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Open mike 10/04/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 10th, 2021 - 144 comments
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144 comments on “Open mike 10/04/2021 ”

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  2. Morrissey 2
    10 April 2021 at 7:36 am

    The Duke is Dead, Long Live Nicholas Witchell

    In the Swiss Alps in 2005, Prince Charles was caught by TV microphones muttering to his young sons William and Harry: "These bloody people. I can't bear that man. I mean, he's so awful, he really is." The subject of his ire was the plummy-voiced professional toady Nicholas Witchell, who is paid a king's ransom to fill the sinecure post of "BBC Royal and Diplomatic Correspondent." Unfortunately for Prince Charles and the rest of us, Witchell is still there, sixteen years later, still turning out BBC-quality journalism and commentary.

    BBC News, 9 April 2021

    HUW EDWARDS: Do you think the Queen will miss him?

    NICHOLAS WITCHELL: Yes, she will miss him.

    https://markdoran.wordpress.com/2021/04/09/normal-country-3/

    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      10 April 2021 at 8:12 am

      Various Windsors remain the highest paid beneficiaries in the UK, I celebrated Margaret Thatcher’s demise, but this reactionary just outlived his era really.

      Bring on the republic of Aotearoa NZ

    • Sacha 2.2
      10 April 2021 at 11:04 am

      less is more

    • Foreign waka 2.3
      10 April 2021 at 11:19 am

      I for one find your contribution tasteless.

      I am not from the Commonwealth but Queen Elisabeth deserves our condolences and Prince Phillip our respect. He has not had an easy life when looking back to his childhood and has shown how to be strong through adversity. As everybody, he has had his faults, but there is no reason to disrespect and dishonor a person not even 24 hour after his dead. A character flaw.

      • Jenny how to get there 2.3.1
        10 April 2021 at 12:44 pm

        In an act of sychophancy, not our character for him, John Key ordered the New Zealand flag on the Auckland Harbour Bridge to be lowered to half mast on the death of Saudi feudal tyrant Abdullah, father of the current awful Saudi hereditry autocrat known as MBS, infamous for ordering the heartless butchery of expat. Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who entered the Saudi embassy in Turkey seeking to get a permit of annulment so he could marry his partner.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/editorial-half-mast-flag-for-saudi-king-over-the-top/QCIF2SJ2GFHZAXSTTS36NTFZDQ/

        I wonder if this act of symbolic forelock tugging to feudal monarchs will be continued on the death of the heir to the Greek Monarcho Fascists?

        https://redflag.org.au/article/prince-philip-good-riddance-racist-elitist-fool

        • Foreign waka 2.3.1.1
          10 April 2021 at 1:13 pm

          I think your reference is a bit a far drawn.

          Everybody has to live their lives in the times and surrounds they are in.

          Prince Phillip has been "a child of his time" as is the current generation and any other is and will be. He has contributed greatly to the stability of the Monarchy in Britain and the Commonwealth. Geopolitically this was and is still important as peace is not made by spitting in someone's face but by building bridges. Not a task to do in 10 minutes but perhaps 70 years of service.

          This man was almost 100 years old, he has seen war, he had to fight and he had to take a side and conviction.

          Those who are now so disrespectful, I wonder what they have done to ease the hunger, homelessness, inequality, loss of dignity for the old, providing education for all, preventing failure of the health system, corruption of democratic institutions etc… today or any other day. Not with words but deeds.

          I just witness the death of common decency in this forum, to pay respect to a remarkable figure in our living history.

      • Morrissey 2.3.2
        10 April 2021 at 1:50 pm

        My comment was a critique not of the Duke (R.I.P.) but of the corrupt and parasitic Nicholas Witchell.

        • Incognito 2.3.2.1
          10 April 2021 at 2:48 pm

          That was not a ‘critique’, it was an unoriginal rip-off of something that we have read many times in the press, mainly the British press. These are not even you own words. For example, where is your critical analysis showing that Nicholas Witchell is corrupt? Why this is even relevant to the death of DoE is a mystery to me.

          • Morrissey 2.3.2.1.1
            10 April 2021 at 2:58 pm

            That was not a ‘critique’, it was an unoriginal rip-off of something that we have read many times in the press…

            The wording of that brief but (one hopes) trenchant critique was composed entirely by this writer, i.e., moi.

            mainly the British press.

            The point of my post was to point out an example of the servile and fawning British media coverage of Prince Philip and his ghastly descendants.

            …where is your critical analysis showing that Nicholas Witchell is corrupt?

            Fair comment. I was, as you have kindly pointed out on many other occasions, careless in my choice of words. I should have left off with "parasitic."

            • Incognito 2.3.2.1.1.1
              10 April 2021 at 4:43 pm

              The wording of that brief but (one hopes) trenchant critique was composed entirely by this writer, i.e., moi.

              Funny that! When I Google ‘your’ words they look remarkable similar to writings by others in the British press!?

              There was no trenchant critique! There was no analysis! There was just the usual Morrissey white noise & grey dust.

              The point of my post was to point out an example of the servile and fawning British media coverage of Prince Philip and his ghastly descendants.

              This is a point: .

              Your ‘post’ was less than that; it was pointless.

              My comment was a critique not of the Duke (R.I.P.)

              Hmmm, maybe it was a critique of DoE …

              Fair comment. I was, as you have kindly pointed out on many other occasions, careless in my choice of words. I should have left off with "parasitic."

              Ok, come on then, argue your point. For example, why is it parasitic and not symbiotic? Put some thought and analysis in it, if you can. I doubt you will though, as it is too much of an intellectual effort to and for you 😉

              • Morrissey …
                10 April 2021 at 7:06 pm

                There was no trenchant critique!

                I pointed out that Witchell's "job" is nothing more than a sinecure, and that he is a toady. I challenge you to seriously dispute either of those points.

                There was no analysis!

                I provided an example—an extremely up-to-date example—of his vacuousness. Of course, it's only fair to note that he was no worse on this occasion than his fellow state propagandist Huw Edwards.

                For example, why is it parasitic and not symbiotic? Put some thought and analysis in it, if you can.

                Now that is rigorous editing. Thanks for that. I'll up my game in future.

                [Big deep sigh.

                I pointed out that Witchell’s “job” is nothing more than a sinecure, and that he is a toady. I challenge you to seriously dispute either of those points.

                At best, this is calling out. However, your insipient name-calling and lazy and negative labelling of others is not anywhere near critical analysis.

                I provided an example—an extremely up-to-date example—of his vacuousness. Of course, it’s only fair to note that he was no worse on this occasion than his fellow state propagandist Huw Edwards.

                Where is your analysis? All you do is copy & paste, the odd link to a YT clip, and some inane drivel you call your “oeuvre”. That ain’t analysis.

                Now that is rigorous editing. Thanks for that. I’ll up my game in future.

                You’ve been giving these pseudo-funny replies for years and you never up your game. I conclude it is not going to happen because you cannot or don’t want to up your game. Your comments in OM today (11 April) just emphasise and confirm this conclusion.

                You seem to lack the intellectual nous to do any analytical thinking, critical analysis, or in-depth commentary. Instead, you bask in the halo of your intellectual heroes while disparaging others who are way above your league of dilettantes.

