New Zealand is at the heart of a tangled web of secretive shelf companies and obscure trusts being used by well-heeled South Americans to organise their private wealth, business affairs, and channel their funds around the world.
The extent of this country’s involvement in the global money-go-round and intricate asset management and protection industry is showcased by more than 61,000 documents in the leak of papers from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca – known as the Panama Papers.
The Consortium of Investigative Journalists and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung gave RNZ, TVNZ, and investigative journalist Nicky Hager joint access to the papers. This is the first in a series of reports on what has been uncovered so far, after only a week with the data.
It is already clear that Mossack Fonseca ramped up its interest in using New Zealand as one of its new jurisdictions in 2013, along with Belize in Central America, offering extremely private, zero-tax foreign trusts.
The firm trumpeted New Zealand’s top flight legal and financial reputation as “allowing for the speedy formation of appropriate mechanisms for wealth protection, inheritance and tax planning”.
our current government is not a National Party led Government?
our current PM is not the Leader of the National Party John Key?
oh, you mean yes, our current Government is a National Party led Government, and the PM is the leader of the National Party called John Key, but he is of course not responsible for what his Party (he is the Leader of the National Party, is he not?) is doing while they are forming the Government?
Oh he did not do it? you says? Its something to do with the Greens and Andrew Little?
Could you elaborate on that a bit more, cause i would be very happy to read about it. It sounds like a good story about how the Greens with their relatively new Co Leader J. Shaw and the Labour Party with their relatively new Leader Andre Little gamed the system so that anyone with a bit too much cash at hand could just come and park said cash here in dear ole NZ so that no taxes would be charged on it, and no one would now about it.
Please pretty pretty please, elaborate on that story, it would make for riveting reading.
more riveting then what’s currently being played out. So ok where’s the link that John Key or National have benefited financially from this? Where’s the link John Key and National are doing this for their mates.
Again its a Big Nothing.
You’ve got nothing and all this is trying to do change peoples perceptions.
9 May in northern hemisphere = early tomorrow morn in NZ. That’s when the full web of names is released by ICIJ. What you’re seeing today is something different.
We are seeing the first tranche of NZ-located analysis, that’s all. While I agree it was never going to be a huge deal, the Cook Island and Niue dumps could be interesting.
It is a big deal though. PR thinks we should only be concerned if it’s a Watergate sized scandal, but most of the problems are systemic and ideological rather than legal. The irony there is that it took a long time for Watergate to come out, so the whole “there is no smoking gun sitting right in front of us” meme is just more RWNJ spin.
Summed up very succinctly weka he is a “just a stupid troll who can’t understand a political argument.”
and an empty vessel making a lot of noise.
He hasn’t got any defense for what is an abhorrent situation in which our country is being used by criminals to launder their ill gotten gains, and other selfish greedy individuals to hide their wealth from their own countries in order to avoid contributing to the society in which they live and prosper.
The immorality of all this is completely missed by the likes of PR, BM, JKF, et al because they lost their moral compass years ago, and wouldn’t know what an ethical principle was if they fell over one – which of course they do on a daily basis.
So basically you don’t understand how anyone can possibly have a different view to you even though we’ve had a National government from 2008 and likely to go through to 2020
So basically you don’t understand how anyone can possibly have a different view to you even though we’ve had a National government from 2008 and likely to go through to 2020
See, I can’t tell if you are just really thick or trolling (or both). Anyone who reads my comments here knows that I can quite easily understand how someone can have a different view to me.
Let me just keep naming it. You don’t like what the left is doing. You like winding them up. You keep reframing issues to suit your narrative of Key is wonderful, all the real people love him, they will win. When I or anyone presents a different view ie that there are issues far more importan here than party politics, that we’re talking about very core values of NZ as a country, all you can do is parrot “Key is wonderful we all love him” as if your insistence of that has any meaning outside your own agenda.
Plus the whole pretending you know what lefties want and think, and then talking about them as if they are a hive mind. I’ve repeatedly called you out on the lies you tell, and this is just another one. You can pretend all you like that you are just expressing a different pov, but in reality you are spinning to undermine the left. Instead of addressing the actual issues (eg is this level of semi-legal/unethical business ok in NZ) you instead try and make out that this whole thing is just the left being dicks. It’s blatantly bullshit and spin.
