haven’t invited LG Head Lawrence Yule. But they did invite Paula Bennett the Local Government Minister (did you know that) but she declined. (Chris Tremain was Local Government Minister when he made a release on 12 December 2013 then on a
3 March 2014 release Paula Bennett is Local Government Minister. So she is to be the new punchy, aggressive minister to kick-box these pesky local bodies into cookie-cutter shapes of central govt choice.)
Local government already is fading like the Cheshire cat’s smile. I was trying to find out details of the present membership of board on line and there were lots about policy and statements about practices, but finding the names of members of Local Government NZ and details about them are not immediately accessible, even on Wikipedia.) But there is up to date information about the sector to be seen on-line at http://www.localgovt.co.nz/.
Three commissioners, GreyWarbler – Basil Morrison, Anne Carter, Grant Kirby – all intent on following thru on the NAct Govt agenda of first of all, demolishing all our LOCAL government and replacing it with -out-of-touch and distant “provincial” type government. And when that has occurred, the next thing to happen will be multinational corporates bearing down to takeover our current local government infrastructure !
We’re fighting a proposal to have a Unitary Authority for the whole of Northland right now. We managed to get about 1700 submissions into the Local Govt Comm Opposing this proposal, and now quite a number of us are waiting to have our submissions heard because the LGC didn’t allow enough days/time/venues for this number of submitters. Maybe ……. just maybe….. for once, we might make a difference with our opposition to the neo-libs in power.
And when that has occurred, the next thing to happen will be multinational corporates bearing down to takeover our current local government infrastructure !
There is actually a lot to be said for amalgamating the infrastructure capabilities of local govt. The Wellington region for instance has no fewer than 14 different entities dealing with water supply or waste water in one form or another. Insane.
Having worked in the sector I’m absolutely convinced that there is much to be gained from amalgamation at this level.
The real problem is political accountability. Far too often we have seen the formation of large CCO’s as a precursor to privatisation. Or the contracting out of services. It’s unfortunate that the two issues are conflated like this because it means there are far too many, tiny, unviable TLA’s struggling to meet modern and efficient service standards – yet while the risk of privatisation hangs over our heads we are relunctant to do the obvious.
This shows we can’t look naively at anything as being what it appears on the surface. What is behind this? How can this be privatised and profitised?
Red Logix paints a clear picture of today’s dilemma with Councils. One they need to be accessable, and to listen. I notice in Marlborough they have Wards. Reasonably well represented then.
And there needs to be a balance of how big. How can you stop takeovers by people with similar interests who just want to bend the tree till the fruit falls in their territory. The dam in Hawkes Bay is so big that it’s another Forsyth Barr. Perhaps taking away the ability to borrow skyhigh might be the answer and any privatisation has to go to referendum.
Good luck Jenny – at first sight it seems reasonably practical, and gives weight to bulk up against the Auckland octopus. But one great outfit far distant from outlying poorer more precarious areas can be difficult for getting understanding of people’s requirements. I don’t know how often Kaeo in the Far North is going to flood and the Council doesn’t either, but it’s time they got together with the people and worked out something to help that little settlement. The further away the council offices are, the less they can motivate themselves to do something for the people who need a hand.
The thinking that is happening is – how do we package it to appeal to the punteres prejudices? Can we go with the bad government thing like so many USA states?
You get your own people into government, screw it up and then have the efficient private company offer to take over and straighten it all out nicely for them – and more cheaply too for the first few years.
It’s really what Brierley and other asset strippers did to companies in the past, stripped off the easily saleable bits and then cut out services and staff, to the other bits.
Meanwhile withdrawing anything of value and replacing it with short-term solutions and machinery.
The importance of far right element in the protest movement has been heavily under reported.
Also the fact the new PM is already proposing a rapid neoliberal reform program…
“Also the fact the new PM is already proposing a rapid neoliberal reform program…”
I always thought that the Ukranians were screwed either way. One one side you have Russian oligarchs, mafia dons and corrupt Orthodox priests, and on the other side you have EU technocrats, ready, willing and able to impose austerity (did someone tell them there is next to nothing left to cut….??)
Someone I heard on radio today commented that NZs are self-effacing? Is that true? Or what? Sounds a bit on the weak side. Are we? Scared of our own shadows? But probably he’s right, I think he was from overseas.
I’m losing messages on another thread – eleven attempts with one – so please ignore this. It’s probably a technical fault. I just want to see if it works here.
“I always thought that the Ukranians were screwed either way. One one side you have Russian oligarchs, mafia dons and corrupt Orthodox priests, and on the other side you have EU technocrats, ready, willing and able to impose austerity”
Indeed.
“Kos calls bullshit on the notion that US neocons made the events in Ukraine happen the way they happened.”
Its true that the background is complex & not directly to do with US.
But there are most certainly a bunch of indications of strong US involvement.
All people that are rescued should be expected to make a koha of at least $100 to the rescuing body and neighbouring people who have used their resources to help, ie farmers lending their equipment and time. The cave system in Nelson has only recently been entirely explored. For a betting man it would have been a good one to take – how long now till somebody gets stuck trying to get through.
In this case one could make a play on Shakespeares quote about demanding money and perhaps to the extent of offering a pound of flesh. That caveman should have slimmed down before trying to Squeeze through. Now I hope that seeing he is an older man, and supposedly experienced, then he should pay out $1000 to the rescue group to assist with their expenses and equipment provision. The young might be forgiven their ignorance, and lack of planning, the over 40 years not. I think this man was considerably older.
I’ve thought about this issue at various times, mainly when the Kiwi Navy has had to rescue some millionaire playboy yachtsman from the Southern Ocean at great cost. However, I don’t think we can make people pay individually for being rescued. The unwanted effect of this would be to cut off many interesting activities from participation by all but the filthy rich. I think paying for rescues from taxation is the best way to go. Of course, this would not apply to any activity which involved jetskis. Riding a jetski should bring about an automatic custodial sentence, with no right of appeal.
So the rort of taxpayers money by Key-National continue glaringly obvious right under our noses.
Their latest 2.4 million dollar electioneering campaign is what I am referring to.
An education policy release outlining 4 hubs to be setup in ‘key electorates’ New Plymouth, Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and South Auckland. How slimy they National pricks are.
This is on top of arranged visits by the Royals to Hamilton (West) no doubt lining up the marginal seats to sure up votes.
After reading some of this article which is all I can take at the moment of bad news I recommend it to everyone – it’s important to understand how NZ manages to screw up everything that we have going for us.
The author knows what he is talking about – Keith Woodford is Professor of Farm Management and Agribusiness at Lincoln University.
Fonterra has got itself into this situation because of the new TAF capital structure. What we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind the scenes they will now be working to create new rules. However, papered-over cracks always reappear.
The Government bureaucrats responsible for giving a tick to TAF must also be squirming in their seats, given that Government’s position has always been that there must be clear rules for setting the milk price.
So how does Fonterra get out of the TAF straitjacket? Where can it get the funds if it is to take New Zealand’s economy to new places? That is the issue for next week.
How long did that take after the ‘float’ for a ‘crisis’ to appear?
I’m assuming that the fix for the problem will be to sell more of it off out of New Zealander’s hands. Chinese would be first in the queue.
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Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the unembarrassed audacity parties show as an election nears, the government has stolen the opposition’s policy to ban foreign investors buying established homes. Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil have announced ...
The Jewish Council’s proposals are divisive, contrary to New Zealand’s human rights framework, and ignore the rights of other ethnic minorities in Aotearoa. ...
"This is shocking, and astounding," says Augusta Macassey-Pickard, spokesperson for the group. "We knew that this process was rushed, and flawed, but this is another level of compromised." ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter/Bulletin editor Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark maintains that Cook Islands, a realm of New Zealand, should have consulted Wellington before signing a “partnership” deal with China. “[Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown] seems to have signed behind the backs of his own ...
COMMENTARY:By Saige England Mediawatch on RNZ today strongly criticised Stuff and YouTube among other media for using Israeli propaganda’s “Outbrain” service. Outbrain is a company founded by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military and its technology can be tracked back to a wealthy entrepreneur, which in this case could ...
Luxon said protesters linked to Destiny Church "went too far" by disrupting Pride events in Auckland, while church leader Brian Tamaki said he told protesters, "I want you to storm the library they're in." ...
Hundreds of engineers are losing their jobs and leaving our shores due to infrastructure project delays, creating "significant" risk to our nation's development, says the head of New Zealand's engineering body. ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the deal with China “complements, not replaces” the relationship with New Zealand after signing it yesterday. Brown said “The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030” provides a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
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this one is a total ‘howler’..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/comment-whoar-a-shocking-piece-of-junk-journalism-cunnliffe-accused-of-corruptionlying-jonathon-milne-short-listed-for-crappiest-piece-of-journalism-awards-2014/
(excerpt..)
“..it milne isn’t severely censured by the broadcast standards authority for this exercise in putrescent/’trash’-journalism..
..what good are they..?..what are they for..?..”
phillip ure..
I totally agree with you, Phillip Ure. I’ve just laid a formal complaint with the Herald Editor, and if they don’t retract and apologise, I’m going onto the Press Council.
This is a scurrilous piece of non-journalism, and the text of the story tells you there is nothing in it except what a friend does for another friend if the occasion calls for it.
Is that about this morning’s Herald on Sunday piece, that says Cunliffe is rich and has rich buddies, and one of Cunliffe’s secret donors isn’t KDC or the Unite Union?
