Heard a weird and unlikely story the other day. It goes like this:
Late last year blogger David Farrar writes several uncomplimentary posts about the proposed Government bailout of Chorus. He is then told in no uncertain terms that his company Curia will lose its polling contract with National if he continues to bag the bung.
Now I don’t believe this to be true, because the John Key Government would never bully anyone and Farrar is so principled he would have exposed the bullying anyway.
Whatever the actual facts are, I think we should be told.
That Governor needs a New Jersey, with a clean bib, and something in his brain to govern his monomania.
This is enjoyable in a masochistic way. We have had the Canadian Toronto bully boy, both of them looking over-fed, so who can we present next. Do tell if anyone gets some goss on pollies. We can play our fiddles as functioning democracy burns.
“This is in stark contrast to other nations – particularly the French and Brazilians – who both use all of their allocated annual leave days. Despite taking all of their holidays, 90% of employed French adults still claim to feel vacation deprived, more than any other country.”
I’m with you there French Comrades (when I am in work of course)
In Austria, also in the list of countries taking all allocated leave, and maybe others, this could have someting to do the 3 day extra leave bonus for taking all allocated leave. For companies it seems the bonus is worth it to get the leave debt off the books… And reduces the likelihood of infringing on working hours legislation.
Working hours legislation to prevent exploitation… Weird huh?
“In Austria, also in the list of countries taking all allocated leave, and maybe others, this could have someting to do the 3 day extra leave bonus for taking all allocated leave”
Fancy that! Using reward, (as opposed to punishment),to encourage preferred behaviour in employee’s. It’s hard to imagine NZ companies being that forward thinking.
Many years ago, the Union I worked for dealt with a work site where the employer simply rostered employee’s with what they perceived as over due annual leave, (and it wasn’t over due anyway) OFF, so they didn’t have so much accrued leave sitting in the books. This of course, could have been dealt with by discussing leave with the employee(s) but above all respecting the employee’s personal life is their own and that it’s not for the employer to dictate when annual leave should be taken.
“Despite taking all of their holidays, 90% of employed French adults still claim to feel vacation deprived, more than any other country.”
Looks like spending time with family and friends and following your own interests is a bit addictive – no wonder it’s not encouraged in most modern societies.
Al Jazeera is (mostly) a very good TV channel
But viewers need to beware of its pro-Saudi political bias
Al-Jazeera News, (Freeview Channel 16), Friday 10 January 2014, 7:30 a.m.
I’ve been watching Al Jazeera intermittently for a few months, ever since it started to be broadcast on Freeview, along with the wonderful Sommet Sports. Occasionally I take time off watching the Bundesliga, or surfing docos, or speedway from Poland, to listen to the radio, to exercise, to read (presently reading War and Peace; just finished the War part and now onto the Peace) and to watch Al Jazeera.
I’m sorry to say that I am very concerned about the political bias of Al Jazeera. The channel does do many things very well: there are some lively debates about all sorts of things, and a really excellent media analysis show called Listening Post. Its documentaries are thorough, thoughtful and insightful; the other day there was a brilliant one about Brazilian kids who make a living by selling sweets to passengers on Amazon river boats. There was a riveting documentary on the history of Syria, and a serialised documentary on the history of Muslims in France. These documentaries are as good as anything the BBC did in its heyday.
But undermining all this, just as with the BBC and Deutsche Welle, is a political bias which is often overt. The station is owned by the government of Qatar, and despite its assertions to the contrary, it is quite clear that it adheres closely to the regime’s political line. The Qatari government is an ally of Saudi Arabia and the United States, and therefore an enemy of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Hezbollah. Al Jazeera’s coverage of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon is unremittingly negative. There is a special animus against Iran; Al Jazeera presenters mercilessly badger Iranian interviewees and their guest “experts”, often from the same right wing “think tanks” that pollute American television, speaking from studios in “friendly” places like Washington or London or Amman, are unrestrained in their hostility, often being extremely rude and contemptuous.
To compound things, the English language version of Al Jazeera is full of ex-BBC hacks, who don’t seem to have changed their style one whit. There is also a disconcertingly large number of former New Zealand television reporters working there. Ever wondered what happened to Wayne Hay? Watch Al Jazeera. You want to see Anita McNaught? Kim Vinnell? Barnaby Phillips? Watch Al Jazeera.
This morning’s news provided a neat little example of this phenomenon. Another old BBC hand, David Foster, interviewed one Shuja Nawaz from another right wing think tank, the Atlantic Council, this time about the Karzai government’s decision to release 88 detainees, despite objections from the United States. The detainees have allegedly committed some “egregious” crimes, Foster grimly informed viewers. Those crimes? Wounding and killing NATO troops in their country. Egregious indeed—just like the French Resistance, the Partisans in Yugoslavia and the Chinese “bandits” who fought the Japanese, these monsters dared to shoot at enemy soldiers who occupy their country.
Mr Nawaz pointed out that this release of prisoners won’t endear Mr Karzai to his American sponsors….
SHUJA NAWAZ: The United States is not going to be receptive to his demands. DAVID FOSTER:[with maximum gravitas] Understandably perhaps, given the number of years that U.S. forces have been there!
Not JUST ‘BBC hacks’ @ Morissey – but also CNN.
They all have an agenda and a ‘perspective’ – whether AlJaz, BBC Int, DW, CNN Int, and RT.
Trick is to try watch ’em all from time to time and see where they’re coming from.
The good thing about AlJaz is that – true to their word – they often tackle stories neglected by others and at least try and keep things on the menu whilst others have covered it briefly, the walked away.
I note the growing criticism of the BBC these days from within the UK, and the manner in which they’ve caught the NZ disease (dumbing down as a Public Service broadcaster, the cult of personality, etc….). Doesn’t help I spose when they start employing TVNZers doing their OE (keeping us all “ACROSS” things).
Credibility lost. They’ll probably wake up WHEN its all turned to shit and their journalistic integrity, credibility and trustworthiness ranks amongst below that of pollies, real estate agents, lawyers, used-car salesmen et al.
Oh – btw….. have you noticed how the BEEB – now managed by the bean counters effectively is getting its presenters into more of that ‘personality’ oriented promotion.
Thanks Christ its being met with the cynicism it deserves in the UK – whereas here its been going on so long its fucking Norman Normal, Max Headroom
An excellent post by Nash, though I’m not sure it is entirely needed from a candidate at this time. His analysis of the Green’s electoral prospects is spot on, if only because it matches what I’ve been saying for years. If the Greens feel that they are ready to be in Government, then they probably need to find a way to stitch up a coalition deal with Labour and NZFirst before the election, not after.
There’s some nasty little smears about the Greens included in that post. eg – the line about the Greens turning off voters, just plays into the MSM/right wing spin, and is not helpful.
It shows both a fear of the Greens, and failure to understand how to develop a working relationship, while each party follows their policy priorities. Nash treats the Greens as the enemey taking votes off Labour, and seems to be really underestimating their future vote share.
And as for saying they could choose NZ First as their main partner…..?
Well, if NZF get back in, then they are likely to be in Government with someone. I’d prefer LP/NZF rather than Nat/NZF, so if it has to be that the Greens dip out to make that happen, it’s no bother to me. With NZF, you know exactly what you get, the Greens not so much.
Like it or not, the public perception is that the Greens should not be anywhere near the purse strings. That’s not a smear, just a fact of political life. I suspect the voting public would be ok with them getting portfolios such as environment or education, but nothing that effects the economy.
“His analysis of the Green’s electoral prospects is spot on, if only because it matches what I’ve been saying for years”. Not; because it has any connection with reality, but; because it confirms your own prejudices. But what else can one expect from a person who thinks that Shane Jones would be a better leader for Labour than Cunliffe & that NZF is their natural coalition partner?
There is a *lot* wrong in Stuart Nash’s piece – so much so that it should just be written off as the braying of an ass…
“A Wgtn Green insider once told me that he believed that at least 80% of their voters would support Labour if the Green party did not exist” – yeah – because the Green Party is going to lay down and die on the say so of Labour
“it is not a certainty that a Labour led government would be in coalition with the Greens” – is he really expecting Labour to gain 10% over the next 6-9 months?
“The Green party received 11.1% at the last election. History will show this is the high-water mark for them. I expect them to get around the 6.7% they polled in 2008” – so, we’re going to ignore the 2011 election for the sake of a badly made point?
“With Cunliffe firing, the Labour caucus united and the growing perception that Key is only there for his rich mates, the battle for 2014 is between a Labour-led opposition” – since when wasn’t it going to be a Labour-led opposition? Also, as much as I like Cunliffe, I have yet to see Labour fire
It is talk like this that stokes the divisiveness on the Left and Labour need to get a clue that their allies are *not* their enemies.
If it’s reasonable to suggest that 80% of Green voters would vote Labour if the Green Party didn’t exist, then isn’t it just as reasonable to suggest that a similar percentage of Labour voters would vote Green if the Labour Party didn’t exist?
And if that’s the case, then isn’t it just as reasonable to suggest that the Labour Party and the Green Party are natural bedfellows in a parliamentary setting?
So, vive la difference (appreciate it!) and fuck this whole idea of trying to create domineering factions within the scenario. (To clarify, not saying your doing that Zorr)
I’m trying to say the opposite of that Bill – that we should be working together but it’s one of those cases where this type of divisive political language is only coming from one party in the relationship – Labour.
Stuart Nash and Josie Pagani should go form their own party called “The Self Involved Morons Party” and leave the rest of us to trying to figure out how to defeat John Key.
I’m tempted to respond with my brief encounter with a former “Labour” tah (very muchly) visit.
These are fairly trying times, and were I to do so though, there’d be a barrage of Max Headrooms – Geeeeeeeey-ons, the Garnered, the necked-Red – the whole Cat’s Chorus and Kordia-enabled band of the fukkers: In pagani-like appearances on every and any – please, fucking please (I’ll lay down for you Mora-like please) ANY outlet willing, ditto a “i’m inclined to agree-with you Mathew (or rather Matt).
Play it forward …. the cnuts will eventually be the IRRELEVANT, the pleading as INNOCENT, the BITTER old Queens (who got an agenda but NOT the courage that was necessary to go with it) , the economically worried behind keypad gated clusters (not communities)……. there’s a shitload of them. The God (in our case KEY) unforsaken.
since when wasn’t it going to be a Labour-led opposition?
Well, it’s pretty much been a Greens led opposition since 2k8. Unfortunately, Labour seem to want to continue with this after the general election this year.
It is talk like this that stokes the divisiveness on the Left and Labour need to get a clue that their allies are *not* their enemies.
That and that neo-liberalism, free-trade and privatisation is bad for society and then state their understanding clearly and concisely.
tbh – that’s a little bit beside the point. We all have slightly different views on where we would like the grand ol’ ship New Zealand headed but I think we could all agree on one thing – time to take the Captain’s hat back off John Key because there’s icebergs ahead and he’s all “full steam ahead
“Well, it’s pretty much been a Greens led opposition since 2k8. Unfortunately, Labour seem to want to continue with this after the general election this year.”
Yep! …. In the true sense of the word “opposition”.
It’s probably even been a bit before 2k8 – when ABC type factionalism became evident; when Pagani & Williams couldn’t quite get over themselves and convinced themselves they knew best; when Labour forgot its principles; when even those within (Chauvell and others) began to think pushing shit uphill wasn’t really viable ……
That last conference or two really were a bigger game changer than the careerists could cope with – tho’ their only option is/was to continue.
Exciting times.
Irrelevance ….. OR …. the possibility/opportunity of beginning to rebuild and become something those lost 800k or so can identify with, have an affinity with, support, assist, ……
Strange really how a very few can stuff it up for many. Such is the nature tho of a Labour Party – at least as it existed till recently.
Tick Tock Tick Tock
Thank CHrist I noticed a Chauvell back in town recently, and briefly, and busily texting away.
I suspect he too was weighing up whether things were going to be despair and irrelevance, OR something worthwhile.
[ABC …. not sure whether that stands for Anything but Cunliffe, OR All But Cnuts] – time will tell
Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t it already been stated that the Greens will have economic portfolios? Just not that of ‘Finance Spokesperson’ or whatever.
And what the fck is so wrong with Green representation in finance TRP? I mean, seriously, what do you think would be wrong with it? Not really interested in you trying to channel the supposed thoughts and sentiments of a ‘voting public’ that just happens to also channel to b/s line of the Nats and their cronies.
So, putting aside any second guessing about thoughts of the ‘voting public’ (because that might be seen as a smokescreen to hide your own thoughts and sentiments behind) – what do you think?
If you think it’s a bad thing, then just say so – and stop looking to cover your arse. And if you’re happy with it, then how about you stop reflecting the baseless fear mongering of the Nat Party?
I have no fear of the Greens having finance portfolios, Bill. Read what I wrote before you go off half cocked. Like it or not, voters don’t like it as a possibility.
“Like it or not, voters don’t like it as a possibility.”
Except a whole lot do, so what’s your point exactly? That you can predict how many people will vote which way based on which policy this year? Or perhaps,
“Like it or not, the public perception is that the Greens should not be anywhere near the purse strings. That’s not a smear, just a fact of political life. I suspect the voting public would be ok with them getting portfolios such as environment or education, but nothing that effects the economy.”
Except it is a smear, one you are repeating. The public don’t all think one thing despite your assertion. Which just leaves your motives for taking this line.
I think there is such a public perception. One that could be smashed by the Greens proving it wrong in the next or some other government. It must be one of their longer aims….
I don’t think it’s possible to separate out ‘public perception’ from Crosby Textor et al spin, TRP/Labour Party spin, media spin (both right wing and general shit stirring), from people who have some genuine concerns, from people who are ignorant, from people who are bigoted, from people who just hate the GP.
weka, the polls don’t lie. Only one in ten voters directly support the Greens and a percentage more, like me, are fine with them being in a Labour led Government. I get out and about a lot, and talk to heaps of people about politics, both at work and socially, and the theme of ‘what about the greens’ comes up all the time. The majority of voters are uncomfortable with them having real responsibility. That won’t change at least until they’ve actually been in Government, and even then, it probably won’t change by much.
The funny thing about this discussion is that the Green’s leadership know this stuff already. Russel doesn’t wear suits because he’s a fan of Milan fashion week, it’s about appearing sensibly middle class to try and turn the ‘hippy’ tag around.
Yes TRP. Branding. Big deal. Now – you going to state your position/thoughts on Green Party involvement in finance? (Saying, as you did, that you don’t fear it, simply isn’t saying anything about whether you think it a good thing or bad thing. It’s in line with me saying “I don’t fear having chili for tea tonight” ; it says nothing about whether I think it’s a good idea or a bad idea.)
The MSM has covered quite extensively the Australian election fortunes, and (rightly or wrongly) the Greens over there have been singled out frequently as a major factor in their current financial situation (forecasting a deficit in excess of $40Bn next year alone).
This may have a bearing on current public sentiment (just a guess though).
I’ve stated my position, Bill. But, anyway, I don’t think the Greens are going to get any finance related portfolios anyway, because Labour already have front benchers ready to take those posts.
ps, “Branding. Big deal.” tells me all I need to know about your understanding of why the Greens can’t get any real traction.
“And everybody knows the shit about branding – on what it is and why it’s necessary. That’s why I say it’s no big deal. Geddit?”
Clearly you don’t ‘geddit’, Bill. The Green’s branding keeps them above 5% but limits them to single figures, or just above. It is also part of the reason they are not trusted by the majority (that is, they are seen as a single issue party).
Well, since you’re still pretending to engage while engaging in nothing beyond the same old ducking, diving and diverting that seems to be your m.o. …what do you think of Green MP’s having financial portfolios in a future government given that Cunliffe (unless my memory is letting me down) has already stated that they will have financial portfolios?
jebus, have you overdone it on the obtuse pills, Bill? I’ve already said a few times today I have no problem with the Greens having finance portfolios. Can you stop shimmying and a duckin’ and divin’ long enough to actually read my words?
“Mr Norman is extremely unlikely. I would rule it out, being our Finance Minister, yes I am ruling that out.”
David Cunliffe.
Bill, that’s the nearest thing I can find to support for your claim of an offer of economic portfolios. Doesn’t sound much like it, does it? Perhaps you can actually find a quote that supports your point. I couldn’t.
Perhaps you are thinking of Eddie’s speculative piece last year (Labour makes room for the greens or a similar title).
What the Greens have to do is lose the extremist tag, until that happens the green party will always be looked at with suspicion by the voting public.
The only way that is going to happen is if they ditch the “labour and only labour is the party we’ll work with” nonsense.
They had an opportunity to develop a bit more cred with the voting public when they teamed up with national with the insulation scheme but fucked that up by pulling out and cementing themselves as a hard left alliance like party instead of an environmental party, absolute height of stupidity.
If the greens actually went back to being an environmental party,willing to work with whoever was in power they’d get the opportunity to show that they’re not extremist nut bars and you’d find the voting public would become more receptive to their ideas.
That would involve kicking out the communists though.
They had an opportunity to develop a bit more cred with the voting public when they teamed up with national with the insulation scheme
Actually, in doing that, they lost credibility.
If the greens actually went back to being an environmental party
Ah, the old if they just stayed in their place cry from a RWNJ. They’ve got the experience and the skills within the party to be a broad party so why shouldn’t they?
The greens haven’t got enough cred currently to be a fully fledged party such as National and Labour.
They need to concentrate on the environment aspect at the moment, once they get a track record of being involved in government they should then try to expand into other areas.
Currently they seem to be going from the crawling stage to the mountaineering stage in one go.
Rod Donald dieing at such a young age has really hobbled the greens and put them back decades.
Funny how they got shit from people like you back in the day for being an environment only party (even though they weren’t).
Funny also how when they expanded their focus to be an all round party, not just about the environment, and got that message out better, they got more votes.
So your assumption is there are 20% of voters out there whose sole concern is environmental issues and not a mix of environmental AND other issues.
These voters whose sole concern was the environment would have to be prepared to vote for the environment and not on which way the jobs or finances or health or education matters were managed – under your assumption.
No reason why a party cannot specialize, National for the economy, Greens for the environment.
I reckon there would be quite a few blue voters out there that would toss a party vote the greens way, if they weren’t so left, candidate vote National, party vote green.
Think of all the tradie fisherman, hunter types, even farmers, by saying FU to National you lost all those potential votes, bit silly really.
Yes, I did consider this aspect prior to making my comment – that point is worth considering – however omits other concerns that people have about what is going on – the more the Greens have answers to the other problems the more inclined I am to vote for them – which I never have to date.
One would have to assess how many votes would be lost to them for not addressing the other issues and how many would be gained by that approach.
I estimate more would be lost than gained.
The environment is extremely important – however if there is no connection made between how these environment issues can work in with other issues facing us – relevancy is not understood – I believe it becomes too abstract for many people to support. They can also more easily be put down to being ‘fixated’ i.e. ‘nutbars’ if the relevance of where environmental issues fit in is not made clear.
The Greens are doing well on this ‘linking’ of environmental problems with addressing other problems – and it is my view that they are gaining support from doing this – not simply ‘because of the Rena disaster’.
Yes, but “the environmental side of politics”, if taken seriously, is always going to be diametrically opposed to the right wing neoliberal capitalist side of politics, because right wing neoliberal economics and the consumerism on which it depends is exactly what our environment needs to be protected from.
I think he has one of those astroturfing jobs where he doesn’t get paid enough to make a real effort, he just has say vaguely pseudo-logical shit to tie up the local energy a bit. I’m kind of surprised to see how many people engaged seriously with his arguments.
With polls still indicating Nat popularity in the high 40s the conclusion I draw is this country is being run on the infestation of pseudo logic and therefore it pays to provide arguments against it at every opportunity.
The MSM has concocted the “Greens + finance portfolio = economic madness theory” as another right-wing narrative peculiar to political vested interest associations to chip away at any credibility the left may be procuring.
