John Key is the strongest argument I know for the reintroduction of the checks and balances of an upper house of traditional western democracy – removed not by popular vote but by national party members dubbed a ‘suicide squad’ in 1951.
Why do people always think that an upper house works?
There’s very clear evidence from around the world that an upper house is just as dysfunctional as the lower house and thus causes even more problems.
It’s not an upper house that we need but more democracy with policies being set by the people and not by political parties. We need the people to be able to hold the politicians to account. John Key should have been in jail in 2007 for his lies and attempt at insider trading with his Transrail shares.
+1 Draco – what sort of country are we, when you can have a ‘blind trust’ as a politician?
We are still waiting for Key’s tax returns.
And very suspicious that Key was so pro the NZ tax havens, has money in tax havens, his lawyer who is not a lawyer is a tax haven broker and IRD was not allowed to investigate tax havens. Then his white washed report, means he wants to wait a year or two before taking action on the NZ tax havens. Make them public immediately!
Hmmm, Key never does anything for nothing, so we can pretty much guarantee what is in the NZ tax havens…
It took 13 years to get some action on Blair so I guess Key will join his mates offshore once he’s fleeced the country to it’s brink.
You are slipping save nz, you forgot to mention Key’s involvement in the human organ black market, the dungeon below his house where he keeps all his sex slaves!
Don’t you also find it strange John Key is supporting Helen Clark in her UN bid? maybe they have some business dealings that will pay off once Clark is the UN bigwig? heck maybe I am onto something here…
For anyone that’s not totally unhinged with rabid Hillary-hatred and is curious about what kind of classified information Clinton was being extremely careless with, this fills it out a bit.
Email to Clinton: U.S. pressured Iraq to increase oil production “to pay the greatest dividends”
Iraqi oil production skyrocketed since illegal 2003 US invasion, in accordance with plans outlined by US officials
Yep, that’s the kind of shit that really should have made Hillary unpopular with Democrats, but doesn’t. That will largely be viewed by a lot of Americans as rightfully getting something back out of Iraq in return for what it has cost them.
“Last week’s finding by inspectors of 12 chemical warheads not included in Iraq’s declaration was particularly troubling. In the past, Iraq has filled this type of warhead with sarin — a deadly nerve agent used by Japanese terrorists in 1995 to kill 12 Tokyo subway passengers and sicken thousands of others. Richard Butler, the former chief United Nations arms inspector, estimates that if a larger type of warhead that Iraq has made and used in the past were filled with VX (an even deadlier nerve agent) and launched at a major city, it could kill up to one million people. Iraq has also failed to provide United Nations inspectors with documentation of its claim to have destroyed its VX stockpiles.
Many questions remain about Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and arsenal — and it is Iraq’s obligation to provide answers. It is failing in spectacular fashion. By both its actions and its inactions, Iraq is proving not that it is a nation bent on disarmament, but that it is a nation with something to hide. Iraq is still treating inspections as a game. It should know that time is running out.
Drawing (Bill Russell)
Condoleezza Rice is the national security adviser.”
I think you might be wrong about politics being a hobby for Key.
Don’t let him fool you he is a real bona fide believer in his neo liberal ideology.
Chairman of the International Democrat Union…. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union
That post you link to ianmac is a very important one. Some years back I did the same research and concluded that John Key definitely has some serious questions to answer on this.
I saw the same source evidence for myself and I’ve never seen anything remotely like a rational explanation. Also Traverev was onto it at the time as well. (OK not everyone here likes her, but she’s not always wrong either.)
Full credit to Politically Corrected for writing this up.
For Key it would be damaging even amongst his believers, if it was proven that he worked hard to amass millions by trading NZ dollars and nearly bankrupting NZ in 1987. He did work for Krieger who engineered the raid on NZ.
And to lie to the SFO is a serious offence.
Watkins column in today’s Press compares what John Key has but Andrew Little hasn’t got. ..”charisma”
How shallow can journalists get? ….’Charisma’ is a PR generated myth, a trait held by Mugabe, Lassie the dog and Lady Gaga (although I must admit the latter can actually sing).
I didn’t read the rest of her column but I’ll bet Watkins didn’t talk about integrity, sincerity or honesty.Can’t let facts upset a good argument.