                Please start up your own blog again and bore the shit out of people there, thanks – Incognito]

                • Incognito …
                  11 April 2021 at 2:24 pm

                  See my Moderation note @ 7:06 pm.

                  • Adrian Thornton …
                    11 April 2021 at 3:43 pm

                    I have always liked reading his stuff and I have heard many others on The Standard express that same enjoyment, haven't you heard the saying "different stroke for different folks"? judging by your relentless harassment of anyone who does not fit within your very particular sense of taste or political slant, it would seem not.

                    [It feels like you’re trying to run interference with moderation, but you wouldn’t do that, would you?

                    Your comment is pointless because it doesn’t address anything in Moderation note to Morrissey or the many notes before that.

                    If you want a free entertainment channel then I’d suggest that you try other sites that are more geared towards your needs.

                    This site’s kaupapa is robust debate, not a popularity contest for most ‘enjoyable’ commenter.

                    Anybody who keeps posting vacuous comments here claiming to be critical of this or that without providing any original thought, analysis, or view can indeed expect some pushback from other commenters and when it reaches a certain critical point, from Moderators.

                    For example, claiming that one has written a comment that “was composed entirely” by the commenter when it is obviously a lie (HT to Google) is not something I personally enjoy. However, if you love this sort of shit then we have to agree to disagree.

                    As far as “relentless harassment” goes, are you referring to your own crusade against everybody you consider non-Left or not-Left-enough here and elsewhere? Including naming and trying to shame other commenters of this site? Including a TS Author? Personal attack, after attack, after attack. It got so bad I had to resort to Pre-Mod tools to prevent the worst of your personal insults without stifling the fragile debate here or what’s left of it.

                    According to you, if one has not spoken out against something or somebody, one cannot claim the be a Leftie. The Leftie badge has to be earned by attacking the right people, of course. Failing to do so loses one points. In fact, it earns one RW points!? No matter if one is a card-carrying Leftie, if they say the wrong thing here, or fail to say the right thing, according to the Adrian Thornton Doctrine, then they automatically become card-carrying RWs. Your stale slogan is also highly symptomatic of your stale mind process.

                    You know how tedious your comments and personal attacks have become here? You seem to have no idea or just don’t give a shit.

                    Please go tilt at other windmills somewhere else, e.g. at KB – Incognito]

  3. Sabine 3
    10 April 2021 at 7:53 am

    NZ a country with lots of hungry people.

    Considering that the government is not going to do much about this, i hope people who still have some cash to spare will give to some charities over winter, cause its going to be a hard winter for many, and above all for kids.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/charities-struggle-to-match-demand-to-feed-children-going-without-food-and-other-basic-needs/237B25TQ4UXLWDAIQXFELLOB6A/

    More preschoolers are turning up to school hungry and in ill-fitting clothes – and some aren't showing up at all.

    Two children's charities say they have waitlists to respond to cries for help in the Bay of Plenty, but are struggling to keep up with demand.

    Older kids are having a hard time too, with families unable to afford the basics as housing costs soar and difficult decisions need to be made that sometimes see children bear the brunt.

    There are 18 early childhood centres in the Bay of Plenty on the waitlist for KidsCan's under 5's programmes, three times more than the waitlist at the same time last year.

    The centres waiting are in Rotorua, Tauranga, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki and Te Puke.

    Due to rising economic hardship, the charity now supports 15 early learning centres in the region, seven of which are new this year.

    and just in case, these hungry kids don't get fed in school as they are Pre-schoolers.

  4. Sabine 4
    10 April 2021 at 7:56 am

    Never mind the preschoolers, we don't care about the newborn, or the mum.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300272895/a-woman-was-asked-to-change-her-own-pad-hours-after-surgery-wheres-the-35m-maternity-plan

    Hours after Kelly ​gave birth by emergency c-section, she was ordered to get up and change her own maternity pad.

    She’d just had invasive abdominal surgery, was bleeding, and could not stand up. But Kelly, 37, says a harried Wellington Hospital nurse pointed her to a stack of pads, and told her she’d need to change them herself every four hours. “I was so shocked, I just didn’t know what to do,” she says. “For the next 12 hours I had no help and I just wanted to go home, but I couldn’t move.”

    The morning after she gave birth to her first baby, Palmerston North mum Julie [not her real name] was told her discharge papers were ready. “I was terrified,” the 22-year-old says. “I didn’t even know how to look after my baby.”

    Her hospital notes mentioned her previous suicide attempts, and her struggles with depression and anxiety. “I don’t know if they weren’t told, or if they just didn’t read anything.”

    Struggling with a diagnosis of a high-risk pregnancy, Lower Hutt mum Kirsten Van Newtown ​couldn’t get an urgent obstetric appointment and was instructed to simply call an ambulance if she started haemorrhaging.

    Kirsten van Newtown was told to call an ambulance if she started bleeding.

    “It got to the point where I was just like ‘I’m going to go to the hospital, and camp out.’ It’s not good enough, women die because of this.”

    yep, caring is a small part of the budget – well it is, but if no one gets to read the plans and if no one knows where the money is …..what should that be called? Incompetence, or callous negligent malevolence?

    A Maternity Action Plan was written in late 2018, to be attached to the paper.

    This document received $35m of funding in last year’s Budget, with $8.75m to be spent on its implementation in the year to May 2021.

    Dr John Tait: “There are now major problems, and hospitals are struggling.”
    MONIQUE FORD/STUFF
    Dr John Tait: “There are now major problems, and hospitals are struggling.”
    But no-one outside of the ministry has seen it. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC), and the New Zealand College of Midwives

    are among those questioning where the money has gone, and when the plan will be made public.

    • Sacha 4.1
      10 April 2021 at 11:06 am

      Sabine are you OK? Your comments have seemed kind of depressed and angry lately.

      • Sabine 4.1.1
        10 April 2021 at 12:00 pm

        Salty and angry yes, indeed, at the failures of this government to do the right thing.

        Btw, did you know that hter is currently a 6 month old baby here in NZ, that at two month become a domestic violence survivor? I spoke about this child a few weeks ago. Now that child was left temporarily blind and totally deaf by its sperm donor, and it was born wiht a cleft palate. A poor little urching if ever there was one. This child was on a 4 month waiting list to have a test done to see if somehow hearing could be restored via a cochlar implant and hte first steps of surgey was to be done in regards to the cleft palate.

        Well guess what Sacha, that baby now is again on a 4 month waiting list for cleft palate surgery, never mind the deafness.

        Her forstermum is at pains to feed the little urchins as the feeding tube was removed cause surgery – never mind that it did not happen.

        If you are not angry by right now then well bully you.

        But i would really leave the mysoginist words of 'depressed women, angry women, bitter woem n etc in the past and go on with the 2021.

        I am salty. I am so salty that a liter of milk could not possible make me palatable.

        This government is useless. I hope everyone enjoyed the Americas Cup tho. Cause we do have priorities and our hungry homeless and uncared children is not one of them.

        Other then that i am OK.