How much the general public really believes this message is difficult to accurately determine but what tends to happen is the ‘messaging’ that gets repeated the most often over a long period of time eventually gets swallowed by the intended recipients and becomes ingrained into orthodox thinking regardless of it’s integrity or otherwise (think advertising and neo-liberalism for example).
Spot on, Changeling. Whether it’s deserved or not, or logical or not, voters do not want the Greens to have a hand on the chequebook. Obviously, that feeling is strongest among Nat and ACT voters, but a significant proportion of the other 40% feel that way too. When I talk to people about the coming labour led Government, that meme comes up all the time.
It was well and truly reinforced when Norman quite rightly suggested we should look at quantitative easing a few years back. Despite it being a standard economic response in tough times, he was widely dissed in the media for it.
It wasn’t helped, I think, and so did a lot of people within the Green Party, when Russel backed down instead of explaining that it is a pretty conventional policy. Policy that got us and the USA out of the 30’s depression before most other countries, and used, even now by even “right wing” countries.
Of course the banks, which really run NZ would strongly oppose any attempt to use QE to break their monopoly on finance. They are not opposed to it when it is simply given to them. As in the USA.
Yep. Left supporters want to see Left parties standing strong for strong Left principles, strong Left policies and a strong Left vision for NZ.
This is not fucking rocket science.
The swaying middle (most of the top 20%) will go wherever they think their personal and immediate family interests are best served. Which for many, means that something like a UBI and a jobs guarantee for youth, is going to be more than slightly attractive. Anything to get the teenage boy off the bloody PS3 and off to work at 7 in the morning.
Yes, well said The Changeling – this is what is so distressing about a Labour member coming out and repeating the message sent out by right-wingers and MSM
– It is not likely that Labour are going to win the election without the support of other parties – so why diss them?
-So why are Labour members repeating messages that work against their chances of success??
Here is a novel idea: Left wing party members need to challenge the false messages that right-wing parties and the MSM send out to the public – at every opportunity they get – not propagate them geez!
“Left wing political parties” do not represent or lead the Left. How can they? They are establishment and privilege, not radical.
Left parties ALWAYS have to be pressured by the non-parliamentary Left to keep on course, because the tendency to rapidly go off on idiotic Thorndon bubble focussed tangents is well established.
You really are coming out with some comments that I view as containing dubious logic to them recently CV. What is with that?
“Left wing political parties” do not represent the Left”
Oh really? Wtf are they representing then?
[Are you trying to get people not voting?]
“Left parties ALWAYS have to be pressured by the non-parliamentary Left to keep on course”
Yes, this is a good message to keep repeating – do remember you are saying that to a person who is of the understanding that politicians – such as the leader of the Labour Party- read The Standard!
“Left wing political parties” do not represent the Left”
Oh really? Wtf are they representing then?
I’ll try and phrase it a bit more carefully. “Representing” is not necessarily exactly what I meant, as I also meant “reflecting.”
So wtf are they representing/reflecting? Different aspects of the establishment of course, which by definition, in Parliament and on pay levels of the top 2%, they certainly are.
The much broader extra-parliamentary left, especially the non-membership left, thats where pressure needs to build up to put these parties on course, and keep them there.
[Are you trying to get people not voting?]
People successfully made that call for themselves last time.
My interpretation of what CV is alluding to is that left leaning party’s, in order to stay in power know they must constantly garner whatever the centre ground voters deem as necessarily important because this is always where elections are won and lost. So because of this there’s always a conflict between non parilamentary members of a political party and MP’s (caucus), about policy priority involved with pandering to the wider centre ground electorate so power can be maintained and staying ‘true’ to whatever the stated ideology is.
Spin doctoring and going in absentia (from perceived negative media biases) is the primary mechanism that the National Party uses in this process of delivering core policy requirements to their business rountable confidants, whilst lying their heads off to the middle ground via spin doctoring to maintain credible to the middle ground of the electorate and to ultimately stay in power.
in order to stay in power know they must constantly garner whatever the centre ground voters deem as necessarily important because this is always where elections are won and lost.
I don’t agree with this
This is what the leftwing parties are struggling with:
[this last link is well worth the read by the way – gives a proposed solution to the problem]
And this is why you believe that the centre ground vote is what is winning and losing elections
and that is why I ask CV whether he wants people to not vote – because people who would vote left and who are not voting are not voting because they know how severely compromised by big money left wing approaches – and our democracy – is.
And telling them that the left parties do not represent the left – is going to feed into their fears – it can be changed as long as we are strong, persevering and do not give into defeatism and ensure political parties get positive feedback for left-wing policies.
And left-wing policies are what is going to counteract what is going on regarding big money and the power this has over politics
It’s now not enough for left supporters to vote Left once every 3 years although of course that would be nice; they have to join the community groups, the protest movements, the outspoken workers unions and organisations who will keep the parliamentary left, truly left.
Blue leoppard, Having read the second link as i understand it, although the centre ground of the voting spectrum is where elections are won and lost (which on its’ own is true and correct?), those voters themselves are adhered and vulnerable to decision making processes and messages, based around voting for the interests pertaining to who ever is their paymaster. Ongoing financial security is the precursor to perceived voting preferences.
And on top of this is the more direct financial support a party receives from lobbyists (rich corporate’s), in return for implementing their agendas. The rich corporate’s control the voting patterns of the wider populace of the middle ground in at least three different ways:
1. Directly owning and controlling media and messaging signs.
2. Controlling employees perceptions of whats good for their (and wider business and economic interests generally).
3. Directly funding political campaign messaging and receiving favourable policy outcomes because of this.
The political party with the most money and money related connections has the most power. A synonymity here?
So where TRP do you get the ‘fact’ of the voters don’t like it from, admit it, it’s simply more of you ‘thunk it therefor it is’ politics from you,
11% of the voters have no problem whatsoever with the Green Party economic policies including Russell Norman’s advocacy of printing money, at the November election, as David Cunliffe’s newly RED Labour Party is exposed as the softest of pinks i fully expect as per the Green Party’s growth rate for it to achieve 13-14% of the Party Vote,
Of course the neo-libs and other right wingers happily and for far too long ensconced within the Labour Party yearn for a cozy Government made up of Labour and NZFirst with the Green Party simply providing the numbers with very little gains in policy,
This time round i don’t think that that little scenario will wash with the Green Party rank and file and watch the ructions from within the Party should the current leadership sell it’s support for what will essentially be a right leaning Labour Government for next to nothing as was done befor…
specious TRP – we can only vote for one party – just because someone has voted for one party doesn’t mean they might be perfectly happy for another one to be in power.
“the Greens not so much.” ????!!!!!! Wow. The Greens have never been in power let alone coalesced.’
Old ideological barriers still exist. It seems 30 years after the start of neo-liberalism, the proponents of that scheme on the “left” still cling to those belief’s with their dear lives.
Many of us lefties in the 70’s and 80’s admired the Values Party but couldn’t wrest our voting pattern away from Labour least National took advantage of a perceived weakness.
Now there is a real choice on the left. Before David Cunliffe took over leadership of the Labour Party, the best performers on the left were in the Green Party, and not just their leaders.
The Greens have been taking votes off Labour. Where else do you think they get them? Labour/Green as a package means that every toxic quote from a Green candidate will be sheeted home to Labour. Every Green election dirty trick is sheeted home to Labour. Many of the Green votes are natural Labour voteswho despaired of Labour winning again. The Cunliffe is bound to rise in popularity even although currently polling worse than Shearer. That is just the MSM bias surely.
There has never been a Green member in government ever for a very good reason. They are economic vandalswho want a Stone-Age society.
Stuart Nash is just a messenger, he’s on the streets talking to people, he’s getting endless feed back from potential voters.
Obviously the feedback he’s getting is anti green and people won’t vote labour while it’s bolted to the greens.
Disappointing for all the greenies who signed up to labour in an attempt to shift labour way further left, prepare for a sharp correction back to the middle where all the voters are.
BM and fisiani, have you brains been fried in the sun? It is well established that where the hippies go everyone else goes later. But you lot are always just simple followers so I wouldn’t expect any recognition of this… carry on. I won’t be looking for you in the rear vision mirror…
I have a couple of questions for you then.
“Where the hippies go everyone … “. How many of the Ohu set up during the 1972-1975 Labour Government are still going? Or did all the hippies decide that they really weren’t such a great idea?
“I won’t be looking in my rear vision”. What is the point of having a rear vision mirror on your bicycle if you don’t keep an eye on it? You don’t really want to be hit from the rear wnhen you could have avoided it do you? Incidentally as you are apparently a Green supportor I assume it is a bicycle and not a car?
B.M.- you wouldn’t know what “green” was unless it was the algae growing around your back door.
Stuart Nash is one of these nice urber middle-class Labourites, who see socialism tied to a desktop, where money is made by shoveling it around and not hard work.
In all reality, he probably has more in common with you B.M. and John Key, than the plight of the average working man or woman, let alone someone truly on struggle street.
Harsh words, I don’t think so. I watched in horror as the Party I once fought for, get absolutely “dogged.” Many in that Party are still trying to “dog” it!!
Nash, Pagani…hmm. I’m thinking spanners and works. Question I’m almost mulling over is whether they are loose spanners or if there is a hand behind them.
Nash’s three points are pretty much statements of political fact. But the strategic conclusions he draws are much more debatable, and reflect the views of just a faction within Labour.
But the brittle way Green supporters invariably react to criticism from Labour – by having the sort of poor-little-me tanty you’d expect from a spoilt 16 year old who has just been told they can’t borrow the car – is deeply unattractive and makes me wonder if they are politically tough enough to survive in government.
Yeah well Sanctuary – I’m looking at it and thinking it’s crap.
I’m not that big a supporter of either the Greens or Labour, meaning, that yes, I want a left leaning parliamentary presence forming the next government, but having said that, don’t see parliament as a mechanism that we can ever use to provide ourselves with what we need as a society.
Sanctuary, I do agree it’s most likely that Nash is not in the majority faction of Labour, and that his strategy is dubious. But I did not respond to Nash’s post in isolation, or in some knee-jerk defence of the Greens.
Key and NAct have signalled frequently that they intend to drive a wedge into the left by using smeary attacks on the Greens (“far left”, “printing money”, etc).
This morning I replied to a comment by Nat Wayne, critical of his apparent use of wedge politics: in Wayne’s case his focus was on criticising Labour. His response was that he was just looking at the facts.
Then I headed over to The Daily Blog, and see Nash using a similar kind of wedginess; this time smearing the Greens.
My response to Nash’s post was more like: with friends like this, who needs Crosby Textor…?!
I would prefer to see both Labour and Greens (and Mana) focusing on their own policies and arguments against the destructive policies and actions of the NAct government: focusing on a better way to create a fair, susutainable and well-functioning NZ. And not playing into, and supporting NAct’s spin lines.
I think there will be more of this kind of article the nearer we get to the election esp if the greens are polling well. Labour candidates with borderline list places will start getting nervous and look to protect there place as it were. Media will be more than happy to seek them out for anti greens comment as they look to increase labours vote… Challenge for Cunliffe will be to keep a lid on that kind of thing
karol and cricklewood
Words to live by – actually …
“”Teach Your Children” Lyrics by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: You, who are on the road, must have a code, that you can live by.
And so, become yourself, because the past, is just a good bye.
Teach, your children well, their father’s hell, did slowly go by,
And feed, them on your dreams, the one they picked, the one you’re known by.”
sing365.com
“Labour candidates with borderline list places will start getting nervous and look to protect there place as it were..”
@cricklewood, I red the Nash article last night and I haven’t been able to work out what his motivation to write an article like this would be, but I think you have hit it on the head above.
From a big picture Labour perspective, surely the name of the game is to increase the size of the Left block, so Labour should be focusing its limited resources on getting people, anybody to vote for it instead of narrowing its focus on COMPETING with the Greens. Labour needs to COLLABERATE not COMPETE with the Greens if it wants to win, its not going to be easy to win in 2014 but I feel that collaborating will win more voters as a strategy.
Ive never been impressed with Nash’s thinking, does anyone know what his background is?
One really does have to wonder about the Labour people who are fixated on getting votes back off the Greens, instead of the rather obvious (at least, to all three of the contenders for the Labour leadership!) 800,000 non-voters from 2011.
Possible explanations: they’re mathematically illiterate; consumed with envy at the Greens’ success; or simply that far to the right of the party that they would rather take a bet on Winston Peters and whatever conservative radicals he brings in with him than deal with the Greens.
In any case it just shows there are still people who don’t understand MMP. Fighting over how big the Labour share of the Labour/Greens pie does fuck all to (my apologies to the English language) grow the pie.
Both Labour and National know that Green policies, if presented as policies not tied to a party, would attract more voters than theirs.
I have seen research, unpublished, unfortunately that shows with policies separated from who is proposing them, the majority prefer Green policies.
Similar polling in the States has shown people prefer.
“Despite fiery campaign rhetoric, again and again Americans have spoken out in support for public investment in the structures at the core of our society and that lead to a sustainable and growing middle class. Our fellow citizens want effective and well-funded public schools and access to affordable higher education, safe and modern transportation infrastructure, robust public safety systems through fully supporting our police and fire departments, and clean air and water. They want sustainable and living-wage jobs, which means investing in research and innovation; they want Social Security strengthened for generations to come; they want health care costs reduced, and to ensure that more of their loved ones, friends and neighbors have access to adequate and affordable care. Americans want government to put these things at the top of the ‘to invest in’ priority list. They are more important to families now than ever before”. http://www.alternet.org/story/148738/voters_want_jobs%2C_economic_recovery%2C_and_a_government_that_will_work_to_achieve_it
It suits MP’s, both National and Labour, to demonise the Greens to prevent the break up of their comfortable duopoly, where they can alternate power and position simply by worrying about pleasing the relatively few swing voters.
Labour is worried they will become redundant. Greens fit comfortably within the same democratic socialist spectrum as the Labour party did, before 1984.
It suits MP’s, both National and Labour, to demonise the Greens to prevent the break up of their comfortable duopoly, where they can alternate power and position simply by worrying about pleasing the relatively few swing voters.
QFT
Labour is worried they will become redundant.
Labour are obsolete and have been for some time now but they, and a large chunk of the electorate, just haven’t realised it yet.
What worries me – on one hand there is this call for unity/or working together and once again it is the social democrat’s in labour who smash it up. As an anarchist, I’m offended – the social democrats are being pack of back stabbing fools – It’s worse than 20 trots in a room smoking crack!
It’s like when ever labour get a sniff of power they go nuts, and any mad dosh bag they have, comes out of the wood work and assaults the left for:
a) being decisive
b) not being really left or
c) loony/crazy.
is labour so weak, tired and visceral?
It work together, or lose labour it’s that simple. Why? Well it is much more simpler to get people not to vote than it is to get them to vote. And quite frankly the other anarchist and myself have been talking – you keep this shit up and we will go the whole “don’t vote – politicians only win!” path – You want us to put our propaganda hats on – do you? Stop attacking the left – fight the real enemy! Poverty, unemployment, the environment and start changing the bloody economy.
Although I personally prefer to revenge vote rather than the ‘don’t vote’ version: for the politician who is going to rark up and annoy the most politicians when I am seeking revenge for stupid political strategies – one then gets entertainment value for the next few years every-time that politician gets into the news.
I think this clearly demonstrates why our adversarial political system is corrupted and ineffective at delivering a truly democratically balanced, fair and inclusive economic and social society. There’s so much distortion and lying going on that most people realise that their opinions count for nothing and those in power just continue to do their own and their vested interests pandering, whatever negativity occurs in communities on the ground.
The idea of an ‘absolute democracy’ where every political policy due to be put forward by the party in power is voted on by the public after a mixture of left, right and independent analysis, research, dissection and then presented to the public, has to be a better way of constructing political, economic and social life.
Yes it needs to be about the representing the greatest good for the greatest number of people – not solely about representing ‘those that voted for me’ or ‘keeping my job – regardless of what interests I serve’.
One of the big issues with “representative democracy”, an oxymoron, is the need for politicians to appeal to small proportion of the electorate, about 20%, who are swing voters.
They enact policies and try to appear to be concentrating, on “hot button” issues that their focus group polling tells them will sway these “swing voters”.
Judging by a lot of the policies, the swing voters appear to be self interested, bigoted, unprincipled and judgmental.
We get “populist” polices for the 20%.
Not for the 80%, including those who don’t bother to vote because they see no party as representing them..
There’s one person who won’t be demonising the Greens. David Cunliffe. My understanding is he has a good working relationship with them. He’s very strong on environmental concerns – not surprising given his wife is a lawyer specialising in environmental matters.
Possible explanations: they’re mathematically illiterate; consumed with envy at the Greens’ success; or simply that far to the right of the party that they would rather take a bet on Winston Peters and whatever conservative radicals he brings in with him than deal with the Greens.
There’s a fourth: one reason many on the left are dubious about the Greens was well expressed a few years back by Danyl on his blog:
I can’t vote for the Greens – I’m a scientist and if they ever got into power Sue Kedgley would stick me in a big wicker man and set fire to me…
Still, if the Greens can overlook Labour’s many dubious aspects, you’d think Labour’s MPs could stir themselves to at least some level of reciprocation.
Look now the Greens are led by a nice clean shaven white guy in a suit (even if he is an Aussie ginger) it means they can be credible economic managers! All those interesting folk have gone to the retirement home of occasional tv punditry.
Ha. I’m a scientist and I don’t worry at all about the Greens. The parties that worry me are on the right, with their denial of science and their worship of oil company spin. It’s a right wing government in Canada that’s stripping bookshelves, and another in Australia that did away with the science ministry, not to mention the American right and their daily strolls with dinosaurs.
Nash needs to learn that Labour should be apologising for 30 years of Rogernomics and hanging their heads in shame over the neoliberals still spouting rubbish, not strutting their stuff like peacocks. His contribution rammed home to me how right I am to be voting Greens and Mana.
It’s similar to private health provision- the state health system provides the back-up for the cases which are too expensive or difficult to handle by the private hospital. In other words pluck off the ripe fruit and leave someone else to process the damaged fruit and also to tend the tree.
In the charter schools, pupils who are ‘difficult’ or autistic are excluded by the school management, and go by default back to the state system. The charter schools receive their money from the state but are not bound by the same rules as the state schools.
The charter schooling examples are also frightening because it seems that the state’s money is being used, via the kickbacks, for political campaign purposes as well as running the schools. This from people who would scream blue murder if the case for state funding of political parties was raised.
Tony P
Thanks for that link. Scary stuff which reveals the true fiscal agenda of Banks and his foxy friends.
I refer again to an interesting interview on the Daily show with Dianne Raditch. http://www.thedailyshow.com/?xrs=eml_tds_103113
“In this standoff, the hostages are public school children. They are being held captive not by a rag tag bunch of Somali buccaneers nor by Tea Party loons with that distinctly wild-eyed serial killer look in their eyes. No, a generation of youngsters is being held instead by pinstriped corporate executives, buttoned-down foundation officers and the local school board officials those aristocrats buy and sell”.
Christchurch Press starts its right wing election campaign early in the new year.
Headlines on Wednesday proclaims NZ as the ‘Rock Star economy’ illustrated by a photo of a flashy car salesman with an ostentatious display of Audi cars. (At first I thought it was supposed to be a caricature, but no I think he thought it looked tasteful).
On Thursday the headline was ‘Retailers on a high’ on spending booms illustrated by a retailer with a $56,000 diamond ring.(Again I think it was meant to be a serious attempt at depicting the ‘Americana Dream’ to Kiwis).
Both articles by a Cecile Meier, a recent arrival to New Zealand, but I guess the headlines belong to the (sub) editors whose political marketing intentions couldn’t be clearer.
Expect more of the same to trickle down to Canterbury readers in this election year.
Ho-hum.
In other parts of Christchurch, some neighbourhoods have been booming. Some of the biggest leaps in income were in suburbs around Riccarton and Addington.
From 2006 to 2013, household incomes in Riccarton rose 58 per cent to $58,300, while in Addington the increase was 49 per cent to $53,800.