As Macro said, we understand you and just how vacuous you really are.
The Guardian’s Gary Younge on the way British Establishment Bottom-Feeders (from leading MSM journos to highly compromised academics) just keep on shifting the goal posts for Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
“When it comes to assessing Labour’s electoral fortunes, Corbyn is treated with all the due process of a 17th century woman accused of witchcraft and dunked in a river. If she drowns, she’s innocent; if she floats she’s guilty and condemned as a witch. Either way, the verdict is never in her favour.”
This I think is good advice for Labour, from Sadiq Khan – maybe labour is trying to do this but they need to focus on moving the poor to middle class and following the missing taxes that make up the .1% rich listers and corporations rather than the focus from last election of taking from the middle class to give to the poor and leaving the .1% and corporations to pay virtually nothing.
From the guardian from Sadiq Khan….
“I learnt a great deal throughout the course of the campaign – about myself, about London and about the importance of reaching out to all sections of society. But there are two lessons in particular,” Khan writes. “First, Labour only wins when we face outwards and focus on the issues that the people actually care about. And secondly, we will never be trusted to govern unless we reach out and engage with all voters – regardless of their background, where they live or where they work.
“Squabbles over internal party structures might be important for some in the party, but it is clear they mean little or nothing to the huge majority of voters. As tempting as it might be, we must always resist focusing in on ourselves and ignoring what people really want.”
Khan suggests Corbyn is failing to appeal to a wide enough electorate, including middle-class and disaffected Tory voters.
“Labour has to be a big tent that appeals to everyone – not just its own activists. Campaigns that deliberately turn their back on particular groups are doomed to fail.
“Just like in London, so-called natural Labour voters alone will never be enough to win a general election. We must be able to persuade people who previously voted Conservative that Labour can be trusted with the economy and security as well as improving public services and creating a fairer society.”
P.s I support Corbyn over the Blairites, but feel their is a sweet spot inbetween their views which is where massive support could be. People don’t care so much about race or religion anymore they just want a fair society – not being forced into fighting fake wars like Iraq or not being able to buy a house or rent any more because the .1% are buying up their city as a way to get their wealth out of their own country while their politicians pretend ‘it is the free market’.
I had a SSD (solid state drive) drop out of The Standard’s array this morning. I now know what happens when it does. The process of mirroring takes about 30 minutes during which the site slows to a crawl.
Unfortunate it happened just as Simon was trying to put up his post on the latest Panama papers release.
An update on the tax-avoiding slop-slingers; Compass, since the raindrenched protest in Dunedin at the end of April:
The group spearheading protests against the quality of food being served in southern hospitals and to meals on wheels recipients is challenging food supplier Compass Group to a ‘‘cook-off”… The Real Food Coalition planned to re-create some of the meals on the Compass menu using locally procured ingredients and local staff, spokeswoman Anna Huffstutler said during a food protest meeting in Invercargill yesterday.
‘‘They can cook theirs and we will cook ours and see whose is better. If they don’t want to be part of it, we will re-create the meals anyway.”
The Compass Group has turned down a challenge from hospital food campaigners to take part in a cooking contest… Compass national development and innovation manager Lauren Scott said the challenge was “considerably different” from preparing meals for hospital patients…
Real Meals Coalition spokeswoman Anna Huffstutler said she still planned to go ahead with the cooking challenge in some form.
In case you are wondering; who Huffstutler is, and why she thinks that she knows cooks who might have experience with preparing hospital food, here is an older article (from May 2015):
The Service and Food Workers’ Union has notified its intention to take legal action against the Southern District Health Board over the unpopular decision to award a 15-year food service contract to the Compass Group. SFWU organiser Anna Huffstutler yesterday confirmed the move, which is likely to be based on law protecting vulnerable workers.
It can also be reported that Compass Group and Health Benefits Ltd representatives were admitted to the public-excluded session on Thursday where board members were considering their decision. The union was excluded – even though its counterproposal was also before board…
Ms Huffstutler said kitchen workers felt deflated and worried after the decision.
”When the announcement was made to our members, they were gutted, because it’s more uncertainty for them. It’s an insult to them, that the DHB have effectively sacked them.”
Because, of course, nutrition has no impact on health expectations on planet Key (perhaps that’s why they don’t need toilets?).