      • Sabine 4.1.2
        10 April 2021 at 2:38 pm

        Here Sacha,

        another tiny toddlered reason to be angry.

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/124788092/anguish-as-intensive-care-bed-shortages-force-toddlers-vital-heart-surgery-to-be-cancelled-four-times

        Little Lucca Topp is only three but has already had four open-heart operations.

        But a fifth surgery to address his rare condition has been delayed four times because of a lack of suitable beds at Auckland’s Starship Hospital, leaving him having seizures, going blue and regularly tired from a lack of oxygen.

        Adding to the anguish of his parents Gabrielle and Mike Topp, his little brother Rocco almost died when he was born eight weeks ago, having to be resuscitated twice after his C-section birth was delayed by a week because of another bed shortage.

      • Beatie 4.1.3
        10 April 2021 at 6:16 pm

        Are you OK Sacha? Your comment could be seen as a form of passive aggressive gaslighting of Sabine for her eminently sane and rational response to the crap going on out there. Keep it up Sabine and don’t lose the passion

        • Sacha 4.1.3.1
          10 April 2021 at 7:18 pm

          Gaslighting? Puhleese.

        • Incognito 4.1.3.2
          11 April 2021 at 2:41 pm

          Excuse me? To me, this was a genuine commenter reaching out to another in good faith and with good intentions and you come here and piss all over it!? It does seem like Sabine took it the way it was intended.

    • KSaysHi 4.2
      10 April 2021 at 11:17 am

      Glad Stuff covered this (again).

      What's with this [Genter's Cabinet paper titled ‘Maternity System Transformation’, designed to highlight the problems facing maternity services and chart a path forward]:

      But the cabinet paper hit a brick wall. After going out to other ministers and a raft of Government departments for consultation, it was shelved in early 2020.

      Genter still doesn’t know why. She told Stuff she could not understand why Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office was not receptive to it, and why Ardern did not discuss it at Cabinet. The issues in it were well-documented, she says.

      “There was never a logical explanation … I honestly couldn’t tell you why, the whole thing was one of the most bizarre things I went through as a minister. I didn’t understand what the problem was.”

  5. Muttonbird 5
    10 April 2021 at 8:25 am

    New Zealand's K-shaped Covid recovery: the well-off have bounced back by remote working and increasing their savings, while those on low incomes have faced increased job instability and rising rental prices. We're seeing people living in two different worlds in New Zealand, and Covid has only exacerbated this trend.

    There is a Budget approaching on May 20. This is the Government's chance to have a transformational impact on generations of New Zealanders. I hope they take it.

    – Bernie Smith is the CEO of the Monte Cecilia Housing Trust

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bernie-smith-budget-a-chance-to-address-insufficient-income-support/VHYTXK6W6XIPNS4CQCWKDZMZHE/

  6. arkie 6
    10 April 2021 at 8:49 am

    In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, to contribute something to solving overpopulation. – Prince Philip, 1988

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/21/quotes-by-prince-philip

  7. vto 7
    10 April 2021 at 9:16 am

    .
    I would like to get a tattoo of myself, only bigger
    .

  8. Pat 8
    10 April 2021 at 9:30 am

    Is the 'Washington consensus' being rewritten?

    "The next phase in Biden’s plan is to spend a further $2tn on rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure. This will be funded by reversing some of Donald Trump’s cut to corporate tax rates, which will be opposed by Republicans in Congress but not by the IMF. When asked about the projected increase this week, the fund’s economic counsellor, Gita Gopinath, said Trump’s corporate tax cut had not done much to boost investment. Moreover, Gopinath was positively enthusiastic about the idea of a global minimum corporate tax rate, something the US has traditionally been wary of but which it now supports."

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/08/economic-orthodoxies-covid-crisis-states-taxes-budgets

  9. Stephen D 9
    10 April 2021 at 9:55 am

    The usual poll caveats, but doesn’t this point to Judith being in real trouble?

    http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8679-nz-national-voting-intention-march-2021-202104090133

    Simon, the two Chris’s, Nicola, are all circling.

    • woodart 9.1
      10 April 2021 at 11:20 am

      interesting to see the gender voter numbers. nats are now trying very hard to turn crusher into cushla, but female voters arent fooled.nats will be very wary about replacing collins with yet another old white guy. its time for maureen pugh to step up!! the south will rise again!(yeah right)

  10. Sanctuary 10
    10 April 2021 at 10:02 am

    Got to feel sorry for the Queen, imagine losing your husband and favourite cousin on the same day.

    • AB 10.1
      10 April 2021 at 10:52 am

      A 73-year long marriage is probably not something to be sniffed at – even if it is between 3rd cousins. But you have to feel sorry for the UK public – now enduring North Korean levels of media-saturating public hagiography. While none of the 100,000+ unnecessary Covid deaths received similar coverage. I guess it’s what feudalism felt like.

    • Foreign waka 10.2
      10 April 2021 at 11:25 am

      Would you have a gaffe of some sort ready for the Maori King when he passes away? It is disrespectful in any language.

      • Sanctuary 10.2.1
        10 April 2021 at 1:26 pm

        Probably. You can’t be a socialist and also pick and mix your approved aristocracies. I dislike inherited privilege regardless of location or colour.

        • Bazza64 10.2.1.1
          10 April 2021 at 3:59 pm

          On that basis Sanctuary you must have a scathing commentary to share with us about Raul Castro "inheriting" his position as First Secretary of Cuba from big bro Fidel ??

    • Anne 10.3
      10 April 2021 at 11:38 am

      A bit unnecessary Sanctuary. Yes, they had a great, great grandmother in common. Far enough removed not to be a problem.

  11. Muttonbird 11
    10 April 2021 at 10:28 am

    The mega-loans are largely the result of the failures of the 43rd through 53rd governments of Bolger, Shipley, Clark, Key, English and Ardern.

    Each bear a differing chunk of the blame, and so do we the people who voted them in, or allowed them in by failing to vote.

    These failures enriched homeowners through unearned capital gains.

    In the early 2000s, it was fashionable to say that all you owed your children was “straight teeth and a good education”.

    House prices have changed all that.

    Thinking you can spend all your gains in later life on cruises and living a good life is now morally untenable.

    – Rob Stock

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/124785651/parents-are-silent-coborrowers-on-their-childrens-megamortgages

    • AB 11.1
      10 April 2021 at 11:11 am

      "My feeling is that there’s a secret story of family rallying round to save homes, and that the banks know this."

      Oh yes they know. They can turn young people into lifelong debt serfs and dispossess their parents as well. It's accumulation by dispossession – a far easier way to get rich than producing useful goods and services. As Piketty noted , we are back in Jane Austen's world where the size of your inheritance really matters.

      • Muttonbird 11.1.1
        10 April 2021 at 12:29 pm

        And Jane Austin's era finished with two global conflicts and major and bloody peoples' revolutions. Something to look forward to.

        Some commenters here would prefer to concentrate on how Jane Austin's era made people wealthy…

    • Sacha 12.1
      10 April 2021 at 11:10 am

      No sooner had he interviewed the PM on his show, Mike declared that he didn’t want her back on his show thereby creating the first Schrodinger’s radio interviewee who is both present and not present while simultaneously bailing, running and waffling.