Some of the smallest changes were seen in the most affluent suburbs. Aidanfield’s figure increased by 8 per cent to $88,800 and Halswell West’s 13 per cent increase brought the area’s median household income to $98,500.
Nationwide, the median household income increased from $51,400 in 2006 to $63,800 last year.
In other words the brighter future is here as promised.
Au contraire. Its is you that is behind the 8-ball.
The latest Household Income Survey shows the ratio of housing costs to income in Canterbury went from 15% in 2007 down to 13.3% this year.
It also shows weekly food costs rising 15.6% ($158.50 to $183.20) and total weekly expenses up 12.6% ($1004 to $1131) yet household income in that time has gone from $65,537 to $83,588 up 28%.
Perhaps fact-less rhetoric is more your strong point.
vto
I don’t know if seti is talking to you. But if food is rounded down to 15% and weekly expenses to 12% as stated, then that is a 27% rise and those costs would apply to everybody at every level of income – and then if income at above median, has risen to 28%. Well that means that even the middle class aren’t ahead, and the lower income class are behind and the precariates are running closer behind the horses with shovels and brooms to get that valuable horse-shit.
If my addition is out point out where, just don’t demur demurely otherwise I consider any attempt to make a case of us all doing well is more Far Out than Gary Larson.
What shit are you smoking? So if toothpicks have risen 200% then we’re really in the crap?
You don’t add the percentages together, they form part of the cost of total expenditure.
Bottom line – total expenses (including housing and food) up 12.6%, income up 28%.
Seti
Okay that’s what I thought – was relying on you to set me right. Now compare the 12.6% rise overall for expenses, against the percentage rise of income for
those on the low income to median strata of income. I am expecting the median would be about $65,000.
Let’s look at how the financial situation for most people in NZ has been.
“You don’t add the percentages together,”
tell that to all the spending boom apostles waxing lyrical over the magic of xmas.
They tell us of the heart-thumpingly brilliant retail sales leading up to xmas,
then it gets better with amazeballs record smashing sales from boxing day,
then it is casually mentioned that one of the biggest purchase blocks leading up to xmas was the ubiquitos prezzie card and its kin
which were mostly used on boxing day
Unfortunately if you look at the rise in the median family income overall, it is still because of huge rises at the top end. Not significant rises at the bottom.
The majority still had increases well below inflation.
As for expenses. Expenses for low income families have risen much faster than the general inflation rates. For a long time now.
While some of us have enjoyed cheaper flat screen TV’s and sirloin steaks, essentials such as basic food, power, rent, transport, schooling and health care continue to rise steeply.
Then you add in things which used to be Government supplied at cheap or no direct cost, which are now, “user pays”.
Yes, I saw that fairfax was trotting out that term “rock star economy” in it’s “paper’s” and thought immediately two things: For who? And who says that? Crosby Textor?
From memory of the RNZ piece on it the other day, I garnered the person who coined the term works for HSBC Bank – so maybe crosby textor are getting their financial mates in on the campaign act early.
I wonder where Cecile Meier came from – South Africa? That’s the home of diamonds isn’t it. There were enough on that ring to blind a mole.
And the crowing of car salespeople about the rise in vehicles, imported of course, all adding to our overseas deficit is mind-blowing. Consumerism keeping the country going. Isn’t there some saying about the brainless leading the mindless or something. If the government said okay all vehicles imported now have to be able to run on electricity, batteries, biofuel or something slanting towards Green that wouldn’t be so bad. But no, not a change to the automatic pilot for the country. On the Aotearena goes.
And housing is up too. So everything is all right. And the salaries are up 28%. It says so on this wafer of CD, this mark on an ephemeral page. That can vanish as soon as some questions are asked that are uncomfortable.
Cecile Meier is French. Her next article in Friday’s Press is her analysis of how and what kiwi’s think.Also quite revealing of her ‘insightful’ understanding of what New Zealanders want and believe.
too troo VTO.
There has a been a persistent price rise of everything since National engineered a TURN for themselves and the compradores and profiteers it associates with.
Norway is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It’s home to more natural wonders than we can count and it has stunning cities, fascinating history and really happy people.
Norway’s not cheap. But it’s worth it. Here are 25 reasons why.
1. It’s actually one of the happiest places on Earth.
And there are nice pictures. On my old computer they take a while to load yours will probably be faster.
.
joe90 Interesting. A financial plan for the country. And it works. Gosh.
Not that Norwegians will be able to access or spend the money, squirreled away for a rainy day for them and future generations. Norway has resisted the temptation to splurge all the windfall since striking oil in the North Sea in 1969.
Norway has sought to avoid the boom and bust cycle by investing the cash abroad, rather than at home. Governments can spend 4 percent of the fund in Norway each year, slightly more than the annual return on investment.
Still, in Norway, oil wealth may have made the state reluctant to make reforms or cut subsidies unthinkable elsewhere. Farm subsidies allow farmers, for instance, to keep dairy cows in heated barns in the Arctic.
It may also have made some Norwegians reluctant to work. “One in five people of working age receives some kind of social insurance instead of working,” Doerum said, despite an official unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.
Note the disapproving tone taken about work and supporting farmers. The slaves are slacking, work on two legs good etc, even though unemployment is 3.3 per cent. And farmers can probably produce sufficient food within the nation.
Somebody is breaking through the miasma of work-will-set-you-free to be able to afford food and an inside sleeping place propaganda.
I think that I don’t understand this about Ireland owning nothing. It seems that Shell is involved but I saw that Norway’s Statoil owns 36% of the reserves and drilling and results.
I guess then Shell owns the rest.
It seems that the video is trying to stir up hostility towards Norway. Has Norway the smaller share and Shell the bigger? Why not get angry at Shell and/or Ireland’s politicians who have tigered their way into a green bog? Why isn’t the deal at least 30% Ireland, 30% Norway and 60% Shell.
Surely those clever businessmen could have engineered that. They sound as clever as ours at dealing with anybody stronger, fit only for holding their coats open and dropping their pants.
The author seems to be a miserable sod less a clue about food security.
There are four components to Norway’s food security policy: firstly, the need to protect arable land from degradation and alternative use; secondly, to maintain food self-sufficiency from domestic production, measured in terms of calories, at the minimum current level of 50 percent (57 percent including fish products); thirdly, to maintain a “fairly sizeable”, well trained and experienced farming population; and fourthly, to maintain a decentralised food production structure as being less vulnerable in times of crises.
My people left there 1000 years ago, prior to the invention of central heating. Natural beauty and wonders are all very well if you have a bear skin and blanket. Of course, “free trade” was respected, there was good money to be made in the international battle axe trade.
Want to get some transparency back into politics funding in New Zealand?
Tired of electoral funding skullduggery?
I suggest NZ creates the Electoral Donation Register of New Zealand.
THE EDRNZ:
The EDRNZ is an escrow body which collects and distributes donations for all local and central government election candidates and or political parties.
Any party or individual standing in local or central government elections registers with the EFRNZ and is paid donated monies minus an administrative tax.
A small fee of perhaps 0.01% is taxed on all donations for administration of the EDRNZ.
KiwiBank is an obvious choice to administrate the fund.
All donations are deposited and logged with the EDRNZ then distributed to the relevant party or individual. With modern banking on-line processes this would be an efficient near instantaneous transaction from donation to EDRNZ to candidate. (especially quick if the candidate banked with KiwiBank)
DONATIONS:
Any individual donation over $1000 is not anonymous and is declared on a public register.
Donations below $1,000 can be anonymous but are still declared on a public register.
Any donations from a business or a trust for example, of any amount, would not be anonymous and must be declared on the register. (Trusts are and will continue to be a major thorn in the paw of NZ politics, until they are extracted) Occassional audits of the anonymous deposits should show up attempts to circumvent this.
Any donation of any amount not made in the name of a NZ citizen or resident of NZ would not be anonymous and must be declared on the public register.
All cash donations, electoral office collections and ‘raffle’ sales etc are processed/declared as per origin of funds. -this is an obvious grey area for cases where this total exceeds $1000 but it is hardly an insurmountable obstacle. The circumstances of its collection would show the totals were legitimate. E.g. the deposit slip from bucket collections. Large single donations (over the $1000 limit) are very rare from a bucket day, i am confident dodo eggs would be more common, but a donor’s details could easily be logged by the collector or alternatively the donation can be made using any number of modern technical services such as Square, for one example.
THE PUBLIC REGISTER
Your vote is your vote and that should always be private information between you and the relevant electoral body. When it comes to political donations however, I strongly feel if you don’t want people to know you donated to a particular party then why are you donating to that party?
I am sure there are plenty of clever folk out there who could shape a register with the suitable oversights which also provides the necessary social protections.
Despite the disasters in information sharing from recent years, I am confident NZ could produce a public register detailing the donated amount with an associated donor identity that does so without signing away excessive amounts of private data. The Addresses or locality of the donor for example need not be specific or even public, you might live in Tawa but that does not mean you don’t want to support a candidate in Taupo.
The transfer of data to the EDRNZ Public Register would not need to be instantaneous and a weekly update would most likely suffice.
In conclusion, there are numerous opportunities to massively overcomplicate the environment of a body like EDRNZ, and despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth from some heavily invested interest groups, the actual mechanics of its operation are incredibly straightforward and there is no reason for it not to operate efficiently and most importantly transparently.
thanks Rosie,
after the recent calls for some discussion of actual ideas, I was interested in reading folks views on it, but I guess it could not compete with discussing a hypothetical Parliament.
Dreamer of the week, No 94: wannabee Epsom MP David Seymour.
“… having returned to New Zealand for the Christmas break and finding “a very positive vibe” around Act he decided he would indeed seek the nomination.”
Strange behaviour in the suburbs. I went shopping at another supermarket than my usual today. An Asian lady came right up to me and glared at me for no reason. I jumped. It was almost as though she was saying, ‘Stay away from here.’ Weird. The other evening I parked the car and dropped a letter into the mailbox outside the Post Office. Suddenly an Asian man walked to the ATM nearby and jerked his head to the side as though he was checking that I wasn’t following him. Weird.
Rosie, you represent a big threat. In places like W(h)anganui you can no longer even identify “patched” gang members to help you out if you are assailed by your common garden citizen (well known dangerous buggers, half of them vote National).
Hi Ennui – that was Rose saying about the (perceived) strange behaviour in the burbs, not me.
Something stranger is this: A woman was murdered in her home in our neighbourhood. Neighbours heard her screaming at 1am as she was being stabbed to death but no one phoned the cops. The 111call that was made came from inside her house. That fact that no one thought to phone the cops when they hear some one screaming at 1 in the morning just blows my mind.
That is not very compassionate of the neighbours. People don’t realise that police cruise around in cars and can get there quicker than you think if a car happens to be near by.
You’re right Rose. It wasn’t very compassionate of the neighbours. I found it really upsetting that they didn’t do anything, and it deepened my concern about the isolating and non engaging nature of our suburb. Also, what must the victims family and friends feel about the fact that in her last moments in life she was abandoned by those that could have helped her?
I can’t say I ever experience anyone looking at me in a hostile way in the burbs, as you have experienced- I’m the opposite, I go about completely unseen unless I am wearing my “are you serious” meme girl t shirt. I got this image printed on to a t shirt as an expression of my consternation toward:
A) Our National Government and their policies
B) The voters who allowed the above to happen
I don’t get your point. Are you trying to link these “weird” behaviours to the fact the these people are “Asian”? If there were “white” people behaving the same way, would you have said:
“Strange behaviour in the suburbs. I went shopping at another supermarket than my usual today. A white lady came right up to me and glared at me for no reason. I jumped. It was almost as though she was saying, ‘Stay away from here.’ Weird. The other evening I parked the car and dropped a letter into the mailbox outside the Post Office. Suddenly a white man walked to the ATM nearby and jerked his head to the side as though he was checking that I wasn’t following him. Weird.”
Hang on wtl. Don’t jump to conclusions. I have a friend who has had a few similar experiences. She lives in an Auckland suburb. They’re recent experiences and she doesn’t know why it’s happening. I might add she’s not anti-Asian. She’s even taught Asians in an Asian country.
Quite unusual behaviour for Asians to ‘glare’ at whites. (Although I do it all the time to certain types on the campaign trail lol)
I wonder if this is some kind of unconscious reaction to background anti-asian behaviour or media which has been occurring (though I am not aware of anything specific that has changed).
The other thing which would be interesting to know…are these Asians that have been seen reacting mainland Chinese, other Chinese, Koreans, Japanese or from somewhere else?
Just saying that I felt surprised in the supermarket and on the street when going about my daily business – and described what I saw. I feel it’s touching on human rights issues to be able to go about your daily business freely. I wondered whether anyone else has had similar experiences. Unfortunately I can’t know where these people come from unless I ask them, and I can’t see how I could ask them.
wtl: I never said that I don’t like Asians.
When you glare at whites, Colonial Viper, I’m guessing that’s your way of saying, ‘Back off.’ Why would a woman in a supermarket want me to back off? She did look like a National voter and maybe she could tell by the way I was dressed that I wasn’t wealthy. We were in a beautiful suburb. But still, that is nonsense as it’s not the Kiwi way.
Your last sentence or two is very interesting and revealing. Most Asian cultures are very class and status aware. Hence the endless brand name shopping bs that those who are wealthy enough seem to participate in.
The point is the there is no reason to classify those people as ‘Asian’. If it was a white person doing it, I’m guessing rosie would just have said “a lady” and “a man”, yet if a member of a minority does it the person gets described as being a member of that minority even when it is irrelevant to the story.
This kind of thing is endemic in NZ. For example, most of the articles on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang affair contained the statement that she was “Hong Kong-born” (even in the one line summary), when this piece of information was hardly a key point to the story itself.
IMO it’s even better if we not only class these people as Asian (if they broadly speaking are), but to then see if we can’t find out if there is a specific subgroup or nationality acting differently than what we might expect. Admittedly, I’m just being nosey, but if some underlying social dynamic has changed it would be very interesting to figure out.
My whole experience at the supermarket checkout was unpleasant. The lady glared at me, the Kiwi cashier didn’t greet me, the Asian bag packer swung her hand out within two inches of my face pointing to another cashier, and the bag packer forgot to include some items which I luckily noticed.
Maybe the first lady is a customer monitor who decides who they want to regularly shop in the store – rich National voters only. A sort of segregation of the rich and poor.
In my experience, when the customer service is that bad, the company culture at the top is even worse. Shitty management + crappy wages = unhappy workers giving mediocre service.
Maybe the lady who glared at you mistook you for someone else? Or maybe you accidentally ran over her toes while making a bee-line for the last punnet of raspberries at the end of the fruit aisle? (No wait, that was me on Xmas Eve)
Kiwis can behave rudely too. The other evening I was walking along the footpath of a fairly busy street. Two Kiwi teenage boys came riding towards me on their bikes at full speed. I decided not to jump off the footpath to make way for them as the footpath is for foot traffic. The boy nearest the road was forced to ride onto the road which seemed a bit dangerous as a car came up right behind him.
wtl and cv
The woman reported what had happened to her. That’s all. It was noticeable, and made her feel puzzled. Don’t start that hyper-reactive stuff.
wtl is suggesting some kind of selective racism is going on here but if there are individuals from a particular ethnic background behaving in a slightly unusual way then it’s stupid to say you can’t name their ethnicity. As I pointed out, I know someone who has had some similar experiences with the same ethnic group.
If we go down wtl’s track then I could suggest that he/she is being negatively gender-selective in that he is questioning the right of a woman to comment about a personal experience. For instance, would he/she have made the same kind of comment if the commenter had been a man?
It sounds to me like there might be a bit of a backlash occurring from a few people of Asian origin who have experienced anti-Asian sentiment in NZ.
Anne
When Asian people are targetted by thieves, on the assumption they must be wealthy, I think they might look to their back at the ATM. I do. At who is there and how close as you are advised to be careful about hiding your pin number.
I get antsy when anyone comes to stand beside me as I finish at the supermarket close enough to see my pin number. Tall people could see right over my guard hand if they wanted to. So it could be habit being careful.
But watchfulness led to that nasty business in Florida where the black youngster might or might not have been a thief but the whole thing got out of hand and the Cuban I think knifed? the black guy after reporting him to the police
Maori have felt targetted for decades. There was the sarcastic Maori joke about there being a law that allowed the police to stop them for being Maori in charge of a car.
My cousins vvisitd last night. They said that a landlord was charging 590 a week for the home they charged 290 a week pre earthquake. I wonder if some landlords think if an insurance company paid it was ok? Having said that accom payouts have probably finished.
“Having said that accom payouts have probably finished.”
Surely you jest.
EQC repairs are getting underway for a lot of people now; myself and family included. Generally for EQC work you have to move out of your house for 3-6 weeks, during which time your insurer will pay for temporary accommodation.
Only those who homes were destroyed / badly damaged will have used up their accommodation payments by now. Those houses were in the minority, while also getting the vast amount of publicity.
My son’s family have just had last of minor cracking, repaired, filled and painted. Those who have had lots of damage have suffered. And deserve consideration and support and individual planning appointments if needed. And prompt action if to that level.
Aside from the fact it’s the Daily Mail, so most likely a load of old bollocks anyway this isn’t going to happen to NZ since the government you support would rather do anything than follow in the path of the Norwegians when it comes to managing the profits from resource extraction.
Try the Norway report with link from joe 90. And if you don’t go there I have quoted some facts from it that can’t be written off. Of course we should not be thinking now of drilling for oil and gas, or be fully occupied with finding other energy sources, but still it is great to read of a country that isn’t English speaking. No news is good news if in English.
Digging up our resources and selling them is such a way so that the major beneficiaries are foreign corporates and their stockholders doesn’t make NZ richer. In fact, it makes NZ poorer as we lose resources and get nothing for them.
The Greens need to understand that to be able to achieve thier goals then a massive ‘Think Big’ style program of state investment is needed. Off the top of my head, solar heating for all schools and state housing and a CRI to focus on clean renewable energy. I see no such promises in thier manifesto.
Solar energy is most effectively used as direct heat, for water and space heating. Solar electricity from photo-voltaic panels is still very expensive but is appropriate in remote and off-grid locations. As this technology reduces in price, and with the benefit of bulk purchasing, it may become part of our grid-connected electricity system. The Green Party supports:
Letting a Government tender for a five year programme to produce and install 500, 000 sq metres of solar water heating panels (sufficient to supply about 125,000 homes). The programme will be:
Divided between government buildings (such as state houses, prisons, and hospitals) and suitable private buildings (with priority given to low income families, large families, and isolated rural communities) where the cost savings from the bulk purchase will be passed on to the householder, and
Designed to build capacity in the manufacturing and installation of solar water heaters and bring down the price substantially and permanently.
Was reading somewhere that Perth used to have a requirement for new buildings – and building lots – to be designed to allow for passive solar orientation.
This existed for a while, and when the rules were ‘relaxed’ the increase in energy consumption was noticeable.
A simple non-technical, no-cost rule such as this requires only designers and planners that are informed and diligent.
I brought this up with the Unitary Plan Manager, John Duguid during a community workshop. (Where they go through the motions of listening to the community. Though to be fair, a couple of my suggestions did get picked up). The look of incomprehension was memorable. We continue to design new subdivisions and lots around how many we can fit in – and roads.
A good reminder for me, millsy, to make sure than this is in my Unitary Plan submission for Auckland.
“What struck me is that it was called Benefits Street and then three-quarters or more of the programme actually followed one storyline which was about a petty criminal and shoplifter and how he lived on the proceeds of his crime, rather than the reality of what people face when they live on benefits,” Begg told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday morning.
“Part of the problem of projecting the extreme cases is that people then extrapolate that and say that applies to everybody who is on benefits. There wasn’t anybody who was a typical benefit claimant featured on the programme at all. There was a huge imbalance.
Shouldn’t be surprised though as it was Channel 4 – the same channel that brought us that load of lies The Great Global Warming Swindle. Just more beneficiary bashing which seems to be a global sport of the MSM and right-wing politicians.