Yes. Karol. The actual story itself is totally different from the headline and the picture caption.
Its an incredible piece of sloppy, inaccurate journalism. The Herald should be ashamed of itself.
my heart kinda sank when i saw the headline..
..and i asked myself in somewhat nervous tones:
..’what is this?’…
..by the time i had read/re-read..
..my tone had turned to one of anger..
..and the question-mark was replaced by an exclamation-mark..
..phillip ure..
This is the non story of all non stories. Cunliffe helped a mate. Farrar and Hooton are playing tag team and tweeting it up for all it is worth and Slater has already run a post. Obviously they see this as a war of attrition.
Farrar’s blogpost was like reading Proust.
It took hundreds of words and didn’t make a single worthwhile point.
Who said back in August 2012 “this National Government is selling New Zealand pound by pound, hectare by hectare, and there will be nothing left.”
That’s right, and here he is helping his rich, foreign mate buy 19 hectares of prime coastal property. And he may not have a direct financial interest but his wife did legal work on the deal. Was that at no charge?
“Cunliffe acknowledged making two visits, though he could not initially recall how many, when they were, or whether Keenan was there.”
Rather lame memory lapse isn’t it? Shades of Banks not recalling whether he had been to the Dotcom mansion.
How pathetic, Seti. 19 ha of rocky coastal land which is mostly inaccessible being sold to an individual does NOT compare with thousands of ha of good farming land which the Nats have let go to foreign corporates.
Hi Seti,
Perry Keenan is a New Zealand businessman who lives in Chicago. From the article:
“This week, the Herald on Sunday learned the new owner of the 19ha property is Perry Keenan, a Chicago-basedNew Zealand businessman”
Clear and precise acquaintance with the facts helps with thinking accurately about political issues – just a handy hint.
Yes the Herals should be ashamed and thanks for making the complaint.
However, what the fuck is Cunliffe doing? When he was asked 2 weeks ago about his involvement with the property why didn’t he just say he had no legal/financial interest, but he had visited it to check it out for a friend who wanted to buy it? Did he think that the Herald wasn’t going to keep digging and use anything it could against him?
are you demanding cunnliffe should have disclosed he went and looked at the house..as a favour .. for a close friend .. who was overseas at the time..
..and gave him a report/maybe took some pics..?
..how in any/the slightest way is this/that in the public interest..?
..stop buying into this ‘cunnliffe’s-rich! bullshit rightwing-meme..
..cunnliffe disclosed all he had to..
..no reason for you to have a (green) whinge at him..
..phillip ure
It’s not playing into the rich mates meme. It’s playing smart with a bunch of venal fucks who want to skew the election.
It’s not in the public interest in the way you mean. It’s in the public interest by way of getting a left-wing govt come November.
Cunliffe didn’t do anything wrong other than let himself get set up, again. He was asked specifically if he had a legal/financial interest in the property, which he answered truthfully, but why not just say that he helped a mate out too? That’s not a rhetorical question. You’re argument seems to be that he shouldn’t have to. Political naivity.
no..you are wrong..
..he did a small favour for an old friend..
..that’s it..end of story..
.no political/financial ‘gain’..
..there is absolutely nothing he should have disclosed..
..this is total bullshit..
..and you are buying into it..
..just by yr moan about it..
..philip ure..
Ok, so the article in the Herald will have absolutely no effect on people’s perceptions of Cunliffe 🙄 We don’t have to be concerned about the hatchet job being done on Labour. Everything is sweet in the rose garden because phil thinks that the only thing a politician has to do is play the game the way he thinks.
now you are just talking absolute drivel..
..i was the one who first gave the heads’-up on that..
..could you stuff more words into my mouth..?
..and it is nothing to do with ‘thinks that the only thing a politician has to do is play the game the way he thinks.’..
..it is to do with yr stoopid/knee-jerk-reaction..
..based on nothing..
..how about you tell us just ‘why’ cunnliffe should have told of doing that small-favour for his freiend..?
..go on..!
..tell us exactly how/why he ‘blew’ it..as you allege..
..phillip ure.
and as a ‘green’..
..why aren’t you asking/moaning about the bone-headed-decision not to debate ‘chem-trails-col’..on the nation..?
..to just hand him a platform/free-run..
..care to give yr ‘slant’ on that..?
..care to tell us how that was ‘clever’..?
..phillip ure..
“..why aren’t you asking/moaning about the bone-headed-decision not to debate ‘chem-trails-col’..on the nation..?”
Because I don’t watch the Nation (no tv) so I have no idea what the fuck you are on about.
Still can’t debate the issues raised, eh?
“..how about you tell us just ‘why’ cunnliffe should have told of doing that small-favour for his freiend..?”
I’ve already explaing this, but one more time…
IMO, it’s Cunliffe’s job to anticipate the hatchet jobs being done. If he was being asked about his financial/legal involvement in a high priced property sale, it’s his job to understand that this is a jonolist seeking to find some shit on him. So, there is no harm in telling the jonolist what the jonolist is going to find out easily anyway and use against him if he isn’t up front about it. There is no real reason for him to talk about helping a mate out, other than the fact that he is talking to a jonolist in an election year.
Your argument that it’s a non issue (his helping his mate out) is just denial of the political issues involved with the MSM and the NACT shills. A better argument would be that it doesn’t matter what he does, the skewing will still happen, so better to just get on with the other stuff that gives Labour a chance. I have no idea if that would be reasonable in this situation, and neither do you.
there is no ‘issue”..
..which was my point in the first place..
..and..f.y.i..the green party refused to appear on the nation to debate ‘chem-trails-col’..
..and the greens said they would only appear if craig withdrew his defamation-suit against norman..
..and we all know that was never going to happen..
..so why did they do/say that..?
..and at the same time turn down a media-platform..(in a time of falling-polls..(!)..
..and turned down a chance to monster ‘chem-trails’..
..i’ve shortlisted that one for bone-headed-political-decision-of-the-year..2014..
..phillip ure..
“there is no ‘issue”..”
So you say. Still can’t debate the issues, eh?
I don’t know the story of the GP refusing to debate with Craig, but I can’t see any reason why they should. FFS, the guy has some pretty abhorrent and bizarre beliefs, and he is being used by NACT to keep control of NZ. If he has enough support in NZ to get into parliament, that’s one thing. But the GP is under no obligation whatsoever to give him any attention.
Im betting if he had said he had a look through for his friend initially it would have killed any storey dead as It is a perfectly reasonable thing to do…
Instead he tells half the story and lets the media create a story from nothing and frame him as sneaky again.
Needs to box cleverer…
there is no ‘story’..
..and that the meda are so blind to national/the elites being so far up each others’ arses..
..they have the need to tie their shoelaces together..
..and put a broom-stick between their ankles..
..to stop from completely disappearing..
..this is a double-standard too far..
..we have a media that goes nowhere near the needs of the average nz’er..
..they are owned..lock stock and barrel..
..by the corporates/elites they serve..
..there is yr ‘story’..there is yr ‘issue’..
..phillip ure
Exactly cricklewood. Much more precise explanation of what I was getting at, thanks.
Cunny seems to be a very slow learner, he should know this. He does not appear to be very clever.
I’m not so sure that’s likely, Cricklewood.
If I were a journalist looking to paint Cunliffe in devious colours I know how I would have treated any volunteering of such information. I’d imply that (a) Cunliffe was forced to admit acting on behalf of a rich friend to buy an expensive property, and (b) he downplayed his role but (c) while he claims he did nothing to materially help, his wife was involved in the sale process (wink, wink).
Pretty easy, really, when you put yourself into that mindset. I’m not sure why you think the story would have ‘gone away’, given that it would have played into the ‘tricky’ meme just as well as this follow-up story.
If you accept that the journalistic angle on Cunliffe is to run with the ‘tricky’ narrative, I think you’d lose your bet.
Personally, I think the one positive for Cunliffe in all of this is that the series of revelations is really starting to look a bit silly, and very much like a concerted witch-hunt. There’s quite a potential for this to backfire, especially given that it has started so early in election year. I presume the right-wing strategists have thought this through so perhaps they know the New Zealand electorate better than I do.
Puddlegum,
Once again I appreciate how you have taken the time to articulate this.
The one thing I have been trying to convey is that Cunliffe’s enemies (and I used that word deliberately) will use any piece of information or action to smear him.
There is nothing Cunliffe can do to ‘behave’ better, or ‘box smarter’ with these people. Everything will be turned against him one way or another.
Which to a devious mind suggests a strategy …
Phil is quite correct. Calm down you strange bird. DC would have put them straight, however the shrill MSM media are gang banging the opposition party’s to keep the elite owners happy. I know a few good print journalists who cover stories which never get to the printer. The right-wing editors simply refuse to publish unflattering coverage of National. Or praise worthy content of the Left.
I think it is time now to resist the bait. It may be true that Cunliffe could have or should have said or done something different regarding trusts, houses or rich friends, but we should not allow ourselves to be sucked into a petty conversation with which the right is far too comfortable. We should be working now toward changing the conversation, so that Cunliffe’s actual ideas get some oxygen, and people are motivated to vote for him on that basis. And if that can’t happen through the media, we must get it happening on the ground. Changing the leader is not enough by itself to seriously challenge the status quo. Our involvement and commitment is also needed, and we should not allow it to be weakened by set-piece distractions.