      To summarise, Mike did, didn’t, does, doesn’t, will and won’t want to have the PM on his radio show.

      He also accused the New Zealand media of being asleep at the wheel in failing to tackle the PM over the handling of MIQ facilities. This accusation triggered a unique media atmospheric event known as a brm (Barry reproaches Mike).

    • woodart 12.2
      10 April 2021 at 11:14 am

      funny and accurate.

    • Anne 12.3
      10 April 2021 at 11:54 am

      Brilliant. laugh

      At least I know that Claire’s question isn’t linked to the question as to why NZ Bachelor winner Annie Theis isn’t pursuing a romance with Moses Mackay. That wasn’t behind the NZ Herald paywall. I wish it had been.

  13. Herodotus 13
    10 April 2021 at 11:27 am

    Found one of these Cooks Petrels on a busy road as described and from looking at Facebook this is more common than you think. And after some time was able to fly off, lovely bird reading about it.
    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3827745847306623&id=104318996316012

  14. greywarshark 14
    10 April 2021 at 11:40 am

    How can we stop this feckless behaviour that we know will destroy our land and water?

    Ōwhiro Bay resident Jade Lorier was among those out collecting the waste from streets and front lawns, and said it was blowing into streams, drains and out to sea.

    Polystyrene balls in a gutter in Owhiro Bay.

    Photo: Supplied / Jade Lorier

    Polystyrene is not biodegradable.
    "I'm really worried about the health of our stream. We've got native eels, as well as fish, I'm worried about the wildlife in the marine reserve," Lorier said. "We're trying to protect and restore this area, and this is just an absolute nightmare for the south coast.

    "I'd like this person to be held responsible, it's an environmental disaster. I'm furious."
    The incident has led to an outcry on local Facebook groups for action against ongoing pollution blown from three nearby landfills on Happy Valley Road, and from unsecured loads being driven to them.

    Lawyer Adam Holloway was among those cleaning up the polystyrene and said there was "constant fresh rubbish" being blown onto the street and the coastline. "It's disheartening," he said.
    "I'm sure we didn't get them all, and next time it rains whatever is left over will flow into the gutters, and from there into the stream, and from the stream into the marine reserve."
    He's among those who have called for councillors and staff to front up to a meeting to tell residents what powers they have to act,…

    • Stuart Munro 14.1
      10 April 2021 at 11:47 am

      The sad truth is that a significant fraction of plastic waste is not recyclable. Until volumes of it are more responsible, we need safe ways to dispose of it. Maybe a use for some power plants moving away from coal in the short term.

    • woodart 14.2
      10 April 2021 at 12:22 pm

      twenty yrs ago, I worked on construction sites in sydney(just before olympics). even then ,all trucks HAD to have covered loads, and all uncovered(grass stripped off,back to topsoil) sites HAD to have catchment systems in place to stop dirt,rubbish runoff into stormwater drains. the fines levied for non compliance were eye watering, and WERE enforced. had a visit from lidcomb council(between parramatta and city central) official because neighbouring building had a layer of dust from out site. either we paid to have warehouse and 50 workers cars waterblasted or a ten thousand dollar a day fine until it was done, and we still had to pay up for cleaning. no ifs, no buts. $50,000 later ,our boss let us know what he thought of our attempts to stop dust, runoff etc…

      • greywarshark 14.2.1
        10 April 2021 at 5:34 pm

        Sounds draconian. What would they have done about CTV building I wonder – doesn't sound as if they would suck their thumb like we did?

        • woodart 14.2.1.1
          10 April 2021 at 10:35 pm

          you have to remember that aus is the 51st state of u.s. and lawsuits are a way of life.

        • Pat 14.2.1.2
          10 April 2021 at 11:29 pm

          You may be surprised….or perhaps not…they havnt dealt with it much better than us.

          https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-24/mascot-towers-apartment-owners-still-living-in-limbo/12911968

          • greywarshark 14.2.1.2.1
            11 April 2021 at 9:23 am

            Gosh. But I guess this is just part of the externalities of having a smart modern political and economic system doing groundbreaking building high-in-the-sky apartments!

            Things can't be perfect in any system and you do get action, things get done, not like with the dozy government putting stupid, time-wasting regulations in place with dozy, nit-picking inspectors demanding expensive, time-wasting this and that so they can be seen to do something to earn their excessive salaries.

            I bet the above was a common chant some decades back, from those with big ideas to get big bulges in their wallets and elsewhere because they were just such great movers and shakers.

  15. Pat 15
    10 April 2021 at 11:44 am

    "Currently, they spend increasing amounts on housing support – things like rent subsidies, grants, and emergency housing – which as a result saw the bill total nearly $1 billion between last September and December, up nearly $30 million on the previous quarter."

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/government-spending-almost-1-billion-every-three-months-housing-support?fbclid=IwAR0TANSXvyiVyaY-sZ6O7G2Iat95GYbiG6yHX6sA8M4Rv-OsHHp_MrS9Ado

    $4 billion a year…and climbing….thats a lot of dosh that could (and should) be spent elsewhere.

  16. RedLogix 16
    10 April 2021 at 12:00 pm

    I'm smiling because I'm free.

  17. Incognito 17
    10 April 2021 at 12:24 pm

    There are a number of reasons for the relatively slow start of the vaccine rollout in NZ.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018790937/new-tara-covid-19-vaccination-clinic-operating-at-20-capacity

    Perceptions around safety will and do play a role. Safety comes first, also, and perhaps especially so, in anything related to our health and medical interventions.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/440087/covid-19-vaccine-is-safe-minister-for-pacific-peoples

    As always, an informed and educated population will make better decisions. As always, the mainstream media play a role in this. Emerging stories about blood clots possibly linked to Covid vaccines will worry people, especially those who have diabetes and who are, coincidentally, more likely to suffer complications from the disease when they get it.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/04/coronavirus-blood-clot-concerns-hit-johnson-johnson-s-covid-19-vaccine.html

    • Andre 17.1
      10 April 2021 at 1:19 pm

      New Zealand has purchased 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, enough for everyone in NZ (and given refusers in NZ, there will be some to share around with our Pacific neighbours).

      So far I have only heard of blood clots being a possible concern in relation to AstraZeneca/Oxford and the Janssen/J&J, not Pfizer

      The side effects I've heard of so far for the Pfizer vaccine are allergic reactions (roughly 11 incidences of anaphylaxis per million doses), believed to be related to the polyethylene glycol used as a stabiliser, and swollen lymph nodes that may show on mammograms. As far as I can tell, these reactions have all been temporary with no permanent effects detected. I would certainly expect NZers with a history of allergic reactions to be offered an alternative vaccine to the Pfizer if they don't want to risk anaphylaxis.

      • Incognito 17.1.1
        10 April 2021 at 1:38 pm

        There are other possible side effects linked to the Pfizer vaccine that also seem to involve blood clotting. However, they seem to have attracted much less attention in/from the media. I’m not in a position to speculate. Nevertheless, even if/when these links are causative ones, the benefits of these vaccines outweigh the risks by a huge factor.