Tracy Watkins had the hatchet today out to write off Andrew Little, while saying everything about John Key is fine and dandy. Infuriating. What is charisma if there is no integrity and decency. Smiling and waving on the outside while being totally hollow and shallow on the inside – that is Key.
Key is purely carrying on Roger Douglas’s work on the Neoliberal Experiment, soon we will all be serfs to the 1% percenters they have asset stripped the Nation’s assets which have been built up over the past 175 years paid for by the NZ Taxpayers, and we are still $120 Billion in the Red. Go Figure?
Beware of people with charisma, firstly they are in love with themselves and preoccupied with the self, possibly psychopathic as well. The world has had many charismatic people who have used that trait to better their agenda. One comes to mind – Adolf Hitler, now he may not have won a beauty contest but he brought in the crowds, rallied a country to his bidding and dated pretty blondes – look what his legacy is. Mugabe is another, ugly as sin but he has that x-factor which bodes no goodwill towards his people. Mr Clinton bless his heart was sex on a stick (or so the females thought of him) but his Foundation along with his missus is very suspect for the health of the US. Heaps of people end up in positions of responsibility all because they have that x-factor. We keep being conned into their winning ways and will forever be conned. Our PM, now he’s another one with the supposed charisma gene – me personally, I never got it at all, but he still has traction and oddly enough I think its mainly males who think he is the bees knees, I may be wrong but none of my female acquaintances think he has it going for him at all.
JK did it differently, he held off selling great volumes of NZD/USD for a long time while it was going up, almost certainly because he had seen the mistake made by other central banks.
The Key (C-T) strategy is :
When there is good news..be seen….When there is bad news, hide in the shadows and don’t be seen ,(or hide in the sun in Hawaii)
Redcliffs saga.
Yesterday was posted, “Redcliffs voters might well remember who fought to keep their school open – Their Labour MP, Ruth Dyson or the wannabee hiding quietly in the shadows?”
Q-Guess where the wannabe’s big advertising camper-van is now?
A- No longer hiding in the shadows but parked triumphantly right outside the gates of Redcliffs School.
(Key ( C-T) principles in action. Sadly, It’ll probably work..
That’s a nice touch. On the Herald, Claire Trevett has written up the Labour plan. (sarc)Of course she does fish out an English rebuttal from the past.
But no big headline on the Herald.
Now the Chilcott report has found Blair guilt of lying to the British people over Iraq in 2003, isn’t it about time the left summoned up the courage to question the intial lie?
9/11.
If Bush and Cheney could lie about Iraq, why is it not considered possible the story we were told about 9/11 is also a lie?
Of course the official story we were told about 9/11 is a lie. Several 9/11 Commissioners also said that they were either lied to or their investigation blocked by US Government officials.
But some people cannot stomach the fact that the authorities may have significantly misled them. Even knowing that is what authorities have done over and over again in history.
Easier to believe that the only 3 steel framed skyscrapers to fail due to fire all did so on the same day, and all did so within a couple of hundred metres from each other, at near free fall speeds, virtually on to their own building foot prints.
Not hostile, just fixed on fact. Though why an evidence free conservative conspiracy theory should get any traction on a left wing site is also a bit of a puzzle. There’s usually a frothy debate from 9/11 denialists every six months or so here at the Standard, but the singular lack of evidence for any of their wacky ideas (holograms anyone?), tends to make the discussions a bit one sided.
hi paul, without wanting to poke sticks at anyone, i think there seems to be a fondness for the status quo, in folk who accept the government line re 9/11.
A big difference is that a lot of the 9/11 truther claims are about topics where anyone in the general public with the relevant technical expertise can evaluate whether there’s any merit to them. So when the likes of Paul or CV keep repeating truther claims that I personally have enough expertise to debunk, and those claims have been repeatedly debunked by experts elsewhere, the only conclusion I can come to is they are utter fuckwits clinging to their unreason.
The only aspects about 9/11 that I still have questions about are how much the various agencies knew about the hijackers beforehand, and how much government involvement there was in spiriting politically sensitive possible associates out of the country immediately afterwards. But even then, the likelier explanation for the dodgier allegations seems cock-up rather than conspiracy.
And the couple of thousand architects and engineers who believe that a full new investigation into 9/11 needs to be undertaken?
You’re smarter than all of them right?