What can we make of where National’s current leader Simon Bridges and the Party’s reliable water carrier Paula Bennett are taking their campaign to “win back the Treasury benches”? Going by the often petulant tone he has adopted, and the frequent histrionics of the most ardent supporters: going nowhere, and ...
by Daphna Whitmore It is surprising how rarely the authorities take an evolutionary perspective when dealing with health crises, such as the latest coronavirus spread. They talk about viruses mutating but that is a frequent occurrence, and they treat mutation as though it were equivalent to evolution. A mutation is ...
For over a decade, Heathrow airport has been wanting to add a third runway, to increase air traffic. Its been vigorously opposed by people concerned about the environmental impact. And now, its been ruled illegal on climate change grounds:Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal ...
Many readers will probably have read this RNZ article (or heard the related interview), or seen calls for consultation on the Ministry of Education’s suggested changes to the number of subjects – and achievement standards – on offer to year 11 students. I’ve been following (& participating, where I ...
Method In Our Madness? When a liberal-democratic society encounters racism its first impulse is to shut it down – not interrogate it. But, is this wise? Is it reasonable to assume that a phenomenon as powerful, pernicious and persistent as racism is entirely without purpose? Surely, there must be, as Shakespeare puts it: ...
Here is the speech that Maya Forstater gave at the Woman’s Place UK Women’s Liberation 2020 conference at UCL on February 1st In a recent newsletter she wrote: it was an amazing day (and brilliant to meet so many people in real life). I talked about what makes people and ...
NZ First portrays itself as an anti-establishment party, standing up for "the little guy" (always a guy) against Big Auckland Money and its tool-parties. But it turns out that its secret slush fund is funded by the very people it claims to oppose:Stuff can reveal a longer list of donors ...
Peter TalleyI really don’t envy Jacinda Ardern’s position as Prime Minister of New Zealand. She’s probably got the hardest job in the country. Not only does she have to ensure her own MPs are behaving properly, she has to negotiate with Winston Peters and other NZ First MPs who seem ...
Will She, Or Won't She? Jacinda’s white vestments may look impressive on the cover of the international edition of TIME magazine, but every day Labour’s relationship with Winston Peters and NZ First continues, her ability to go on wearing them back home in New Zealand – without exciting derision – diminishes.IT WAS ...
BAMS survey of 2018 extreme weather The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published a collection of articles examining unusually extreme weather events of 2018 and connections of those to climate change. These investigations are listed separately below but thanks to the generosity of AMS appear free for ...
Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. ...
From 2015 to 2019 the NSA ran a program of mass surveillance of Americans' domestic communications. It was intrusive, totalitarian, and a collosal waste of money:A National Security Agency system that analyzed logs of Americans’ domestic phone calls and text messages cost $100 million from 2015 to 2019, but yielded ...
I must say that it’s at loggerheads with the inclusive and free society we want to create in New Zealand that one of our largest media outlets, MediaWorks, would allow Hannah Tamaki to perform on their show, Dancing With The Stars.Hannah Tamaki and her husband Brian are after all well-known ...
The media is reporting that an Auckland man has been charged with terrorism. Unfortunately, that's all we know, because all details have been suppressed. Who are they? What are they alleged to have done? Its all secret. There may be good reason for some of this (e.g. protection of the ...
Dr David ChagnéNew Zealand is involved in a US$12.8 million USDA grant to improve the quality of blueberry and cranberry. The four-year project, led by North Carolina State University, is part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which funds multi-year, multi-institutional collaborative ...
The Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book is now available! The book uses cartoons, humor, and critical thinking to expose how and why some people reject climate science. It's now available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book outlets. If you're near the DC area, you're very welcome to ...
by the Council of Disobedient Women When Moana Maniapoto recently lamented that Rachel Stewart was no longer writing for the Herald, political commentator Morgan Godfery was quick to brag on Twitter, like a schoolyard bully, how proud he was of “driving Rachel Stewart from the Herald”. What a contrast Morgan ...
You’re probably aware that the Achievement Standards used to assess senior school students’ learning are being reviewed. Science is one of the ‘pilot’ subjects in this process, where a ‘Subject Expert Group’ has developed 4 draft Science standards¹ (a significant step away from the current 30+, and a response to ...
John MacCormickTo succeed in an unpredictable and changing world, adaptability is the key. Let’s be chameleons. Technology continues to change people’s jobs and work environments. But change so far is not as fast and extensive as some pundits claim. Nor is it as fast and extensive as it needs ...
It seems we can’t even get through a week these days without the National Party's leader, Simon Bridges, making some sort of silly announcement about a policy that doesn’t actually exist.Usually concerning Bridges’ gut instinct and the undoing of whatever the Government has recently announced, National’s reactionary opinions and uncosted ...
Oh look! NZ First's secret slush fund was laundering donations from Talley's:One of the country's biggest fishing companies, Talley's, and its managing director donated nearly $27,000 to the New Zealand First Foundation, which has been bankrolling the New Zealand First Party. The foundation received $26,950 from seafood giant Talley's and ...
Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson, George ThomsonMinister Jenny Salesa announced the Government’s long-awaited Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill on Sunday 23 February. The Bill contains some important provisions as it works to strike a balance between ensuring regulated products are available to ...
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...
Transport is our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Any credible effort to reduce emissions to net-zero has to target it. So what is the government doing? Subsidising some of the dirtiest, most inefficient vehicles on the roads:New Zealand's favourite cars - double cab utes - are largely exempt ...
You’ve really got to wonder what the NZ First Party was thinking and drinking last Friday? Not only did they hamstring the Greens by halting one of their main environmental policies, the electric vehicle fee-bate scheme, a policy that the public was led to believe was a done deal…but they ...
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girlsRape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
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Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki is getting a new harbour, which will create 1,850 new jobs in the region, in a new round of regional services funding announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones. Ōpōtiki's harbour is currently unusable by most ships, but it will receive ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First Law and Order spokesman Darroch Ball has submitted the ‘Sentencing (Priority of Interests in Sentencing) Amendment Bill’ – a Members Bill which introduces a new overarching ‘priority and weighting provision’ that courts must follow when sentencing ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas has welcomed today’s announcement from regional economic development minister Shane Jones outlining $5.87m of funding for the re-development of the Taupō Airport. The bulk of the investment ($5 million) will come from the Provincial Growth Fund, while the rest will be from the New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended multi-million dollar provincial growth fund money for Northland water storage. The New Zealand First leader, along with Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, were recently in Dargaville to announce up to $12.745 million PGF funding top-up for water storage initiatives in the ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
It’s my pleasure to be in Sydney today for our annual meeting, Prime Minister. It’s fair to say that since we last met, tragedy and disaster have befallen our two countries. They say that in moments of that nature, the true character of an individual comes to the fore. I ...
Travel restrictions introduced for Iran from today No exemptions for students from China to enter the country Increased health staff presence at international airports The Government has announced a suite of new actions as it steps up its response to the rapidly changing global spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Waikato and South Auckland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support for farmers and growers. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on ...
The Crown accounts are in a strong position to weather any economic uncertainty as a result of coronavirus, with the books in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the seven months to January. The operating balance before ...
Supporting New Zealand to make most of digital and data driven technologies will be the focus of a new Digital Council that begins its work today. Minister for Government Digital Services, Kris Faafoi, and Minister of Statistics, James Shaw, have confirmed the group of experts chosen to advise the Government ...
Safety and climate change resilience are behind South Island regional roading projects that are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I’m pleased to ...
Digital and air connectivity in Fiordland are getting a big boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced in January, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities, to be administered by the Provincial Development Unit. “I’m pleased ...
West Coast ports and roads will benefit from an investment of $18.6 million to improve safety and resilience and enable future economic growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced last month allocated $300 million for regional investment opportunities, to be administered ...
Regional roading projects that will improve safety and resilience are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I spend a lot of time in ...
The Eastern Bay of Plenty will finally get the harbour development it has wanted for decades, thanks to a $79.4 million central Government investment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. This game-changing project will revitalise the township of Ōpōtiki and the wider Eastern Bay of Plenty, creating hundreds ...
Regional New Zealand will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare for climate change and help grow our economy. As part of the $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced by the Government last ...
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, have welcomed a new cyber security qualification as a step towards countering cyber threats and keeping New Zealanders safe. Attending the launch of the new Level 6 Diploma of Cyber Security at Auckland’s Unitec Institute ...
Government Ministers today celebrated 20 years of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/ Ko te Pataka kai o Tikapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi, and recognise there is much to celebrate and so much more to do to give nature a helping hand. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said “New Zealanders care deeply about nature.I want to ...
Prepared remarks on coronavirus by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Massey University. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, The topic of this speech is the Budget 2020 priorities. But, given the considerable interest that I imagine is in the room about COVID-19 coronavirus, I do ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ni sa bula vinaka. Namaste Thank you Shamima, Hon. Minister Vuniwaqa, community leaders and Women’s Crisis Centre staff for your warm welcome. It’s an honour and privilege to officially ...
The Government has released a comprehensive response to ensuring New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump. This follows the Commerce Commission fuel market study which found motorists were paying more than they should for petrol and includes: Fuel Market Bill drafting, to pass mid-year Industry consultation in ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma Tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula vinaka As-salaam alaikum It is a privilege to be here today. Thank you for welcoming us to your house of prayer. Thank you for your warmth. Thank you for greeting ...
Taupō Airport is to be upgraded and expanded through a $5.9 million Government funding boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Taupō Airport is the gateway to the Central North Island. It is essential for both keeping local people and businesses connected, but also to bring more people ...
The Minister of Housing Megan Woods has confirmed the Government is working with Rotorua Lakes District Council and Te Arawa for the second place-based assessment to better understand the housing and urban issues affecting the city. “Every New Zealander has a right to a warm, safe and secure place to ...
19 new community homes (in addition to 14 opened in December) delivered in Takanini, Auckland 500 people housed by CORT Housing Trust by end of March 2,290 new public housing homes delivered in Auckland (November 2017 – December 2019). Another nineteen new public housing homes are being delivered in Auckland, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen ties between New Zealand and India. “India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. We share common democratic traditions, growing two-way trade, extensive people-to-people links, ...
Speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Delhi, India Wednesday 26 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] The Indo-Pacific: from principles to partnerships Distinguished guests, good afternoon and thank you for your invitation. It is good to be here at a time where New Zealand needs less of an introduction than ...
Tihei mauri ora Te Whare e tu nei Te Papa e takoto Tēnā korua No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula Vinaka It is a real pleasure to be here today, and to have the honour of addressing you all. If you’ll indulge me I’m ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
The Lake Ōkaro lakebed has transferred to Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis joined Te Arawa at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua to celebrate the reinstatement of Te Arawa Lakes Trust as a key decision maker over the bed ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Yesterday New Zealand confirmed the first known case of Covid-19 in the country. As the virus approaches global pandemic status, what progress is being made in developing a vaccine? Siouxsie Wiles explains where we’re at, and how the vaccines work.The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is under way, ...
By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed today that a suspected case of Covid-19 coronavirus has tested positive in New Zealand. Ardern said the person was in their 60s, and was a citizen of New Zealand who had recently travelled from Iran via Bali. The person had previously ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Happy February 29! It doesn’t come round very often, so make sure you enjoy it. But why do we have these extra days? Well, if we didn’t, the seasons would gradually move around the ...
New Zealand Pompe Network Allyson Lock, MNZM An open letter to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern “Know us by our deeds”. This was the headline next to your picture on the cover of Time Magazine, for all the world to see. I saw it. I’m ...
Analysis: The government faces economic strife and uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread, four men charged in National's donations case plead not guilty, and more revelations about NZ First's "slush fund". ...
New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 has just been confirmed. Here’s what we know so far.What’s the latest?Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. New Zealand is the 48th country to have a confirmed case of the virus. What do we know about the patient?The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University Review: Leviathan, directed by Yaron Lifschitz. Circa in collaboration with Co:3 Australia, MAXIMA Circus and CircusWA for Perth Festival. As the audience takes their seats, two feet poke out from beneath the curtain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Bailey, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland If you’re hot and sticky even before your daily commute, you might ask why you sweat so much. Sweating is usually the body’s way of stopping you overheating. But for some people, sweating becomes ...
At a tense press conference in Sydney, the New Zealand prime minister has just issued a stark challenge to Australia over its treatment of NZ citizens. Here’s what she said. We appreciate that many Kiwis have taken up the opportunity to live and work in Australia – many more than has ...
New Zealand has widened, not narrowed, its coronavirus travel ban despite universities pleading for an exemption for international students The Government has extended its coronavirus-related travel restrictions to include Iran, while resisting calls from universities to provide an exemption for international students from China. Health officials will also monitor an ...
The Serious Fraud Office has today received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Phil Goff’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
The series, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, kicks off with a discussion on politics and the media. As all right thinking people know, there are a mere 204 days until the general election. To get in the mood, we’re launching a new series of live events. And not ...
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 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador, $20)What are you even up to, Auckland.2 Eleanor ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson insists NZ is in a strong position to weather the fallout from coronavirus, even though Australia has declared it a pandemic. He underlines the Crown accounts are buoyant, the fundamentals of the economy are strong and careful management has seen the economy continue to grow in ...
On the heels of the arrival of The Outsider on NEON, Jean Sergent explores how screen adaptations of Stephen King’s work are able to take on a life of their own. Stephen King, the 72 year old horror author from Portland, has a better work ethic than you or I and ...
Iwi are too reliant on investments in property and primary industries, restricting returns for their members, according to a new report. The annual Iwi Investment Report by consulting firm TDB Advisory, showed the country's eight largest iwi with a collective $9 billion worth of assets, had weak growth in the ...
Announcing a package of regional capital projects worth about $190 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mentioned climate change. He said Regional New Zealand “will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare ...
The people of India have been holding mass protests all over India ever since the anti Muslim and anti working class Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted into law on 12 December 2019. The state has made many attempts to suppress the rising ...
New Zealand consumer confidence remains high, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index. The index was down just one point on last month to 122. "Consumers are feeling pretty happy with their lot at the moment - the lifting housing market is making homeowners feel richer, job opportunities are ...
Jacinda Ardern has described difficult conversations with Australia as being "gnarly'' - but says the trans-Tasman relationship is strong enough to get through them. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Transparency International warns need for political funding reform is urgent Gordon Campbell: On where the ...
Continued strong demand for chicken, burgers and tacos has resulted in another strong year for Restaurant Brands. The fast food operator's net profit for the year ended December fell nearly 16 percent to $30.1m, but that was for a 44-week period, versus the year earlier's 52-week period. That company changed ...
The New Zealand share market opened lower on Friday, following a sixth day of world market losses as investors respond to the economic threat of coronavirus. The NZX benchmark top 50 index opened down 1.5 percent, after last night's 0.9 percent fall. The benchmark top 50 Index has fallen more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Tonkin, Senior Lecturer, English and Creative Writing, University of Adelaide Review: Dance Nation, directed by Imara Savage. State Theatre Company South Australia and Belvoir for the Adelaide Festival Dance is at the heart of playwright Clare Barron’s Dance Nation, from the ...
The Government’s response to new revelations that one of the country’s biggest fishing companies, Talley’s, and its managing director has donated tens of thousands of undisclosed dollars to the New Zealand First Foundation is unacceptable. “The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Michelle Grattan talks with Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher about the week in politics, including the implementation of an emergency plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus, the major parties’ policies on climate change, national security ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University On Churchill Island, southeast of Melbourne, small cone-shaped, shallow holes (digs) puncture the grass. They’re widespread, and reveal moist soil below ...
The University of Auckland's Tim Dare examines what SkyCity's 'de-platforming' of controversial speaker Peter Singer might mean for free speech In work first appearing in the late 1970s, Princeton Philosophy Professor Peter Singer argued that in a limited range of circumstances parents ought to be able to ask doctors to end ...
By Stefan Armbruster of SBS News in Brisbane Thousands of New Zealanders who are denied disability support are hoping Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take the issue up with her counterpart Scott Morrison when they meet today. Despite paying taxes and the NDIS levy, New Zealanders who have come ...
The Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Australian counterpart have met in Sydney and formally agreed to share ideas on how to better support each country's indegineous people ...
Apparently you have a vacancy on your programme after Kanoa Lloyd decided she didn’t “need to see a homophobic Pasodoble or a xenophobic Cha Cha.” Now, we have to admit we don’t know what a Pasodoble is. But we do know xenophobia when we see ...
Public services are increasingly migrating to the internet, but as the government prioritises digital interaction many of the people who need those services the most are left behind, according to a new report. Pita, an elderly gentleman, received a letter from the IRD that claimed he hadn’t paid his tax obligations ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Philippines Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has dismissed comments by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go that “politics” is behind the filing of a proposed concurrent resolution calling on regulators to temporarily allow television giant ABS-CBN to operate as Congress deliberates on its ...
The Serious Fraud Office has received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Lianne Dalziel’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
Employers are encouraged to sign up for Road Safety Week 2020 (4-10 May), and join hundreds of communities, schools and organisations running activities to raise awareness of road safety issues. Brake, the road safety charity, which coordinates the event, ...
A poem by US National Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson.i woke up and the day caught me in its mouth like a strand of yarni am usefulthe motivation for a scarf, maybe some stitch started to be finishedi will make up someone’sheat i will be a fireso intricate it can be worn i ...
The euthanasia debate took an unusual turn this week when Vision NZ, the political party associated with the Destiny Church, made an unexpected policy announcement. It appeared that Vision NZ supported voluntary euthanasia, but just for one person, co-host of TV3’s The Project, Kanoa Lloyd. The now former campaign manager ...
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the findings of an inquiry into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury. The inquiry, led by Ms Jenn Bestwick, was launched by the Commission at the request of the Treasury ...
A scathing report into the accidental release of sensitive Budget 2019 information by the Treasury has found poor procurement processes and governance failures by senior leadership were to blame for security flaws in its website not being identified earlier The inquiry into the accidental release of Budget 2019 information prior ...
The Port of Tauranga's first half result is flat, despite a drop in cargo handled through the country's biggest port. The port company's net profit dropped 1.4 percent to $48.3 million in the six months to December, but was otherwise flat after accounting for a tax adjustment of $0.6m. Revenue ...
For those mothers who gave birth by non-elective Caesarean section, feelings of sadness – even of failure – can be overwhelming, writes Janice Sharan.I’m sitting next to my 15-month-old. He’s sleeping peacefully, his mop of dark hair damp with sweat, lips pursed and his chest rising and falling as he ...
Today is the last day Kiwibank will accept cheques, and its customers will no longer be able to make a payment by cheque. Inland Revenue and ACC will also follow suit on 1 March. The number of cheques has been going down by about 20 percent year-on-year and last year ...
Television New Zealand has reported a strong increase in first half profit, driven up by an increase in advertising revenue. The state-owned broadcaster made a net profit of $15.8 million in the six months to December, beating the year earlier by $5m or 47 percent. "Strong ratings performance for our ...
Air New Zealand has launched its latest safety video that moves away from celebrity appearances to push an environmental message on New Zealand's endangered native birds. The video A Journey to Safety takes a different approach from the widely criticised video of two years ago - called a 'weird mish-mash' ...
A report into how sensitive documents were accessed by the National Party before last year's Budget has found Treasury governance, oversight and risk management processes fell short. ...
In the lead up to Children’s Day in New Zealand on Sunday 1 March, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Aotearoa NZ President Dr Jeff Brown says the wellbeing of children and their whānau must remain a priority for all of society, not only ...
A Kiwi firm is trialling a mobile device and app that could test for Covid-19 in hospitals, schools, factories and homes anywhere in the world within 40 minutes No-one wishes harm on anyone, but sometimes a crisis is also an opportunity to quickly develop new technologies and systems to solve ...
Ahead of the forthcoming public meeting on Monday 2 March regarding the Newlands Volunteer Fire Brigade former Ohariu MP Hon Peter Dunne is extending his best wishes to all those involved in the current campaign to keep the station open. "Although ...