New Zealand multinational Fonterra will be using exactly the same financial structures as the Compass Group, and they are completely legitimate, Dunedin chartered accountant Chris Worth says… Mr Worth called Dunedin South MP Clare Curran “gullible” for saying its tax arrangements were “amoral”, and accused media of misrepresenting the situation.
Ms Curran stood by her comments when contacted yesterday.
I’m not the biggest fan of Curran, but at least she does seem to comprehend that; legal, and; moral, are different things. A distinction that seems to be lost on chartered accountants.
Finally, the article from today’s ODT that started me typing this (before I got diverted into other topics). Apologies for excessive length, but I haven’t commented on the Compass debacle for a while (so there’s been a bit of a backlog of seething to clear):
New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association national secretary Deborah Powell said a survey by Dunedin Hospital resident doctors quantified concerns about in-house catering by Compass for hospital staff and called for an “urgent improvement” in food quality.
“The survey results mirror [other] recent issues highlighted by recipients of meals on wheels and [Dunedin Hospital] patients,” she said in a statement.
Findings from the survey found 90% of the doctors reported a decrease in food quality and 84% a lack of variety in cafeteria meals and 78% said there was insufficient food; the cafe simply “runs out of food”.
Dr Powell went on to say 72% of the doctors also reported an insufficient range of healthy food and drink options.
Can’t wait for the hyperbole to be burst. it’s gone from having NZ mentioned in some papers that were hacked from a company to the left basically claiming that John Key is personally flying bags of drug lord cash on air force one back from Colombia to be deposited in a mysterious private bank known only to the super rich but in plain sight on queen st.
Or Anthony Robins hysterical – “exporting poverty”
I know the urge is strong, but you need to wait till the full story is out before painting the darkest picture possible of JK and the government. because if anything less than that comes out, the picture painters just look like they went full retard. you never go full retard.
Good to see Nessalt can’t even follow his own advise. With mythical flights of fantasy, and a utter failure to even embrace a modicum of reality. He put all his shortcomings on display in the most fulsome manor
And LO!!! Here comes Paula scattering goodies to the previously ignored and derided homeless people, and emergency housing for people living in garages, cars etc. Because National Party is so concerned, as of yesterday? about their health and well being. I wondered when she would be rolled out. Oh well, a band-aid is better than nothing.
Hope she has loads of money for the 21,742 aged migrants coming into NZ in the last 5 years alone, many who apparently after being sponsored in to look after the grandkids then get left to fend for themselves while their migrant sponsors have left NZ to work offshore.
Diana Witchtel asks Gloria Steinem to explain Trump,
Trump. We’re just mouths open down here. “We can’t believe it, either,” she sighs. Can she please explain? I say, half-joking. She can. She tracks Trump’s rise back to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “The old racist white Democrats began to leave the Democratic Party and take over the Republican Party. That process has continued, so the machinery of the party is in the control of very, very right-wing people.”
The Republican Party no longer puts up centrist and electable candidates. “So they became vulnerable to somebody like Trump, who can make a populist appeal. He’s a brand. People know him because of television and there’s enough discontent with huge income inequality and the fact that in very short order we’re no longer going to be a majority white country. So we’re having – from some folks, not the majority, by any means – a kind of racist response to that. He appeals to that.” Scary. “It’s dangerous that we have one of our two huge parties in the control of extremist groups. Really dangerous.” You can’t help but think of the 30s. “Absolutely. I try not to remember that Hitler was elected.”
The whole interview is worth reading (Steinem has written a book about her life on the road),
….. and in broken news, shares in APN have been suspended.
Please please Mr Joyce – help us out! If ya don’t, you could be seen as being in favour of anti-competitive behaviour and conflict of interest (going forward).
Set up a Trust and whip it out of the contigency fund maybe …. no one will give a fuck
ah well …. says it all really. No interest, no response – as we march towards a potential corporate media monopoly.
Now there’s talk of a Fearfex merger. That’ll be a good test of the Commerce Kmishun surely!
But somehow, I think not – not even from contributors here. Because of course we all subscribe to our own wee media bubbles and the MSM and the masses no longer matter.