The 9/11 Commission members who said they were actively lied to and their investigations blocked by the US GOV – a Commission that had originally given only a couple of million dollars budget – imagine that! Barely enough money to buy one or two Abrams tanks with – their comments don’t mean anything to you.
And the nanothermite residues spread all around downtown New York City – irrelevant, right?
The huge lumps of molten steel which have been identified from the Twin Towers, as well as the massive underground heat which lasted for a couple of months after the towers came down – you explained that too right?
And this highly experienced European buildings demolition contractor – your expertise outweighs his, right?
the only conclusion I can come to is they are utter fuckwits clinging to their unreason
Pffft. Andre, you’re a smart professional. Obviously all the architects and engineers who disagree with your views on 9/11 aren’t “utter fuckwits.”
All people are asking for is a thorough new investigation and review of what happened on 9/11. That’s not very much to ask when we know that the original NIST reports and the 9/11 Commission left many questions unasked.
It would be good if Andre actually rebutted just one of your points, rather than name calling.
Is the left scared to ask questions about 9/11?
And if so, why ?
Multiple successful cellphone calls were made by passengers from fast moving airliners which were well over 10,000 feet altitude. Some of these calls lasted for over a minute. This was beyond the technology used at the time. How were these calls made?
Air defences completely failed to intercept any of the 4 planes.
A beginner pilot flies an almost impossible flight path into the Pentagon
The BBC reports WTC 7 collapses before it happens.
Supposed 9/11 hijackers who turned up alive and well in the weeks and months after the event.
The steel skyscrapers symmetrically brought down by totally asymmetric structural, kerosene or office furnishings fires is simply the crowning BS on top of it all.
Charles Kennedy and George Galloway were insulted as mad and bad when they questioned the official story about Iraq in 2003.
Now they are vindicated.
History will show that 9/11 was a similar fabrication
If Bush and Cheney could lie about Iraq, why is it not considered possible the story we were told about 9/11 is also a lie?
Well, firstly because the false basis for the casus belli against Iraq was swiftly uncovered, which makes it unlikely a much more complicated and wide-ranging conspiracy involving the 9/11 attacks would have held up for long, and secondly, because, you know, science, evidence, plausibility, regular shit like that. But you already know this, because it has to be repeated on threads at this site on a regular basis.
The Chilcot report didn’t use that L word, but it did say that Blair knowingly and deliberately sold the public a false story about Saddam. That’s lying.
The Chilcott report didn’t say Blair lied, so did Paul in his original comment knowingly and deliberately sell the TS public a false story about Blair? I don’t know, but I think we should be told 😉
The Chilcot report said that Blair knowingly and deliberately sold the public a false story about the danger that Saddam posed. That’s lying. Not sure why you have a problem with that.
Not sure what craziness would occur if it actually happened, but this is the US Green Party leader inviting Bernie Sanders to take over and lead their campaign:
The craziness that would occur is that it might take enough votes from Hillary that the technicolor golem ends up winning the presidency. You’d think 8 years of Bush the lesser instead of Gore would have been enough to hammer that lesson into the Greens, but evidently not.
Just to be clear, if there was any possibility that a vote for the Green candidate (Stein or Sanders) in November would deliver any actual influence to a Green representative, I would absolutely vote for them. But it won’t. It can’t. The only possibilities in November are Clinton wins (which I don’t like the idea of, but I’ll vote for since it’s the best on offer), Trump wins (lord help us all if that utter disaster happens), or neither gets an Electoral College majority and the choice goes to the House of representatives (holy fuck!!!).
Sure, I get that. His campaign is very short on funds and he needs money.
What I am saying is that the big banks and big corporates (Lockheed Martin etc) will typically donate serious money to both sides just in case, even if they have a favourite candidate.
Up to this point however, they can’t even be bothered to throw Trump a bone. They are 100% backing Hillary.
No telling why they’re not backing Trump. I’d like to think it’s because they know his policies are either vacant, or that he has not plans to make them work, or idiotic.
(mind you, as well as preferring the republicans has someone other than Trump, I’d also prefer the Democrats had someone other than Clinton so don’t tag me as a Clinton fan).
Well at least Peter Swift can comment truthfully on Trump, and I guess his rating of who is a credible candidate for US president is as valid as yours CV
I like that.