Sure, the new wave of RTDs might have cool labels and no carbs or whatever, but for Sam Brooks, none come close to the perfection held within that little yellow can.RTDs are coming back, if they were ever really gone. I remember the halcyon days of getting drunk off Purple ...
The ongoing strike by NorthTec tutors steps up a notch today with a public rally. For two weeks the members of Te Hautū Kahurangi | New Zealand Tertiary Education Union have been on strike. The action has meant not completing attendance registers; ...
The cut price fuel retailer, Waitomo says the Government’s proposed changes to the fuel market will mean customers will be able to see if they are getting fleeced. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will use today’s meeting with counterpart Scott Morrison in Sydney to tell him his Government is deporting Australian criminals to New Zealand. ...
Coronavirus: Finance Minister Grant Robertson - NZ in shadow of the biggest economic uncertainty in recent times; and A2 Milk result: Net profit leaps 21% on China sales. ...
Thousands of Kiwis are expected to attend the March for Life in Auckland this Saturday (29 February). With Parliament just days away from voting on a Bill to liberalise abortion-up-to-birth in New Zealand those marching will be making a public stand ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Tormey, Professor of Politics, University of Bristol Of the many issues thrown up by Brexit, one of the most pressing is the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom. Brexit was in large measure a revolt by a certain section of English ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Gibney, NHMRC early career fellow, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity While countries around the globe have been taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, it has now been reported in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University As this summer draws to a close, it marks just over a year since successive fish death events at Menindee in Lower Darling River made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Every January Larry Fink, the head of the world’s largest funds manager, BlackRock, sends a letter to the chief executives of major public companies. This year’s letter focused on climate risk. “Climate change has become a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne The government’s financial system inquiry, on which I sat, reported five years ago. It recommended that the creators of financial products be subject to a design and distribution obligation (DDO), which would mean the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Simionato, Lecturer, RMIT University Books are always transforming. The book we hold today has arrived through a number of materials (clay, papyrus, parchment, paper, pixels) and forms (tablet, scroll, codex, kindle). The book can be a tool for communication, reading, entertainment, ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Ardern gets diplomatic, fuel market legislation released, and police pinged over employment records breach.There hasn’t really been much coverage of it in The Bulletin, but it’s worth looking back at quite an important diplomatic week for the PM. She has been ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.Fiction 1 The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox (Victoria University Press, $35) ReadingRoom broke the storydetailing how Knox’s novel was fought over by US publishers in a ...
Sky Sport News presenters Kate King and Goran Paladin deliver the latest news of Kiwi sporting women at home and around the globe. *WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE* Hurdler Portia Bing has reinvented herself in a bid to make the Tokyo Olympics and take another step towards putting last year's disqualification at ...
Embarrassingly for the Department of Conservation, a scheduled ministerial announcement last year was postponed. David Williams reports A much-delayed project to better protect the Mackenzie Basin’s stunning landscapes and bolster biodiversity has a new boss. In the 2018 Budget, Conservation and Lands Minister Eugenie Sage announced $2.6 million to find ...
Trying to reduce drownings - and bring on a new generation of surfers - the Wave Warriors teach kids from low-decile schools water safety wrapped in a surf lesson. Eight-year-old Athena Talavai is less than half the height of the surfboard she’s expected to stand on, and probably only a quarter of the weight. She ...
The decision to give Ihumātao the highest heritage listing available sends a strong signal to the Government and Auckland Council, write Dr Frances Hancock and Nicola Short Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT) has upgraded the heritage listing of the Ōtuataua Stonefields Reserve and included adjacent and long-contested land at ...
If Simon Bridges manages to pull off an election victory, his next headache will be choosing his Cabinet from a somewhat uninspiring line-up, writes Peter Dunne Every election year there is a call to use the election as a chance to refresh Parliament and get rid of at least some ...
An anonymous Department of Conservation staff member, who wishes to be known only as the Carefree Vigilante, provides a handy guide to dealing with menstruation, and menstrual products, in the wild.This post was first published on the Department of Conservation blog.I’ve got six or seven rational fears and about 900 ...
Open mike 10/01/2014 
What can we make of where National’s current leader Simon Bridges and the Party’s reliable water carrier Paula Bennett are taking their campaign to “win back the Treasury benches”? Going by the often petulant tone he has adopted, and the frequent histrionics of the most ardent supporters: going nowhere, and ...6 hours ago
by Daphna Whitmore It is surprising how rarely the authorities take an evolutionary perspective when dealing with health crises, such as the latest coronavirus spread. They talk about viruses mutating but that is a frequent occurrence, and they treat mutation as though it were equivalent to evolution. A mutation is ...7 hours ago
With sincere apologies to Martin Niemöller ...8 hours ago
For over a decade, Heathrow airport has been wanting to add a third runway, to increase air traffic. Its been vigorously opposed by people concerned about the environmental impact. And now, its been ruled illegal on climate change grounds:Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal ...10 hours ago
Many readers will probably have read this RNZ article (or heard the related interview), or seen calls for consultation on the Ministry of Education’s suggested changes to the number of subjects – and achievement standards – on offer to year 11 students. I’ve been following (& participating, where I ...15 hours ago
Method In Our Madness? When a liberal-democratic society encounters racism its first impulse is to shut it down – not interrogate it. But, is this wise? Is it reasonable to assume that a phenomenon as powerful, pernicious and persistent as racism is entirely without purpose? Surely, there must be, as Shakespeare puts it: ...17 hours ago
A New Hope from the National Party leader ...1 day ago
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BAMS survey of 2018 extreme weather The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published a collection of articles examining unusually extreme weather events of 2018 and connections of those to climate change. These investigations are listed separately below but thanks to the generosity of AMS appear free for ...2 days ago
Fans are outraged at the prospect of Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki joining the Black Caps ...2 days ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...6 days ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...1 week ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...2 weeks ago
The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki is getting a new harbour, which will create 1,850 new jobs in the region, in a new round of regional services funding announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones. Ōpōtiki's harbour is currently unusable by most ships, but it will receive ...14 hours ago
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...3 days ago
It’s my pleasure to be in Sydney today for our annual meeting, Prime Minister. It’s fair to say that since we last met, tragedy and disaster have befallen our two countries. They say that in moments of that nature, the true character of an individual comes to the fore. I ...9 hours ago
Yesterday New Zealand confirmed the first known case of Covid-19 in the country. As the virus approaches global pandemic status, what progress is being made in developing a vaccine? Siouxsie Wiles explains where we’re at, and how the vaccines work.The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is under way, ...1 hour ago
By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed today that a suspected case of Covid-19 coronavirus has tested positive in New Zealand. Ardern said the person was in their 60s, and was a citizen of New Zealand who had recently travelled from Iran via Bali. The person had previously ...5 hours ago
New Zealand Pompe Network Allyson Lock, MNZM An open letter to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern “Know us by our deeds”. This was the headline next to your picture on the cover of Time Magazine, for all the world to see. I saw it. I’m ...6 hours ago
Analysis: The government faces economic strife and uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread, four men charged in National's donations case plead not guilty, and more revelations about NZ First's "slush fund". ...6 hours ago
A gun safety expert says a firearm registry is the most important gun control measure NZ does not yet have. ...8 hours ago
New Zealand has widened, not narrowed, its coronavirus travel ban despite universities pleading for an exemption for international students The Government has extended its coronavirus-related travel restrictions to include Iran, while resisting calls from universities to provide an exemption for international students from China. Health officials will also monitor an ...9 hours ago
How clever technology that gives people access to their wages every day might help keep people from out-of-control debt. ...10 hours ago
Finance Minister Grant Robertson insists NZ is in a strong position to weather the fallout from coronavirus, even though Australia has declared it a pandemic. He underlines the Crown accounts are buoyant, the fundamentals of the economy are strong and careful management has seen the economy continue to grow in ...10 hours ago
Iwi are too reliant on investments in property and primary industries, restricting returns for their members, according to a new report. The annual Iwi Investment Report by consulting firm TDB Advisory, showed the country's eight largest iwi with a collective $9 billion worth of assets, had weak growth in the ...11 hours ago
Announcing a package of regional capital projects worth about $190 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mentioned climate change. He said Regional New Zealand “will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare ...11 hours ago
New Zealand consumer confidence remains high, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index. The index was down just one point on last month to 122. "Consumers are feeling pretty happy with their lot at the moment - the lifting housing market is making homeowners feel richer, job opportunities are ...11 hours ago
Continued strong demand for chicken, burgers and tacos has resulted in another strong year for Restaurant Brands. The fast food operator's net profit for the year ended December fell nearly 16 percent to $30.1m, but that was for a 44-week period, versus the year earlier's 52-week period. That company changed ...11 hours ago
The New Zealand share market opened lower on Friday, following a sixth day of world market losses as investors respond to the economic threat of coronavirus. The NZX benchmark top 50 index opened down 1.5 percent, after last night's 0.9 percent fall. The benchmark top 50 Index has fallen more ...11 hours ago
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Heard a weird and unlikely story the other day. It goes like this:
Late last year blogger David Farrar writes several uncomplimentary posts about the proposed Government bailout of Chorus. He is then told in no uncertain terms that his company Curia will lose its polling contract with National if he continues to bag the bung.
Now I don’t believe this to be true, because the John Key Government would never bully anyone and Farrar is so principled he would have exposed the bullying anyway.
Whatever the actual facts are, I think we should be told.
They probably sent round Crusher Collins to have a quiet word with him, while Steven Joyce and Bill English sat outside in the car.
they could have also taken the chris christie of nz politics..brownlee..with them..
..and threatened farrar with getting brownlee to sit on him..?
..that would have pulled farrar back into line..toot suite..!
phillip ure..
“It’s the worst example of a petty political vendetta’: Fort Lee, NJ, Mayor Sokolich on retaliatory George Washington Bridge closings”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/emails-link-chris-christie-aides-bridge-lane-closures-article-1.1569740#ixzz2pvkvNMjs
Insane! The Tea Party approach to town planning.
That Governor needs a New Jersey, with a clean bib, and something in his brain to govern his monomania.
This is enjoyable in a masochistic way. We have had the Canadian Toronto bully boy, both of them looking over-fed, so who can we present next. Do tell if anyone gets some goss on pollies. We can play our fiddles as functioning democracy burns.
test..
it’s eating comments/white-screening again..
phillip ure..
The French and Brazilians have something to teach NZer’s about relaxing, and work life balance.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1401/S00126/kiwis-leaving-millions-of-annual-leave-days-unused.htm
“This is in stark contrast to other nations – particularly the French and Brazilians – who both use all of their allocated annual leave days. Despite taking all of their holidays, 90% of employed French adults still claim to feel vacation deprived, more than any other country.”
I’m with you there French Comrades (when I am in work of course)
In Austria, also in the list of countries taking all allocated leave, and maybe others, this could have someting to do the 3 day extra leave bonus for taking all allocated leave. For companies it seems the bonus is worth it to get the leave debt off the books… And reduces the likelihood of infringing on working hours legislation.
Working hours legislation to prevent exploitation… Weird huh?
“In Austria, also in the list of countries taking all allocated leave, and maybe others, this could have someting to do the 3 day extra leave bonus for taking all allocated leave”
Fancy that! Using reward, (as opposed to punishment),to encourage preferred behaviour in employee’s. It’s hard to imagine NZ companies being that forward thinking.
Many years ago, the Union I worked for dealt with a work site where the employer simply rostered employee’s with what they perceived as over due annual leave, (and it wasn’t over due anyway) OFF, so they didn’t have so much accrued leave sitting in the books. This of course, could have been dealt with by discussing leave with the employee(s) but above all respecting the employee’s personal life is their own and that it’s not for the employer to dictate when annual leave should be taken.
Onya Austrians.
“Despite taking all of their holidays, 90% of employed French adults still claim to feel vacation deprived, more than any other country.”
Looks like spending time with family and friends and following your own interests is a bit addictive – no wonder it’s not encouraged in most modern societies.
Al Jazeera is (mostly) a very good TV channel
But viewers need to beware of its pro-Saudi political bias
Al-Jazeera News, (Freeview Channel 16), Friday 10 January 2014, 7:30 a.m.
I’ve been watching Al Jazeera intermittently for a few months, ever since it started to be broadcast on Freeview, along with the wonderful Sommet Sports. Occasionally I take time off watching the Bundesliga, or surfing docos, or speedway from Poland, to listen to the radio, to exercise, to read (presently reading War and Peace; just finished the War part and now onto the Peace) and to watch Al Jazeera.
I’m sorry to say that I am very concerned about the political bias of Al Jazeera. The channel does do many things very well: there are some lively debates about all sorts of things, and a really excellent media analysis show called Listening Post. Its documentaries are thorough, thoughtful and insightful; the other day there was a brilliant one about Brazilian kids who make a living by selling sweets to passengers on Amazon river boats. There was a riveting documentary on the history of Syria, and a serialised documentary on the history of Muslims in France. These documentaries are as good as anything the BBC did in its heyday.
But undermining all this, just as with the BBC and Deutsche Welle, is a political bias which is often overt. The station is owned by the government of Qatar, and despite its assertions to the contrary, it is quite clear that it adheres closely to the regime’s political line. The Qatari government is an ally of Saudi Arabia and the United States, and therefore an enemy of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Hezbollah. Al Jazeera’s coverage of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon is unremittingly negative. There is a special animus against Iran; Al Jazeera presenters mercilessly badger Iranian interviewees and their guest “experts”, often from the same right wing “think tanks” that pollute American television, speaking from studios in “friendly” places like Washington or London or Amman, are unrestrained in their hostility, often being extremely rude and contemptuous.
To compound things, the English language version of Al Jazeera is full of ex-BBC hacks, who don’t seem to have changed their style one whit. There is also a disconcertingly large number of former New Zealand television reporters working there. Ever wondered what happened to Wayne Hay? Watch Al Jazeera. You want to see Anita McNaught? Kim Vinnell? Barnaby Phillips? Watch Al Jazeera.
This morning’s news provided a neat little example of this phenomenon. Another old BBC hand, David Foster, interviewed one Shuja Nawaz from another right wing think tank, the Atlantic Council, this time about the Karzai government’s decision to release 88 detainees, despite objections from the United States. The detainees have allegedly committed some “egregious” crimes, Foster grimly informed viewers. Those crimes? Wounding and killing NATO troops in their country. Egregious indeed—just like the French Resistance, the Partisans in Yugoslavia and the Chinese “bandits” who fought the Japanese, these monsters dared to shoot at enemy soldiers who occupy their country.
Mr Nawaz pointed out that this release of prisoners won’t endear Mr Karzai to his American sponsors….
SHUJA NAWAZ: The United States is not going to be receptive to his demands.
DAVID FOSTER: [with maximum gravitas] Understandably perhaps, given the number of years that U.S. forces have been there!
If you want a really chilling read, have a look at the lineup of “experts” on that think tank that Mr Nawaz belongs to….
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/experts
Not JUST ‘BBC hacks’ @ Morissey – but also CNN.
They all have an agenda and a ‘perspective’ – whether AlJaz, BBC Int, DW, CNN Int, and RT.
Trick is to try watch ’em all from time to time and see where they’re coming from.
The good thing about AlJaz is that – true to their word – they often tackle stories neglected by others and at least try and keep things on the menu whilst others have covered it briefly, the walked away.
I note the growing criticism of the BBC these days from within the UK, and the manner in which they’ve caught the NZ disease (dumbing down as a Public Service broadcaster, the cult of personality, etc….). Doesn’t help I spose when they start employing TVNZers doing their OE (keeping us all “ACROSS” things).
Credibility lost. They’ll probably wake up WHEN its all turned to shit and their journalistic integrity, credibility and trustworthiness ranks amongst below that of pollies, real estate agents, lawyers, used-car salesmen et al.
Oh – btw….. have you noticed how the BEEB – now managed by the bean counters effectively is getting its presenters into more of that ‘personality’ oriented promotion.
Thanks Christ its being met with the cynicism it deserves in the UK – whereas here its been going on so long its fucking Norman Normal, Max Headroom
To steal some of the comments expressed below Stuart Nash’s lastest post on The Daily Blog:
*Bangs head
on deskagainst a brick wall*An excellent post by Nash, though I’m not sure it is entirely needed from a candidate at this time. His analysis of the Green’s electoral prospects is spot on, if only because it matches what I’ve been saying for years. If the Greens feel that they are ready to be in Government, then they probably need to find a way to stitch up a coalition deal with Labour and NZFirst before the election, not after.
There’s some nasty little smears about the Greens included in that post. eg – the line about the Greens turning off voters, just plays into the MSM/right wing spin, and is not helpful.
It shows both a fear of the Greens, and failure to understand how to develop a working relationship, while each party follows their policy priorities. Nash treats the Greens as the enemey taking votes off Labour, and seems to be really underestimating their future vote share.
And as for saying they could choose NZ First as their main partner…..?
Well, if NZF get back in, then they are likely to be in Government with someone. I’d prefer LP/NZF rather than Nat/NZF, so if it has to be that the Greens dip out to make that happen, it’s no bother to me. With NZF, you know exactly what you get, the Greens not so much.
Like it or not, the public perception is that the Greens should not be anywhere near the purse strings. That’s not a smear, just a fact of political life. I suspect the voting public would be ok with them getting portfolios such as environment or education, but nothing that effects the economy.
“With NZF, you know exactly what you get, the Greens not so much.”
lolz of the day. Remember that election where Peters led everyone, including his voters, to believe he would go into coalition with Labour?
Whooosh! I said “in Government” Weka.
Ah, hard to tell with all that smearing going on.
TRP
“His analysis of the Green’s electoral prospects is spot on, if only because it matches what I’ve been saying for years”. Not; because it has any connection with reality, but; because it confirms your own prejudices. But what else can one expect from a person who thinks that Shane Jones would be a better leader for Labour than Cunliffe & that NZF is their natural coalition partner?
There is a *lot* wrong in Stuart Nash’s piece – so much so that it should just be written off as the braying of an ass…
“A Wgtn Green insider once told me that he believed that at least 80% of their voters would support Labour if the Green party did not exist” – yeah – because the Green Party is going to lay down and die on the say so of Labour
“it is not a certainty that a Labour led government would be in coalition with the Greens” – is he really expecting Labour to gain 10% over the next 6-9 months?
“The Green party received 11.1% at the last election. History will show this is the high-water mark for them. I expect them to get around the 6.7% they polled in 2008” – so, we’re going to ignore the 2011 election for the sake of a badly made point?
“With Cunliffe firing, the Labour caucus united and the growing perception that Key is only there for his rich mates, the battle for 2014 is between a Labour-led opposition” – since when wasn’t it going to be a Labour-led opposition? Also, as much as I like Cunliffe, I have yet to see Labour fire
It is talk like this that stokes the divisiveness on the Left and Labour need to get a clue that their allies are *not* their enemies.
If it’s reasonable to suggest that 80% of Green voters would vote Labour if the Green Party didn’t exist, then isn’t it just as reasonable to suggest that a similar percentage of Labour voters would vote Green if the Labour Party didn’t exist?
And if that’s the case, then isn’t it just as reasonable to suggest that the Labour Party and the Green Party are natural bedfellows in a parliamentary setting?
So, vive la difference (appreciate it!) and fuck this whole idea of trying to create domineering factions within the scenario. (To clarify, not saying your doing that Zorr)
I’m trying to say the opposite of that Bill – that we should be working together but it’s one of those cases where this type of divisive political language is only coming from one party in the relationship – Labour.
Stuart Nash and Josie Pagani should go form their own party called “The Self Involved Morons Party” and leave the rest of us to trying to figure out how to defeat John Key.
Yeah – I knew where you were going. My attempt to echo your thoughts came out all assity boo though 😉
+ (plus) fucking 1 (one)
I’m tempted to respond with my brief encounter with a former “Labour” tah (very muchly) visit.