Yeah, Turnbull has been a hugely disapointing for every one, from the “claytons” budget, to the all the hype about Tax reform, on the other side though, Shorten delivered a reply speech that got people listening, it was well received.
History says Turbull will win the election, no Fed Govt has lost a second term in over 85 years, but they said that about the state Govt’s too, and look what happened in Queensland and Victoria.
Good ol Fred Dagg has always been good for a laugh, I think he received a lot more material from Abbott though, who just couldn’t stop putting his foot in his mouth.
Scott Morrison just forgot to mention the $50B loss for giving the Corps a Tax cut to 25%, and when he tries to justify it by saying their competitors (other countries) tax rates are lower, I found it amusing that NZ, Ireland and the Philippines were used as examples, but wait a minute, the US (60%) and the UK (33%) are the largest economies, I wonder why they aren’t lowering their Corporate Tax levels…….
US tax rates are much higher yes, but they have way more exemptions and rebates which can be applied (Exxon Mobil famously pays next to no tax for instance), also it is a reason why US corps like Apple and Google hide themselves away in places like Ireland, and keep hundreds of billions in profits squirrelled away in tax havens.
The race to the lowest corp tax rates by countries like NZ and Aus are screwing western economies, in Aus, out of 1500 of the largest companies, 1/3 pay no tax, 1/3 pay only half and the last remaining 1/3 pays the full amount.
Thee biggest joke is when the the pollies tell you that they have to lower corp taxes to entice big business to their shores, BS, those businesses are falling over one another to get into wealthy countries like NZ and Aus with relatively small populations, unlike, say Indonesia, with 250m.
Globaly, Aus is the 7th lowest taxing country in the western world, and instead of taxing high polluting industries, they now pay them Billions to entice them to lower their emissions, direct action, the biggest con ever.
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 ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
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 global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
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: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
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 Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
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 ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
A long time ago, Brian Turner wrote a poem in which, among the mountains, as he slept on a river flat … My speechless ancestors played like mice among my dreamsand he woke to the river running over my bed of stone. I have come to know that where a ...
Pacific Media Watch President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including more than $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and ...
Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman says New Zealand should provide a robust response to Donald Trump's Gaza plan, and also "should stop tip-toeing" around Trump. ...
The new minister of transport has opened the door for public consultation on at least some of the speed limit changes the government said would be automatic. ...
Officially, they’re called ‘memecoins,’ but Kōura Wealth founder Rupert Carlyon says the crypto world has another name for them: ‘shitcoins’.In digital finance, that phrase is used for tokens that have no true value – in essence, a money-grab.A few days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump launched his own ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Guy Williams has made a whole show off the joke that he is a “volunteer” journalist. So getting publicly owned by David Seymour while trying to act as a journalist is a good and timely reminder not to underestimate the nuance and ...
Many of Sāmoa’s beloved dishes are the result of cultural collaboration, writes Madeleine Chapman. All photos by Jin FelletIf you ever find yourself at a barbecue in a Sāmoan home, there’s 99% chance that sapasui (chop suey) will be on the table. For the past century, sapasui has ...
The funnyman takes us through his life in television, including Jono and Ben mayhem, live Telethon flubs, and funnelling all those experiences into his new comedy Vince. There’s an inciting incident in Three’s new comedy Vince where morning television presenter Vince Walters (Jono Pryor) is visiting sick kids in hospital ...
People often claim they just want Waitangi Day to be a celebration. At Waitangi, away from the headlined political acrimony and the marae ātea, celebrating is what most people are doing. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous ...
Is there anything more fashionable than a Māori get together? One of the best things about Northland is that nobody cares what they look like — probably because they’re all naturally more stylish than the rest of us, famously. Māori from the Far North, especially. In 27 degree heat, wearing ...
I’ve been in love with him since last July, but it’s only now in this tepid hotel room that I find myself wondering why. The first thing he does when we arrive is smoke a cone in the bathroom – he emerges, hacking up a lung, fists thrust into his ...
MONDAY“Name,” barked a representative of the lower orders.I regarded him with a look of stern disapproval, and told him from up high, “May I remind you that I have name suppression. I shall also thank you to ask with more respect as befits a former president of the Act Party, ...
Books of Mana: 180 Māori-Authored Books of Significance, edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira has just been released by Otago University Press. In this essay, Books are Taonga, Jeanette Wikaira explores her personal relationship to books and their value.For me, books are taonga. The knowledge ...
