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. http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10012014/#comment-755613
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.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
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
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10012014/#comment-755561
“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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx4AATLY7L8
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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76VOnzXQMsU&noredirect=1
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.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10012014/#comment-755613
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.