I agree with much of that Olwyn. I don’t see much of that other happening, but I hope it is, or will increase.
Good on you Jenny Kirk, that is simply a ridiculous piece of Jonolism, the author outing Himself as the Alfred E. Nuemann of the print media…
what have you got against alfred e nuemann..?
..that he has become a figure of scorn/contempt-comparison for you..?
..mad mag was one of the few sources of satire in a time of whitebread/unquestioning-journalism..
..stop sullying his good name..!
..phillip ure..
They are really trying put the dirt on DC with this one. Good on you for taking it up with HOS and Press Council
I went back to the Herald online just now and the rubbish that Milne wrote is no longer on the front page.
interesting..esp. as it was the headline..it was the scandal-du-jour..
..maybe they have realised what a stinking pile of crap it is..
..phillip ure..
it hasn’t been pulled..
..it is just a bit further down the page..
..phillip ure..
The real estate agent who chatted to the Herald (or maybe Farrar) about a rich client might be lucky to keep working in the area. Rich pricks, whether they’re mates with Cunliffe or not, don’t like their business spread around the gossip rags. If she sold the place, there may even be a basis for a complaint.
Anyway, I’m left with the overwhelming impression that the real crime here is that the place overlooks Key’s disgusting and environmentally damaging mansion out on the sandspit. As a Northlander, watching Jafas and others build all over sandspits and clear mangroves has been making me feel sick for years. Who knows what they’ll do if those environmental warriors in National are forced to gut the RMA against their will, by the centre-right ACT party? We need to shovel these creeps into the toxic waste bin of history while we still have something left. Grrrrr.
Is David Cunliffe really that much of an enigma? I guess one of the problems for the right/ media about banging on with questions about ‘who is David Cunliffe’ and the ‘enigma’ of Cunliffe is that you might actually get an answer to your question. And when people see and understand that answer, as they will, they’ll wonder what you were up to (and how smart you were) going round and round on the question.
Having known the man fairly well for a decade, my answer would be, 160 IQ, brought up fairly poor, hugely successful business consultant before politics (with hugely successful/ busy partner/ mother of children, and hence the house where it is); But most importantly the politician with the best vision for a less neoliberal, post GFC NZ economy that can deliver the social and labour market goods he also absolutely genuinely wants to deliver.
I dont think it’s that hard: that’s essentially him. The rest is manner, being ‘moved’ by things at the same time his brain is whirring at warp speeds, unbridled enthusiasm and revving high to get on with it: nothing sinister there. The more people see of him, as long as they are not competing with him for the job, the more in my experience they will recognise this. Attempts to frame him as tricky or something else he isnt will look a bit silly at that point.
He’s unusual/ rare but not incomprehensible, unless you actually dont want an answer to your question about ‘who he is’. But let’s face it, all Labour leaders are a little rare and different, or they wouldnt find themselves in a position to get the job. Once the public get a feel for the rareness, they can be very forgiving, especially as the strengths start to deliver.
Yes, I think people keep asking the “who is David Cunliffe” question because they keep comparing him to the way they they know John Key who has a public profile built up over half a dozen years, helped along with an expensive team of PR people and suck ups.
I get annoyed with the tribal National/right wing shit heads that can’t seem to understand why wealthy people support Labour, Im guessing that these are the people who have an insatiable need for more and more wealth, they have never asked the question; why? These are the RWNJ’s that don’t seem to get through their fat heads that Labour has a GDP growth on average 1% higher per annum than National, this is what DC refers to when he says the “Labour can walk and chew gum at the same time”. Labour will put the minimum wage up but will also create an environment that is better for the top line, businesses will ultimately do better!
The irony in all of this “who is David Cunliffe” questioning is interesting, because I would bet that if people actually got to know John Key he would turn out to be a bit of a fuckwit, they type of person who wouldn’t have time for people of little wealth or status (whatever the fuck that is). I did work with DC in the 90’s, we were never friends but I remember him to be a bloody good bugger, he had no problem getting on with people across the spectrum of workers…I wouldn’t bet that you could say the same thing about John Key.
An IQ of 160 is pretty unusual, even putting aside the issues about what it measures. This may actually be a problem for Cunliffe at the moment, because he won’t he used to knocking off 50 or 60 IQ points to get to the level where NAct puppets like Farrar and Slater can understand what he’s on about. He may also feel that the rubbish they spout is so stupid and ignorant that its irrelevance should be self evident. The sort of intelligence he has can bring a little naivete with it, and he might not yet have realised just how far below him the opposition is. However, it also means that he’ll learn quickly how to deal with them.
Here’s an interesting commentary on the use of interns in film and advertising.
http://www.idealog.co.nz/magazine/12/creative-serfs
She did the rounds of Auckland design agencies, but found them “already full of free workers”.
“Most of them said I’d have to show I was keen by working for free,” she says. “I wouldn’t, but it’s become accepted now because many people are desperate.”
I just detest employers who want people to work for nothing. Doesn’t matter how easy the government makes it for ’em (e.g. 90 day trial) it’s never enough.
Disgraceful. They justify it by saying it’s temporary while the worker proves themselves, but that only applies to the individual.
In reality they’ve created a permanent situation of a pool of free workers to be drawn on at any time.
While this article outlines a highly exploitative use of interns, I am aware of a charity which was approached by Intern NZ. The charity got a qualified and passionate intern for 3 months so was understandably pleased, particularly because it was an out of the blue offer.
This is different in my view because it is a charity, and because there was a limit on free labour.
The chap exploited for six years(?!) that’s just abuse.
Corporate welfare:
“We were encouraged by the agency we were working at to go on the dole,” says fellow ad intern Price. “It was hard because WINZ was constantly ringing, trying to get me other work. I tried being honest with them at first, told them what I was doing, but that just meant I wasn’t going to be able to carry on with the internship.”
Sounds to me like a breach of the Social Securities Act, namely the section about making your situation worse off (by working without pay). Wonder if the SSA can be used to stamp out the practice, or at least give it a fixed time limit of say one month to make it uneconomic for companies to keep recruiting interns and retraining them.
Yeah an “employer” tried to put my son in this situation with a “four week trial” on no pay.
Never mind he had rent to pay etc and he’d already turned up at 7:00 and done 2 hours work before the boss arrived – manufacturing firm.
You can only get a unemployment benefit if you are unemployed. If you are working but your employer is not paying you you are not unemployed.
WINZ can approve a work experience trial in conjunction with an employer and still pay a benefit but with only for a maximum period of four weeks.
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/employment_and_training/programmes_and_services/work_experience/work_experience-04.htm
This is why internships are anti-worker/anti-working class: it’s fine for people from well-off families who can live at home or get the rent paid from their trust fund, who then get their foot on the career ladder. The people who don’t have those resources just get shut out of the whole industry.
Peter Jackarse didn’t help with his successful lobbying of National to change employment laws, which loaded the gun in the bosses favour.
Key-National will have credited the ‘free labour’ as being in full time employment, fudging the true unemployment figures.
Trickery is as trickery does.
There is a whole post in private businesses profting form free labour, and the ever more creative ways they are finding to do it. I was gobsmacked at the audacity of a new business round my way that started up recently using one such formula:
Create a charity that does something. Get volunteers to raise all the money to do it. Be the provider of whatever it is. Charge whatever for providing that service. There are even public agencies that will find the volunteers for you, and WINZ (and other employment agencies) refer clients to them.
Ka-ching.
Hey, maybe if I work really, really hard maybe I can buy myself a job /sarc
Yeah, no.
And I suspect it’s gotten a lot worse since that article was published back in 2007.
Employment is not a charity provided by bosses
Any guesses? Presumably, it’s not against the law to work out who it is based on publicly available information.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11216464
I have a horrible feeling I know who this is. Wife beaters should be hounded out of parliament.
An order against publishing the name tho is just that, so doing so here may be thin ice, if the person in question has been convicted of an assault on His wife in court where no suppression order was given you could publish that as a fact, but, couldn’t publish anything linking to the divorce…
Somebody call Wikileaks!
From that story it sounds like the “politician” isn’t actually an MP, but is a “high profile political figure” who supports some MPs – said MPs are reported as supporting “family values”.
Compare this with the pasting Len Brown took in the public arena for nothing actually illegal.
His name should be known
His name is well known and was previously published in newspapers when the case first came up if I remember correctly.
Now that I know who it is, my guess is that it’s just a case of a well known rich douchebag getting his mates to do him a favour.
More complicated than meets the eye I think right down the bottom of the article…
“My finding that the wife is likely to distort the truth and what she says to media outlets is likely to be inaccurate or exaggerated and as a result she is going to be reported even though it has no relationship with the truth.
And…
The husband had “acted appropriately and endeavoured to support his wife, who was clearly unwell for a long period of time before separation”, Judge Burns said.
He added: “I do not consider he can be validly criticised, and I am concerned that sensitive material sought by the wife could be without the benefit of it being fully tested.
Taking the judges comments at face value supression is prob justified
And further up the article there are these comments:
“a disputed allegation the man grabbed or touched his wife’s neck, tried to kick in the door of their home and shouted abuse at her.”
.
How does this square with this comment:
“acted appropriately and endeavoured to support his wife, ”
Even if the allegations are disputed it does not mean that those events did not happen and are complete fiction.
The Judge is just saying something random here. Even if he doesn’t want to lift supression he looks like he is showing bias making remarks like this because he does not appear to be quoting the actual protection order hearings.