Get to know Tara, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Tara’s human for their support! Dog name: Tara Age: Two Breed: Mostly Border Collie and a little bit Catahoula Leopard dog If dog ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Gail Duncan, Chairperson of the St Peter’s on Willis Social Justice Group, one of the organisations invited to submit on the Bill, says the Government’s actions are unprecedented. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member.ABC News/Supplied The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Nik/Unsplash You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health. Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and ...
Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Tijana Simic/Shutterstock The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO Mino Surkala, Shutterstock Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University Netflix Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson. The first episode opens with Gibson’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample ...
She’s back behind the wheel, and this time, she wants to find out what it is that makes us tick. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. After a prolific career on stage and screen, 83-year-old Miriam Margolyes is on the road again. ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel. Real Poet Every word earned its place and so did he, so should you. Real poet lives in the capital but writes himself into the Mackenzie country golden hour, man of the paper land, he neglects to mention his pollen ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) No better time to get ...
The committee has published this list to inform the public about its work, and to give clarity to submitters who have contacted the committee asking if they will be invited to make an oral submission. ...
Alex Casey and Gabi Lardies dissect their Laneway 2025 experience. Gabi Lardies: Hi Alex :))))))) Congratulations on not getting sunburnt. Everyone I talked to at Laneway yesterday was braving the sun for one thing. Charli XCX. How was your brat experience?Alex Casey: We will talk about the rest of ...
The US President's suggestion, which sparked enormous debate globally, has been labelled as a threat, not a proposal, by the Federation of Islamic Associations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, ...
FICTION1Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Interesting to note that the author of the biggest-selling New Zealand novel in Waitangi Week is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāti Kahungunu).2 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (Kāwai 1) by Monty Soutar (David ...
Remembering the renowned New Zealand writer, who died on February 5, 2025. The Stopover When the trout rise like compassion It is worth watching when the hinds come down from the hills with a new message it will be as well to listen. – Brian Turner Poet, environmentalist, sportsman, journalist, ...
Survivors can choose to have former High Court judge Paul Davison assess their individual claims to tailor payments to their personal circumstances. ...
‘NZ at heart of Panama money-go-round
New Zealand is at the heart of a tangled web of secretive shelf companies and obscure trusts being used by well-heeled South Americans to organise their private wealth, business affairs, and channel their funds around the world.
The extent of this country’s involvement in the global money-go-round and intricate asset management and protection industry is showcased by more than 61,000 documents in the leak of papers from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca – known as the Panama Papers.
The Consortium of Investigative Journalists and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung gave RNZ, TVNZ, and investigative journalist Nicky Hager joint access to the papers. This is the first in a series of reports on what has been uncovered so far, after only a week with the data.
It is already clear that Mossack Fonseca ramped up its interest in using New Zealand as one of its new jurisdictions in 2013, along with Belize in Central America, offering extremely private, zero-tax foreign trusts.
The firm trumpeted New Zealand’s top flight legal and financial reputation as “allowing for the speedy formation of appropriate mechanisms for wealth protection, inheritance and tax planning”.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/panama-papers/303356/nz-at-heart-of-panama-money-go-round
So 9 May has come and gone and its a big nothing so far, is there more to come or is this it?
Big Nothing
Wow, already lying in the face of the facts.
So wheres the link to John Key, the link to National MPs, donors? Anyone?
All that’s come out is NZs a small fish in big ocean of trusts and is anyone surprised?
For the people that’re interested in this, and its less then we all think, they were expecting something…more
So far the Panama Papers are a Big Nothing…except that its showing the Greens have more economic nous then Andrew Little
Hang on, PR
our current government is not a National Party led Government?
our current PM is not the Leader of the National Party John Key?
oh, you mean yes, our current Government is a National Party led Government, and the PM is the leader of the National Party called John Key, but he is of course not responsible for what his Party (he is the Leader of the National Party, is he not?) is doing while they are forming the Government?
Oh he did not do it? you says? Its something to do with the Greens and Andrew Little?