I like it a lot more than Sanders ungracefully holding out inside the Democrats.
Sanders should accept Stein’s offer, perpetuate his little democratic earthquake.
Well, the threat can stay live until August, well after the Democrat convention. But actually accepting the offer might be a bit too much explosives in the offal pit.
The Metro has an interesting column. Hope it is true.
“Is the age of denial over?By Graham Adams.
“The latest uproar over homelessness, Auckland house prices and immigration marks the end of an era when voters looked the other way at the government’s behest.
… But in 21st century New Zealand so much is denied by the National-led government and so many problems swept under the carpet it has been almost impossible for many people to know what to believe, what is true or even what matters any more.
According to our current government and its Denier-in-Chief John Key, there is no housing bubble or crisis in Auckland; record immigration is not a problem; the steel in our roading projects is fine; plummeting milk prices are not a huge worry because dairy constitutes only six per cent of the economy even if it is 20 per cent of exports and so on and so on.
The list of denials is long. The only pressing problem that the government has enthusiastically and straightforwardly acknowledged in the mainstream media this year seems to have been the possibility of sexist slogans on the sides of Wicked Campers vans corrupting the minds of the young…..” http://www.metromag.co.nz/current-affairs/is-the-age-of-denial-over/
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Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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 Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
John Key is the strongest argument I know for the reintroduction of the checks and balances of an upper house of traditional western democracy – removed not by popular vote but by national party members dubbed a ‘suicide squad’ in 1951.
I’ll settle for Impeachment.
Key, Collins and McCully for starters.
Why do people always think that an upper house works?
There’s very clear evidence from around the world that an upper house is just as dysfunctional as the lower house and thus causes even more problems.
It’s not an upper house that we need but more democracy with policies being set by the people and not by political parties. We need the people to be able to hold the politicians to account. John Key should have been in jail in 2007 for his lies and attempt at insider trading with his Transrail shares.
+1 Draco – what sort of country are we, when you can have a ‘blind trust’ as a politician?
We are still waiting for Key’s tax returns.
And very suspicious that Key was so pro the NZ tax havens, has money in tax havens, his lawyer who is not a lawyer is a tax haven broker and IRD was not allowed to investigate tax havens. Then his white washed report, means he wants to wait a year or two before taking action on the NZ tax havens. Make them public immediately!
Hmmm, Key never does anything for nothing, so we can pretty much guarantee what is in the NZ tax havens…
It took 13 years to get some action on Blair so I guess Key will join his mates offshore once he’s fleeced the country to it’s brink.
You are slipping save nz, you forgot to mention Key’s involvement in the human organ black market, the dungeon below his house where he keeps all his sex slaves!
Don’t you also find it strange John Key is supporting Helen Clark in her UN bid? maybe they have some business dealings that will pay off once Clark is the UN bigwig? heck maybe I am onto something here…
You jest but some people here will actually believe they are in cahoots.
They are in cahoots. Clark endorsed Key’s presentation of the TPPA to the NZ public and Key endorsed Clark’s bid for UNSG.
Not dodgy, just nauseating.
Grocer, English, Smith, Joyce, parata,…. So many
For anyone that’s not totally unhinged with rabid Hillary-hatred and is curious about what kind of classified information Clinton was being extremely careless with, this fills it out a bit.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2016/07/hillary_s_email_scandal_was_overhyped.html
Thanks Andre. Good to see something that spells the issues out so clearly.
Email to Clinton: U.S. pressured Iraq to increase oil production “to pay the greatest dividends”
Iraqi oil production skyrocketed since illegal 2003 US invasion, in accordance with plans outlined by US officials
http://www.salon.com/2016/07/08/leaked_email_to_clinton_u_s_pressured_iraq_to_increase_oil_production_to_pay_the_greatest_dividends/
Yep, that’s the kind of shit that really should have made Hillary unpopular with Democrats, but doesn’t. That will largely be viewed by a lot of Americans as rightfully getting something back out of Iraq in return for what it has cost them.
So the US did the state equivalent of breaking & entering, & looting.
+1
But, then, we already knew that the invasion was about getting the oil for the US.