If I’m thinking of the correct one then before all these orders kicked in some of the man’s family had given evidence that was not favourable to him and the protection hearing didn’t dismiss matters on the “acted appropriately” basis.
And saying she will make things up, do we have any proof that he doesn’t make things up?
But hey this is DV. The court as co abuser??
Yep.
The problem here is not just for this case, (and it is problematic that the wife here cannot discuss these things without risking a jailterm), there is also the pecedent.
File for a restraining order, and even if it is not granted, and you get classified as ‘vulnerable’ and have a good shot at suppression. No fuckwits will use this, obviously, we trust them not to at least, on their honour as fuckwits..
He’s not in parliament.
I wasn’t aware at the time I wrote that, that the person in question was not in parliament. The headline is misleading: “politician”.
Pretty certain who it is Sosoo. After all the dognapping charges and allegations of spying are already in the public domain.
Somehow don’t think Whaleblubber will be making a “principled” stand on this one though. Shame, it would be a perfect opportunity for him to back his claims that he is equally nasty to both the left and the right.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/03/people-like-place-politics/
He does seem to have his own twisted set of principles.
Whaleoil has a personal vendetta against him.
Whale has had a vendetta in this for many years.
He is totally prejudiced against one party from the pre divorce outset.
Nothing twisted about it, hes been going on about this for ages
Yes you are correct. Easily found with our dear friend Google
I would not be so sure there. Could be a case of the enemies of my Dad are up for attack by me.
Paul Little in the Herald On Sunday, tells it like it is:
I want to purchase a home at Ti Point. Can anybody tell me which MP I should approach for some assistance in this matter?
How about you go and ask your mate, Shon Key.
I thought it was TricKEEEEEY
even you must see how pathetic that is. im not quite sure what the big deal is, cunliffe has friends that buy property in nz? bfd. i cant wait to see key go grey on tv3 10:10 this am!
You just keep outing yourself as ‘something’ of lower intelligence that didn’t quite get your fair share from the gene pool, fair share of brains that is Bruv,
You do understand that MP’s, and just an MP David Cunliffe was when He helped His friend check out a property He was interested in buying,
The Why of this happening is pretty simple, the bloke David was helping, a long time friend, has a job and a business in the US and its pretty obvious that He didn’t have the time to hang around long term to view the property,
What exactly is sinister about this???, Nothing unless you are either a ‘wing-nut’ or a Liar, Cunliffe as a opposition MP has no means of interfering in any legal impediment to the sale of this property even if there were one…
Well why did he simply not say so rather than flannel and get himself in a corner.
He has done nothing wrong, except be honest when asked by the Herald.
When the imagnary person gave out Brains Bruv thought he said Trains, and asked for a small slow one.
Will it help me if I donate to that MP’s party, or perhaps to his leadership election campaign?
[karol: this is pointless trolling. Keep it up and you’ll find your comments in moderation.]
Wait til Banksies court date is over before approaching him…….
Nah you’re a National supporter. You have to go to a dinner party at $5,000 a pop.
Being a friend in itself can’t help. Money talks though.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Conference-materials-for-mailing.pdf
Yup
I was only joking about the friends thing. There’s been too many stories like this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9806903/The-illegal-alien-no-one-wants
Wilfred contributed to National MP David Carter’s election campaign in 2002 and both Carter and Christchurch National MP Nicky Wagner have written references for Wilfred and his wife.
Not just National either. In my view MP’s should never be giving written references for anyone.
Anyone see how the Labour people are doing at Pasifika?
Cunliffe tweeted a pic last night.
Probably doing their waist-lines a disservice with all that yummy food around…
From the Herald online business section, ”Our yields are up and our inputs,(of water and fertilizer), are down so its a good enviroment story”,
”Generally what is good for the enviroment is good for the bottom line”, ”We are sitting on the same bus alongside the Green Party because we have got the same philosophy”, unquote.
So says Craige Mackenzie, Chairman of the Precision Agriculture Association and advocate of precision mapping of dairy farms soils sometimes paddock by paddock so as to understand what the optimum level of water and fertilizer application is that give the highest yield while ensuring leaching into the water table or from the on farm to the off farm enviroment doesn’t occur,
Smart man, probably will find Himself with no friends down at the local pub on His next night out having happily linked Himself to Green Party philosophy,
Pouring money down the river is a good means of describing the current situation of envormenatal destruction where without any scientific basis water and fertilizer are pumped onto paddocks a lot of the time on the basis of ‘thats how the farm down the road does it,
Soil mapping allows for the exact amount of water/fertilizer to be added paddock by paddock at the precise time and in the precise amounts so as to give the optimum output from each paddock without leaching either to the water table or to the off farm enviroment,
‘Smart Green’ farming techniques are available which ends up being a cost saving to the farmer through applying less fertilizer/water to each paddock while gaining the same or an increased level of production from having used such techniques…
This? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11216057
Yeah, nah. Nothing green or sustainable about that. Different packaging, same old shit underneath. It’s all about maximising profit via extraction of resources. There is fuck all difference between this and mining. Keeping effluent and nitrates out of waterways is the minimum we should be doing. Beyond that, there are still major issues with land management. Putting dairy cows in sheds, or micro-managing inputs is just shifting the problem sideways.
That whole article is about how to make excess money. They can wax lyrical all they like about how being green is good for the finances/farm, but there is nothing in that article that speaks to sustainable land management. Nothing.
weka, that sounds like the usual, ”i hate cow-cockies rave”, if you want to live down on the farm with 10 chickens, 4 goats, 2 geese, and, a house cow feel free,
Everything in that article speaks to sustainable land management, unless your a Luddite of course, IF the application of water/fertilizer is managed in such a way so as to prevent any leaching into the water table,
And,
If the application of water/fertilizer is managed in such a way so as to prevent any of this from leaching from the on farm enviroment into the off farm enviroment then what is unsustainable about that…
It’s tinkering with a system that is fundamentally unsustainable. I think you have bought into the idea that sustainability is about polluting less. It’s not. It’s about creating systems that will sustain themselves over time. Extractive farming, but its very definition, is not sustainable (do you think that mining can be sustainable?). Likewise, farming that requires increasing amounts of external inputs (esp ones based on fossil fuels), are not sustainable.
Reducing run off is obviously good for waterways, but that doesn’t make the thing sustainable. The use of artificial fertilisers degrades soil fertility (which means you need more artificial fertilisers ie the land management requires increasing external inputs, thus failing any measure of sustainability). Sustainable land management builds soil fertility without the need for excessive external inputs (or that’s one of the things it does) ie it sustains itself. Part of that is not creating excess pollution, but it’s not the whole of it (btw in a sustainable system, the ‘pollutants’ become inputs that build fertility and/or create stability in the system).
There are many other examples of how industrial farming fails environmentally, even when they try and reduce pollution.
I’m getting a bit sick of your pejorative ad hominems. There are plenty of examples of farms that use sustainable land management practices, so fuck off with your lifestyle block put downs. If you are genuinely interested in what sustainable land management is, let me know and I will put up some links. Or, you know, just ask questions if you don’t understand what I mean instead of trying to marginalise my argument with personal put downs. Am pretty sure I know a hell of a lot more about sustainability than you, so why not use the opportunity to learn something?
Your waffling weka, now for how many years, decades, centuries even, have farmers been applying masses of fertilizer to the very same soils that you claim are being unsustainably farmed,
If an iota of what you say were to be correct weka, none of them, the farms that is, would be able to produce anything, where’s the evidence of ‘dust-bowl NZ’,
Craige Mackenzie of the Precision Agriculture Association says that using soil mapping of indivdual farm soils right down to doing so on a paddock by paddock basis allows for the same or better production,(He is talking grass growth), and without the provision of evidence you dismiss this as Lies???,
If He is correct, that such intensive investigation and management allows for current and greater production without any leaching of water/fertilizer into the water table and stops any leachate of the same into waterways via using less water/fertilizer i would suggest you need provide proof of why anyone would believe your ‘i thunk it therefor it is’ denigration of what He says…
You really are out of your depth here dude. Read up on the differences between artificial fertilisers (in use for less than a century) and organic fertilisers (in use for all of the time we’ve had organic matter on the planet). One uses imported chemicals to force plants to grow, but at the expense of the microbial life in the soil. The other uses organic matter (plants and shit) to build the soil microbes and structure, so that the soil provides all the needs for the growing plants. These are not new concepts, they exist within biological sciences and sustainable land management practices.
Chemical fertiliser farming depletes soil in a number of ways, and because of this is unsustainable ie, the only way you can keep farming that way is to bring in external inputs. In this case that is fossil fuel based ones, which create futher problems on multiple levels.
The reason that this is becoming more of a problem than in recent decades, is because of the intensification (both in terms of ‘stock units’, and how many such farms there are). But the old style of farming (post WW2 – now) wasn’t particularly sustainable either, it was just going to last longer than industrial dairying before fucking the land.
As for ‘dust bowls’ NZ has more than its fair share of land that was once fertile and is now marginal. You need to get out into the country more.
“Craige Mackenzie of the Precision Agriculture Association says that using soil mapping of indivdual farm soils right down to doing so on a paddock by paddock basis allows for the same or better production,(He is talking grass growth), and without the provision of evidence you dismiss this as Lies???,”
No, I didn’t say he is lying (try reading what I actually say). He is probably quite correct that he can get better production from the model he is using. I’m just objecting to that being called sustainable in an environmental context. What on earth makes you think that increased grass growth on its own is a measure of sustainability?