Could you elaborate on that a bit more, cause i would be very happy to read about it. It sounds like a good story about how the Greens with their relatively new Co Leader J. Shaw and the Labour Party with their relatively new Leader Andre Little gamed the system so that anyone with a bit too much cash at hand could just come and park said cash here in dear ole NZ so that no taxes would be charged on it, and no one would now about it.
Please pretty pretty please, elaborate on that story, it would make for riveting reading.
more riveting then what’s currently being played out. So ok where’s the link that John Key or National have benefited financially from this? Where’s the link John Key and National are doing this for their mates.
Again its a Big Nothing.
You’ve got nothing and all this is trying to do change peoples perceptions.
I never expected there to be a link to John Key, or a link to National MP’s, or donors.
Why did you think that?
http://thestandard.org.nz/a-week-is-a-long-time-in-politics/#comment-1168595
Looks like I was right about the name of a lawyer coming out.
9 May in northern hemisphere = early tomorrow morn in NZ. That’s when the full web of names is released by ICIJ. What you’re seeing today is something different.
What we’re seeing is all they’ve got
We are seeing the first tranche of NZ-located analysis, that’s all. While I agree it was never going to be a huge deal, the Cook Island and Niue dumps could be interesting.
It is a big deal though. PR thinks we should only be concerned if it’s a Watergate sized scandal, but most of the problems are systemic and ideological rather than legal. The irony there is that it took a long time for Watergate to come out, so the whole “there is no smoking gun sitting right in front of us” meme is just more RWNJ spin.
So basically just an extension of what the left have been doing since 2008 then
and its worked so well for them 🙂
So basically you’re still just a stupid troll who can’t understand a political argument.
Summed up very succinctly weka he is a “just a stupid troll who can’t understand a political argument.”
and an empty vessel making a lot of noise.
He hasn’t got any defense for what is an abhorrent situation in which our country is being used by criminals to launder their ill gotten gains, and other selfish greedy individuals to hide their wealth from their own countries in order to avoid contributing to the society in which they live and prosper.
The immorality of all this is completely missed by the likes of PR, BM, JKF, et al because they lost their moral compass years ago, and wouldn’t know what an ethical principle was if they fell over one – which of course they do on a daily basis.
So basically you don’t understand how anyone can possibly have a different view to you even though we’ve had a National government from 2008 and likely to go through to 2020
But I’m the one who doesn’t understand
Oh we understand you alright!
So basically you don’t understand how anyone can possibly have a different view to you even though we’ve had a National government from 2008 and likely to go through to 2020
See, I can’t tell if you are just really thick or trolling (or both). Anyone who reads my comments here knows that I can quite easily understand how someone can have a different view to me.
Let me just keep naming it. You don’t like what the left is doing. You like winding them up. You keep reframing issues to suit your narrative of Key is wonderful, all the real people love him, they will win. When I or anyone presents a different view ie that there are issues far more importan here than party politics, that we’re talking about very core values of NZ as a country, all you can do is parrot “Key is wonderful we all love him” as if your insistence of that has any meaning outside your own agenda.
Plus the whole pretending you know what lefties want and think, and then talking about them as if they are a hive mind. I’ve repeatedly called you out on the lies you tell, and this is just another one. You can pretend all you like that you are just expressing a different pov, but in reality you are spinning to undermine the left. Instead of addressing the actual issues (eg is this level of semi-legal/unethical business ok in NZ) you instead try and make out that this whole thing is just the left being dicks. It’s blatantly bullshit and spin.
As Macro said, we understand you and just how vacuous you really are.
@ Puckish Rogue (1.1.2.1) … Denial much!
Stay tuned, more, much more to come out tomorrow ….
Yeah yeah theres always tomorrow, for the last 8 years its always been tomorrow
Just once wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of tomorrow, it was today for a change
Sad repeating of a tired meme.
Sheesh bro get a new record, your one is broken.
Oh and to add too mary_a comment, there will months and months of tomorrows on this.
So have fun, I know I am.
[removed]
[lprent: You were banned here. Added another week. ]
Drip, drip, purple knob.
You,wold defend anything, including amoral tax havens.
I pity you.
Please………….no more slogans.
Too funny. Tracey Watkins reckons picking over whatever carcass the ICIJ left behind is being in the race 😆
There’s a reason no NZ media were invited to the main course, Tracey.
So good these courtesans and puppets are left out.