Hoe much oil production is controlled by US based interest in Iraq?
http://watchingthewatchers.org/news/624/iraq-war-cost-little-and-iraq-oil
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/1222/Iraq-war-Predictions-made-and-results
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline
and lets not forget this little doozy by Condi Rice
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/opinion/why-we-know-iraq-is-lying.html
“Last week’s finding by inspectors of 12 chemical warheads not included in Iraq’s declaration was particularly troubling. In the past, Iraq has filled this type of warhead with sarin — a deadly nerve agent used by Japanese terrorists in 1995 to kill 12 Tokyo subway passengers and sicken thousands of others. Richard Butler, the former chief United Nations arms inspector, estimates that if a larger type of warhead that Iraq has made and used in the past were filled with VX (an even deadlier nerve agent) and launched at a major city, it could kill up to one million people. Iraq has also failed to provide United Nations inspectors with documentation of its claim to have destroyed its VX stockpiles.
Many questions remain about Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and arsenal — and it is Iraq’s obligation to provide answers. It is failing in spectacular fashion. By both its actions and its inactions, Iraq is proving not that it is a nation bent on disarmament, but that it is a nation with something to hide. Iraq is still treating inspections as a game. It should know that time is running out.
Drawing (Bill Russell)
Condoleezza Rice is the national security adviser.”
Scott Yorke muses about the Chilcot Report.
https://imperatorfish.com/2016/07/08/brief-thoughts-on-the-chilcot-report/
Reckless neoliberals…
Cameron really was the true heir to Blair: both were totally reckless
Jonathan Freedland
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/08/david-cameron-true-heir-to-tony-blair-totally-reckless
+100 good article…but does not mention Cameron’s role in the NATO bombing of sovereign country Libya along with Sarkozy and Clinton…more war crimes!…
(and more refugees fleeing to Europe…more strength to ISIS in Libya)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/flashback-to-2011-libyas-liberators-sarkozy-cameron-and-erdogan-congratulate-nato/5477074
http://www.france24.com/en/20160311-obama-cameron-sarkozy-libya-mess-gaddafi-france-uk
http://www.mintpressnews.com/wikileaks-hillary-clinton-helped-topple-gadhafi-france-uk-fought-libyas-oil/215104/
https://politicallycorrectednz.wordpress.com/which-raises-another-serious-question-john-key-did-you/ Printed September 2014.
Has this been aired again? Is it kosher? I know that in 2008 Mike Williams went to Australia to find evidence of Key’s “misleading” the SFO but is this the same or a serious review.
Wealth can buy you everything, political parties are easy.
Politics is clearly a hobby for Key, once he’s bored he will bail out.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10201895/Key-book-sheds-new-light-on-prime-minister
I think you might be wrong about politics being a hobby for Key.
Don’t let him fool you he is a real bona fide believer in his neo liberal ideology.
Chairman of the International Democrat Union….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union
Just because a country or institution calls itself democratic, doesnt mean it is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Germany
That post you link to ianmac is a very important one. Some years back I did the same research and concluded that John Key definitely has some serious questions to answer on this.
I saw the same source evidence for myself and I’ve never seen anything remotely like a rational explanation. Also Traverev was onto it at the time as well. (OK not everyone here likes her, but she’s not always wrong either.)
Full credit to Politically Corrected for writing this up.
For Key it would be damaging even amongst his believers, if it was proven that he worked hard to amass millions by trading NZ dollars and nearly bankrupting NZ in 1987. He did work for Krieger who engineered the raid on NZ.
And to lie to the SFO is a serious offence.
How did this almost bankrupt NZ?
Old news. Keep going if you like but you won’t gain any political traction with it.
Watkins column in today’s Press compares what John Key has but Andrew Little hasn’t got. ..”charisma”
How shallow can journalists get? ….’Charisma’ is a PR generated myth, a trait held by Mugabe, Lassie the dog and Lady Gaga (although I must admit the latter can actually sing).
I didn’t read the rest of her column but I’ll bet Watkins didn’t talk about integrity, sincerity or honesty.Can’t let facts upset a good argument.
Blair also had charisma – look where that has led the British people…
“’Charisma’ is a PR generated myth, a trait held by Mugabe, Lassie the dog and Lady Gaga (although I must admit the latter can actually sing).”
What makes you think Mugabe can’t sing ?
Tracy Watkins had the hatchet today out to write off Andrew Little, while saying everything about John Key is fine and dandy. Infuriating. What is charisma if there is no integrity and decency. Smiling and waving on the outside while being totally hollow and shallow on the inside – that is Key.