These are fairly trying times, and were I to do so though, there’d be a barrage of Max Headrooms – Geeeeeeeey-ons, the Garnered, the necked-Red – the whole Cat’s Chorus and Kordia-enabled band of the fukkers: In pagani-like appearances on every and any – please, fucking please (I’ll lay down for you Mora-like please) ANY outlet willing, ditto a “i’m inclined to agree-with you Mathew (or rather Matt).
Play it forward …. the cnuts will eventually be the IRRELEVANT, the pleading as INNOCENT, the BITTER old Queens (who got an agenda but NOT the courage that was necessary to go with it) , the economically worried behind keypad gated clusters (not communities)……. there’s a shitload of them. The God (in our case KEY) unforsaken.
Please ….. roll the tape
Well, it’s pretty much been a Greens led opposition since 2k8. Unfortunately, Labour seem to want to continue with this after the general election this year.
That and that neo-liberalism, free-trade and privatisation is bad for society and then state their understanding clearly and concisely.
tbh – that’s a little bit beside the point. We all have slightly different views on where we would like the grand ol’ ship New Zealand headed but I think we could all agree on one thing – time to take the Captain’s hat back off John Key because there’s icebergs ahead and he’s all “full steam ahead
“Well, it’s pretty much been a Greens led opposition since 2k8. Unfortunately, Labour seem to want to continue with this after the general election this year.”
Yep! …. In the true sense of the word “opposition”.
It’s probably even been a bit before 2k8 – when ABC type factionalism became evident; when Pagani & Williams couldn’t quite get over themselves and convinced themselves they knew best; when Labour forgot its principles; when even those within (Chauvell and others) began to think pushing shit uphill wasn’t really viable ……
That last conference or two really were a bigger game changer than the careerists could cope with – tho’ their only option is/was to continue.
Exciting times.
Irrelevance ….. OR …. the possibility/opportunity of beginning to rebuild and become something those lost 800k or so can identify with, have an affinity with, support, assist, ……
Strange really how a very few can stuff it up for many. Such is the nature tho of a Labour Party – at least as it existed till recently.
Tick Tock Tick Tock
Thank CHrist I noticed a Chauvell back in town recently, and briefly, and busily texting away.
I suspect he too was weighing up whether things were going to be despair and irrelevance, OR something worthwhile.
[ABC …. not sure whether that stands for Anything but Cunliffe, OR All But Cnuts] – time will tell
Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t it already been stated that the Greens will have economic portfolios? Just not that of ‘Finance Spokesperson’ or whatever.
And what the fck is so wrong with Green representation in finance TRP? I mean, seriously, what do you think would be wrong with it? Not really interested in you trying to channel the supposed thoughts and sentiments of a ‘voting public’ that just happens to also channel to b/s line of the Nats and their cronies.
So, putting aside any second guessing about thoughts of the ‘voting public’ (because that might be seen as a smokescreen to hide your own thoughts and sentiments behind) – what do you think?
If you think it’s a bad thing, then just say so – and stop looking to cover your arse. And if you’re happy with it, then how about you stop reflecting the baseless fear mongering of the Nat Party?
But that’s TRP’s remit: to lessen the GP vote by fearmongering so that Labour get more power.
I have no fear of the Greens having finance portfolios, Bill. Read what I wrote before you go off half cocked. Like it or not, voters don’t like it as a possibility.
Nothing half cocked. I’d just appreciate your thoughts (whatever they may be) to be presented sans the ‘couching’. You up for that?
“Like it or not, voters don’t like it as a possibility.”
Except a whole lot do, so what’s your point exactly? That you can predict how many people will vote which way based on which policy this year? Or perhaps,
“Like it or not, the public perception is that the Greens should not be anywhere near the purse strings. That’s not a smear, just a fact of political life. I suspect the voting public would be ok with them getting portfolios such as environment or education, but nothing that effects the economy.”
Except it is a smear, one you are repeating. The public don’t all think one thing despite your assertion. Which just leaves your motives for taking this line.
I think there is such a public perception. One that could be smashed by the Greens proving it wrong in the next or some other government. It must be one of their longer aims….
I don’t think it’s possible to separate out ‘public perception’ from Crosby Textor et al spin, TRP/Labour Party spin, media spin (both right wing and general shit stirring), from people who have some genuine concerns, from people who are ignorant, from people who are bigoted, from people who just hate the GP.
weka, the polls don’t lie. Only one in ten voters directly support the Greens and a percentage more, like me, are fine with them being in a Labour led Government. I get out and about a lot, and talk to heaps of people about politics, both at work and socially, and the theme of ‘what about the greens’ comes up all the time. The majority of voters are uncomfortable with them having real responsibility. That won’t change at least until they’ve actually been in Government, and even then, it probably won’t change by much.
The funny thing about this discussion is that the Green’s leadership know this stuff already. Russel doesn’t wear suits because he’s a fan of Milan fashion week, it’s about appearing sensibly middle class to try and turn the ‘hippy’ tag around.
Yes TRP. Branding. Big deal. Now – you going to state your position/thoughts on Green Party involvement in finance? (Saying, as you did, that you don’t fear it, simply isn’t saying anything about whether you think it a good thing or bad thing. It’s in line with me saying “I don’t fear having chili for tea tonight” ; it says nothing about whether I think it’s a good idea or a bad idea.)
The MSM has covered quite extensively the Australian election fortunes, and (rightly or wrongly) the Greens over there have been singled out frequently as a major factor in their current financial situation (forecasting a deficit in excess of $40Bn next year alone).
This may have a bearing on current public sentiment (just a guess though).
I’ve stated my position, Bill. But, anyway, I don’t think the Greens are going to get any finance related portfolios anyway, because Labour already have front benchers ready to take those posts.
ps, “Branding. Big deal.” tells me all I need to know about your understanding of why the Greens can’t get any real traction.
And trp shimmies in an unconvincing fashion….again.
And everybody knows the shit about branding – on what it is and why it’s necessary. That’s why I say it’s no big deal. Geddit?
“And everybody knows the shit about branding – on what it is and why it’s necessary. That’s why I say it’s no big deal. Geddit?”
Clearly you don’t ‘geddit’, Bill. The Green’s branding keeps them above 5% but limits them to single figures, or just above. It is also part of the reason they are not trusted by the majority (that is, they are seen as a single issue party).
Well, since you’re still pretending to engage while engaging in nothing beyond the same old ducking, diving and diverting that seems to be your m.o. …what do you think of Green MP’s having financial portfolios in a future government given that Cunliffe (unless my memory is letting me down) has already stated that they will have financial portfolios?
jebus, have you overdone it on the obtuse pills, Bill? I’ve already said a few times today I have no problem with the Greens having finance portfolios. Can you stop shimmying and a duckin’ and divin’ long enough to actually read my words?
Thankyou for that trp. Finally.
Given that, you may (or may not) want to spend a wee while reflecting on what I was saying way back here
“Mr Norman is extremely unlikely. I would rule it out, being our Finance Minister, yes I am ruling that out.”
David Cunliffe.
Bill, that’s the nearest thing I can find to support for your claim of an offer of economic portfolios. Doesn’t sound much like it, does it? Perhaps you can actually find a quote that supports your point. I couldn’t.
Perhaps you are thinking of Eddie’s speculative piece last year (Labour makes room for the greens or a similar title).
What the Greens have to do is lose the extremist tag, until that happens the green party will always be looked at with suspicion by the voting public.
The only way that is going to happen is if they ditch the “labour and only labour is the party we’ll work with” nonsense.
They had an opportunity to develop a bit more cred with the voting public when they teamed up with national with the insulation scheme but fucked that up by pulling out and cementing themselves as a hard left alliance like party instead of an environmental party, absolute height of stupidity.
If the greens actually went back to being an environmental party,willing to work with whoever was in power they’d get the opportunity to show that they’re not extremist nut bars and you’d find the voting public would become more receptive to their ideas.
That would involve kicking out the communists though.
Actually, in doing that, they lost credibility.
Ah, the old if they just stayed in their place cry from a RWNJ. They’ve got the experience and the skills within the party to be a broad party so why shouldn’t they?
The greens haven’t got enough cred currently to be a fully fledged party such as National and Labour.
They need to concentrate on the environment aspect at the moment, once they get a track record of being involved in government they should then try to expand into other areas.
Currently they seem to be going from the crawling stage to the mountaineering stage in one go.
Rod Donald dieing at such a young age has really hobbled the greens and put them back decades.
Funny how they got shit from people like you back in the day for being an environment only party (even though they weren’t).
Funny also how when they expanded their focus to be an all round party, not just about the environment, and got that message out better, they got more votes.
They got more votes last time around because of the Rena hitting the rocks.
If it wasn’t for that they’d have been lucky to make 5-6%.
Greens concentrate on being a neutral environmental party they’ll be around 20% party vote.
@ BM,
So your assumption is there are 20% of voters out there whose sole concern is environmental issues and not a mix of environmental AND other issues.
These voters whose sole concern was the environment would have to be prepared to vote for the environment and not on which way the jobs or finances or health or education matters were managed – under your assumption.
I call you wrong on this.
MMP
No reason why a party cannot specialize, National for the economy, Greens for the environment.
I reckon there would be quite a few blue voters out there that would toss a party vote the greens way, if they weren’t so left, candidate vote National, party vote green.
Think of all the tradie fisherman, hunter types, even farmers, by saying FU to National you lost all those potential votes, bit silly really.
@ BM,
Yes, I did consider this aspect prior to making my comment – that point is worth considering – however omits other concerns that people have about what is going on – the more the Greens have answers to the other problems the more inclined I am to vote for them – which I never have to date.
One would have to assess how many votes would be lost to them for not addressing the other issues and how many would be gained by that approach.
I estimate more would be lost than gained.
The environment is extremely important – however if there is no connection made between how these environment issues can work in with other issues facing us – relevancy is not understood – I believe it becomes too abstract for many people to support. They can also more easily be put down to being ‘fixated’ i.e. ‘nutbars’ if the relevance of where environmental issues fit in is not made clear.
The Greens are doing well on this ‘linking’ of environmental problems with addressing other problems – and it is my view that they are gaining support from doing this – not simply ‘because of the Rena disaster’.
Of course, there is no division between the environment and the economy. The trick of the Right Wing has been to try and divorce the two.
In reality, the economy is a *subset* of the environment.
“Greens concentrate on being a neutral environmental party they’ll be around 20% party vote.”
BM, “pure” environmentalism isn’t neutral. It is by definition totally opposed to the exploitative capitalism you support.
By suggesting they focus entirely on environmentalism you’re actually calling for the Greens to become a radical left-wing extremist party.
(p.s. they’re doing fine without your consultation btw)
Not quite.I’m thinking more along the lines of the greens being environmental experts.
No matter who’s in power the greens are the go to people for anything to do with the enviromental side of politics.
That way they’re always in the loop and can get more longer term projects and objectives achieved.
Greens need to get more business savvy, to be affective.
Yes, but “the environmental side of politics”, if taken seriously, is always going to be diametrically opposed to the right wing neoliberal capitalist side of politics, because right wing neoliberal economics and the consumerism on which it depends is exactly what our environment needs to be protected from.
Well, they need to remove that stick from their arse and learn to work with others, not every one is as holy as thou.
Better to have a bit of the pie than no pie.
Earlier you were saying they must drop everything and focus only on protecting the environment.
Now you’re saying they must forget the environment and just get on with whatever anyone else wants to do.
Make your mind up, fucko.
I think he has one of those astroturfing jobs where he doesn’t get paid enough to make a real effort, he just has say vaguely pseudo-logical shit to tie up the local energy a bit. I’m kind of surprised to see how many people engaged seriously with his arguments.
@Weka
With polls still indicating Nat popularity in the high 40s the conclusion I draw is this country is being run on the infestation of pseudo logic and therefore it pays to provide arguments against it at every opportunity.
The MSM has concocted the “Greens + finance portfolio = economic madness theory” as another right-wing narrative peculiar to political vested interest associations to chip away at any credibility the left may be procuring.
How much the general public really believes this message is difficult to accurately determine but what tends to happen is the ‘messaging’ that gets repeated the most often over a long period of time eventually gets swallowed by the intended recipients and becomes ingrained into orthodox thinking regardless of it’s integrity or otherwise (think advertising and neo-liberalism for example).
Best thing said on the subject today, thanks.
Spot on, Changeling. Whether it’s deserved or not, or logical or not, voters do not want the Greens to have a hand on the chequebook. Obviously, that feeling is strongest among Nat and ACT voters, but a significant proportion of the other 40% feel that way too. When I talk to people about the coming labour led Government, that meme comes up all the time.
It was well and truly reinforced when Norman quite rightly suggested we should look at quantitative easing a few years back. Despite it being a standard economic response in tough times, he was widely dissed in the media for it.
It wasn’t helped, I think, and so did a lot of people within the Green Party, when Russel backed down instead of explaining that it is a pretty conventional policy. Policy that got us and the USA out of the 30’s depression before most other countries, and used, even now by even “right wing” countries.
Of course the banks, which really run NZ would strongly oppose any attempt to use QE to break their monopoly on finance. They are not opposed to it when it is simply given to them. As in the USA.
Yep. Left supporters want to see Left parties standing strong for strong Left principles, strong Left policies and a strong Left vision for NZ.
This is not fucking rocket science.
The swaying middle (most of the top 20%) will go wherever they think their personal and immediate family interests are best served. Which for many, means that something like a UBI and a jobs guarantee for youth, is going to be more than slightly attractive. Anything to get the teenage boy off the bloody PS3 and off to work at 7 in the morning.
Yes, well said The Changeling – this is what is so distressing about a Labour member coming out and repeating the message sent out by right-wingers and MSM
– It is not likely that Labour are going to win the election without the support of other parties – so why diss them?
-So why are Labour members repeating messages that work against their chances of success??
Here is a novel idea: Left wing party members need to challenge the false messages that right-wing parties and the MSM send out to the public – at every opportunity they get – not propagate them geez!
“Left wing political parties” do not represent or lead the Left. How can they? They are establishment and privilege, not radical.
Left parties ALWAYS have to be pressured by the non-parliamentary Left to keep on course, because the tendency to rapidly go off on idiotic Thorndon bubble focussed tangents is well established.
@ CV
You really are coming out with some comments that I view as containing dubious logic to them recently CV. What is with that?
“Left wing political parties” do not represent the Left”
Oh really? Wtf are they representing then?
[Are you trying to get people not voting?]
“Left parties ALWAYS have to be pressured by the non-parliamentary Left to keep on course”
Yes, this is a good message to keep repeating – do remember you are saying that to a person who is of the understanding that politicians – such as the leader of the Labour Party- read The Standard!
I’ll try and phrase it a bit more carefully. “Representing” is not necessarily exactly what I meant, as I also meant “reflecting.”
So wtf are they representing/reflecting? Different aspects of the establishment of course, which by definition, in Parliament and on pay levels of the top 2%, they certainly are.
The much broader extra-parliamentary left, especially the non-membership left, thats where pressure needs to build up to put these parties on course, and keep them there.
People successfully made that call for themselves last time.
My interpretation of what CV is alluding to is that left leaning party’s, in order to stay in power know they must constantly garner whatever the centre ground voters deem as necessarily important because this is always where elections are won and lost. So because of this there’s always a conflict between non parilamentary members of a political party and MP’s (caucus), about policy priority involved with pandering to the wider centre ground electorate so power can be maintained and staying ‘true’ to whatever the stated ideology is.
Spin doctoring and going in absentia (from perceived negative media biases) is the primary mechanism that the National Party uses in this process of delivering core policy requirements to their business rountable confidants, whilst lying their heads off to the middle ground via spin doctoring to maintain credible to the middle ground of the electorate and to ultimately stay in power.
Much better wording there, CV.
@the Changeling
in order to stay in power know they must constantly garner whatever the centre ground voters deem as necessarily important because this is always where elections are won and lost.
I don’t agree with this
This is what the leftwing parties are struggling with:
http://www.governmentisgood.com/articles.php?aid=9&p=4
and this
http://theconversation.com/your-money-or-your-rights-tax-the-super-rich-or-take-away-their-political-clout-14940
[this last link is well worth the read by the way – gives a proposed solution to the problem]
And this is why you believe that the centre ground vote is what is winning and losing elections
and that is why I ask CV whether he wants people to not vote – because people who would vote left and who are not voting are not voting because they know how severely compromised by big money left wing approaches – and our democracy – is.
And telling them that the left parties do not represent the left – is going to feed into their fears – it can be changed as long as we are strong, persevering and do not give into defeatism and ensure political parties get positive feedback for left-wing policies.
And left-wing policies are what is going to counteract what is going on regarding big money and the power this has over politics
It’s now not enough for left supporters to vote Left once every 3 years although of course that would be nice; they have to join the community groups, the protest movements, the outspoken workers unions and organisations who will keep the parliamentary left, truly left.
@ CV
It is entirely counterproductive, however, for left voters to stop voting completely while doing these good works.
Blue leoppard, Having read the second link as i understand it, although the centre ground of the voting spectrum is where elections are won and lost (which on its’ own is true and correct?), those voters themselves are adhered and vulnerable to decision making processes and messages, based around voting for the interests pertaining to who ever is their paymaster. Ongoing financial security is the precursor to perceived voting preferences.
And on top of this is the more direct financial support a party receives from lobbyists (rich corporate’s), in return for implementing their agendas. The rich corporate’s control the voting patterns of the wider populace of the middle ground in at least three different ways:
1. Directly owning and controlling media and messaging signs.
2. Controlling employees perceptions of whats good for their (and wider business and economic interests generally).
3. Directly funding political campaign messaging and receiving favourable policy outcomes because of this.
The political party with the most money and money related connections has the most power. A synonymity here?
Well said, thechangeling, mechanism explained succinctly!
So where TRP do you get the ‘fact’ of the voters don’t like it from, admit it, it’s simply more of you ‘thunk it therefor it is’ politics from you,
11% of the voters have no problem whatsoever with the Green Party economic policies including Russell Norman’s advocacy of printing money, at the November election, as David Cunliffe’s newly RED Labour Party is exposed as the softest of pinks i fully expect as per the Green Party’s growth rate for it to achieve 13-14% of the Party Vote,
Of course the neo-libs and other right wingers happily and for far too long ensconced within the Labour Party yearn for a cozy Government made up of Labour and NZFirst with the Green Party simply providing the numbers with very little gains in policy,
This time round i don’t think that that little scenario will wash with the Green Party rank and file and watch the ructions from within the Party should the current leadership sell it’s support for what will essentially be a right leaning Labour Government for next to nothing as was done befor…
Bad 12, here’s the fact:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_general_election,_2011
89% say you’re wrong.
specious TRP – we can only vote for one party – just because someone has voted for one party doesn’t mean they might be perfectly happy for another one to be in power.
zOFG TRP! 72% of voters don’t want Labour anywhere near the chequebook!
Stop living in the past, felix. new dynamic etc.
How about you take your own advice TRP
You supplied the data and the interpretation, buddy.
Exackerly, felix. And the data says that, at their worst, the NZLP were 2 and a half times more popular than the Greens at their best.
Don’t drive using the rear view mirror. It’s a dangerous and misleading habit.
Naughty TRP, shifting the goalposts. You were pretending to measure unpopularity, remember?
You were pretending that 89% of the electorate voted against the Greens when they actually voted for other parties.
Then you pretended that there was one specific reason that they “voted against”, namely that they don’t trust the Greens with the economy.
Which makes as much sense as saying – for example – 72% of voters don’t trust Labour to be in charge of the armed forces.
I don’t blame you for trying to rewrite it though, it was a bloody silly thing to say.
“the Greens not so much.” ????!!!!!! Wow. The Greens have never been in power let alone coalesced.’
Old ideological barriers still exist. It seems 30 years after the start of neo-liberalism, the proponents of that scheme on the “left” still cling to those belief’s with their dear lives.
Many of us lefties in the 70’s and 80’s admired the Values Party but couldn’t wrest our voting pattern away from Labour least National took advantage of a perceived weakness.