The Guardian’s Gary Younge on the way British Establishment Bottom-Feeders (from leading MSM journos to highly compromised academics) just keep on shifting the goal posts for Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
“When it comes to assessing Labour’s electoral fortunes, Corbyn is treated with all the due process of a 17th century woman accused of witchcraft and dunked in a river. If she drowns, she’s innocent; if she floats she’s guilty and condemned as a witch. Either way, the verdict is never in her favour.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/06/doom-merchants-corbyn-viable-leader-labour
This I think is good advice for Labour, from Sadiq Khan – maybe labour is trying to do this but they need to focus on moving the poor to middle class and following the missing taxes that make up the .1% rich listers and corporations rather than the focus from last election of taking from the middle class to give to the poor and leaving the .1% and corporations to pay virtually nothing.
From the guardian from Sadiq Khan….
“I learnt a great deal throughout the course of the campaign – about myself, about London and about the importance of reaching out to all sections of society. But there are two lessons in particular,” Khan writes. “First, Labour only wins when we face outwards and focus on the issues that the people actually care about. And secondly, we will never be trusted to govern unless we reach out and engage with all voters – regardless of their background, where they live or where they work.
“Squabbles over internal party structures might be important for some in the party, but it is clear they mean little or nothing to the huge majority of voters. As tempting as it might be, we must always resist focusing in on ourselves and ignoring what people really want.”
Khan suggests Corbyn is failing to appeal to a wide enough electorate, including middle-class and disaffected Tory voters.
“Labour has to be a big tent that appeals to everyone – not just its own activists. Campaigns that deliberately turn their back on particular groups are doomed to fail.
“Just like in London, so-called natural Labour voters alone will never be enough to win a general election. We must be able to persuade people who previously voted Conservative that Labour can be trusted with the economy and security as well as improving public services and creating a fairer society.”
P.s I support Corbyn over the Blairites, but feel their is a sweet spot inbetween their views which is where massive support could be. People don’t care so much about race or religion anymore they just want a fair society – not being forced into fighting fake wars like Iraq or not being able to buy a house or rent any more because the .1% are buying up their city as a way to get their wealth out of their own country while their politicians pretend ‘it is the free market’.
I had a SSD (solid state drive) drop out of The Standard’s array this morning. I now know what happens when it does. The process of mirroring takes about 30 minutes during which the site slows to a crawl.
Unfortunate it happened just as Simon was trying to put up his post on the latest Panama papers release.
Outed on Facebook…
Gerry Brownlee meets the butcher of Qana – National Party hugs war criminals
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/05/09/gerry-brownlee-meets-the-butcher-of-qana/#comment-336101
But but but – Labour did it too…..
remember the shaking hands photo?
So where is our erstwhile MSM on this occasion?
Science muzzled
The nations scientists are saying they’re gagged from speaking out on the big issues.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/science-muzzled-video-6468513
Thoughts?
An update on the tax-avoiding slop-slingers; Compass, since the raindrenched protest in Dunedin at the end of April:
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/invercargill/381822/compass-challenged-cook
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/382425/company-has-no-taste-cook
In case you are wondering; who Huffstutler is, and why she thinks that she knows cooks who might have experience with preparing hospital food, here is an older article (from May 2015):
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/341647/union-take-legal-action
However, Compass have also had their defenders in the past week:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/382273/dean-says-hospital-food-issue-beat
Because, of course, nutrition has no impact on health expectations on planet Key (perhaps that’s why they don’t need toilets?).
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/382426/compass-finances-legal-accountant
I’m not the biggest fan of Curran, but at least she does seem to comprehend that; legal, and; moral, are different things. A distinction that seems to be lost on chartered accountants.
Finally, the article from today’s ODT that started me typing this (before I got diverted into other topics). Apologies for excessive length, but I haven’t commented on the Compass debacle for a while (so there’s been a bit of a backlog of seething to clear):
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/382529/doctors-slam-compass-food
Can’t wait for the hyperbole to be burst. it’s gone from having NZ mentioned in some papers that were hacked from a company to the left basically claiming that John Key is personally flying bags of drug lord cash on air force one back from Colombia to be deposited in a mysterious private bank known only to the super rich but in plain sight on queen st.