“If He is correct, that such intensive investigation and management allows for current and greater production without any leaching of water/fertilizer into the water table and stops any leachate of the same into waterways via using less water/fertilizer i would suggest you need provide proof of why anyone would believe your ‘i thunk it therefor it is’ denigration of what He says…”
You are talking about pollution mitigation. That’s not sustainability. Try comparing that to AGW mitigation vs prevention. Which would you prefer?
“i would suggest you need provide proof of why anyone would believe your ‘i thunk it therefor it is’ denigration of what He says…””
I’m putting up the arguments, which you seem to be missing. I’ve offered to link, but am not going to do that work until you grasp some of the basics, or at least hint you are open to understanding the basics.
Yawn weka, diatribe is proof of nothing, come back when all the dairy industry collapses through lack of grass growth brought about by the use of fertilizer,
What century do you propose that this will occur in again???…
what on earth are you saying?
Fortunately, I’ve got stuff to go and do. But if I am getting this right, you are asking for several things.
One is evidence that intensive, artificial fertiliser based farming significantly damages land. That this is happening in NZ. And that industrial dairying is part of that (ie that dairying does more damage than just polluting water). I’m happy to chase up some links for you when I get back, but I do have to wonder how genuine your query is.
In the meantime I suggest you google ‘peak soil’ if you want to understand the underlying concepts. This is not some wacky theory I am talking about, it’s fairly mainstream understanding globally. Why NZ thinks its immune is another question.
“diatribe is proof of nothing”
Well you would know, given that you seem unable to respond to the points* that I raise and instead resort to ad hominems and abuse. I suspect you aren’t even reading my comments properly 🙁
*ie what sustainable land management actually is, why industrial dairying doesn’t fit that, how the article you linked to is instead greenwash etc.
bad12 ” for how many years, decades, centuries even, have farmers been applying masses of fertilizer to the very same soils that you claim are being unsustainably farmed,”
You showing a bit of ignorance here aren’t you? The scale of intensification and fertilisation and irrigation going on right now is vastly different to anything done in previous “years, decades, centuries even”. Do you not know that?
That is why, for example, waterways and drinking supplies in Canterbury have only started failing in the last 5 years. The scale ramped up starting mid-1990s.
bad12, you also said this “If an iota of what you say were to be correct weka, none of them, the farms that is, would be able to produce anything, where’s the evidence of ‘dust-bowl NZ’,”
Again, take a look at history, silly. Lets take a couple of examples of NZ’s primary industries practices and results. Kauri milling, dust bowls in Canterbury a few decades ago, fishing stocks, or maybe take a look at the land in East Cape all slipped into the rivers and fucked, and same with South Island high country.
Sure bad12 you can wait for the dust bowl to arrive and suffer the same results as above, or you can think and recognise the same practises that caused the earlier “dust-bowl’ disasters listed, and do something about it.
Think man, think.
So the current use of fertilizer on today’s farms doesn’t create dust bowls is the sum total of your comment,
Same question as to weka, in what century do you suppose these dust bowls are going to destroy the majority of modern farms in this country…
already answered that question
and no, that is not the sum
“So the current use of fertilizer on today’s farms doesn’t create dust bowls is the sum total of your comment,”
That is a specious question. YOU are the one who raised the issue of dust bowls (as if that’s the only way to fuck the land). What’s being discussed here is whether modern farming practice in NZ is sustainable. It’s not. It’s pretty easy to prove it’s not – any basic understanding of sustainability makes this obvious. You attempting to reframe this ‘we don’t have dust bowls therefore everything is ok’ is pretty ridiculous, and just you squirming because you can’t address the actual points being made.
weka the actual points being made are in total ”you thunk it therefor it is” rubbish, why then would i legitimize such rubbish by answering it,
When a clown, (you), enters a subject with the claim that ”i know more than you” it is in my opinion that they should be treated like any other blowhard, laughed at,
You claim that the use of fertilizer leaves farms unable to produce grass unless higher and higher amounts of fertilizer is added, such bullshit is just that,unless it is linked to scientific fact,
My point of posting the original Herald story lies in the fact that intensive soil mapping allows for less fertilizer and water to be used to produce the same or more production, i would suggest that the farmer quoted knows what He is saying is true from actually having hands on experience from having used such soil mapping science to produce the results He talks of,
Now your vast knowledge that gives you self declared ‘expert’ status to dispute this man’s work without the provision of a shred of evidence is what???,
As far as i can see everything you have so far written on the issue discussed is a simple blow of your own trumpet without a fact in sight…
Yep I agree with you weka
that is the gold quote from the article and it shows exactly where their heads are at. As the topsoil continues to be blown out to sea and the naked hillsides continue to slip and the rivers clog to a standstill – nah all good here in headinthesandparadise. But at least some farmers can buy the latest car this year.
They don’t do dairy on hillsides such as which you speak of, and, hillsides do not slip because of the application of fertilizer,
Same question as asked of weka and in what century will the supposed continuous slipping of these hillsides bring these imaginary rivers you speak of to a standstill…
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/land/soil-conservation-handbook-jun01/soil-conserv-handbook-jun01.pdf
So in answer to your question – 20th
Is David Cunliffe really that much of an enigma? I guess one of the problems for the right/ media about banging on with questions about ‘who is David Cunliffe’ and the ‘enigma’ of Cunliffe is that you might actually get an answer to your question. And when people see and understand that answer, as they will, they’ll wonder what you were up to (and how smart you were) going round and round on the question.
Having known the man fairly well for a decade, my answer would be, 160 IQ, brought up fairly poor (but in a caring, values- intense family), hugely successful business consultant before politics (with hugely successful/ busy partner/ mother of children, and hence the house where it is); But most importantly the politician with the best vision for a less neoliberal, post GFC NZ economy that can deliver the social and labour market goods he also absolutely genuinely wants to deliver.
In terms of character, he listens. He learns and has leant to attend, even when he thinks he knows the answer, or what you are going to say. He weighs the larger justice, the bigger picture of the thing. He doesnt hold grudges and doesnt and wont throw people under buses. He believes he can lead, and that that leading will make a positive difference.
I dont think it’s that hard: that’s essentially him. The rest is manner, being ‘moved’ by things at the same time his brain is whirring at warp speeds, semi-bridled enthusiasm and revving high to get on with it: nothing sinister there. The more people see of him, as long as they are not competing with him for the job, the more in my experience they will recognise this. Attempts to frame him as tricky or something else he isnt will look a bit silly at that point.
He’s unusual/ rare but not incomprehensible, unless you actually dont want a clear and plausible and popular answer to your question about ‘who he is’. But let’s face it, all Labour leaders are a little rare and different, or they wouldnt find themselves in a position to get the job. Once the public get a feel for the rareness, they can be very forgiving, especially as the strengths start to deliver.
is that you david..?
phillip ure..
[It is another David. The Labour Party is full of them … – MS]
it was my (albeit weak) attempt at wit/levity…
(..not my best work..i know..)
..and..
..explaining is losing..(sigh..!..)
..(and yes..!..far far too many ‘david’s in the labour party.
..in anyones’ eyes..
..what to do about that..?..
..name changes..?..
..no more ‘david’s allowed to join..?
..enforce a quota-system..?..)
..phillip ure..
Never mind Phillip, not your best work is pretty much the opinion of everything you have so far contributed in writing anywhere on the planet,(par for the course in other words)…
hes def doing something right, going by the enemies hes made & the fear hes instilled in the right. & the bs stories the herald/tv3 keep bringing up, i mean, is that it? really?
+1 David & Idlegus
David, Cunliffe that is will be on TV1’s Q+A in about 5 minutes…
Ta for this David whoever you are ! Helpful to have a decent testimonial ….. and I’ve sent it on to everyone I know is remotely Labour-inclined.
Thank for this David.
I’ve never personally met DC but everything I’ve seen and read from him for a very long time resonates with me at a very personal level. You’ve very eloquently expressed my own reaction for me.
I think that the reason why his opponents are trying to stick the ‘tricky’ label on him is because DC is capable of hold two or more disparate thoughts in his head at the same time – and this is a capability they indeed find very tricky to do.
Vote in OAS vote favours Venezuela by 29 to 3;
These rogue states just won’t do as they’re told
8 March 2014
The Friday meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAS), typically dominated by the US throughout its history, has not come out with a resolution against the Venezuelan government. The meeting was ostensibly convened by Panama, which along with the US and Canada, made up the 3 votes against the final OAS statement. Venezuela had already broken off diplomatic relations with Panama on Wednesday, with Maduro calling the Panamanian government a lackey of the US. The meeting didn’t condemn the Venezuelan government and called for continuing dialogue between the parties.
Next Wednesday, there will be a meeting of UNASUR (Union of South American States) in Chile, which will make a strong statement of support for the Venezuelan government. When the US was trying to delegitimate the election of Maduro as president in April last year, the statement by UNASUR supporting the election result was key in putting a stop to that.
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1394283446.html
Drippy ignorant Hollywood “liberals”
No. 2: KEVIN SPACEY
I don’t know what’s more upsetting: the sheer purblind ignorance of Kevin Spacey and his Hollywood buddies or the cynical lies being peddled by this scurrilous Murdoch rag….