        • Sabine 17.1.1.1
          10 April 2021 at 2:31 pm

          Well so far no mass death have occurred in the US or the UK who both have rolled out both vaccines. And in the US they have managed to vaccine up to 4 million a day.

          • Andre 17.1.1.1.1
            10 April 2021 at 2:41 pm

            In unrelated news, 5G signal strength is getting stronger all across the US.

          • Incognito 17.1.1.1.2
            10 April 2021 at 2:58 pm

            Get off the grass! We all know that Deep State buries bad news.

            • Sabine 17.1.1.1.2.1
              11 April 2021 at 6:51 am

              ? And this is another time i don't understand your english? Get of the grass? Are you insinuating that i am breaking the law by ingesting an illegal substance? If you did, i would appreciate that you don't. thanks.

              As for the deep state, i leave these theories to the usual suspects of whom there are already quite a few on this page. I peddle in facts rather then assumptions.

              Fact is that plenty million people on this planet have had various different vaccines now, from the US, Russia, China, etc and so far we have yet to hear of mass dying or mass injuries.

              So yeah, NZ bring on the vaccine, before the unspeakable happens because again we be full of 'She'll be right, mate' until she is not.

              • Andre …
                11 April 2021 at 10:49 am

                "get off the grass" is kiwi slang, scornfully rejecting an idea put forward. In this specific instance, there appear to be multiple levels to it, with a hefty dig at conspiracy theorists (I don’t see a dig at you, Sabine).

                It was common in the 80s, but I can't recall hearing it much since returning from the US in '99.

              • Incognito …
                11 April 2021 at 1:40 pm

                It was a subtle joke. Sorry for the confusion.

    • Matiri 17.2
      10 April 2021 at 7:17 pm

      Just had my first vaccination today in the medical centre in my small (750 pop) town in the top of the South Island. There were a couple of hundred people vaccinated today – it was a well oiled machine! Second vaccination appointment made as well for 3 weeks time, plus given a card with dates, batch number etc.

      • Incognito 17.2.1
        11 April 2021 at 10:41 am

        Good to hear that. It raises the question whether so-called demographic differences play a big role. If so, Government and MoH have work to do.

        • Sacha 17.2.1.1
          11 April 2021 at 1:49 pm

          To vaccinate anyone in a small town in the South Island before people in South Auckland is contentious.

          • Incognito 17.2.1.1.1
            11 April 2021 at 2:32 pm

            Nope. People in the SI having to wait for others would be contentious. Similarly, people in Group 3 having to wait until vaccination of Groups 1 and 2 has been fully completed would be contentious. Sliding and overlapping is the most practical way to roll out the vaccine to the whole nation in a timely fashion.

  18. joe90 18
    10 April 2021 at 12:49 pm

    Marvelous.

    diversity bunting

    https://twitter.com/AyoCaesar

    • Macro 18.1
      10 April 2021 at 12:54 pm

      heartyes

      Thanks for sharing joe.

    • Sanctuary 18.2
      10 April 2021 at 1:19 pm

      Ash Sarkar is marvellous, a positive treasure and a rising star of a left movement that will replace the British Labour party with something else within 20 years unless that party can somehow rid itself of focus group driven professional politics and ultra centrism.

      • millsy 18.2.1
        10 April 2021 at 6:45 pm

        Yeah, you must be doing something right if Spiked Online, Harry's Place, Guido Fawkes, UnHerd etc are all in their utter hatred of you.

  19. greywarshark 19
    10 April 2021 at 1:04 pm

    NZ and economics. Is economics just another word for nothing left to lose? A recap of Roger the Dodger.

    New Zealand's remarkable reforms – Reserve Bank of New …
    https://www.rbnz.govt.nz › speeches › speech1996-06-04

    4/06/1996 — Address to the Fifth Annual Hayek Memorial Lecture … Roger (now Sir Roger) Douglas, Minister of Finance in the Labour … As for the tax reforms, the flattening and lowering of income-tax rates … The extent of the reforms in New Zealand was so great that it is difficult to describe them in short compass.
    .

    https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9780230524439_3 Making Thatcher Look Timid: the Rise and Fall of the New Zealand Model

    Do not try to advance a step at a time. Define your objectives clearly and move towards them in quantum leaps. … Once the programme begins to be implemented, do not stop until you have completed it. The fire of opponents is much less accurate if they have to shoot at a rapidly moving target.

    Roger Douglas, former New Zealand Minister of Finance, in Douglas 1993: 67
    .

    And a link to one that shows you can fool the people most of the time when you show them apparently clear graphs that illustrate the matter that you want to pin down. (Cartoonists gull this by turning graphs on the wall up or down depending who they are conversing with.) https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/06/08/roger-douglas-the-economy-and-an-option-for-reform/
    .

    IN A NEW WORLD, NEW THINKING IS REQUIRED – Krieger …
    https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu › iae › files › 2021/01 PDF
    Why the Prioritization of Resources is Crucial to New Zealand's Economic … Roger Douglas [deleted; please no e-mail addresses in comments as this will attract bots], as Minister of Finance in New Zealand, won an … He has done a considerable amount of work internationally, for The World Bank … Director of their PhD Program, where he was awarded Best Teacher Prizes.

    [Too many links probably triggered Auto-Mod]

    • greywarshark 19.1
      10 April 2021 at 5:46 pm

      Sorry – these high fliers love their links, also didn't know about bots and emails – can't get some PDFs I don't seem set up to get them. So just took the heading and summary off google.

  20. joe90 20
    10 April 2021 at 1:17 pm

    Another Poot critic offs himself in mysterious circumstances and the oligarch's booty continues to pour into the UK. Number 10's carpets must be sodden.

    The prominent Kremlin critic Nikolai Glushkov was strangled at his home in south-west London by an unknown assailant who wrapped a dog lead around his neck in a crude attempt to “simulate” the appearance of suicide, an inquest heard

    […]

    A postmortem, however, found signs Glushkov had been murdered. These included fractures to his larynx and hyoid bones, as well as superficial injuries to his face. A paramedic who came to the scene, Dominic Beil, said he immediately called the police because he felt the scene was suspicious.

    Beil said that in suicide cases the ladder was typically kicked over but in this case remained upright. He said he found Glushkova sobbing in the kitchen. Glushkov was dressed in a green polo shirt and tracksuit bottoms and was clearly dead, he said.

    The inquest was told Glushkov’s murderer had ambushed him from behind and had rapidly subdued his victim. There were no signs of “prolonged grappling”. Glushkov had taken mild sedatives and a glass of alcohol but this had not played a role in what a coroner ruled on Friday was an “unlawful killing”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/09/murder-kremlin-critic-london-made-look-like-suicide-nikolai-glushkov

    • Morrissey 20.1
      10 April 2021 at 3:05 pm

      The article was written by the respected and thoroughly professional Luke Harding, I see. So we can believe everything in it. Is he any relation to the unfortunate fellow humiliating himself in the following classic clip?