Or Anthony Robins hysterical – “exporting poverty”
I know the urge is strong, but you need to wait till the full story is out before painting the darkest picture possible of JK and the government. because if anything less than that comes out, the picture painters just look like they went full retard. you never go full retard.
Bit late for that
Good to see Nessalt can’t even follow his own advise. With mythical flights of fantasy, and a utter failure to even embrace a modicum of reality. He put all his shortcomings on display in the most fulsome manor
And LO!!! Here comes Paula scattering goodies to the previously ignored and derided homeless people, and emergency housing for people living in garages, cars etc. Because National Party is so concerned, as of yesterday? about their health and well being. I wondered when she would be rolled out. Oh well, a band-aid is better than nothing.
Hope she has loads of money for the 21,742 aged migrants coming into NZ in the last 5 years alone, many who apparently after being sponsored in to look after the grandkids then get left to fend for themselves while their migrant sponsors have left NZ to work offshore.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11635692
Diana Witchtel asks Gloria Steinem to explain Trump,
The whole interview is worth reading (Steinem has written a book about her life on the road),
http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/profile/gloria-steinem-interview/
….. and in broken news, shares in APN have been suspended.
Please please Mr Joyce – help us out! If ya don’t, you could be seen as being in favour of anti-competitive behaviour and conflict of interest (going forward).
Set up a Trust and whip it out of the contigency fund maybe …. no one will give a fuck
ah well …. says it all really. No interest, no response – as we march towards a potential corporate media monopoly.
Now there’s talk of a Fearfex merger. That’ll be a good test of the Commerce Kmishun surely!
But somehow, I think not – not even from contributors here. Because of course we all subscribe to our own wee media bubbles and the MSM and the masses no longer matter.
Yea nah …. nex
Australian election tighter than a very tight thing.
First day of campaign, but definitely all to play for there.
Newspoll, published in the Australian, has Labor slightly ahead of the Coalition on a 51%-49% two-party-preferred basis.
Yeah, Turnbull has been a hugely disapointing for every one, from the “claytons” budget, to the all the hype about Tax reform, on the other side though, Shorten delivered a reply speech that got people listening, it was well received.
History says Turbull will win the election, no Fed Govt has lost a second term in over 85 years, but they said that about the state Govt’s too, and look what happened in Queensland and Victoria.
It was a pre-election budget from the pre-election period.
Good ol Fred Dagg has always been good for a laugh, I think he received a lot more material from Abbott though, who just couldn’t stop putting his foot in his mouth.
Scott Morrison just forgot to mention the $50B loss for giving the Corps a Tax cut to 25%, and when he tries to justify it by saying their competitors (other countries) tax rates are lower, I found it amusing that NZ, Ireland and the Philippines were used as examples, but wait a minute, the US (60%) and the UK (33%) are the largest economies, I wonder why they aren’t lowering their Corporate Tax levels…….
Like NZ, Australia impute dividends to resident taxpayers – how does cutting corporate tax rates cost so much?
Which means the profits from those cuts end up going to overseas investors, the loss to the Govt and country in tax revenue $50B
US tax rates are much higher yes, but they have way more exemptions and rebates which can be applied (Exxon Mobil famously pays next to no tax for instance), also it is a reason why US corps like Apple and Google hide themselves away in places like Ireland, and keep hundreds of billions in profits squirrelled away in tax havens.
The race to the lowest corp tax rates by countries like NZ and Aus are screwing western economies, in Aus, out of 1500 of the largest companies, 1/3 pay no tax, 1/3 pay only half and the last remaining 1/3 pays the full amount.
Thee biggest joke is when the the pollies tell you that they have to lower corp taxes to entice big business to their shores, BS, those businesses are falling over one another to get into wealthy countries like NZ and Aus with relatively small populations, unlike, say Indonesia, with 250m.
Globaly, Aus is the 7th lowest taxing country in the western world, and instead of taxing high polluting industries, they now pay them Billions to entice them to lower their emissions, direct action, the biggest con ever.
You point to the fact that the borders between the big corporates and the powerful in government institutions are being blurred more than ever.
And there are many revolving doors between the two sides.
This has been common practice in the USA for many years. And the practice has spread throughout the western world.
This is heading the Herald online news at the moment.
‘Hero cat: Suspected Grey Lynn peeping tom caught’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11636203
Unbelievable.