How much did she actually get paid to write the article?
Woodsounds and Waterscapes
Native American Flute Music Video.
https://youtu.be/OKMvx_ntsRM
Is this decades’ Iraq war the TPPA? To the ‘sight’ mobiles
Key is purely carrying on Roger Douglas’s work on the Neoliberal Experiment, soon we will all be serfs to the 1% percenters they have asset stripped the Nation’s assets which have been built up over the past 175 years paid for by the NZ Taxpayers, and we are still $120 Billion in the Red. Go Figure?
Beware of people with charisma, firstly they are in love with themselves and preoccupied with the self, possibly psychopathic as well. The world has had many charismatic people who have used that trait to better their agenda. One comes to mind – Adolf Hitler, now he may not have won a beauty contest but he brought in the crowds, rallied a country to his bidding and dated pretty blondes – look what his legacy is. Mugabe is another, ugly as sin but he has that x-factor which bodes no goodwill towards his people. Mr Clinton bless his heart was sex on a stick (or so the females thought of him) but his Foundation along with his missus is very suspect for the health of the US. Heaps of people end up in positions of responsibility all because they have that x-factor. We keep being conned into their winning ways and will forever be conned. Our PM, now he’s another one with the supposed charisma gene – me personally, I never got it at all, but he still has traction and oddly enough I think its mainly males who think he is the bees knees, I may be wrong but none of my female acquaintances think he has it going for him at all.
Beware of people with charisma, firstly they are in love with themselves and preoccupied with the self, possibly psychopathic as well.
QFT
John Key cant distance himself the RB:
JK did it differently, he held off selling great volumes of NZD/USD for a long time while it was going up, almost certainly because he had seen the mistake made by other central banks.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11344156
The Key (C-T) strategy is :
When there is good news..be seen….When there is bad news, hide in the shadows and don’t be seen ,(or hide in the sun in Hawaii)
Redcliffs saga.
Yesterday was posted, “Redcliffs voters might well remember who fought to keep their school open – Their Labour MP, Ruth Dyson or the wannabee hiding quietly in the shadows?”
Q-Guess where the wannabe’s big advertising camper-van is now?
A- No longer hiding in the shadows but parked triumphantly right outside the gates of Redcliffs School.
(Key ( C-T) principles in action. Sadly, It’ll probably work..
That’s a nice touch. On the Herald, Claire Trevett has written up the Labour plan. (sarc)Of course she does fish out an English rebuttal from the past.
But no big headline on the Herald.
Now the Chilcott report has found Blair guilt of lying to the British people over Iraq in 2003, isn’t it about time the left summoned up the courage to question the intial lie?
9/11.
If Bush and Cheney could lie about Iraq, why is it not considered possible the story we were told about 9/11 is also a lie?
Of course the official story we were told about 9/11 is a lie. Several 9/11 Commissioners also said that they were either lied to or their investigation blocked by US Government officials.
But some people cannot stomach the fact that the authorities may have significantly misled them. Even knowing that is what authorities have done over and over again in history.
Easier to believe that the only 3 steel framed skyscrapers to fail due to fire all did so on the same day, and all did so within a couple of hundred metres from each other, at near free fall speeds, virtually on to their own building foot prints.
Why are people prepared to accept Iraq was a lie, yet not question 9/11?
Why are folk like trp so hostile on this issue?
Not hostile, just fixed on fact. Though why an evidence free conservative conspiracy theory should get any traction on a left wing site is also a bit of a puzzle. There’s usually a frothy debate from 9/11 denialists every six months or so here at the Standard, but the singular lack of evidence for any of their wacky ideas (holograms anyone?), tends to make the discussions a bit one sided.
hi paul, without wanting to poke sticks at anyone, i think there seems to be a fondness for the status quo, in folk who accept the government line re 9/11.
A big difference is that a lot of the 9/11 truther claims are about topics where anyone in the general public with the relevant technical expertise can evaluate whether there’s any merit to them. So when the likes of Paul or CV keep repeating truther claims that I personally have enough expertise to debunk, and those claims have been repeatedly debunked by experts elsewhere, the only conclusion I can come to is they are utter fuckwits clinging to their unreason.