      • Sacha 20.1.1
        10 April 2021 at 3:58 pm

        ad hom, ad nauseum

        • Morrissey 20.1.1.1
          10 April 2021 at 6:49 pm

          Reminding people that Luke Harding is possibly the most discredited journalist in the western world—more discredited even than Jonathan Freedland, Jayson Blair and Judith Miller combined—is hardly "ad hom." I did not attack his appearance or his accent or anything like that; my judgement of him is based on the fact that he has been exposed irrefutably as a liar and a conspiracy theorist.

          • Ad 20.1.1.1.1
            10 April 2021 at 7:20 pm

            It would only be a bother if you could discredit yourself any further.

            But you can't. You are simply observed repeatedly bouncing like a rabbit from one epistemic disaster to the next.

            • Morrissey 20.1.1.1.1.1
              10 April 2021 at 7:28 pm

              You have said precisely nothing that makes sense. I see you used the word "epistemic"; I suggest you get in touch with Kim Hill, who blithely announced a couple of weeks ago that she had "no idea what the word epistemological means."

              • Sacha …
                10 April 2021 at 7:32 pm

                "Great minds discuss ideas;
                average minds discuss events;
                small minds discuss people."
                – Eleanor Roosevelt

                • Morrissey …
                  10 April 2021 at 7:37 pm

                  Exactly. That's why I'm not interested in Luke Harding's appearance, or mannerisms, or hobbies, or his family. I care about the fact he has chosen to brazenly, and repeatedly, lie for the state.

                  I guess that means I'm discussing events rather than "ideas." Darn it, I'm not a "great mind" then, according to Mrs Roosevelt.

                  • Incognito …
                    11 April 2021 at 1:54 pm

                    Just as well ER is dead because she’d have died a slow and painful death reading your boring comments; Vogon poetry is like a Thai massage compared to your commentary.

              • Incognito …
                11 April 2021 at 1:51 pm

                Again, deflecting and diverting. Ad =//= Kim Hill so WTF?

                • Morrissey …
                  11 April 2021 at 7:38 pm

                  Again, deflecting and diverting.

                  I did neither. I asked him to clarify his baffling post.

                  Ad =//= Kim Hill so WTF?

                  By sheer happenstance, the two of them happened to use the same big word. To give Ad his due, I suspect he actually understands what it means, unlike Ms. Hill.

                  • Incognito …
                    11 April 2021 at 7:57 pm

                    As always, you aim for the person and don’t address anything in and of the content.

                    Your intellectual pomposity and arrogance is on full display here but, as such, it does not contribute anything to constructive debate. SSDD.

          • Sacha 20.1.1.1.2
            10 April 2021 at 7:21 pm

            Immediately attacking the person rather than anything in their quoted writing. Nuf said.

            • Morrissey 20.1.1.1.2.1
              10 April 2021 at 7:26 pm

              His "quoted writing"? Harding is discredited. He did that to himself. I provided one of the most devastatingly embarrassing interviews in history, which you are quite able to click on and watch. I recommend you do just that.

              • Sacha …
                10 April 2021 at 7:29 pm

                "A postmortem, however, found signs Glushkov had been murdered. These included fractures to his larynx and hyoid bones, as well as superficial injuries to his face. A paramedic who came to the scene, Dominic Beil, said he immediately called the police because he felt the scene was suspicious."

              • Andre …
                10 April 2021 at 7:51 pm

                Reporting facts that run counter to the narrative promoted by the kooks, cranks, tankies, second option bias fantasists, and other misinformation artists you have outsourced your opinion-forming to is not the same thing as 'discredited'.

                • Morrissey …
                  10 April 2021 at 8:04 pm

                  I have read all of Luke Harding's books, and a great deal of his "reportage." Do I read a wide variety of sources? Yes. Do I evaluate what they write and say? Yes. I have not "outsourced" my opinions to anyone.

                  Your farrago of epithets directed at journalists of the calibre of Aaron Maté, Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald and John Pilger is not as colorful as your daily serves at Trump over the last four years, but it is equally rigorous.

                  • Adrian Thornton …
                    10 April 2021 at 10:50 pm

                    Of course this lot cannot explain why most of the journalists mentioned, although regularly invited on Liberal MSM pre Trump, were/ still are completely shut down as soon as they easily dismantled the obvious fraud of Russiagate?…now you would think that any person using even just the tiniest itsy weeniest bit of their critical thinking capacity, would have, after a few months of the Russiagate story, started to wonder why there was NEVER any counter narrative? NEVER any pushback at all from anyone, anywhere ever, even from those very journalists that not that very long ago were the most revered journalist on the Left…but no, this lot would rather believe every word the MI6, CIA spoon feeds them, via the liberal media machine..why ask questions?, why ask for proof?, why test the narrative in open debate?..who needs it, right!!

                    As I mentioned last week ( https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-04-2021/#comment-1786400 ) it turns out that commenters on TS such as Andre’, Ad, Joe 90 etc have an incredibly similar world geo political view as the conservative UK foreign office..yes it seems just like the UK Conservative Party, our friends here on this very site just cannot get enough of regime change wars, sanctions, shutting down whistle blowers etc…yep, just like their friends in the UK Conservative Party, this lot are just a bunch of postmodern Imperialists nothing more or less.

                    I often wonder if they even realize how right-wing they have become themselves?, or whether they have just slipped there so slowly over time, that it has just become natural for them to think (not think) this way…whatever the reason it is quite a sad thing to witness this uncoupling of so many good comrades first to the centre and now to the actual right.

                    Though that being said, I always thought free market liberalism was just a gateway drug to the right…and so it has come to pass.

                    • Incognito …
                      11 April 2021 at 2:04 pm

                      Another long rant from you that is essentially an ad hom. Not all people think like you, express themselves like you, and necessarily like the same stuff as you do. In fact, they may disagree with you, says things in ways that you dislike and/or disapprove of, and like stuff that you dislike and/or disapprove of. You cannot get your head around this fact and therefore you lash out and accuse them of being the ‘enemy’, because things are B & W in Adrian land; this is called projecting.

                      You’re rapidly becoming as boring and nonsensical as Morrissey as well as hypercritical, ultra-negative, and sometimes even outright aggressive towards other commenters 🙁

            • Keith Crosby 20.1.1.1.2.2
              10 April 2021 at 7:39 pm

              Luke (the spook) Harding is a fraud, which Morrissey exposed by providing evidence. You and Ad are the ones ad homming.

              • Incognito …
                11 April 2021 at 1:49 pm

                Morrissey exposed nothing! He simply provided a link to a 29-min long YT clip made by somebody else and as usual without anything intelligent added that could pass as analysis. Typical Morrissey style.

                You seem to be cut from the same cloth; saying it does not make it so.

                • mauī …
                  11 April 2021 at 7:24 pm

                  🙄 You never watched the video did you… therefore you have no clue what Morrissey might or might not have exposed.

                  • Morrissey …
                    11 April 2021 at 7:31 pm

                    He erroneously claimed it was a "YT" video. Like you, mauī, I doubt that he watched it.

                    • McFlock …
                      11 April 2021 at 7:35 pm

                      The link to your embedded video: https://youtu.be/9Ikf1uZli4g

                      Is it not a youtube video?

                    • Morrissey …
                      11 April 2021 at 7:42 pm

                      Yes it is. Sorry, Incognito, I thought you meant it was a "Young Turks" video.