Venezuelan Conflict Moves From Street to Hollywood Boulevard
Actors, Artists, Athletes and Fashion Designers Dive Into the Country’s Bitter Political Divide
by JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA, The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304585004579419403860710412
When Jared Leto expressed his support for the “dreamers” who are resisting Venezuela’s government during the Academy Award ceremony this week, he became the latest actor to dive into the country’s bitter political divide. Mr. Leto’s declaration to millions of viewers set off a skirmish, with Venezuela’s communications minister retweeting, “Whoever had doubts that the U.S. had its nose inside Venezuela, there is no doubt now.”
From pop culture to high culture, Venezuela’s conflict is leading actors, artists, athletes and fashion designers to voice their support for the antigovernment protesters, with a minority backing President Nicolás Maduro. This battle over Venezuelans’ hearts and minds is playing out as hundreds of thousands across the country air their grievances over issues including crime, food shortages, a crumbling economy and the arrest of an opposition leader.
At least 18 people have died so far in the demonstrations, many of them shot by security forces or paramilitary groups tied to the government, rights groups say. Hundreds have been wounded.
“For the first time, there is an international climate of opinion that there is only one guilty party in the Venezuelan turmoil—the government,” said Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College.
The Venezuelan government has some Hollywood celebrity supporters, but most of them—including Sean Penn, Danny Glover and Michael Moore —have been publicly quiet since the protests began about a month ago.
Oliver Stone, a bête noire of Venezuela’s opposition, has complained on his Twitter TWTR -2.37% account that Mr. Maduro’s opponents have attacked him on social media. “To those who tweet me vile and ugly comments about Venezuela—I’ve never experienced such verbal violence on social media,” Mr. Stone posted.
Mr. Stone plans to screen a documentary on the late President Hugo Chávez, Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, on Wednesday, the anniversary of Mr. Chávez’ death, on the Venezuelan government-funded Telesur, a channel seen throughout Latin America. The movie is entitled “My Friend Hugo.”
Such support seems to be in the minority. On Oscar night, actors Kevin Spacey and Forest Whitaker also tweeted their criticism over government repression of protesters. Mr. Spacey wrote, “Venezuela don’t give up, everybody has the right to express themselves.”
At a post-Oscar party in Hollywood, Venezuelan fashion designer Carolina Herrera told a television reporter, “The world should know that Venezuela is in the hands of a communist dictatorship, and there is no democracy.”
But when Mr. Leto, clutching his golden statue in hand, told audiences on Sunday—”To all of the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say, ‘we are here'”—most Venezuelans weren’t watching. ….
Read more…
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304585004579419403860710412
People like Hollywood faux-liberals and Murdoch “reporters” will of course continue to believe whatever they are told by other Hollywood faux-liberals and Murdoch “reporters”. People who are serious about understanding Venezuela will go to serious sites like the following….
http://venezuelanalysis.com/
http://zcomm.org/znet/
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2009/viva-venezuela/
Check out another drippy Hollwood “liberal”….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03032014/#comment-780886
Thankfully the people of Venezuela do not rely on Hollywood liberals to fight off the restoration of empire attempted by those in the gated suburbs of Caracas.
It appears there have been quite a few fund raising dinners with the PM. Given recent and not so recent comments from the PM, I have what I think is a reasonable question.
Have any of the fund raising dinners been the reason the PM was absent from Parliament?
Manufacturing Contempt for Venezuela
by CYRIL MYCHALEJKO, March 7, 2014
….Then there is Francisco Toro, a Venezuelan blogger whose “musings” at Caracas Chronicles (a website he founded) are “a must-read for foreign journalists,” according to the Associated Press. In an article that went viral on both Twitter and Facebook entitled “The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media are Asleep at the Switch”, Toro wrote about a “tropical pogrom” that allegedly took place one night in Venezuela – except it didn’t. There was no massacre by “paramilitaries.” One person did die from injuries sustained that night, however that was four days later. This death is a tragedy, but it is a far cry from a “pogrom” or massacre.
After this misinformation and gross exaggeration was exposed and criticized Toro took to Twitter and admitted to “overstatement in the heat of the moment.” He also addressed it in a blog post which garnered a whopping 14 likes on Facebook and 12 Tweets – in contrast with the hundreds of thousands of Facebook likes and over 10,000 Tweets his original, factually challenged blog post amassed. This supports Silverman’s aforementioned thesis about how error corrections are not retweeted and viewed as much as the initial errors.
…Another egregious example highlighted by CNN’s report was a photo tweeted by Venezuelan actress Amanda Gutierrez which was allegedly lifted from a US-based porn site. The photo was used by her to “prove” sexual abuse by police against anti-government protesters….
http://zcomm.org/znetarticle/manufacturing-contempt-for-venezuela/
Watching Q&A makes me no longer believe in freedom of the press. What a complete waste of time.
Are those that continue to perpetrate a Lie to be seen as Liars, that question must be asked directly of Fran O’Sullivan after Her abysmal performance on today’s Q+A,
The claim is that David Cunliffe says one thing to us normal lot out here in the real world and once behind closed doors tells a completely different story to the business community,
True or false???,
Blatantly false, a construct of the ‘wing-nuts’, O’Sullivan even had the gall to link this claim of deviousness to the Labour/Green stated intention to establish a single desk seller of generated electricity to the retailers of such,
This despite David Cunliffe five minutes earlier on the same Q+A bluntly saying that everyone including these same electricity generators have been told that they will have input to the actual establishment of the proposed single desk seller,
Tell different things to different audiences, well sure, it would be pointless for instance for Cunliffe to make a business speech to a group of kindergarten mums just as it would be as pointless to make a kindergarten/Best Start speech to a business audience,
Making mountains out of molehills might be a polite means of describing Lies, you tell us Fran exactly which speeches on what dates has David Cunliffe said one thing about a specific subject to one audience and another about that specific subject to another which are obviously diametrically opposed in content and intent,
If Fran you aint got the goods you really should shut the fucking thing, your mouth that is, or do we just assume you to be a Liar…
“Tell different things to different audiences, well sure, it would be pointless for instance for Cunliffe to make a business speech to a group of kindergarten mums just as it would be as pointless to make a kindergarten/Best Start speech to a business audience,”
thing is bad12, maybe, if this did occur, there would be less need for the different speeches in the first place ? 😉
I can only imagine what a JK speech at a 5k a head dinner must be full of and how that same speech would be received by those to whom 5K is a serious chunk of annual income.
And what about the ridiculous, ‘Nobody knows who David Cunliffe is’ line. Grr it is very irritating to see how much the journos are parroting lines that have been fed to them by National.
This ‘business’ of ‘business’ that gets young people to work for free. Needs to go onto a separate post. It needs sunlight exposure.
And looking at the hours they are expected to work whether they are free or getting subsistence wages. Law offices and ….I have heard of law offices doing this, wealthy ones so that they can say they are looking for the brightest and the best, and then there is a good salary held out as a carrot. What other types of businesses are doing this? Let’s have a look?
Heaps, even the local swimming pool, I know of one that required 4 weeks voluntary work while they trained you… to work for minimum wage on the front desk… I went into bat for a the successful candidate who was gobsmacked on receiving the offer response being that its legal and we’ve done it this way for 10+years. Why should we pay while someone’s learning the job?
Advised the candidate to tell them to shove it… Who want to works for a bunch of pricks like that…
Problem been many are desperate so they always get someone…
Let’s not forget that choosing to turn down such an offer may well see those on a benefit facing very real penalties, such as loss of all government assistance for up to twenty six weeks. The employer who offers such a position to a beneficiary gets a government paid lackey for a month and can do it all over again in only 62* days with neither rhyme nor reason being asked of them.
That’s nearly three months of employment costs taken off your own books. Or to put it more bluntly, hire three get the fourth worker free.
*I included the four week trial period as being part of the employment contract because we know damn well any employer running this type of operation will certainly be including it!
Well contact the regions Union co-ordinator e.g Unions Auckland, Unions Waikato, Unions Northland…etc. I am sure if the facts stack up and it’s clearly exploitation by a scumbag employer (hmm wondering if it’s Tiger) then a exposure picket, protesting outside the premise can be arranged.
Personally I find a protest outside the owners house will get a result for them to cough up compensation to the vulnerable workers.
I’ve heard of it being used in the construction industry for, get this, qualified and experienced builders.
NZ is great! NZ Geographic is produced by a small NZ concern, hard working, along with small staff and many equally dedicated photographers and turning out fine stuff. Good to give a subscription for a prezzie for anyone, or to oneself. Support fine NZ creation.
Lolz, Slippery the Prime Minister in the re-run of the Nation interview on TV3 was giving Alfred E. Nuemann,(Paddy Gower), a look that says ”if i had an axe right now you would be wearing it”,
Credit where credit is due, that was probably the most incisive interview of Slippery the PM that i have had the pleasure of laughing at,
Gower, probably because the PM wasn’t expecting to to get such a slicing and dicing, elicited from the PM the perfect ”these are my principles but i have another set if you don’t like these ones” set of answers,
Gower has raised himself in my opinion from wallowing in the gutter to sitting on the kerb with this interview,
While Gower will never escape from the likening of Himself to Alfred E. Nuemann of mad comics infamy,(unless he indulges in a bout of extended cosmetic surgery), IF He continues to apply such a precise form of interviewing of His political subjects He might just become one of the few ‘greats’ among the few of political interviewers/commentators…
wow, gower showed some great skills there, watching it in hindsight you can see the set up coming a mile wide, marvelous!