The only aspects about 9/11 that I still have questions about are how much the various agencies knew about the hijackers beforehand, and how much government involvement there was in spiriting politically sensitive possible associates out of the country immediately afterwards. But even then, the likelier explanation for the dodgier allegations seems cock-up rather than conspiracy.
And the couple of thousand architects and engineers who believe that a full new investigation into 9/11 needs to be undertaken?
You’re smarter than all of them right?
The 9/11 Commission members who said they were actively lied to and their investigations blocked by the US GOV – a Commission that had originally given only a couple of million dollars budget – imagine that! Barely enough money to buy one or two Abrams tanks with – their comments don’t mean anything to you.
And the nanothermite residues spread all around downtown New York City – irrelevant, right?
The huge lumps of molten steel which have been identified from the Twin Towers, as well as the massive underground heat which lasted for a couple of months after the towers came down – you explained that too right?
And this highly experienced European buildings demolition contractor – your expertise outweighs his, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=877gr6xtQIc
Pffft. Andre, you’re a smart professional. Obviously all the architects and engineers who disagree with your views on 9/11 aren’t “utter fuckwits.”
All people are asking for is a thorough new investigation and review of what happened on 9/11. That’s not very much to ask when we know that the original NIST reports and the 9/11 Commission left many questions unasked.
It would be good if Andre actually rebutted just one of your points, rather than name calling.
Is the left scared to ask questions about 9/11?
And if so, why ?
Multiple successful cellphone calls were made by passengers from fast moving airliners which were well over 10,000 feet altitude. Some of these calls lasted for over a minute. This was beyond the technology used at the time. How were these calls made?
Air defences completely failed to intercept any of the 4 planes.
A beginner pilot flies an almost impossible flight path into the Pentagon
The BBC reports WTC 7 collapses before it happens.
Supposed 9/11 hijackers who turned up alive and well in the weeks and months after the event.
The steel skyscrapers symmetrically brought down by totally asymmetric structural, kerosene or office furnishings fires is simply the crowning BS on top of it all.
We were lied to in 2001.
And because most people bought the lie, we were lied to about Iraq, Libya and the Ukraine.
WTC7.
Charles Kennedy and George Galloway were insulted as mad and bad when they questioned the official story about Iraq in 2003.
Now they are vindicated.
History will show that 9/11 was a similar fabrication
If Bush and Cheney could lie about Iraq, why is it not considered possible the story we were told about 9/11 is also a lie?
Well, firstly because the false basis for the casus belli against Iraq was swiftly uncovered, which makes it unlikely a much more complicated and wide-ranging conspiracy involving the 9/11 attacks would have held up for long, and secondly, because, you know, science, evidence, plausibility, regular shit like that. But you already know this, because it has to be repeated on threads at this site on a regular basis.
Explain WTC7
The Chilcott report didn’t say he lied so your premise falls at the first hurdle. And the second hurdle, too.
Blair knowingly and deliberately sold the public a false story about Saddam. That’s lying.
The Chilcott report didn’t say that he lied.
The Chilcot report didn’t use that L word, but it did say that Blair knowingly and deliberately sold the public a false story about Saddam. That’s lying.
The Chilcott report didn’t say Blair lied, so did Paul in his original comment knowingly and deliberately sell the TS public a false story about Blair? I don’t know, but I think we should be told 😉
The Chilcot report said that Blair knowingly and deliberately sold the public a false story about the danger that Saddam posed. That’s lying. Not sure why you have a problem with that.
Governments use more diplomatic language than lie.
But it’s clear that is the meaning of the report.
TRP does actually know all of this. Which makes his disingenuous replies the more telling.
TRP needs to be more sceptical.
The powerful lie.
Establishment loyalist to the end.
You do accept that people were misinformed about Iraq, don’t you?
Not sure what craziness would occur if it actually happened, but this is the US Green Party leader inviting Bernie Sanders to take over and lead their campaign:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/08/jill-stein-bernie-sanders-green-party
Could certainly do with a balance to the hard-monetarist candidate Johnson who keeps polling 6% or thereabouts.
The craziness that would occur is that it might take enough votes from Hillary that the technicolor golem ends up winning the presidency. You’d think 8 years of Bush the lesser instead of Gore would have been enough to hammer that lesson into the Greens, but evidently not.