Now there is a real choice on the left. Before David Cunliffe took over leadership of the Labour Party, the best performers on the left were in the Green Party, and not just their leaders.
@ wiil a wellly..
..genter for minister of transport..
..surely..?
..there is no-one more qualified for that job..
..in any other party..
..phillip ure..
“There’s some nasty little smears about the Greens included in that post.”
The whole post is an intentionally crafted, nasty big smear about the GP, which presumably is the point.
The Greens have been taking votes off Labour. Where else do you think they get them? Labour/Green as a package means that every toxic quote from a Green candidate will be sheeted home to Labour. Every Green election dirty trick is sheeted home to Labour. Many of the Green votes are natural Labour voteswho despaired of Labour winning again. The Cunliffe is bound to rise in popularity even although currently polling worse than Shearer. That is just the MSM bias surely.
There has never been a Green member in government ever for a very good reason. They are economic vandalswho want a Stone-Age society.
Well said, never have truer words been written.
Stuart Nash is just a messenger, he’s on the streets talking to people, he’s getting endless feed back from potential voters.
Obviously the feedback he’s getting is anti green and people won’t vote labour while it’s bolted to the greens.
Disappointing for all the greenies who signed up to labour in an attempt to shift labour way further left, prepare for a sharp correction back to the middle where all the voters are.
This hard left stuff is about to be shit canned.
BM and fisiani, have you brains been fried in the sun? It is well established that where the hippies go everyone else goes later. But you lot are always just simple followers so I wouldn’t expect any recognition of this… carry on. I won’t be looking for you in the rear vision mirror…
I have a couple of questions for you then.
“Where the hippies go everyone … “. How many of the Ohu set up during the 1972-1975 Labour Government are still going? Or did all the hippies decide that they really weren’t such a great idea?
“I won’t be looking in my rear vision”. What is the point of having a rear vision mirror on your bicycle if you don’t keep an eye on it? You don’t really want to be hit from the rear wnhen you could have avoided it do you? Incidentally as you are apparently a Green supportor I assume it is a bicycle and not a car?
B.M.- you wouldn’t know what “green” was unless it was the algae growing around your back door.
Stuart Nash is one of these nice urber middle-class Labourites, who see socialism tied to a desktop, where money is made by shoveling it around and not hard work.
In all reality, he probably has more in common with you B.M. and John Key, than the plight of the average working man or woman, let alone someone truly on struggle street.
Harsh words, I don’t think so. I watched in horror as the Party I once fought for, get absolutely “dogged.” Many in that Party are still trying to “dog” it!!
Oh joy, a RWNJ giving advice to the left again.
Nope, that’s what National are. The authoritarianism comes through quite clearly.
@ fisi..
“stone age society’..
..aahh..!..retro green-slagging..
..(haven’t heard that one for awhile..eh..?)
..are you normally a kiwiblog/slater bottom-dweller..?..there..fis..?
..that is about the only places that one is still used/brandished..
..they love their retro-green-slagging..at both those places..
..phillip ure..
Re Stuart Nash’s questionable article on the Daily Blog.
Attention political strategists
Lesson 1:
>>How to get the diverse and colourful left-wing voters behind you –
In three easy steps<<
1. 'Get it' that the diverse interests on the left are not mutually exclusive
2. Find the [vast] common ground that exists
3. Repeat the findings of steps 1. & 2. endlessly to the general public.
– In this way get us all on board and out there voting.
Perfectly easy – but apparently not
+1
Nash, Pagani…hmm. I’m thinking spanners and works. Question I’m almost mulling over is whether they are loose spanners or if there is a hand behind them.
Not that those two things are mutually exclusive 😉
Nash’s three points are pretty much statements of political fact. But the strategic conclusions he draws are much more debatable, and reflect the views of just a faction within Labour.
But the brittle way Green supporters invariably react to criticism from Labour – by having the sort of poor-little-me tanty you’d expect from a spoilt 16 year old who has just been told they can’t borrow the car – is deeply unattractive and makes me wonder if they are politically tough enough to survive in government.
Oh, so it’s not about the smear….. so that’s why you end with a smeary ad hominem?
Yeah well Sanctuary – I’m looking at it and thinking it’s crap.
I’m not that big a supporter of either the Greens or Labour, meaning, that yes, I want a left leaning parliamentary presence forming the next government, but having said that, don’t see parliament as a mechanism that we can ever use to provide ourselves with what we need as a society.
Sanctuary, I do agree it’s most likely that Nash is not in the majority faction of Labour, and that his strategy is dubious. But I did not respond to Nash’s post in isolation, or in some knee-jerk defence of the Greens.
Key and NAct have signalled frequently that they intend to drive a wedge into the left by using smeary attacks on the Greens (“far left”, “printing money”, etc).
This morning I replied to a comment by Nat Wayne, critical of his apparent use of wedge politics: in Wayne’s case his focus was on criticising Labour. His response was that he was just looking at the facts.
Then I headed over to The Daily Blog, and see Nash using a similar kind of wedginess; this time smearing the Greens.
My response to Nash’s post was more like: with friends like this, who needs Crosby Textor…?!
I would prefer to see both Labour and Greens (and Mana) focusing on their own policies and arguments against the destructive policies and actions of the NAct government: focusing on a better way to create a fair, susutainable and well-functioning NZ. And not playing into, and supporting NAct’s spin lines.
+1
+1 Karol
+1,Well said Karol…
Add me to the +1 list!
+1000
I think there will be more of this kind of article the nearer we get to the election esp if the greens are polling well. Labour candidates with borderline list places will start getting nervous and look to protect there place as it were. Media will be more than happy to seek them out for anti greens comment as they look to increase labours vote… Challenge for Cunliffe will be to keep a lid on that kind of thing
karol and cricklewood
Words to live by – actually …
“”Teach Your Children” Lyrics by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young:
You, who are on the road, must have a code, that you can live by.
And so, become yourself, because the past, is just a good bye.
Teach, your children well, their father’s hell, did slowly go by,
And feed, them on your dreams, the one they picked, the one you’re known by.”
sing365.com
DTB That’s so good – a gem down the years and so truly worded.
“Labour candidates with borderline list places will start getting nervous and look to protect there place as it were..”
@cricklewood, I red the Nash article last night and I haven’t been able to work out what his motivation to write an article like this would be, but I think you have hit it on the head above.
From a big picture Labour perspective, surely the name of the game is to increase the size of the Left block, so Labour should be focusing its limited resources on getting people, anybody to vote for it instead of narrowing its focus on COMPETING with the Greens. Labour needs to COLLABERATE not COMPETE with the Greens if it wants to win, its not going to be easy to win in 2014 but I feel that collaborating will win more voters as a strategy.
Ive never been impressed with Nash’s thinking, does anyone know what his background is?
To Saarbo at 6.4.2 Business.
One really does have to wonder about the Labour people who are fixated on getting votes back off the Greens, instead of the rather obvious (at least, to all three of the contenders for the Labour leadership!) 800,000 non-voters from 2011.
Possible explanations: they’re mathematically illiterate; consumed with envy at the Greens’ success; or simply that far to the right of the party that they would rather take a bet on Winston Peters and whatever conservative radicals he brings in with him than deal with the Greens.
In any case it just shows there are still people who don’t understand MMP. Fighting over how big the Labour share of the Labour/Greens pie does fuck all to (my apologies to the English language) grow the pie.
Or it’s just an MP or 2 worried about their List seat.
A few more possibilities to add.
Both Labour and National know that Green policies, if presented as policies not tied to a party, would attract more voters than theirs.
I have seen research, unpublished, unfortunately that shows with policies separated from who is proposing them, the majority prefer Green policies.
Similar polling in the States has shown people prefer.
“Despite fiery campaign rhetoric, again and again Americans have spoken out in support for public investment in the structures at the core of our society and that lead to a sustainable and growing middle class. Our fellow citizens want effective and well-funded public schools and access to affordable higher education, safe and modern transportation infrastructure, robust public safety systems through fully supporting our police and fire departments, and clean air and water. They want sustainable and living-wage jobs, which means investing in research and innovation; they want Social Security strengthened for generations to come; they want health care costs reduced, and to ensure that more of their loved ones, friends and neighbors have access to adequate and affordable care. Americans want government to put these things at the top of the ‘to invest in’ priority list. They are more important to families now than ever before”.
http://www.alternet.org/story/148738/voters_want_jobs%2C_economic_recovery%2C_and_a_government_that_will_work_to_achieve_it
It suits MP’s, both National and Labour, to demonise the Greens to prevent the break up of their comfortable duopoly, where they can alternate power and position simply by worrying about pleasing the relatively few swing voters.
Labour is worried they will become redundant. Greens fit comfortably within the same democratic socialist spectrum as the Labour party did, before 1984.
+1
@ kjt..+1..
(esp. last 2 lines..)
..the greens aren’t ‘scary’..
..they are just old labour..with a soupcon of environmental policies..
..and it is just a ‘soupcon’..
..they are still puckering up for those rosette-like farmers’ arse-holes..
..their co-leader loves strutting around swathed in dead-animal skins..
..and wiping pig-fat from her mouth with the back of her hand..
..and you don’t get much more green-‘soupcon’ than that..
..eh..?
..they are still some way from what really needs to be done..
..(hint..!..it doesn’t include green-party-bbq’s..eh..?..)
phillip ure..
I have seen research, unpublished, unfortunately that shows with policies separated from who is proposing them, the majority prefer Green policies.
This isn’t a huge surprise to me – but good to know it’s confirmed (albeit unpublished).
Would love to see it published though.
QFT
Labour are obsolete and have been for some time now but they, and a large chunk of the electorate, just haven’t realised it yet.
What worries me – on one hand there is this call for unity/or working together and once again it is the social democrat’s in labour who smash it up. As an anarchist, I’m offended – the social democrats are being pack of back stabbing fools – It’s worse than 20 trots in a room smoking crack!
It’s like when ever labour get a sniff of power they go nuts, and any mad dosh bag they have, comes out of the wood work and assaults the left for:
a) being decisive
b) not being really left or
c) loony/crazy.
is labour so weak, tired and visceral?
It work together, or lose labour it’s that simple. Why? Well it is much more simpler to get people not to vote than it is to get them to vote. And quite frankly the other anarchist and myself have been talking – you keep this shit up and we will go the whole “don’t vote – politicians only win!” path – You want us to put our propaganda hats on – do you? Stop attacking the left – fight the real enemy! Poverty, unemployment, the environment and start changing the bloody economy.
Well said Adam
Although I personally prefer to revenge vote rather than the ‘don’t vote’ version: for the politician who is going to rark up and annoy the most politicians when I am seeking revenge for stupid political strategies – one then gets entertainment value for the next few years every-time that politician gets into the news.
I think this clearly demonstrates why our adversarial political system is corrupted and ineffective at delivering a truly democratically balanced, fair and inclusive economic and social society. There’s so much distortion and lying going on that most people realise that their opinions count for nothing and those in power just continue to do their own and their vested interests pandering, whatever negativity occurs in communities on the ground.
The idea of an ‘absolute democracy’ where every political policy due to be put forward by the party in power is voted on by the public after a mixture of left, right and independent analysis, research, dissection and then presented to the public, has to be a better way of constructing political, economic and social life.
+1 The Changeling
Yes it needs to be about the representing the greatest good for the greatest number of people – not solely about representing ‘those that voted for me’ or ‘keeping my job – regardless of what interests I serve’.
One of the big issues with “representative democracy”, an oxymoron, is the need for politicians to appeal to small proportion of the electorate, about 20%, who are swing voters.
They enact policies and try to appear to be concentrating, on “hot button” issues that their focus group polling tells them will sway these “swing voters”.
Judging by a lot of the policies, the swing voters appear to be self interested, bigoted, unprincipled and judgmental.
We get “populist” polices for the 20%.
Not for the 80%, including those who don’t bother to vote because they see no party as representing them..
There’s one person who won’t be demonising the Greens. David Cunliffe. My understanding is he has a good working relationship with them. He’s very strong on environmental concerns – not surprising given his wife is a lawyer specialising in environmental matters.
Possible explanations: they’re mathematically illiterate; consumed with envy at the Greens’ success; or simply that far to the right of the party that they would rather take a bet on Winston Peters and whatever conservative radicals he brings in with him than deal with the Greens.
There’s a fourth: one reason many on the left are dubious about the Greens was well expressed a few years back by Danyl on his blog:
I can’t vote for the Greens – I’m a scientist and if they ever got into power Sue Kedgley would stick me in a big wicker man and set fire to me…
Still, if the Greens can overlook Labour’s many dubious aspects, you’d think Labour’s MPs could stir themselves to at least some level of reciprocation.
That’s not well expressed. In fact, all it is is a load of bollocks dressed up as an excuse.
Meh. Danyl votes Nat anyway innit.
Meh. Danyl votes Nat anyway innit.
th’ feck?
Look now the Greens are led by a nice clean shaven white guy in a suit (even if he is an Aussie ginger) it means they can be credible economic managers! All those interesting folk have gone to the retirement home of occasional tv punditry.
Ha. I’m a scientist and I don’t worry at all about the Greens. The parties that worry me are on the right, with their denial of science and their worship of oil company spin. It’s a right wing government in Canada that’s stripping bookshelves, and another in Australia that did away with the science ministry, not to mention the American right and their daily strolls with dinosaurs.
Even though there nominally has been a leadership change etc-
we still get Pagani, Jones and Nash popping up….perhaps the Labour Party is like this the whole way through and hollow to the core…?
Nash needs to learn that Labour should be apologising for 30 years of Rogernomics and hanging their heads in shame over the neoliberals still spouting rubbish, not strutting their stuff like peacocks. His contribution rammed home to me how right I am to be voting Greens and Mana.
Charter Schools-a way to make money for the 1%.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/09/10/charter-school-gravy-train-runs-express-to-fat-city/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_campaign=hootsuite
Creepy stuff Tony. And those “success” stats and kickbacks – sickening.
It’s similar to private health provision- the state health system provides the back-up for the cases which are too expensive or difficult to handle by the private hospital. In other words pluck off the ripe fruit and leave someone else to process the damaged fruit and also to tend the tree.
In the charter schools, pupils who are ‘difficult’ or autistic are excluded by the school management, and go by default back to the state system. The charter schools receive their money from the state but are not bound by the same rules as the state schools.
The charter schooling examples are also frightening because it seems that the state’s money is being used, via the kickbacks, for political campaign purposes as well as running the schools. This from people who would scream blue murder if the case for state funding of political parties was raised.
As you say, ianmac, sickening.
+1
Tony P
Thanks for that link. Scary stuff which reveals the true fiscal agenda of Banks and his foxy friends.
I refer again to an interesting interview on the Daily show with Dianne Raditch. http://www.thedailyshow.com/?xrs=eml_tds_103113
Charter schools huh..
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/30/1227618/-AP-Emails-Reveal-Influential-GOP-Donor-s-Charter-School-Grade-Raised-from-C-to-A#
https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/education-hostage/17cceda6b3d44b20031f5583a3c40e5d0c630f30/
“In this standoff, the hostages are public school children. They are being held captive not by a rag tag bunch of Somali buccaneers nor by Tea Party loons with that distinctly wild-eyed serial killer look in their eyes. No, a generation of youngsters is being held instead by pinstriped corporate executives, buttoned-down foundation officers and the local school board officials those aristocrats buy and sell”.
Christchurch Press starts its right wing election campaign early in the new year.
Headlines on Wednesday proclaims NZ as the ‘Rock Star economy’ illustrated by a photo of a flashy car salesman with an ostentatious display of Audi cars. (At first I thought it was supposed to be a caricature, but no I think he thought it looked tasteful).
On Thursday the headline was ‘Retailers on a high’ on spending booms illustrated by a retailer with a $56,000 diamond ring.(Again I think it was meant to be a serious attempt at depicting the ‘Americana Dream’ to Kiwis).
Both articles by a Cecile Meier, a recent arrival to New Zealand, but I guess the headlines belong to the (sub) editors whose political marketing intentions couldn’t be clearer.
Expect more of the same to trickle down to Canterbury readers in this election year.
Ho-hum.
And yet, accroding to the last census, the income gap in Christurch has grown.
You probably need to read the whole article.
In other parts of Christchurch, some neighbourhoods have been booming. Some of the biggest leaps in income were in suburbs around Riccarton and Addington.
From 2006 to 2013, household incomes in Riccarton rose 58 per cent to $58,300, while in Addington the increase was 49 per cent to $53,800.
Some of the smallest changes were seen in the most affluent suburbs. Aidanfield’s figure increased by 8 per cent to $88,800 and Halswell West’s 13 per cent increase brought the area’s median household income to $98,500.
Nationwide, the median household income increased from $51,400 in 2006 to $63,800 last year.
In other words the brighter future is here as promised.
the cost of housing and the cost of food and the cost of living in general has outstripped this so they have in fact gone backwards, you nincompoop.
you are so far behind the 8-ball…..
A 24.12% income growth easily outstrips food and cost of living
Au contraire. Its is you that is behind the 8-ball.
The latest Household Income Survey shows the ratio of housing costs to income in Canterbury went from 15% in 2007 down to 13.3% this year.
It also shows weekly food costs rising 15.6% ($158.50 to $183.20) and total weekly expenses up 12.6% ($1004 to $1131) yet household income in that time has gone from $65,537 to $83,588 up 28%.
Perhaps fact-less rhetoric is more your strong point.
vto
I don’t know if seti is talking to you. But if food is rounded down to 15% and weekly expenses to 12% as stated, then that is a 27% rise and those costs would apply to everybody at every level of income – and then if income at above median, has risen to 28%. Well that means that even the middle class aren’t ahead, and the lower income class are behind and the precariates are running closer behind the horses with shovels and brooms to get that valuable horse-shit.
If my addition is out point out where, just don’t demur demurely otherwise I consider any attempt to make a case of us all doing well is more Far Out than Gary Larson.
What shit are you smoking? So if toothpicks have risen 200% then we’re really in the crap?
You don’t add the percentages together, they form part of the cost of total expenditure.
Bottom line – total expenses (including housing and food) up 12.6%, income up 28%.
Dolt!
Seti
Okay that’s what I thought – was relying on you to set me right. Now compare the 12.6% rise overall for expenses, against the percentage rise of income for
those on the low income to median strata of income. I am expecting the median would be about $65,000.
Let’s look at how the financial situation for most people in NZ has been.
“You don’t add the percentages together,”
tell that to all the spending boom apostles waxing lyrical over the magic of xmas.
They tell us of the heart-thumpingly brilliant retail sales leading up to xmas,
then it gets better with amazeballs record smashing sales from boxing day,
then it is casually mentioned that one of the biggest purchase blocks leading up to xmas was the ubiquitos prezzie card and its kin
which were mostly used on boxing day
dot join dot
Unfortunately if you look at the rise in the median family income overall, it is still because of huge rises at the top end. Not significant rises at the bottom.
The majority still had increases well below inflation.
As for expenses. Expenses for low income families have risen much faster than the general inflation rates. For a long time now.
While some of us have enjoyed cheaper flat screen TV’s and sirloin steaks, essentials such as basic food, power, rent, transport, schooling and health care continue to rise steeply.
Then you add in things which used to be Government supplied at cheap or no direct cost, which are now, “user pays”.
Unfortunately if you look at the rise in the median family income overall, it is still because of huge rises at the top end.
Large increases at the top end affect the mean, but not the median.
But they do when they go to a few. Read your stats text book again.
Your link isn’t working Seti.
You probably need to take some English comprehension lessons. The existence of “booming” suburbs entirely supports Karol’s remark.
Yes, I saw that fairfax was trotting out that term “rock star economy” in it’s “paper’s” and thought immediately two things: For who? And who says that? Crosby Textor?
From memory of the RNZ piece on it the other day, I garnered the person who coined the term works for HSBC Bank – so maybe crosby textor are getting their financial mates in on the campaign act early.
For rock stars, obviously, not for everyone else. Although, someone like Lorde might have a few relevant things to say about it.