Re The Nation watching the Borg spin right out crap shows they’re in a panic alright..
Thing is the Borg dont realise how tragic she is…..
Q&A turned to custard when Susan Wood took over. The panel was woeful, Bryce Edwards couldn’t even hold his own against toxic Botox Borg, going as far as agreeing with her.
McCarten use to discredit her and openly front foot her by attacking her. I once lined her up on Willie & JT’s political show. She was condemning Auckland port workers high wages for long hours & dangerous work. I called in under my alter ego ‘George’ and said “What would you know about dangerous work, the only danger in your workplace would be while having a long boozie lunch in a swanky Ponsonby road cafe/bar, you might choke eating tapas.” Then boys all roared with laughter and Borg mumbled “thanks that’s very kind of you.” my reply “your welcome.” For the remainder of the show she was somewhat more reserved.
Anyway, my point is any commentator purporting to represent the Left, must when on these political shows, quickly counter the spin being peddled by Hooton, Borg, Wilde or any other other NACT sponsored mouthpiece. If not stand down and I’m sorry Josie & Bryce are poor subs for McCarten. Bradbury maybe the next best?
Yeah i ‘d like to see Bomber on the show…… today was first time I have bothered with the nation or Q & a for over a year and tbh it has got worse.. its all key this n that and we love key- fucking asslickers
Weren’t Boag & Bryce Edwards on TV3’s The Nation this weekend, while Fran O’Sullivan and a couple of other guys were the panel on QU & A today?
Yup.
Nah, Bomber’s a one line pony. Unless the question is about the evil of baby boomers, his answers won’t be relevant. Marama Davison could be worth a try. Unlike Josie and Edwards the Lesser, she is from the broad left.
The coverage of The Nation’s interview with Key on TV3 last night was a lot better than I imagined it would be – this was good to see Gower giving Key a hard time – it would be great if this type of approach continued from him.
That is: to direct factually based challenges toward all political parties -( not solely challenges toward leftwing parties on made up shit)
New Zealanders have a right to know what is going on in their government .
The NZ mainstream media are failing us on this one.
One could assert we have a duty to be informed prior to voting.
The mainstream media are failing us.
Great to see a shift from Gower – hope his new found approach is here to stay.
I would like to see The Herald & co follow suit – it is a very poor show if they continue with the opinionated biased misinformation that they have been pursuing – it is bad form.
That Key The Nation interview hasn’t been made available on TV3 On demand though. Why might that be?
Un-believable
What is wrong with these munters?
Most of them wouldn’t even be advantaged by having King of the Munters get back into government.
I guess they like having someone really particularly hollow to model themselves – on aspirationless twerps.
The Cunliffe interview is here – it’s just not that easy to find.
An excellent interview by the same Paddy we railed against last week. Beautifully done. Though I’m not sure that Mr Key was given a “hard time” blue. It was more that the questions being asked were good questions and were of the standard that all political interviewers should be using. Just seemed good because the previous were so bad. How often has Mr Key been really held to account? (Like a starving man saying that the crust he found tasted so good.)
Yes I thoroughly agree Ianmac.
And wouldn’t it be so much more helpful to our entire country if we had a decent standard of political journalists doing decent interviews.
It is a complete farce not to have this present in a democracy – we really are being severely ripped off – Big money interests are really taking the Mickey and are destroying our system.
Dear Mainstream Media sources,
“Show us the information” mainstream media sources – we are not interested in your small-minded, petty, biased opinionated fantasies – leave them out from hereon in.
Thanks
Like it or not, each one of these articles continue to erode David Cunliffe’s reputation.
He needs to regain the offensive or resign himself to become dog tucker at the next election.
@ Drongo
If you are referring to the mainstream media’s opinionated made up misinformation – the only reputation such is eroding is the media source from which it emanates.
Perhaps they don’t need the money that comes with a high readership/amount of viewers, and they are happy to keep printing and screening their crap with no one receiving it – doubt their advertisers view it that way.
As kiwiblog puts it:
His misleading speech and false advertisement about the baby bonus – own goal
The next day not knowing the details of part of his own policy – own goal
Deciding to go after John Key for living in a leafy subject – own goal
Describing his own household as a middle rang existence while on prob $600,000 or more a year – own goal
Setting up a secret trust for his leadership donations – own goal, and exposed by NZ Herald – nothing to do with National
Failing to disclose an investment trust to the Registrar of Pecuniary Interest on time – own goal, and exposed by TV3 after they heard him mention it
Having his own office send Amy Adams their ICT policy ideas – own goal
Letting Clare Curran take the blame and fall for a stuff up by his own office – own goal
Theres a common denominator and it involves Labour incompetency and/or someone inside Labour spilling the beans
Chris73, stupidly believing that in the great scheme of things any of what’s trotted out there is of the slightest relevance, own goal!!!…
@ Chris73
You are apparently unaware what a waste of time and how boring it is to read the fictional workings of rightwing spin doctors – I have therefore looked at your comment for enough time to work out that is what it consists of and to note that these utterances aren’t relevant to any point I raised and therefore didn’t bother reading any further.
I suggest you respond to my points and in a credible way if you want to converse – otherwise you are just being a waste of time.
Thanks
[+1 Bad12 you summed it up well]
A year ago you were all banging on about David Shearer and couldn’t wait to see the back of him as leader. Apart from a few examples here, none of you seem able to see the awful decision you’ve made in electing Cunliffe and his multiple faces which speak only one thing…inconsistency. Since Nov 2008 the Opposition leader who secured the highest poll result for the Party was David Shearer. And he was forced out. There was some hope of getting rid of Key then but not now with the multi bungler in charge. And he leads his swaggering coterie of egomaniacs into a battle they won’t win until the ego gets pulled into line. Hardly likely to happen with this bunch. You all lack the courage to demand he changes his ways or resigns as leader. But he wouldn’t listen anyway. So, when Labour is not elected this year will you all be baying for Cunliffe’s blood?
Nah some of us said quite clearly we didn’t care who the leader was until they got some genuine left wing policies:
http://thestandard.org.nz/on-david-shearers-leadership/#comment-546121
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01012014/#comment-752261
2013 was supposed to be the year of the policy.
I would imagine there will be rioting in the main cities, an angry revolt against the neo-liberal establishment. However I don’t think this will occur because ‘there will be a change of Government 🙂
Who woulda thunk it.
/
– About two dozen Iraqi women demonstrated on Saturday in Baghdad against a draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet that would permit the marriage of nine-year-old girls and automatically give child custody to fathers.
The group’s protest was on International Women’s Day and a week after the cabinet voted for the legislation, based on Shi’ite Islamic jurisprudence, allowing clergy to preside over marriages, divorces and inheritances. The draft now goes to parliament.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/us-iraq-women-islam-idUSBREA270NR20140308
Good explanation of the Crimean situation by Wayne Brittenden and an expert in a thoutht-provoking interview about 11.45 a.m.
11:40 Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint
Coverage of the crisis in Ukraine has generally lacked historic context, yet some little-known facts are essential for a proper understanding.
Wayne fills some of those gaps and Finlay follows up with New York-based geopolitical analyst Eric Draitser.
Audio –
Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint ( 18′ 11″ )
11:40 Coverage of the crisis in Ukraine has generally lacked historic context, and yet
some little-known facts are essential for a proper understanding of the complex and rapidly changing situation there.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
Also for IT information see Pete Seel University of Colarado 9.40 – what happens to your info online when you’re dead? Can your family access it for things they need to know / don’t want to know?
Michelle Boag on The Nation:
‘I go to $1000 dinners all the time.’
On Moerewa School being taken over by a Commissioner for two years: ‘Oh it must be over financial issues’
Pretty good snapshot example Papa Tuanuku, of where NZ is at with the upper crust wealthy and the ones on the lower deck struggling for a crust.
interesting article on London
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/londons-laundry-business/
The faeries lopped a piece off the address.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/londons-laundry-business.html
This too.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116857/british-sanctions-russia-would-be-bad-londons-economy
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11216495
May not be illegal but shows an astounding lack of judgement, poor Matt must be tearing his hair out
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWN
to quote from my tdb comment
Lesse first Cunliffe said he had nothing to do with it, then it turns out he did and his wife did some work for the guy and it now turns out the guy donated to Cunliffes secret trust
Yeah nothing to see here at all
Would really help if you read all the way to the end of the article, and with granny of late, it is the only place the relevant facts ever seem to be situated. If a question is not asked it cannot be answered. Have you heard the interview in question? I ask because The Herald have not supplied any links to it!
The Herald has written a piece so openly suggestive that it is meaningless and your creative math with the facts surely fails even your meagre standards of reporting reality.
Posted up thread moran, but you’re like a three year old rushing in to show off the snot you picked aren’t you.
Not sure what a moran is but I’m guessing you’re referring to Cunliffe instead?
Moran.
Thanks joe 90. Awesome truly!
So how many screw ups will it take before people on the left realize they made a mistake in pinning their hopes on Cunliffe?
Interesting thought. Please do pass on each one you get today for our wonder and amazement chris (Does the number go up with every new thought you have – so now 74?)
Hopefully you remember that when the results of the next election come in
You’ve told us here many times that Labour aren’t allowed to win until 2017. Are you worried you may have got it wrong..