                      The mistake is mine, and I apologize.

                      Judge Judy sums up this writer, i.e. moi, perfectly….

                    • Incognito []
                      11 April 2021 at 8:00 pm

                      Thank God for that! We don’t have to litigate what is and what isn’t a YT clip! FFS!

                      Shame that you had to spoil it again with another YT clip that is wasting more time and bandwidth here.

                  • Incognito …
                    11 April 2021 at 7:43 pm

                    No, I did not watch the YT clip, for the simple reason that there was nothing enticing me to do so. In fact, it was the opposite, thanks to Mossie’s trenchant commentary.

                    Morrissey did not expose anything by linking to that YT clip. If anything, the people in and/or who made the YT clip may have exposed something, who knows?

                    Feel free to watch it and critique it, but I’m not holding my breath 🙄

            • mauī 20.1.1.1.2.3
              11 April 2021 at 7:21 pm

              It was hardly an attack.. Linking to someone's previous coverage of Russia while they cover another Russia topic is perhaps highly relevant?

              • Incognito …
                11 April 2021 at 7:35 pm

                The Morrissey ‘analysis’:

                Is he any relation to the unfortunate fellow humiliating himself in the following classic clip?

                It was an attack on the messenger, plain and clear.

                • Morrissey …
                  11 April 2021 at 7:43 pm

                  It was a reminder to everyone that the "messenger" is a discredited propagandist.

                  • Incognito …
                    11 April 2021 at 7:52 pm

                    In your opinion, of course. Which you formulated completely independently, of course.

                    So, this is your MO: find a YT clip or some writing that you vehemently disagree with (because of mysterious reasons that only a psychologist might understand) and then use it to have a swipe at the messenger/author. Then you claim (!) that it was trenchant critique and analysis of the content while in fact it was an attack on the messenger/author all along.

                    This is a mindboggingly stupid way of debating 🙄

                    • mauī …
                      11 April 2021 at 8:37 pm

                      You clearly have no will to see where Morrissey might be coming from, by viewing and perhaps trying to understand the YT clip, and using that new information to make an assessment of the original post.

                      [As you know, it is expected on this site that when commenters link to a YT clip, especially a longer one, they provide an explanation why people should watch it. It is also expected that they provide some analysis and opinion of their own, you know, an original contribution, e.g. to start off constructive robust debate. Repeatedly failing to do so is considered a form of spamming, sometimes trolling, and will attract Moderators’ attention.

                      Why do you keep ignoring this and why are you doubling down on this? You’re now wasting Moderator time – Incognito]

                    • Incognito []
                      11 April 2021 at 8:51 pm

                      See my Moderation note @ 8:37 pm.

                    • Muttonbird …
                      11 April 2021 at 9:17 pm

                      Hi Incognito.

                      Just tonight Andre dumped a 52 page NZIER pdf document on me as evidence of argument without any dissection or analysis.

                      Just saying.

                    • Incognito []
                      11 April 2021 at 9:29 pm

                      That’s terrible, I hope you didn’t get hurt.

                      Was there no context at all? He just dumped it on you, out of the blue?

                      Do you suggest I should ban Andre for wasting your time? I hate it when people deliberately waste my time; they’re usually trolls or spammers, the vermin of the blogosphere.

                      Just saying.

                    • Muttonbird …
                      11 April 2021 at 9:33 pm

                      No. I'm saying posting YT videos is not a capital offence. I just ignore them like I ignored Andre's NZIER document.

                      [Another smart arse commenter telling us how to do and not do things here?

                      No. I’m saying posting YT videos is not a capital offence.

                      Please don’t bother re-writing the site’s Policy, as posting YT videos never has been a capital offence here. You’re disinformed.

                      Do you have anything useful to add or are you just trying to waste Moderator time as well? It seems to be the topic du jour. However, a piece of string is only as long its breaking point and a bubble pops when you pierce it one too many times – Incognito]

                    • Incognito []
                      11 April 2021 at 9:44 pm

                      See my Moderation note @ 9:33 pm.

      • Incognito 20.1.2
        10 April 2021 at 4:43 pm

        no

  21. joe90 21
    10 April 2021 at 1:41 pm

    My how time flies.

    https://thestandard.org.nz/i-thank-margaret-thatcher/

  22. Muttonbird 22
    10 April 2021 at 5:40 pm

    Here's a list of people supposed impartial political observer, Dr Bryce Edwards, quotes in his latest cut 'n' paste effort about the National Party leadership trysts:

    Claire Trevett – National Party embedded journalist.

    Richard Prebble – Former ACT MP and far right wing activist.

    Tova O'Brien – Neutral, but only by dint of being about Tova and Tova alone.

    David Farrar, twice – Sheesh. Farrar seems more quoted by Dr Bryce than any other.

    Dan Satherley – Hardly noticed him before. Must be good.

    Audrey Young – Noted right wing journalist with long National Party affiliations.

    Heather Duplicity-Allen , also twice – Increasingly hard right wing shock jock.

    Matthew Hooton – Oh, my, God.

    Andrea Vance – See Tova O'Brien.

    Luke Malpass – Australian right wing journalist.

    Seven out of ten sources from the right and far right, and three relatively neutral. As a footnote, in the satire section, Dr Bryce entertained the only two entries which might be considered left wing voices.

    So much for balanced media, and so much for balanced media critics.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/440202/national-party-leadership-does-luxon-have-what-it-takes

    • Ad 22.1
      10 April 2021 at 7:16 pm

      Bryce Edwards is quoting experienced political reporters who have the qualifications and experience to be quoted.

      Farrar and Hooten are some of the right's most trenchant critics, both roundly rejected by National's cliques.

      Edwards himself is raising questions that plenty of other observers have been raising. Indeed National has changed its leaders three times in a year for the same reasons.

      • Muttonbird 22.1.1
        10 April 2021 at 7:28 pm

        I don't think you read my comment. Bryce Edwards pretends to be an impartial observer yet he quotes no qualified person writing from the left's perspective.

        Such a person might have explained that National's leadership issues run way deeper that the personalities involved. The core of the rot is in the Party itself, its moribund and corrupt leadership and membership alike.

        • Stuart Munro 22.1.1.1
          11 April 2021 at 2:33 pm

          He's a curious case, and came in for a bit of stick from LPrent a while back.

          There was a progressive thread to his writing, back in the day, but he was monstered by the other political writers at the Herald after a few well-researched columns.

          Since that time he's produced drivel – compromised hack-work – and his progressive credibility, such as it was, is at zero.

          • greywarshark 22.1.1.1.1
            11 April 2021 at 3:54 pm

            Muttonbird and Stuart M – I notice that BE seems strangely not-left, and so it might be a case of BCE.

      • Sacha 22.1.2
        10 April 2021 at 7:35 pm

        Farrar a Nat critic? Where a tongue bath is a telling off, perhaps.

  23. joe90 23
    10 April 2021 at 6:37 pm

    Assad's criming continues.

    (Beirut) – Syrian authorities are unlawfully confiscating the homes and lands of Syrians who fled Syrian-Russian military attacks in Idlib and Hama governorates, Human Rights Watch said today.