I wonder where Cecile Meier came from – South Africa? That’s the home of diamonds isn’t it. There were enough on that ring to blind a mole.
And the crowing of car salespeople about the rise in vehicles, imported of course, all adding to our overseas deficit is mind-blowing. Consumerism keeping the country going. Isn’t there some saying about the brainless leading the mindless or something. If the government said okay all vehicles imported now have to be able to run on electricity, batteries, biofuel or something slanting towards Green that wouldn’t be so bad. But no, not a change to the automatic pilot for the country. On the Aotearena goes.
And housing is up too. So everything is all right. And the salaries are up 28%. It says so on this wafer of CD, this mark on an ephemeral page. That can vanish as soon as some questions are asked that are uncomfortable.
Cecile Meier is French. Her next article in Friday’s Press is her analysis of how and what kiwi’s think.Also quite revealing of her ‘insightful’ understanding of what New Zealanders want and believe.
Lordy Lordy, Chris Trotter on our new musical heroine…..http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/09/upon-hearing-pentatonix-sing-royals-texas-ambition-meets-north-shore-angst/#!prettyPhoto
too troo VTO.
There has a been a persistent price rise of everything since National engineered a TURN for themselves and the compradores and profiteers it associates with.
Another warning out in the US on TPPA!
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/01/no-brainer-course-in-derailing-tpp.html
Actual link
Jenny Michie at The Daily Blog reveals what Labour needs to do for electoral victory: pray for economic collapse.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/10/what-labour-dare-not-hope-for/
There’s a whole blogging theme to develop along the lines of “economic growth and inequality: which has superior political upside?”
My bet is this: unemployment gets close to 6%, there will be no change of government.
Stays above 6.5%, Labour still has a chance.
I was just looking at the Huffington Post and was attracted to one item praising Norway. It makes some good points about Norway that if compared to New Zealand would indicate that we could have gradually fewer and fewer tourists here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/norway-greatest-place-on-earth_n_4550413.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Norway is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It’s home to more natural wonders than we can count and it has stunning cities, fascinating history and really happy people.
Norway’s not cheap. But it’s worth it. Here are 25 reasons why.
1. It’s actually one of the happiest places on Earth.
And there are nice pictures. On my old computer they take a while to load yours will probably be faster.
.
Sovereign funds rule.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/norway-everyone-now-millionaire-thanks-oil-2D11884040
joe90 Interesting. A financial plan for the country. And it works. Gosh.
Not that Norwegians will be able to access or spend the money, squirreled away for a rainy day for them and future generations. Norway has resisted the temptation to splurge all the windfall since striking oil in the North Sea in 1969.
Norway has sought to avoid the boom and bust cycle by investing the cash abroad, rather than at home. Governments can spend 4 percent of the fund in Norway each year, slightly more than the annual return on investment.
Still, in Norway, oil wealth may have made the state reluctant to make reforms or cut subsidies unthinkable elsewhere. Farm subsidies allow farmers, for instance, to keep dairy cows in heated barns in the Arctic.
It may also have made some Norwegians reluctant to work. “One in five people of working age receives some kind of social insurance instead of working,” Doerum said, despite an official unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.
Note the disapproving tone taken about work and supporting farmers. The slaves are slacking, work on two legs good etc, even though unemployment is 3.3 per cent. And farmers can probably produce sufficient food within the nation.
Somebody is breaking through the miasma of work-will-set-you-free to be able to afford food and an inside sleeping place propaganda.
Who owns the oil? Ireland versus Norway
And if we want to be prosperous with a social democracy as generous as Norway’s, but we do not wish to extract fossil fuels…?
even if oil is found..the world-beating-in-pathetic royalties-rate hammered out by ‘i blinked’ brownlee..
..guarantees the/us mug-punters will get s.f.a..really..
..and will just be left praying there is no accident..
..and just like so much neo-lib..
..it is again a matter of privatise profits..
..and any losses will be borne by the state/mug-punters/nz environment..
..eh..?
..same old..same old..
..are you an oil-pimp..c.v..?
..and before scandanavian oil-stories are shared for comparison..
..how about noting the differences in how much the mug-punters get out of it..in each country..?
..i think you’ll find that unlike our ‘blinky’-jerry/sell-out govt….
they didn’t ‘blink’..or ‘sellout’..
phillip ure..
you will probably find the grounds to..if there is major find..
..to nationalise the industry..
..and keep the lions’ share of the profits here..
..not flowing straight offshore..
..phillip ure..
I think that I don’t understand this about Ireland owning nothing. It seems that Shell is involved but I saw that Norway’s Statoil owns 36% of the reserves and drilling and results.
I guess then Shell owns the rest.
It seems that the video is trying to stir up hostility towards Norway. Has Norway the smaller share and Shell the bigger? Why not get angry at Shell and/or Ireland’s politicians who have tigered their way into a green bog? Why isn’t the deal at least 30% Ireland, 30% Norway and 60% Shell.
Surely those clever businessmen could have engineered that. They sound as clever as ours at dealing with anybody stronger, fit only for holding their coats open and dropping their pants.
The author seems to be a miserable sod less a clue about food security.
There are four components to Norway’s food security policy: firstly, the need to protect arable land from degradation and alternative use; secondly, to maintain food self-sufficiency from domestic production, measured in terms of calories, at the minimum current level of 50 percent (57 percent including fish products); thirdly, to maintain a “fairly sizeable”, well trained and experienced farming population; and fourthly, to maintain a decentralised food production structure as being less vulnerable in times of crises.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x4829e/x4829e05.htm
My people left there 1000 years ago, prior to the invention of central heating. Natural beauty and wonders are all very well if you have a bear skin and blanket. Of course, “free trade” was respected, there was good money to be made in the international battle axe trade.
Rape and pillage mate
Want to get some transparency back into politics funding in New Zealand?
Tired of electoral funding skullduggery?
I suggest NZ creates the Electoral Donation Register of New Zealand.
THE EDRNZ:
The EDRNZ is an escrow body which collects and distributes donations for all local and central government election candidates and or political parties.
Any party or individual standing in local or central government elections registers with the EFRNZ and is paid donated monies minus an administrative tax.
A small fee of perhaps 0.01% is taxed on all donations for administration of the EDRNZ.
KiwiBank is an obvious choice to administrate the fund.
All donations are deposited and logged with the EDRNZ then distributed to the relevant party or individual. With modern banking on-line processes this would be an efficient near instantaneous transaction from donation to EDRNZ to candidate. (especially quick if the candidate banked with KiwiBank)
DONATIONS:
Any individual donation over $1000 is not anonymous and is declared on a public register.
Donations below $1,000 can be anonymous but are still declared on a public register.
Any donations from a business or a trust for example, of any amount, would not be anonymous and must be declared on the register. (Trusts are and will continue to be a major thorn in the paw of NZ politics, until they are extracted) Occassional audits of the anonymous deposits should show up attempts to circumvent this.
Any donation of any amount not made in the name of a NZ citizen or resident of NZ would not be anonymous and must be declared on the public register.
All cash donations, electoral office collections and ‘raffle’ sales etc are processed/declared as per origin of funds. -this is an obvious grey area for cases where this total exceeds $1000 but it is hardly an insurmountable obstacle. The circumstances of its collection would show the totals were legitimate. E.g. the deposit slip from bucket collections. Large single donations (over the $1000 limit) are very rare from a bucket day, i am confident dodo eggs would be more common, but a donor’s details could easily be logged by the collector or alternatively the donation can be made using any number of modern technical services such as Square, for one example.
THE PUBLIC REGISTER
Your vote is your vote and that should always be private information between you and the relevant electoral body. When it comes to political donations however, I strongly feel if you don’t want people to know you donated to a particular party then why are you donating to that party?
I am sure there are plenty of clever folk out there who could shape a register with the suitable oversights which also provides the necessary social protections.
Despite the disasters in information sharing from recent years, I am confident NZ could produce a public register detailing the donated amount with an associated donor identity that does so without signing away excessive amounts of private data. The Addresses or locality of the donor for example need not be specific or even public, you might live in Tawa but that does not mean you don’t want to support a candidate in Taupo.
The transfer of data to the EDRNZ Public Register would not need to be instantaneous and a weekly update would most likely suffice.
In conclusion, there are numerous opportunities to massively overcomplicate the environment of a body like EDRNZ, and despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth from some heavily invested interest groups, the actual mechanics of its operation are incredibly straightforward and there is no reason for it not to operate efficiently and most importantly transparently.
just an idea ….
………….and an excellent idea
thanks Rosie,
after the recent calls for some discussion of actual ideas, I was interested in reading folks views on it, but I guess it could not compete with discussing a hypothetical Parliament.
see you anon, have a good weekend
Dreamer of the week, No 94: wannabee Epsom MP David Seymour.
“… having returned to New Zealand for the Christmas break and finding “a very positive vibe” around Act he decided he would indeed seek the nomination.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11184284
Strange behaviour in the suburbs. I went shopping at another supermarket than my usual today. An Asian lady came right up to me and glared at me for no reason. I jumped. It was almost as though she was saying, ‘Stay away from here.’ Weird. The other evening I parked the car and dropped a letter into the mailbox outside the Post Office. Suddenly an Asian man walked to the ATM nearby and jerked his head to the side as though he was checking that I wasn’t following him. Weird.
Rosie, you represent a big threat. In places like W(h)anganui you can no longer even identify “patched” gang members to help you out if you are assailed by your common garden citizen (well known dangerous buggers, half of them vote National).
Hi Ennui – that was Rose saying about the (perceived) strange behaviour in the burbs, not me.
Something stranger is this: A woman was murdered in her home in our neighbourhood. Neighbours heard her screaming at 1am as she was being stabbed to death but no one phoned the cops. The 111call that was made came from inside her house. That fact that no one thought to phone the cops when they hear some one screaming at 1 in the morning just blows my mind.
Hope your chickens are doing well 🙂
That is not very compassionate of the neighbours. People don’t realise that police cruise around in cars and can get there quicker than you think if a car happens to be near by.
You’re right Rose. It wasn’t very compassionate of the neighbours. I found it really upsetting that they didn’t do anything, and it deepened my concern about the isolating and non engaging nature of our suburb. Also, what must the victims family and friends feel about the fact that in her last moments in life she was abandoned by those that could have helped her?
I can’t say I ever experience anyone looking at me in a hostile way in the burbs, as you have experienced- I’m the opposite, I go about completely unseen unless I am wearing my “are you serious” meme girl t shirt. I got this image printed on to a t shirt as an expression of my consternation toward:
A) Our National Government and their policies
B) The voters who allowed the above to happen
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/208/f/0/meme_are_you_serious_girl_rubia_png_by_mfsyrcm-d58vouw.png
I get a lot of looks then, mostly ones just as baffled as her.
Thanks Rosie, the ladies still rule the roost!!!!!!
Is Madam Vain still going? 🙂
I don’t get your point. Are you trying to link these “weird” behaviours to the fact the these people are “Asian”? If there were “white” people behaving the same way, would you have said:
“Strange behaviour in the suburbs. I went shopping at another supermarket than my usual today. A white lady came right up to me and glared at me for no reason. I jumped. It was almost as though she was saying, ‘Stay away from here.’ Weird. The other evening I parked the car and dropped a letter into the mailbox outside the Post Office. Suddenly a white man walked to the ATM nearby and jerked his head to the side as though he was checking that I wasn’t following him. Weird.”
Hang on wtl. Don’t jump to conclusions. I have a friend who has had a few similar experiences. She lives in an Auckland suburb. They’re recent experiences and she doesn’t know why it’s happening. I might add she’s not anti-Asian. She’s even taught Asians in an Asian country.
Quite unusual behaviour for Asians to ‘glare’ at whites. (Although I do it all the time to certain types on the campaign trail lol)
I wonder if this is some kind of unconscious reaction to background anti-asian behaviour or media which has been occurring (though I am not aware of anything specific that has changed).
The other thing which would be interesting to know…are these Asians that have been seen reacting mainland Chinese, other Chinese, Koreans, Japanese or from somewhere else?
Just saying that I felt surprised in the supermarket and on the street when going about my daily business – and described what I saw. I feel it’s touching on human rights issues to be able to go about your daily business freely. I wondered whether anyone else has had similar experiences. Unfortunately I can’t know where these people come from unless I ask them, and I can’t see how I could ask them.
wtl: I never said that I don’t like Asians.
When you glare at whites, Colonial Viper, I’m guessing that’s your way of saying, ‘Back off.’ Why would a woman in a supermarket want me to back off? She did look like a National voter and maybe she could tell by the way I was dressed that I wasn’t wealthy. We were in a beautiful suburb. But still, that is nonsense as it’s not the Kiwi way.
Your last sentence or two is very interesting and revealing. Most Asian cultures are very class and status aware. Hence the endless brand name shopping bs that those who are wealthy enough seem to participate in.
The point is the there is no reason to classify those people as ‘Asian’. If it was a white person doing it, I’m guessing rosie would just have said “a lady” and “a man”, yet if a member of a minority does it the person gets described as being a member of that minority even when it is irrelevant to the story.
This kind of thing is endemic in NZ. For example, most of the articles on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang affair contained the statement that she was “Hong Kong-born” (even in the one line summary), when this piece of information was hardly a key point to the story itself.
IMO it’s even better if we not only class these people as Asian (if they broadly speaking are), but to then see if we can’t find out if there is a specific subgroup or nationality acting differently than what we might expect. Admittedly, I’m just being nosey, but if some underlying social dynamic has changed it would be very interesting to figure out.
My whole experience at the supermarket checkout was unpleasant. The lady glared at me, the Kiwi cashier didn’t greet me, the Asian bag packer swung her hand out within two inches of my face pointing to another cashier, and the bag packer forgot to include some items which I luckily noticed.
Maybe the first lady is a customer monitor who decides who they want to regularly shop in the store – rich National voters only. A sort of segregation of the rich and poor.
In my experience, when the customer service is that bad, the company culture at the top is even worse. Shitty management + crappy wages = unhappy workers giving mediocre service.
Maybe the lady who glared at you mistook you for someone else? Or maybe you accidentally ran over her toes while making a bee-line for the last punnet of raspberries at the end of the fruit aisle? (No wait, that was me on Xmas Eve)
Which race was the Kiwi cashier? Would Paul Henry have accepted them as a Kiwi?
Would Paul Henry be a bit paranoid going up to an ATM if the cashier was about?
Kiwis can behave rudely too. The other evening I was walking along the footpath of a fairly busy street. Two Kiwi teenage boys came riding towards me on their bikes at full speed. I decided not to jump off the footpath to make way for them as the footpath is for foot traffic. The boy nearest the road was forced to ride onto the road which seemed a bit dangerous as a car came up right behind him.
wtl and cv
The woman reported what had happened to her. That’s all. It was noticeable, and made her feel puzzled. Don’t start that hyper-reactive stuff.
Exactly greywarbler.
wtl is suggesting some kind of selective racism is going on here but if there are individuals from a particular ethnic background behaving in a slightly unusual way then it’s stupid to say you can’t name their ethnicity. As I pointed out, I know someone who has had some similar experiences with the same ethnic group.
If we go down wtl’s track then I could suggest that he/she is being negatively gender-selective in that he is questioning the right of a woman to comment about a personal experience. For instance, would he/she have made the same kind of comment if the commenter had been a man?
It sounds to me like there might be a bit of a backlash occurring from a few people of Asian origin who have experienced anti-Asian sentiment in NZ.
Anne
When Asian people are targetted by thieves, on the assumption they must be wealthy, I think they might look to their back at the ATM. I do. At who is there and how close as you are advised to be careful about hiding your pin number.
I get antsy when anyone comes to stand beside me as I finish at the supermarket close enough to see my pin number. Tall people could see right over my guard hand if they wanted to. So it could be habit being careful.
But watchfulness led to that nasty business in Florida where the black youngster might or might not have been a thief but the whole thing got out of hand and the Cuban I think knifed? the black guy after reporting him to the police
Maori have felt targetted for decades. There was the sarcastic Maori joke about there being a law that allowed the police to stop them for being Maori in charge of a car.
” Nationwide, the median household income increased from $51,400 in 2006 to $63,800 last year.”
Source cos id like to read more of the breakdown
Something for ChCh
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/9594563/Income-gap-is-wider-census
Thanks cv
My cousins vvisitd last night. They said that a landlord was charging 590 a week for the home they charged 290 a week pre earthquake. I wonder if some landlords think if an insurance company paid it was ok? Having said that accom payouts have probably finished.
“Having said that accom payouts have probably finished.”
Surely you jest.
EQC repairs are getting underway for a lot of people now; myself and family included. Generally for EQC work you have to move out of your house for 3-6 weeks, during which time your insurer will pay for temporary accommodation.
Only those who homes were destroyed / badly damaged will have used up their accommodation payments by now. Those houses were in the minority, while also getting the vast amount of publicity.
My son’s family have just had last of minor cracking, repaired, filled and painted. Those who have had lots of damage have suffered. And deserve consideration and support and individual planning appointments if needed. And prompt action if to that level.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536424/Everyone-Norway-millionaire.html
– Be nice for NZ to get a slice of this sort of thing
Aside from the fact it’s the Daily Mail, so most likely a load of old bollocks anyway this isn’t going to happen to NZ since the government you support would rather do anything than follow in the path of the Norwegians when it comes to managing the profits from resource extraction.
Have you read the Mail?
It’s a rag.
Try the Norway report with link from joe 90. And if you don’t go there I have quoted some facts from it that can’t be written off. Of course we should not be thinking now of drilling for oil and gas, or be fully occupied with finding other energy sources, but still it is great to read of a country that isn’t English speaking. No news is good news if in English.
I agree, shame Labour wants to keep every one poor.
Digging up our resources and selling them is such a way so that the major beneficiaries are foreign corporates and their stockholders doesn’t make NZ richer. In fact, it makes NZ poorer as we lose resources and get nothing for them.
errr…
BM and chris, you do realise that’s the complete opposite of what National is doing. Don’t you?
(I know you do chris)
The Greens need to understand that to be able to achieve thier goals then a massive ‘Think Big’ style program of state investment is needed. Off the top of my head, solar heating for all schools and state housing and a CRI to focus on clean renewable energy. I see no such promises in thier manifesto.
C. Using the Sun
Solar energy is most effectively used as direct heat, for water and space heating. Solar electricity from photo-voltaic panels is still very expensive but is appropriate in remote and off-grid locations. As this technology reduces in price, and with the benefit of bulk purchasing, it may become part of our grid-connected electricity system. The Green Party supports:
Letting a Government tender for a five year programme to produce and install 500, 000 sq metres of solar water heating panels (sufficient to supply about 125,000 homes). The programme will be:
Divided between government buildings (such as state houses, prisons, and hospitals) and suitable private buildings (with priority given to low income families, large families, and isolated rural communities) where the cost savings from the bulk purchase will be passed on to the householder, and
Designed to build capacity in the manufacturing and installation of solar water heaters and bring down the price substantially and permanently.
https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/energy-policy
Was reading somewhere that Perth used to have a requirement for new buildings – and building lots – to be designed to allow for passive solar orientation.
This existed for a while, and when the rules were ‘relaxed’ the increase in energy consumption was noticeable.
A simple non-technical, no-cost rule such as this requires only designers and planners that are informed and diligent.
I brought this up with the Unitary Plan Manager, John Duguid during a community workshop. (Where they go through the motions of listening to the community. Though to be fair, a couple of my suggestions did get picked up). The look of incomprehension was memorable. We continue to design new subdivisions and lots around how many we can fit in – and roads.
A good reminder for me, millsy, to make sure than this is in my Unitary Plan submission for Auckland.
German authorities destroying logistical bases of political change and resistance stir up riots and police crack down.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25651806
Benefits Street is a ‘misrepresentation’ of life on welfare, says MP
Shouldn’t be surprised though as it was Channel 4 – the same channel that brought us that load of lies The Great Global Warming Swindle. Just more beneficiary bashing which seems to be a global sport of the MSM and right-wing politicians.