Just to be clear, if there was any possibility that a vote for the Green candidate (Stein or Sanders) in November would deliver any actual influence to a Green representative, I would absolutely vote for them. But it won’t. It can’t. The only possibilities in November are Clinton wins (which I don’t like the idea of, but I’ll vote for since it’s the best on offer), Trump wins (lord help us all if that utter disaster happens), or neither gets an Electoral College majority and the choice goes to the House of representatives (holy fuck!!!).
Let it happen then. Trump is better than Killary.
So a racist, misogynist, billionaire one percenter is better.
That explains a lot about where you’re currently at.
You don’t sound like a friend to progressive left wing politics.
Have you tried Kiwiblog or yournz? They seem more up your alley.
Hi Peter Swift. There is no greater friend to the 0.01% than Killary. She backs the banksters, and she backs the corporate TPPA.
The big $$$ donations to her campaign and to her foundation show why very clearly.
In comparison, Trump has barely received 1/30th the money that she has.
“In comparison, Trump has barely received 1/30th the money that she has”
Not that he isn’t trying a bit harder these days
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/06/trump-raises-51-million-in-june-as-donation-efforts-ramp-up.html
Sure, I get that. His campaign is very short on funds and he needs money.
What I am saying is that the big banks and big corporates (Lockheed Martin etc) will typically donate serious money to both sides just in case, even if they have a favourite candidate.
Up to this point however, they can’t even be bothered to throw Trump a bone. They are 100% backing Hillary.
Picking winners…
It’s not like these corps don’t back the Republican party ahead of the Democrats
https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/index.php?party=R&cycle=2016
No telling why they’re not backing Trump. I’d like to think it’s because they know his policies are either vacant, or that he has not plans to make them work, or idiotic.
(mind you, as well as preferring the republicans has someone other than Trump, I’d also prefer the Democrats had someone other than Clinton so don’t tag me as a Clinton fan).
Well, I think we (and the ordinary people of the USA) are pretty screwed either way.
“She backs the banksters, and she backs the corporate TPPA.”
And trump’s a racist, misogynist billionaire. And you support him.
If it’s a battle of evils, Trump is always going to be the worst of the worst.
Defend him, if you must, but it’s not a good look for your credibility.
Trump will be a far better US President than Killary, and certainly far better for NZ and for the Asia Pacific.
As for your personal ratings of credibility, who gives a fuck.
Well at least Peter Swift can comment truthfully on Trump, and I guess his rating of who is a credible candidate for US president is as valid as yours CV
I reckon the Greens game here is to keep pressure on the Democrats to adopt more of Sanders’ agenda.
I like that.
I like it a lot more than Sanders ungracefully holding out inside the Democrats.
Sanders should accept Stein’s offer, perpetuate his little democratic earthquake.
Well, the threat can stay live until August, well after the Democrat convention. But actually accepting the offer might be a bit too much explosives in the offal pit.
Will the killers of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile serve time?
Will they ever appear in court?
Will they even be charged?
This is the test.
If the unwarranted killings of black men by US police officers carries no consequences then they will keep happening.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-deaths-sterling-castile-america-boiling-point-article-1.2702969
The Metro has an interesting column. Hope it is true.
“Is the age of denial over?By Graham Adams.
“The latest uproar over homelessness, Auckland house prices and immigration marks the end of an era when voters looked the other way at the government’s behest.
… But in 21st century New Zealand so much is denied by the National-led government and so many problems swept under the carpet it has been almost impossible for many people to know what to believe, what is true or even what matters any more.
According to our current government and its Denier-in-Chief John Key, there is no housing bubble or crisis in Auckland; record immigration is not a problem; the steel in our roading projects is fine; plummeting milk prices are not a huge worry because dairy constitutes only six per cent of the economy even if it is 20 per cent of exports and so on and so on.
The list of denials is long. The only pressing problem that the government has enthusiastically and straightforwardly acknowledged in the mainstream media this year seems to have been the possibility of sexist slogans on the sides of Wicked Campers vans corrupting the minds of the young…..”
http://www.metromag.co.nz/current-affairs/is-the-age-of-denial-over/
Something to look out for in the next election. If the Liberals use this dirty trick in Australia, you can be sure the gnats will try it in NZ.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/09/how-a-chinese-language-social-media-campaign-hurt-labors-election-chances