    A pro-government militia and the government-controlled “Peasants’ Unions” were involved in seizing and auctioning these lands to government supporters.
    “Peasants’ Unions are supposed to help protect farmers’ rights, but have become one more tool in the Syrian government’s systematic repression of its own people,” said Sara Kayyali, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Aid organizations should ensure that Peasants’ Unions are not providing assistance for farming on stolen land.”

    https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/08/syria-government-stealing-opponents-land

    • Muttonbird 23.1
      10 April 2021 at 7:13 pm

      Unlawful according to who’s law?

      And how do we know the land wasn't stolen from peasants in the first place? Perhaps Human Rights Watch could clear that up.

      Israel have been doing far worse for decades now and no-one gives a shit, so meh.

  24. Morrissey 24
    10 April 2021 at 7:19 pm

    Perhaps Human Rights Watch could clear that up.

    It's extremely depressing to have to say this, but that's unlikely.

    • Muttonbird 24.1
      10 April 2021 at 7:30 pm

      I don't know much about HRW but sometimes they do seem a front for Western capitalist expansion.

      • Morrissey 24.1.1
        10 April 2021 at 7:38 pm

        They're more than a front, they're a tool. Ken Roth’s support for the extreme right coup in Bolivia and his contempt for the democratically elected government is akin to backing Franco over the Republican government in the 1930s.

  25. greywarshark 25
    10 April 2021 at 9:09 pm

    Hi Stuart Munro if you are around. There is an historic account for a Stuart Young. an entrepreneur with Ron Davis in something called Interlock – clever chap. He lived in Breaker Bay from a boy, he knew on the fateful Wahine day on April 10, 1968 that there was trouble. The weather was worse than ever before.

    It says about it 'At 6.30 am that day, Stuart and Jenny saw the Wahine in Chaffers Passage, on the Breaker Bay side of the reef, facing the houses (a sight witnessed by many in the bay but never accepted by the official court of inquiry). It was clear she was in serious trouble and Stuart immediately phoned the police.'

    Why would the Court reject the witnesses' evidence? Why would the position of the boat be so important; if it was facing the houses then it would have been prow towards them and trying to beach wouldn't it?

    Incidentally Young and Davis set up a business to be emulated today. They had to fight protective battles for their patents in Uk and Japan. The company patented all over the world so that they kept ahead of global competitors through invention and smart marketing. They operated a profit-sharing bonus system and a medical insurance scheme, arranged free influenza vaccinations for anyone who wanted them and offered opportunities for staff to train and retrain at all levels and employees were encouraged to make decisions and to raise any matter they wanted and be honest with each other; everyone was on first-name terms. Wow.

    Apr.10/21 https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/124779833/obituary–entrepreneur-stuart-young-first-to-raise-the-alarm-about-the-ferry-wahine

    • Stuart Munro 25.1
      11 April 2021 at 11:34 am

      Why would the Court reject the witnesses' evidence?

      Official positions, like those of MSA, the harbour master, and the officers of the vessels traditionally had a level of privilege that is hard to imagine now that video of such occurrences is in play to debunk the most egregious political distortions of such systems. The thirty million MSA spend on helicopter flights during the wreck of the Rena, for example, implied that they were not so much seamen, as troughers. Were they seamen they’d have done more work by boat.

      Why would the position of the boat be so important; if it was facing the houses then it would have been prow towards them and trying to beach wouldn't it?

      Without a full knowledge of events one cannot judge whether the ship's heading was appropriate or not – it might have steered into the wind to minimize leeway, or, as you say, to try to beach, or to avoid a hazard like Barret's Reef which they had misunderstood the position of. The wind may also have blown the bow around, off the desired course, and they might have been struggling to get back on track.

      I used to have a pocket watch from the Wahine, that I found diving on Barret's Reef.

      • greywarshark 25.1.1
        11 April 2021 at 12:08 pm

        Thanks Stuart interesting and your first part possibly would refer also to the Mikhail Lermontov tragedy of one of Russia's premier ships being piloted by a Marlborough leading mariner to a watery grave. Was it political,, was it sabotage? Will we ever know and why pilot Jamieson got off lightly.

        I was also wondering if the Wahine couldn't be said to have been steered towards land or the insurance might have placed personal blame on the Captain rather than the consideration of an Act of God causing the damage, or whatever cover was to be provided.

    • Stuart Munro 25.2
      11 April 2021 at 11:54 am

      There is a fairly full description of the wreck here.

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  • Ginny Andersen appointed as Minister of Police
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Government confirms vital roading reconnections
    Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Foreign Minister Mahuta to meet with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
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    16 hours ago

  • Education Ministers from across the Pacific gather in Aotearoa
    Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
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    22 hours ago

  • State Highway 5 reopens between Napier and Taupō following Cyclone Gabrielle
    A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Special Lotto draw raises $11.7 million for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery
    Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
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    2 days ago

  • Government delivers a $3 million funding boost for Building Financial Capability services
    The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao – new Chair and member
    Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Scholarships honouring Ngarimu VC and the 28th (Māori) Battalion announced
    Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today.  The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
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    4 days ago

  • Appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeal and Judge of the High Court
    High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
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    4 days ago

  • NZ still well placed to meet global challenges
    The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
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    4 days ago

  • Western Ring Route Complete
    Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Briefings to Incoming Ministers
    This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Teaming up for a stronger, more resilient Fiji
    Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Investment in blue highway a lifeline for regional economies and cyclone recovery
    The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
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    5 days ago

  • Next steps developing clean energy for NZ
    The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
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    5 days ago

  • Statement from the Prime Minister on Stuart Nash
    This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
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    6 days ago

  • CPTPP Trade Ministers coming to Auckland
    The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Govt approves $25 million extension for cyclone-affected businesses
    $25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • More than 160,000 new Kiwis to call NZ home
    80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
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    6 days ago

  • New Zealand to attend regional security meeting in Australia
    The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Health and safety action plan for ports
    The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
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    6 days ago

  • Bikes and scooters to be exempt from FBT
    Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
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    7 days ago

  • Foreign Affairs Minister to reaffirm our close relationship with Fiji
    Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • New legislation to streamline Cyclone recovery
    The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Cost of living package: More bread and butter support for Kiwi families
    Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Freeing up more government bandwidth and money to focus on the cost of living
    $1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • State of National Emergency to end for Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay
    The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
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    1 week ago

  • Government delivers on Dawn Raids commitment
    The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
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    1 week ago

  • New plan to increase productivity and high wage jobs across advanced manufacturing sector
    Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
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    1 week ago

  • Aotearoa New Zealand supports Pacific countries to combat animal disease 
    New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government delivers better public transport for Christchurch
    The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Minister praises education heroes in cyclone damaged regions
    All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government investments drive health and business outcomes in the Bay of Plenty
    A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • UK NZ Working Holiday Scheme upgraded
    The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • 2023 Offshore Renewable Energy Forum, New Plymouth
    It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region.  Establishing a regime to pave ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Milestone reached in crack down on gangs
    Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • New funding for Cyclone waste removal
    The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government working faster and smarter to support response and recovery
    $15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • More Māori getting access to mental health and addiction services
    The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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