I’ve always liked the one that says Obama is a “half-breed Muslin” as well.
http://www.therightperspective.org/2008/09/13/obama-half-breed-muslim-sign-stirs-controversy/
Nicky somebody on libraries and swimming pools – they are nice to haves and developers are doing such a self-denying job of providing housing that they should not be burdened with levies that support such ‘nice to haves’. In good old Britain miners in some areas where the tunnels went under houses, would return home and find the doors of their cottages had jammed because of ground movement during the day. They had to break their doors open. Don’t know what it was like for the family inside. So we have got a lovely long slide to go yet as we lose the amenities that we hoped would be permanent in a modern, enlightened, progressive society.
Vote for National and ACT, and get more and better lifestyles. We at National do not encourage the poor to vote for us, or join us, and we seek to assist our supporters (or lead them to believe we will, which we usually do). We spit on you other losers. You are lucky we give you the opportunity to live on some small piece of land, and perhaps we will assist you with a small plot for vegetables in some common area.
The future as NACTs see it.
Meanwhile some Mayors are having a private chinwag and are discussing the trend to amalgamation to supercities. And this is a pre Local Bodies Association meeting for them to get some overview so they haven’t invited LG Head Lawrence Yule. But they did invite Paula Bennett the Local Government Minister (did you know that) but she declined. (Chris Tremain was Local Government Minister when he made a release on 12 December 2013 then on a
3 March 2014 release Paula Bennett is Local Government Minister. So she is to be the new punchy, aggressive minister to kick-box these pesky local bodies into cookie-cutter shapes of central govt choice.)
Local government already is fading like the Cheshire cat’s smile. I was trying to find out details of the present membership of board on line and there were lots about policy and statements about practices, but finding the names of members of Local Government NZ and details about them are not immediately accessible, even on Wikipedia.) But there is up to date information about the sector to be seen on-line at http://www.localgovt.co.nz/.
Three commissioners, GreyWarbler – Basil Morrison, Anne Carter, Grant Kirby – all intent on following thru on the NAct Govt agenda of first of all, demolishing all our LOCAL government and replacing it with -out-of-touch and distant “provincial” type government. And when that has occurred, the next thing to happen will be multinational corporates bearing down to takeover our current local government infrastructure !
We’re fighting a proposal to have a Unitary Authority for the whole of Northland right now. We managed to get about 1700 submissions into the Local Govt Comm Opposing this proposal, and now quite a number of us are waiting to have our submissions heard because the LGC didn’t allow enough days/time/venues for this number of submitters. Maybe ……. just maybe….. for once, we might make a difference with our opposition to the neo-libs in power.
And when that has occurred, the next thing to happen will be multinational corporates bearing down to takeover our current local government infrastructure !
There is actually a lot to be said for amalgamating the infrastructure capabilities of local govt. The Wellington region for instance has no fewer than 14 different entities dealing with water supply or waste water in one form or another. Insane.
Having worked in the sector I’m absolutely convinced that there is much to be gained from amalgamation at this level.
The real problem is political accountability. Far too often we have seen the formation of large CCO’s as a precursor to privatisation. Or the contracting out of services. It’s unfortunate that the two issues are conflated like this because it means there are far too many, tiny, unviable TLA’s struggling to meet modern and efficient service standards – yet while the risk of privatisation hangs over our heads we are relunctant to do the obvious.
This shows we can’t look naively at anything as being what it appears on the surface. What is behind this? How can this be privatised and profitised?
Red Logix paints a clear picture of today’s dilemma with Councils. One they need to be accessable, and to listen. I notice in Marlborough they have Wards. Reasonably well represented then.
And there needs to be a balance of how big. How can you stop takeovers by people with similar interests who just want to bend the tree till the fruit falls in their territory. The dam in Hawkes Bay is so big that it’s another Forsyth Barr. Perhaps taking away the ability to borrow skyhigh might be the answer and any privatisation has to go to referendum.
Good luck Jenny – at first sight it seems reasonably practical, and gives weight to bulk up against the Auckland octopus. But one great outfit far distant from outlying poorer more precarious areas can be difficult for getting understanding of people’s requirements. I don’t know how often Kaeo in the Far North is going to flood and the Council doesn’t either, but it’s time they got together with the people and worked out something to help that little settlement. The further away the council offices are, the less they can motivate themselves to do something for the people who need a hand.
The thinking that is happening is – how do we package it to appeal to the punteres prejudices? Can we go with the bad government thing like so many USA states?
You get your own people into government, screw it up and then have the efficient private company offer to take over and straighten it all out nicely for them – and more cheaply too for the first few years.
It’s really what Brierley and other asset strippers did to companies in the past, stripped off the easily saleable bits and then cut out services and staff, to the other bits.
Meanwhile withdrawing anything of value and replacing it with short-term solutions and machinery.
Interesting coverage of the Ukraine situation on RNZ this morning
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2588325/wayne-brittenden's-counterpoint
The importance of far right element in the protest movement has been heavily under reported.
Also the fact the new PM is already proposing a rapid neoliberal reform program…
Kos calls bullshit on the notion that US neocons made the events in Ukraine happen the way they happened.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/08/1283169/-Dear-United-States-not-everything-in-the-world-is-about-YOU
@ hoon..
..i’ve carried a bit on the far-right/neo-nazis the americans have been funding/supporting..
..in ukraine..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=nazi
phillip ure..
“Also the fact the new PM is already proposing a rapid neoliberal reform program…”
I always thought that the Ukranians were screwed either way. One one side you have Russian oligarchs, mafia dons and corrupt Orthodox priests, and on the other side you have EU technocrats, ready, willing and able to impose austerity (did someone tell them there is next to nothing left to cut….??)
Someone I heard on radio today commented that NZs are self-effacing? Is that true? Or what? Sounds a bit on the weak side. Are we? Scared of our own shadows? But probably he’s right, I think he was from overseas.
Test.
I’m losing messages on another thread – eleven attempts with one – so please ignore this. It’s probably a technical fault. I just want to see if it works here.
“I always thought that the Ukranians were screwed either way. One one side you have Russian oligarchs, mafia dons and corrupt Orthodox priests, and on the other side you have EU technocrats, ready, willing and able to impose austerity”
Indeed.
“Kos calls bullshit on the notion that US neocons made the events in Ukraine happen the way they happened.”
Its true that the background is complex & not directly to do with US.
But there are most certainly a bunch of indications of strong US involvement.
This is what 3D printed wood looks like
An interesting adaption of the 3D printer. I suppose the question is: Does it use more resources or less than tradition manufacture?
also: how do they bond it?
If it doesn’t have the feel of wood, might not be much difference from the faux-wood plastics that are popular and shit.
All people that are rescued should be expected to make a koha of at least $100 to the rescuing body and neighbouring people who have used their resources to help, ie farmers lending their equipment and time. The cave system in Nelson has only recently been entirely explored. For a betting man it would have been a good one to take – how long now till somebody gets stuck trying to get through.
In this case one could make a play on Shakespeares quote about demanding money and perhaps to the extent of offering a pound of flesh. That caveman should have slimmed down before trying to Squeeze through. Now I hope that seeing he is an older man, and supposedly experienced, then he should pay out $1000 to the rescue group to assist with their expenses and equipment provision. The young might be forgiven their ignorance, and lack of planning, the over 40 years not. I think this man was considerably older.
I’ve thought about this issue at various times, mainly when the Kiwi Navy has had to rescue some millionaire playboy yachtsman from the Southern Ocean at great cost. However, I don’t think we can make people pay individually for being rescued. The unwanted effect of this would be to cut off many interesting activities from participation by all but the filthy rich. I think paying for rescues from taxation is the best way to go. Of course, this would not apply to any activity which involved jetskis. Riding a jetski should bring about an automatic custodial sentence, with no right of appeal.
So the rort of taxpayers money by Key-National continue glaringly obvious right under our noses.
Their latest 2.4 million dollar electioneering campaign is what I am referring to.
An education policy release outlining 4 hubs to be setup in ‘key electorates’ New Plymouth, Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and South Auckland. How slimy they National pricks are.
This is on top of arranged visits by the Royals to Hamilton (West) no doubt lining up the marginal seats to sure up votes.
Tricky as tricky does!
Dunno if anyone else has posted this yet but here is the link to the classic Gower interview with Key from Saturday:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-not-talking-about-fundraising-dinner/tabid/370/articleID/335058/Default.aspx
The whole thing is very watchable but Key’s child-like, repeated ‘nu it’s not right’ @ 10:00 mins is Key’s most feeble moment in my opinion.
And…I hate to say it but Gower was impressive
Just to change the subject, has anyone read the opinion piece by Keith Woodford in Stuff, pointing out that Fonterra is essentially broke?
Here’s the link:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/9803431/Fonterra-needs-more-capital-as-many-miss-out
Interesting article. It’s yet another example of the systemic risk that occurs from having a too-big-to-fail entity like Fonterra.
It’s especially interesting to read who’s going to lose out as a result, isn’t it – not the big boys!
After reading some of this article which is all I can take at the moment of bad news I recommend it to everyone – it’s important to understand how NZ manages to screw up everything that we have going for us.
The author knows what he is talking about – Keith Woodford is Professor of Farm Management and Agribusiness at Lincoln University.
Looking forward to her next instalment.
So the sharemilkers get screwed? No harm done then.
How long did that take after the ‘float’ for a ‘crisis’ to appear?
I’m assuming that the fix for the problem will be to sell more of it off out of New Zealander’s hands. Chinese would be first in the queue.
+1
I was under the impression that Fonterra was the Nat’s Great White Hope, so to speak!